I'm on a long and ongoing journey to reduce the amount of clothes in my wardrobe. It started over a year ago when I had to empty my entire walk-in closet for some work that needed to be done. I moved all of my clothes temporarily in the basement and categorized them in piles. I felt completely overwhelmed by the amount of clothes I had once I stepped back and viewed all the piles that had taken over the space in the basement. It looked like way more than I thought I had! When they were all neatly hung on racks and folded nicely on shelves in my closet, It didn't look like that much. Sure, I knew I had a lot since I do love clothes and fashion, but I didn't realize how much I had actually accumulated.
I'm not a hoarder. In fact, I have an aversion to clutter. I don't like holding onto things we don't use or need. I seldom keep things with the mentality that maybe one day I'll need it. I've learned throughout the years that this it is very seldom the case. I go through all of our belongings on a regular basis to ensure we're not accumulating clutter. I do the same with my clothes. Whenever I'm in the mood, every few months, I go through my closet and take out the items I'm no longer wearing or loving. That fateful year, before returning my clothes to the walk-in closet I made a decision to do a major purge. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I was up for the challenge.
My biggest problem in deciding what to keep and what to let go of is the fact that I don't have emotional attachments to most of my things. I could easily let go of just about anything. I had to use my head and not my heart. After a lot of hard work, thinking, contemplating and analyzing, I was able to downsize my wardrobe by nearly half without any regrets.
I've since made a conscious decision to keep the process going. I constantly evaluate my clothes. What I like, what looks good on my body, and what I feel good in. If I'm not loving it or it's no longer my style, I let it go and find it a new home. When I buy something new, I try to let go of something old. Since I do like to continually update my wardrobe and buy new things, this process of one in, one out keeps me from becoming overwhelmed again. My closet stays trim and uncluttered with only the items I love to wear.
Sometimes I'm not ready to let go of certain clothes completely, but I do know I don't want them in my closet. I keep a storage bin for those specific items and give myself time to decide what I want to do with them. Most often, if I don't miss them, need them, or even think about them, I will get rid of them. Once in a great while I will return them to my closet.
Next time I will share the different ways I "get rid" of my clothes. No, I don't throw them away. In fact I sell most of them and make some extra spending money. Stay tuned for information on how to do the same for yourself.
