Closet clean out time

[hillview]

I need some guidance on de cluttering my clothing closet. When we moved it was such a big rush that I took everything with me. I now have clothes I have not worn in 3+ years (I have a lot of space for clothing). I think I need to get rid of stuff as it is a LOT but everything still fits me, I just generally wear the same 50 items vs 300 (making up numbers). I also for example have super skinny jeans as well as mom jeans (total of like 10 pair of jeans, no one needs that). How do you purge??

[SnuggleBuggles]

I sometimes give things one more chance. I move them to a more predominant spot. If in X amount of time I still haven’t worn it, out it goes.


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[firstbaby]

I would pick a day that I had the full day and the energy to try anything on I wasn’t sure about. (So not your highest worn items today because you know those are keepers). Once I have it on, how did I feel in it? Is it too tight, too loose, unflattering, etc. Maybe it has stains you haven’t noticed before. Maybe it makes you think of a stressful thing and it makes you feel bad - out with all of those things.

Then I would look at what’s left - is there anything you are still hesitating on? What trends do you see? I.e. I have 3 red coats I’m keeping, I must be partial to red coats, etc. Then, make a list of anything you would want to shop for on purpose - I got rid of all my white tanks, I should look for a white tank with a flattering cut, etc.

[erosenst]

Sometimes it helps me to do it in stages.

One thing that’s been really helpful for me is to have a place *in my closet* for things I’m going to donate to go. I try hard to put things there the minute I realize I have three similar/I really never like wearing that color or style, I now wear something else for x occasion.

Examples - a bunch of skorts I wore a LOT five years ago went into the pile one day recently when I realized I haven’t worn one all summer - I wear a different style or tshirt dress now. Similar for basic tanks - and the old ones really look dingy.

I keep the pile there for a month or so. In the last five years I’ve retrieved one thing for sure - maybe two. If I haven’t missed it in a month it’s unlikely I will and out they go.

Another form of “in stages” - deciding to do dresses today. Tanks and short sleeve another. Sweaters and long sleeve a third. It seems way more manageable then.

Last method - get new hangers if you need them. Every time you wear something put it on a new one. At the end of the season, everything on an old goes. If you don’t need new- same system with turning all hangers one way and the other after you wear it (would drive me nuts) or putting a piece of washi tape on all hangers and removing when you wear something.

Good luck!


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[candaceb]

I have a de-cluttering business.
When I work on clothes with clients, I usually recommend taking everything from a section out at once and putting it on the bed, which makes you commit to getting through it before you can go to bed that night.
Try it all on. Everything that is going in the closet needs to have a way of marking whether it has been worn. The easiest is if you hangers can go up backwards. If you wear something, you put it back in the closet the normal way. At the end of the season it becomes easy to see which things haven't gotten worn, and it also makes it a challenge to see if you can wear more things so you can keep them.
With things in drawers, I like to fold Marie-Kondo style, and then load from the left every time the laundry is done or things that can be re-worn are put away. At the end of the season, the stuff on the right can go.
I give people a little more lee-way these days because so many have not gone anywhere in 2.5 years to even know what they would wear. But things are getting back to normal, so see what you wear this year and go from there. (I live in a COVID crazy place where masks are everywhere and things are very much not back to normal on the outside - but small gatherings are at least happening).

[essnce629]

I'm also a fan of the Marie Kondo way. Everything from your closet and dresser on to the bed. I got rid of several trash bags full of clothes that way.

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[Percycat]

I have matching hangers in my closet that I can't add too because I don't think they are made anymore. If I don't have a hanger for a new item of clothes, I need to get rid of an item I don't wear to make room. This has also helped me curb implus buying.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I have matching hangers in my closet that I can't add too because I don't think they are made anymore. If I don't have a hanger for a new item of clothes, I need to get rid of an item I don't wear to make room. This has also helped me curb implus buying.

My hangers are in no way special but I do the same thing.


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[Globetrotter]

I'm also a fan of the Marie Kondo way. Everything from your closet and dresser on to the bed. I got rid of several trash bags full of clothes that way.

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Me too. I didn’t do the whole house purging -yikes- but every season I go through my stuff when I switch out for warm weather clothes, or vice versa. Being CA, there’s hot and cooler so a lot of stuff is worn year round with a sweater on top as needed. If I haven’t worn it in some time, I try it on.

I ask myself do I look good in this and do I love it (does it spark joy?). I definitely do this with everything I buy. I am very picky about what I keep based on how it fits and how I look in it, which I wasn’t always doing in the past. Some clothes are just utilitarian like leggings, but I do see how they look and feel.

[echoesofspring]

I find I often have a lot of emotions tied up in things and that can make decluttering very exhausting. So I'm not able to say, do all my clothes at once, but I break it up into sections. All my socks (no emotions there!), all my swimwear (that's complicated!), etc. Bit by bit I've been going through things the past month or so. The hanger approach doesn't work for me, I've got too much of my family's 'don't get rid of anything that's perfectly good' mentality in me. But I will put things in to a bin I'm not sure I need to keep, put it away for a while and then come back to it and usually be able to get rid of a lot of it. One thing I def do is think about how I feel when I see this particular item, if it brings back bad memories off it goes. I've found its gotten easier for me to get rid of things as we've gotten on stronger financial footing, and I can think in terms of 'what is this costing me to store' and 'what would it cost to replace it if I needed to'.