I’ve been aching to clear out my closet and see what can be minimized, but I’ve constantly repeated, “I’ve got more important things to do!” Well, today is the day to clean out the unnecessary, unworn, ripped, tattered, and otherwise useless. Spring is here, and now it’s time to find some clothing to donate or throw out!
I’m a rather failing minimalist. Life circumstances (being a graduate student) require that I keep ungodly numbers of papers for years. In an effort to minimize the clutter and paper space, I’ve scanned and digitized everything I can. The rest — what must be held for safe keeping — goes under the bed.
Clothing can’t be moved or digitized, and space must be occupied. While I have ample room in my apartment, there isn’t much “storage.” I don’t have any furniture (i.e., bureaus, dressers, etc.), either. Every time I look in my closet, I’m reminded of the unorganized mass I own. After many weeks contemplating, I decided this would be the day to really review what I have, and decide, In or Out?
Before I review the photos and take you on a little tour of what’s left, I want to explain some rules that informed my choices:
1. While minimal, I haven’t moved to uniforms; thus, multiple outfits remain
2. I’ve trained and run two marathons (and plan on more), which require athletic clothing
3. I don’t like multinational brand names stamped across my chest
4. I won’t replace or buy more clothing by reviewing and donating excess
5. Furniture could help make it look more minimal, but see rule 4
Then, I moved to tee, long-sleeve, and collared shirts. Despite advocating for a more minimal life, I found it hard to let go and/or donate some of my more sentimental — however aged — clothing. The soft texture and wild memories of concert tees were the hardest to rule over. Images of dancing, friends, former girlfriends, and everything in between seemed stained into the shirts. In the end, those with massive pit discolorations were thrown out. Although, I couldn’t help but keep a couple for sentimental purposes (and I wear them frequently). One collared shirt was a big no-no, as it featured a brand I no longer wish to advertise across my chest nor support.
Two pairs of jeans unfortunately needed to go. I had wiped out on my bicycle in one of them, and they no longer met professional work standards. The other had started out as skinny jeans and were quickly shrinking into leggings. I’m not sure if that’s a consequence of weight gain or the dryer; let’s go with the latter option.
My wonderful mother insisted I take a bed protector with me, and I’ve had it for quite some time — unused. I’m not opposed to fitted protectors, but this one is loose. Invariably, it crumples up into an awkward ball in my bed and messes up the fitted sheets. No, it was time to be rid of that stinky old “protector.”
This little In or Out experiment netted 28 items. Those items will either be donated or thrown away. Additionally, I was able to take out 14 hangers from my closet (bringing the total to 42)! Now, it’s easier to get at what I want, as opposed to fighting back and forth to get jeans and a t-shirt. There’s room again, which feels fantastic.
The following are 5 lessons learned in the process of eliminating the unnecessary from my wardrobe:
1. Sentimentality is piqued by things, but inspired by brains
Humans are inherently pulled to place energy and emphasis in things. We name cars, put stickers on everything, and place creative cases on phones, all with the desire to make something nice and unique. Our things get special treatment. They become a time capsule and place to store our memories. It’s important to remember that those mental images are within us — not in things.
2. Clearing out old clothing is therapeutic
What seems to be a chore at first is rather calming as you go along. There’s a routine: open, dump, review, decide in or out. That’s all there is to minimizing your wardrobe. In the calm of a weekend day, it can be a meditative task to focus on the here and now.
3. My nice things might be necessary things to another
I have ample clothing, even after minimizing some. What helped me decide to donate a couple more items are other people. It helped to focus on them. The “nice” stuff that I rarely — if ever — use could be immensely helpful and necessary for another person or family. I’m not just removing stuff from my closet and tossing it, as I want some of these things to have better owners.
4. It’s embarrassing what we keep around or forget to throw out
I don’t know how 2 stray socks slowly buried their way into the bottom of my box o’ socks, but they did. I probably wouldn’t have noticed for a couple years, if I didn’t engage in this cleanse. Also, the Halloween costume from a couple years ago? Yeah, no need to keep that around.
5. Minimizing your wardrobe takes far less time than you think
I procrastinated for weeks about getting rid of extra clothing. I didn’t want to let go of anything, and felt like I had more important things to accomplish. In some ways, I did, but that was also a tool to delay the inevitable. Now, the day of reckoning is here and complete. My closet looks way better. In reality, what I thought would take hours only took one. One and done to be lighter than ever.
I recently cleared my wardrobe, including pieces I’m just too old to wear now that I have 2 kids & my college days are long past. Just because something still fits doesn’t always mean you should wear it! Another hidden benefit is that it’s easier to find things when you have less clutter and easier to decide what to wear with fewer options.
I started clearing out my wardrobe over a year ago. After removing everything from my closet and dresser, I pulled out the items that should be let go: things that were too old, worn, stained, ripped, etc. Then I used the “Oprah trick” (hanging the hangers backwards). It shows you what you actually wear and what you don’t. After a few more months, I was able to do another clean out and let go of some things I just didn’t wear.
Next came Project 333 – choose 33 items of clothing to wear for 3 months (pack up everything else). It seems restrictive, but it’s actually nice to have 33 of my faves hanging where I can see them. But even then I didn’t use everything in a month, so I start to allow myself some latitude. If I don’t wear something for a month, I remove it and replace it with something else. This allows for changing weather or changing my mind.
