Why is it so difficult to clean out my closet and purge items I no longer wear, are no longer in style, not flattering and/or no longer fit? Is there a sentimental attachment to some of the clothes? After college I desperately wanted a DVF wrap dress but on a social worker's salary that dream was not going to happen. So guess what? I bought the pattern, purchased her fabric and made two wrap dresses. I loved them, the man I was seeing (my current husband of 30 plus years...I say current to tease him a bit, a private joke between the the 2 of us). LOVED those dresses too. He often left notes on my desk with sweet compliments. Another dress with wonderful memories is a long red dress I wore to an office Christmas party. That red dress made me feel wonderful. OK, that is a grand total of 3 ..why do I have all the other junk hanging in there? No attachment to an awful velvet dress I purchased at the last minute for a New Years Eve party after discovering what I had planned to wear was not going to work. No special memories of the many items I purchased due to the great price but also knowing as I pulled out my credit card that they were not the smartest purchases. I think I often heard my mother in the background whispering in my ear "save it, someday you will need that __ __ __ (fill in the blank; coat, sweater, skirt...etc etc)."
When one's closet is overflowing, you often cannot see the jewels that are in there. I think writing this post has helped me understand that part of my reluctance to purge clothes is because I am then forced to face up to some unpleasant truths: 1. The money I wasted on clothes that were never flattering and barely worn 2. Some items just don't fit anymore and I don't see me wearing them in the foreseeable future. 3. What if I "need" those clothes tomorrow or next week/month/year and they are ..GONE... 4. Can I trust myself to make better decisions in future purchases?
Do you also have a closet full of items that need to BE GONE??? If you have also wrestled with this dilemma and found a way to deal with 'Clothing Overload' please share with us your success stories in the comments section below. Next week I will share with you in a Closet Cleanout Part 2 post some of the strategies that I have used ; both the hits and misses.
OK, Nancy. I'll work on it! I too have many items that I probably will never wear but that I once really liked wearing. I do not have many items that I rarely wore. Two things I have done--one is to give items that I loved but are too small for me (Ugh!) to my sister who is better about food and exercise than I am. The other is to tell myself that when I buy something new, something else goes to Goodwill or St. Vincent's.
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