I've been working on a project for the past few weeks. I'm decluttering my clothing. This has been the result of a variety of things: reading The 100 Thing Challenge, turning 30, feeling frumpy (jeans and t-shirts every day will do that to you), getting tired of feeling frumpy, and then stumbling across a couple of blog posts on "Mommy Fashion" and Cate MacDonald's interesting Twenty Pieces project.What I finally realized is this: it is not helpful to have a closet full of clothes that I don't like, don't fit into, and don't wear.
I've had too much in my closet for a long time. Much of the problem started when I had children - instead of having one "teacher wardrobe" with a few pairs of play clothes for my days off, I had maternity clothes. And then "just had a baby" clothes. Nursing tops. Of course I kept all the "skinny" clothes, because I was certainly going to fit into them again! Multiply all this times three children, with different starting sizes each time.
Frugality (perhaps misplaced?) also played a large role here. I didn't want to get rid of anything, because I didn't want to have to re-buy it later when I either lost weight or got pregnant or quit nursing or, or, or. And because I knew that any given item was only going to fit me for a limited period of time, I tended to purchase the cheapest clearance bargains that I could find, regardless of whether I actually loved the piece, or even liked how I looked in it.
I had boxes and boxes of clothes, and too many pieces in my closet, and frankly, too many days when walking into the closet produced tears instead of a cute outfit. When you're staring at 50+ pieces, and you can't find anything that matches, fits, and makes you feel pretty, it is time for something to change.
So I'm clearing out. I don't have a specific numerical goal in mind, like Cate, although I find her minimalistic ideal highly appealing. I'm just aiming for a closet of clothing that is simple, pretty, and that I actually enjoy wearing.
6 comments:
I think that's awesome, and something I need to do, too. I finally just took away my maternity clothes, but at 10 months postpartum still working toward the skinniest of my prepregancy. Like you, though, I've found that a lot of my wardrobe I don't even like anymore... I just found this on pinterest and I'm going to use it as a sort of reference as I reshape my wardrobe in the future: http://pinterest.com/pin/60664013/ Some things I don't find appealing on the list, but I think it's a decent starting point.
Rock ON. Sounds brilliant.
And now I'm off to read your links!
p.s. - write a follow-up, yeah? I'm really interested in hearing how it turns out.
I think this is a lovely idea. Em! I've started doing something similar, inspired by reading minimalist blogs. I've gotten rid of close to 2/3 of my previous wardrobe (it was hard! I had to do it in stages, and moving across the country w/ limited shipping capacity helped!). I've replaced it with pieces that I love. It helped to go with a trusted friend who told me honestly what looked great and what didn't and WHY (so that I could use the criteria when shopping on my own). And don't worry about having to try on tons of stuff when you shop--I tried on close to 150 shirts to find 8 that I loved and that looked good. And that's OK! :)
I just read this blog post on an organizing blog that reminded me of your post on the topic. I like the idea of only allowing yourself a certain number of hangers.
Another tactic I now take is I am extremely picky about my clothes. If there is anything remotely wrong with it - style, size, quality - it goes in a donation box or back to the store. It helps with both getting rid of old clothes (I am also "ruthless" at this) and managing my clothing budget.
Also - I highly recommend regular readership of The Happiest Mom and Ain't No Mom Jeans. They are consistently awesome.
Allegra, both of those are in my google reader, and I LOVE them! Glad you enjoy them too!
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