Now my wardrobe changes organically – I keep a excel spreadsheet on the back of my bedroom door with a list of my current wardrobe, and I mark what I wear every day. I update it every month for items that have been removed or added. There is no impulse shopping – just replacing things that I wear a lot. I don’t wear a uniform, but I have definitely honed in on a style that suits me.
Vicki,
Thanks for sharing your story and some terrific tips! These are awesome. 33 favorite items seems like an impressive challenge. Happy to hear that people are advocating for less and showing it can be done!
Sam
I’m definitely going to use the hanger trick.
Great read! We totally agree with you – decluttering the wardrobe is one of the most therapeutic things we can do. xoxo
Great job!
Re the socks. Paraphrasing Jack Nicholson in the movie Heartburn — there are roughly 250 million people in America. We each lose about four socks per year. That’s one billion missing socks — where do they all go?! LOL. 😉
Love it, Bette! 🙂
Those billions of lost socks become tupperware lids.
LOL. Isn’t that the truth Barb!
The key for me is to take it slowly. I started with my closet and donated most of the items. Next is my dresser and after that…who knows. There are any number of things I can focus my attention on…just one at at time. Even at my pace…the feeling of freedom and space is wonderful.
Great article! I’m in the midst of doing this myself. I have large 2 bags going to a consignment shop and another going to Goodwill. I recently changed my career and left the stressful corporate world to become a dog walker. This positive change allowed me to get rid of an abundance of fancier clothes that I no longer need to go to work. It’s not stressful to dress for work anymore as I wear the same thing to walk the dogs. As a reader mentioned above, I am also going to use Project 333 to build my summer wardrobe. I can’t wait!
Congratulations on the clothing clear out! That’s next on my spring cleaning list. The photo of the lint gave me a chuckle….
Haha. Knew someone would appreciate that. 😉 Thanks for the comment, Mikel.
I’ve done the purge. One thing I did with old convert tee’s that I’ll never wear is I made them into pillow covers. A size medium or small usually fits really well over a standard pillow. No sewing needed! I don’t worry about the arms flapping, I think they just give your pillow cover character. I use mine on our spare bed and will also use them when we finally get a couch.
After cleaning out my closet with the initial run throughs of donate and throw away, I do a wear through. I wear each item that I chose to keep and make sure that 1) I still like it and 2) it still fits in the right way.
Piqued not peaked.
Ah, Alexa! Good catch — again. Thanks! 🙂
Great job! As far as I’m concerned you are certainly a minimalist in your closet! I have a floor to ceiling shoe closet that, today, is half-way cleaned. Going back to the drudge work after I send this. I was able to pare 4 pairs of shoes but my husband, just bought two and reluctantly gave up one pair! I have to say, I am the champion of black shoes, having dozens still to pitch. When I was in grad school (way back) I was so poor that I had only one pair of real shoes (the other being semi-passable flip flops), and as a woman, that is quite an accomplishment. I also didn’t carry a purse during that period, so I did seem a bit strange to anyone other than another poor grad student. I was pretty proud of being so frugal and practical, but over the years, lost my way (as I made real money in the real world). Now as I enjoy the first months of retirement, I am glad I had that experience early in life as it has made me realize that economizing, now that my income has shrunk, will be easier for me than for most people. And it really does feel good to see some white space around my things, instead of everything crammed in together. Frugal living is clean living in my book. Your blog brings back memories as well as helps me keep focused on what is important in life. Now back to cleaning out my shoe closet . . .
I rewear clothes like crazy so that I can avoid the laundromat schlep as long as possible- that means I’m reluctant to let go of undies and socks because I can’t rewear them. I have some in desparate need of replacing- far too many times through the wash, they barely stay on my bum anymore, haha
Hi, I love this and I’m so thankful that you are sharing here. I just cleaned my master walk in closet, and I could do this three times over. I have hogged up all of the closets in the house and it’s not nice. After spending hours on a lovely Saturday, going thru clothing, I finally HAD IT! I do not want to spend my time, energy, and precious hours of life doting over my clotting and possessions. Truly, this seems crazy to me! it was a great day and I could have been at a coffee shop studying my nutrition (which is banking into my health and my future) or I could have visited a sick friend or taken my dogs for a ride..REALLY! So, I out a separate rack in my basement. I have decided to to with Thredup online, and give them a try. I had good success with another online service for selling but they have changed their format. So, I want a simple wardrobe. Ihave come up with some conclusions and I’d like to share.
I only need 5 pair of capri workout pants not 15
I only need 5 pair of yoga pants with an optional 6th for lounging around.
5-7 workout tops/bras and 5-7 t-shirst to work out.
Three – four workout jackets for walking, gym, etc. of different weights for weather.
There is more I could go on, but just removing the litany of workout clothing is going to be huge for me.
Next I will tackle designer bags. How many does one really need? What functions do our bags preform? Colors, and classic styles are key and holding a small iPad or lap top. A few pointers…no matter how we feel about her father, Ivanka Trump seems to have some neat solutions that won’t break the bank and won’t “brand” label me too much.
I’m now looking for cap sleeved summer dresses to be worn causally or dressed rather than so many shorts and tops and slacks.
I need to hone in on the classic slacks, skirts, blouses and I want things to be quality but easy to take care of them.
So, I have taken a step, Identified what I need to do, and still have a bit to learn. But I am holding onto items that do not fit or don’t fit my lifestyle any longer.
Any suggestions, sites, ideas, etc.? Again, I am NOT promoting any brand, but looking for those easy “go-to” items.
Thank you and happy purging 🙂