As of yesterday. It took about 12 hours, with breaks, and over 22,000 steps. And I'd already done the shoes last week. Whew!
To the six piles, I added "1940s Wardrobe." (This is similar to what I did for the shoes.) I used to dress in all vintage or me-made repro, so I still had a good many things mixed in with my regular clothes. I want to hang on to the good vintage stuff, for costume/vintage events and possibly reenacting, but there's no point in hanging onto what doesn't fit or I don't like. I've
got a box of good fabrics and lots of good vintage patterns for replacements. So the "1940s Wardrobe" category is for items moved to that separate capsule, but not hanging in the closet for regular wear.
I'm a little shy about posting these numbers - they're kind of appalling in comparison to the awesome minimalists and moderates on this board! But it's good for me. It might get smaller in a year, but not nearly to this extent.
Beginning: 36
Keep: 18
Alteration: 2
Holding Zone: 3 (black winter skater skirts that need experimentation)
Sentimental: 1
Pass On: 11
1940s Wardrobe: 1
Jeans/Leggings
Beginning: 22
Keep: 11 (2 jeans/jeggings, 5 leggings [wide variety black + denim], 4 atheltic/lounge/work)
Alteration: 2
Holding Zone: 2 (colored leggings for experimentation)
Pass On: 4
1940s Wardrobe: 3
Blouses/Tees (not sweaters or folding tees)
Beginning: 88
Keep: 28 (2 lounge/work)
Temporary Keep: 3 (LS Western shirt, blush collared shirt, SS glitter red turtle)
Alteration: 1
Holding Zone: 2
Sentimental: 5 (Ukraine blouse, 3 choir polos, 1 work polo)
Pass On: 46
1940s Wardrobe: 3
Cardigans/Sweater Vests
Beginning: 34
Keep: 17 (2 lounge)
Temporary Keep: 1 (cropped white 3/4 sleeve - need LS)
Holding Zone: 1
Pass On: 15
Sweaters
Beginning: 40
Keep: 16
Temporary Keep: 1 (red - need shorter)
Holding Zone: 8
Pass On: 15
Dresses
Beginning: 72
Keep: 48 (5 lounge, 4 semiformal/choir)
Temporary Keep: 3 (2 Max Edition dress - need S; wool '50s reproduce)
Alteration: 3
Holding Zone: 4
Pass On: 13
1940s Wardrobe: 1
T-Shirts
Beginning: 52
Keep: 41 (includes layering LS tees & turtles, graphic tees, fashion tees, old favorite/work shirts)
Pass On: 11
I'm fascinated that for skirts, jeans, and cardigans, I kept exactly half in the Keep pile. Talk about consistency! The skirts & jeans are bottoms, which are difficult to fit on me. I'm also less tolerant of discomfort. I guess I figured that out in the past, and even my pre-YLF attempts at editing kept the number of duds down.
For blouses and sweaters, though especially blouses, less than half remained in the Keep pile. I'm a lot easier to fit in the upper body (moreso in the past), so tops are very easy to shop for. (Too easy!) Pre-YLF attempts at editing focused on "Can I wear this?", which was usually Yes for the tops, so they stayed. This is why trying everything on was SUCH a good discipline. I discovered that my bustline has increased (!), so a lot of tops I might have dithered about were clear non-starters. This segment took several hours, but it felt so good to whittle it down!
But now for the ones that didn't narrow down so much: dresses and t-shirts. Dresses first.
At first I was discouraged that I didn't want to get rid of more - the Keep is two-thirds instead of half or less. But this closet edit wasn't primarily about reducing numbers. It was about passing on the things that I won't wear, so that the ones I do want to wear will be visible and available. That two-thirds I'm keeping? I wear them! Regularly, or occasionally, but I do wear them, they fit, and I like them and the variety. And honestly, 72 to 48 is a decent reduction.
T-shirts, I just don't know. I used to live in t-shirts. In my vintage phase I pretty much stopped wearing them. Then I relaxed the vintage thing. Last year I re-discovered their value when in musical rehearsals 3 days a week, sweating constantly and really wanting clean and fun t-shirts to work in. This year I've discovered the fun of good graphic tees for casual days. So I've got a bit of a collection. And also a smallish set of more sentimental shirts (Maroon Out, and show t-shirts) that I don't want to pack up but aren't in regular rotation. I should be more ruthless... but honestly, they don't take much room, so I'm okay with it for now.
No pictures now, I'm afraid. It's late again, and the pictures mostly show in process. I have so much more room in the closet I really need to think about where I'm going to hang stuff.
