This weekend I tried on every single piece of clothing that I own. Saturday, with the Red Sox game on in the background, I went through my entire closet and my chest of drawers and did a huge purge of the stuff that I no longer fit in or wear anymore. I cannot think of a time when I actually tried on all my clothes in a single day, and it was quite an adventure. From the “way to small” t-shirt I could fit in when I was 25, to the bad suit I bought at Target one day for an emergency unscheduled funeral I had to go to, I found all sorts of things that I definitely did not need anymore. So into the pile of “giveaways” that was growing in the corner they went!
This process took hours, but it was so worth it to clear out some clutter. I had forgotten about many of these items, which only confirmed to me that I no longer needed them. After all, if I hadn’t worn it in so long that I forgot I even had it, why keep it now? It would just disappear back into the closet until the next time I did a clothing purge! So I made a decision to be brutal in my keep/toss decision making, and ended up with 2 bags of clothes to get rid of. Finally, I could see the back of my closet and I had room for my t-shirts to actually be folded in the drawer. I love clearing out stuff that I feel weighing on me, and this was a long time coming. While I am very good at organizing the office closet and garage, my clothing had been ignored for a long time. But now that I had everything ready to toss, where would I send it? At this point I had two choices – the Goodwill store, where others less fortunate than myself could benefit, or the local clothing exchange where I could walk away with a few bucks back on the clothes I already paid for.
Well, I decided to donate the clothes to Goodwill, as the money I spent on these clothes over the years is long gone by now. I definitely don’t need the minimal amount of money the exchange would have given me, but the folks who benefit and/or work at the Goodwill stores could probably use the money. So I can feel good that my clothes are going to a good cause, they can benefit from selling my clothes, and I get to reclaim some order and space in my closet. It’s a win-win for everyone!
I highly recommend to anyone looking to clear out some clutter in their closet to do it this way. By trying on everything I had, I could A. see how much I owned and B. realize how much I didn’t need anymore. When you look at the big picture, even as a guy who thought he didn’t have much, it’s quite amazing to see the sheer volume of stuff you no longer need.
Have you ever done a purge like this, where you basically lay everything out in front of you and become ruthless about what you keep or toss? I know some of those shows on TV take everything into the yard to see it all at one time, and I always thought that was silly – until now. I now understand why they do it, and it worked for my clothes this weekend.
My wife and I cleaned out both of my sons’ closets and dressers when we painted their rooms. I think we came away with 6 garbage bags for donation. I find it very liberating.
I LOVE to clean out my house! This past week my husband and I had spring break so I went through every closet I could get my hands on. I piled up a bunch of stuff for our garage sale later this month and we donated a few bags of clothes to the lupus foundation. The Lupus foundation will come pick up your bags right in your driveway!! I do this kind of major clearing out a few times a year and each time I find that I am able to let go of “things” that I thought I needed. For example, I dumped a garbage bad full of old high school, college, and grad school notes and tests that I had been keeping “just in case” so I only kept a few of my favorite papers I’d written and it felt great to get rid of the rest! When my house is free of extra stuff I feel so good! Great post!
It is liberating! I thought it was silly to lay everything out as well. But it does really give you perspective on what you have and what you really don’t need. Now, if only I can do that with the rest of the house. Baby steps….right?
I’ll keep this flagged as a constant reminder… maybe it will goad me into doing what must be done 🙂
I go through my clothes every season. If the weather ever warms up here in Pennsylvania, I’ll go through all of winter clothes as I pack them away. My rule is, if I haven’t worn it for two seasons, it’s out. This year I won’t be getting out my regular summer clothes since I’ll be wearing maternity clothes, so it will be another season before I review the summer stuff.
I divide everything I’m getting rid of into two piles: Goodwill or garbage. If it’s in good shape, it goes to the Goodwill. If it’s torn or stained, it goes to the trash.
I have just gone through the same process with my wardrobe on Friday. It coincided with changing over my wardrobe for autumn/winter.
It feels good to lighten the load and only have things in my wardrobe that I will actually wear, that is in a colour that suits me and that fits.
Everything else gets moved on to someone else who will wear it, eg Goodwill or a friend.
I think that cleaning out everything and getting rid of things you don’t need or want makes a lot of room. So then you can go back out and SHOP!
I cleaned out my linen closet today and found the Christmas stockings I looked and looked for at Christmas. Guess it’s too late to hang them on the mantel. I have purged today and I have a wonderful feeling. Enjoyed your post today.
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you penning this post and also the rest of the site is really good.