Lately it seems that I never have any thing to wear. My closet is packed, but yet, I don't like anything and seem to wear the same 3 or 4 things all the time. Sigh. I've read most of the Vivienne files, and there is so much good information there. But, I decided that's way too much planning for me. However, I do like the idea of the basic 5 piece French Wardrobe. It's kind of a misnomer, because you have to start with about 25-26 things and then you rotate in 5 pieces for each new season. I started trying to find out more information about this and found the best check off sheet at The Capsule Project. Their sight is a little clumsy to navigate, but if you scroll about halfway down the page of the link, you'll see a free check list button. There is a lot of other good stuff at that website too.
Last year I read the Konmari book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Although she has some strange philosophies, I've been able to change those around to fit my life. For example, she thanks her clothes for giving her joy before she gets rid of something. I can thank God for giving me the joy of having the item, even if I rarely used it. It does help get rid of the guilt of getting rid of "perfectly good" stuff. I do recommend the book - but with a grain of salt. Anyway, at the Capsule project, they also have a 7 day closet bootcamp on decluttering your closet. I like the idea of breaking this down into doable steps. It's the Konmari method broken into a 7 day challenge.
Now, I'm not associated with this website or method in any way, but I'm posting here to hold myself accountable for finishing what I'm starting! So, here is the ugly truth; my closet:
This is pitiful! I am blessed to have an extra large closet. However, that does not mean that I should have it stuffed full! It's definitely embarassing, but I will say that many of the clothes in my closet are OLD. Like 10 years old!! No wonder I never have anything to wear. I'm sick of my clothes, but it's hard to get rid of that "perfectly good stuff"! Well, my life has changed a lot and so has my style. I'm looking for a different kind of clothes now and most of what I have no longer works for me. That and the fact that I'm 10 pounds heavier and nothing fits!
So, Day one is TOPS. This includes everything like Tees, blouses, camis, tanks, sweaters, etc. I pulled everything (in this category) out of the closet, drawers, laundery and wherever else they might be hiding and put them on my bed. Here's what it looked like.
When all was said and done, I had over 200 pieces! Yikes! My original goal was to get rid of 80% of everything. Actually, I started at 85, but realized that was a little ridiculous. As it turns out, 80% is also way out of my comfort zone and I'm at just a little over 60% I have 175 items in bags to take to the thrift store, and only put 73 back into my closet and drawers. This took me a few hours, but I think today will be the worst day. I don't have any where near that amount of the other categories. Tomorrow is dresses and pants/ bottoms. That will definitely be a challenge since I will have to try everything on. If I can hit 60% again tomorrow, I will be happy.
Friday, April 01, 2016
I have TOO MANY CLOTHES!
Posted by Nancy Winningham at 9:58 PM
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3 comments:
Hey, good luck. I so need to get rid of more things hiding in my closet. Retirement will change your way of dressing, or at least it did in my case. Still, difficult to get rid of some of the things I loved, yet never wear anymore. As I get older, "stuff" seems to stress me out more. I never thought of myself as a pack rat, BUT with bringing stuff in from MIL's home as well as my Mom when they passed away and the houses were sold--it can get overwhelming. Anyhow, I will enjoy watching your process and hope I can get motivated to do the same or something similar.
WOW! That's a LOT of clothes!!! I don't know if you wore your 10 year old clothes recently, but if not, good call to get rid of them. REALLY good call. When your wardrobe has been cleaned out and restocked with only what you really like wearing right now, you will probably be happy that you cleaned it out. And when everything is neat and organized, it will probably be a joy to step into your walk in to pick your outfits. Good job!
I didn't have as many clothes as you but I did the same closet clean out about 5 years ago. The initial clean out is the hardest. I found that once I got past the first clean out it got easier to further weed out the closet. A month or two later the things that I was on the fence about became no brainers. They were gone! I also put hangers in backwards. When I wore something I turned the hanger around the right way. That gave me the best look at what I was truly wearing and where I could clean out more.
Lack of closet space forces me to do a switch over twice a year. That makes me look at everything with a more critical eye when I pull them out and again before I put them away at the end of the season.
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