Lately I’ve been in closet decluttering mode. After counting every single item in my wardrobe, I am now re-evaluating what I own.
There are countless articles and blog posts out there about how to declutter your closet. (And of course, there is the KonMari method.) Some suggest an order to declutter in. Others pose a list of questions to help you decide whether or not to keep something. I even saw one that asked you to think about what your goals were. (Um, to get rid of stuff? And therefore feel more satisfied with life? Duh.)
This is not a post that tells you how to do any of that. Decluttering one’s wardrobe feels personal to me because clothes are personal. So, what I’m sharing today is not prescriptive in any way.
As I got rid of things, I made a list of those items, and I wrote down the reasons why. So here’s a summary of that list. Instead of giving a big-picture look at how to declutter, here are the specific reasons I removed certain items from my wardrobe.
1. It didn’t fit well. This was the most cited reason in my list. Out of the 27 items I purged so far this year, 17 of them listed fit as one of the reasons, if not the reason. This can be further broken down into two subcategories:
1a. It never fit me. Apparently I sometimes just buy things that are the wrong size. In some other cases, clothes change on you. Example: These Everlane tank tops I wrote about stretched out too much. But mostly it was me buying the wrong size. That speaks to me needing to pay more attention when I’m shopping.
1b. It doesn’t fit me now aka my weight changed aka it’s too tight. Ooof. In other words, many pencil skirts and pants did not make the cut because they now pull funny across my belly. Emotionally, this was a little hard to accept. I held on to things thinking that I could fit back into them again one day. But it’s been years since I could wear some of these items comfortably. Clothes that remind me that I can’t fit into them anymore make me sad. So, in a move of self acceptance, I donated these items. If my weight changes, then I can reassess my wardrobe then.
2. It felt like the old me. I cited style as the reason for letting something go in 5 instances. That seems like a low number. To me this means I know what I like and I’m mostly sticking to it.
3. I never reach for it. I cited this reason 4 times. This is a perplexing one. Usually it’s an item that adheres to my style and fits reasonably well, but for some reason, I just never reach for it. Why exactly? Hard to say. I guess we should let some things remain a mystery.
4. The details of the garment aren’t quite right. This reason overlaps with style and with fit, but I put it in its own category because were it not for the detail being wrong for me, maybe I would have kept it. (But then, the garment would be a different garment.) Examples: The sleeves on a cardigan were too skinny for my liking. A shirt was too long and thus not flattering to my proportions. The closures on a jumpsuit were on the shoulder, a strange place for them, and made it a challenge to put on.
5. Injuries and old age. I regret to inform you that limitations of an aging body is a real thing. This reason applies exclusively to some of the shoes I purged. Due to injury, I can’t wear heels anymore. I can’t put too much pressure on the balls of my feet, and I need arch support. I have accepted that my feet aren’t going to suddenly get better. Thus, these were easy decisions to make — even if it hurt to jettison over a thousand dollars worth of shoes. They’re either comfortable or they’re not.
6. I never use it. This reason was cited just twice, and in both cases they were running shoes. Because running is a thing I haven’t done in years. And actually, I hate running.
7. It no longer sparks joy. As I considered a vintage bag I had thrifted from Goodwill, I realized I just didn’t care for it anymore. It was perfectly fine, but I had just fallen out of love.
8. I wore it to death. One item fit this category, a sweatshirt from Target that I wore often, year after year until there were multiple holes in it. I felt pretty good about using it all the way to the end of its life. But it gets even better! A woman in my local Buy Nothing group was collecting old sweatshirts and sweaters to refashion into baby clothes, so I gave her my sweatshirt. Now it’s hopefully living a new life. Not bad for a piece of fast fashion!
First Image: Priscilla Du Preez/Unsplash
With regards to my experience with items under reason number 3 (items that fit, have no major issues that make them uncomfortable to wear, and are reasonably within my style parameters, but that I nonetheless don’t reach for much at all until I eventually declutter them), I think the usual explanation is that I have too many other items I like more that fill the same or a very similar niche in outfits. I think the most vivid illustration for me is two J.Crew Factory Sweater Blazers that I wore a lot until I got the J.Crew Sweater Blazers that were just better in every way at filling the same role in my work outfits. The J.Crew ones had a more interesting and flattering design, the fabric felt nicer, etc. etc. Though in my case, it takes me forever and many rounds of decluttering to make a final decision, even when I haven’t reached for something in years.
And ah, items that never fit me that well from the start, or that haven’t fit me well in a very long time (a year or longer), can still take a very long time to declutter. With items that never really fit right, I wasn’t very knowledgeable about how things like pencil skirts and blazers should fit even when I was already in law school. And in the days before I started my blog, I would even sometimes overlook some visible fit issues in the dressing room if a sale price was very good.
That’s very true. I do have some similar items — I am guilty of owning multiple chambray shirts — where I might favor some over the other, usually because of the fabric. But I also just have some items that don’t aren’t particularly similar to others that I just don’t reach for. Ah… I remember buying blazers back in the day and shudder to think now of how ill-fitting they must have been. At least with time, we are learning what it means for something to fit well and in a flattering way.
Oof, 1b hits close to home! I’m adjusting my lifestyle to something closer to my pre-pandemic routines, so I’m planning on holding on to those items *just* a bit longer, but I think I may just pack them away instead of letting them stay mixed in with the rest of my clothes. If spring rolls around and things still aren’t a good fit, I think I can finally let them go for good. Thanks for letting us peek into your process (and for the reminder that I’m not alone in my wardrobe shifting)!
That seems like a good approach. Sometimes I create a purgatory section in my wardrobe with the things I’m not sure about to either revisit later or to remind myself to try wearing them to see if I can make them work.
Relating so much to this post! I’ve been decluttering a lot lately and realizing many of the things you mentioned above apply. I think notes 2 and 3 are combined for me. I don’t reach for the items because of some reason (lately I’m realizing it’s mostly due to the color), and I feel like those items are “old me” as well. But for some strange reason I’ve not let them go because they’re typically “classic” items (chambray shirt being one of them) that are so often touted as “wardrobe staples”. I think I need to get over that and figure out what exactly are my personal staples.
Figuring out your personal staples is a worthy endeavor. There are certain “wardrobe staples” that I doubt I’d ever wear.