When do you let go? - YouLookFab Forum

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When do you let go?

ironkurtin

Veteran

So I've been reading and lurking and just started posting. This is such a nice community! Thanks to Angie and the rest of you, I happily shopped my closet this morning and suddenly realized something. Maybe you have some wisdom.

I moved to Austin three years ago from NYC. I loved NYC and moved to Texas for a job, which is now over; my family adores it here and we're not moving anyplace else anytime soon. And I am hanging on to a bunch of clothes I will never, ever be able to wear here.

I was a real clotheshorse in NYC and fall and winter are definitely my seasons. I love coats, sweaters, and boots, and I picked my items with care and treasured them. As a result I have a lot of really, really nice things that I adore and would purchase again if I saw them, in a heartbeat (whoever coined BBQ, these are the things I would BBQ and eat the cost). But they're winter fabrics and take up room in my small closets, even stored. I will *never* be able to wear them in Austin. I have tried to put up a few of them on ebay, where I regularly post, but I couldn't do it. I ended the auctions early.

Am I insane to have such an attachment to things, even if they are beautiful things? They are timeless, they are gorgeous, they are so soft and well made. If I ever move someplace colder, I will pull them out with a victory dance. But - what if that never happens? Should I just let go?

I know my husband's vote. What's yours?

General

21 replies

Latest reply was from Janet

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I don't think that you have to give them all up- but maybe pair them down to what you would take if you took a winter trip somewhere cold, or a few favorite items. I'd consign or ebay them and use the funds for some items that you can actually wear now- maybe a great bag that you wouldn't normally buy.

Astrid

Veteran

I say keep! If they are really fab things that fit you well, you would forever regret it if you were to move again in the future and then could have worn them. Maybe you could take them out of your closet and store them somewhere else? That way you could have more space in your wardrobe. I think the fact that you couldn't sell them should tell you something.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

You may not know my story, but in a nutshell I have moved back and forth from snowy Tahoe mountains to sweltering hot FL beaches 4 times over the last decade. Each time I think it is going to be the last, but surprise(!) life doesn't always work out how you think!!
It is fair to say I have been living between 2 completely opposite climates - and with some focus I am down to about 160 items of clothing (not counting lounge and workout wear). That's not bad, considering. If I had given away my 'off' climate wear each move, I'd have replaced my wardrobe 4 or more times by now!! (EDIT: 8 times!)
So I would say if they are clothes that you absolutely adore keep them. Store them in a chest or the attic if you have to. But don't keep every single article, just the cream of the crop. You will undoubtedly have occasion for some cold weather wear, even if just for vacation or a business trip someday, no?

catgirl

Veteran

I'm a keeper too. I even keep my old jackets around as extras for guests!

If they are truly classic, well-made items that still fit and will be in style when you pull them out again, why not store them completely out of sight? Then when you take them out, you'll look at them with new eyes and either be delighted all over again or realize you're no longer attached and let them go.

Anonymous

Send them to me for safekeeping. I live in Wisconsin.

That doesn't help. Sorry.

Vildy

Veteran

I'm in the minority here and I don't know that you can do this without a whole lot of inner work but they just plain don't fit your life, even classics
date in the details, fabric doesn't store all that well very long term. Makes
sense to me to pack a suitcase with what you'd take on a cold weather trip/visit, as suggested, including one outfit you'd wear plus a coat or jacket and otherwise turn your back on winter. I know the items represent an aesthetic beauty as well as a long history of success on your part selecting and accumulating them....

ironkurtin

Veteran

Anne, what do you need? Let me know, if I have it and can part with it, it's yours for shipping.

Barbara

Veteran

My advice is to keep everything and plan to do some traveling - somewhere COLD!

I have beautiful merino wool sweaters that I purchased and wore often while living and traveling in Europe. I also have an entire wardrobe of jackets and coats for REALLY cold weather.

Now that I'm back home in NC, I take them when traveling to a much colder climate.
This solution works for me!

Heather

Veteran

IK: space bags, baby!

Jonesy

Veteran

This is tough because not only do you love the clothes, but they also seem to represent your former life/identity. So that makes it really hard, I would imagine! I love Heather's ideas of space bags, or something along those lines. Find a way to minimize the room they are taking up, and keep them. You may revisit them in a few years, and realize you have moved on, but why cut the cord now unless you absolutely have to?

ironkurtin

Veteran

Aren't space bags were the silver bags homeless kids drank out of, from wine-in-a-box? Perhaps liquor is in fact the answer here.

Elly

Veteran

I am late to the game--- but I just had to laugh my butt off. I always had similar associations with space bags except one involving panties at the airport and the people drinking boxed wine are my family members--- now they put it in gatorade bottles, the "grape" flavor.

I can't help because I definitely would have a hard time getting rid of my few special things that I have collected (I live in CO). At the same time, I did move somewhere warm for a few years and came back to a closet full of winter clothes that were in bad shape or didn't fit--- but mine weren't lovies to begin with.

Anonymous

Panties at the airport? I feel so lost.

Heather

Veteran

Um...I definitely meant the as seen on TV space bags that you can store massive amounts of clothing, etc by vacuuming the air out of the bag. Homeless children drinking and panties at the airport--oh dear....O _ o

They sell them at BB&B, etc.

http://www.spacebag.com/15/?mi.....7QodWFJwOQ

Mac

Veteran

I'm afraid that I agree with Vildy - even stunning classics show their age in their details. I could never do this, but it's what I think would be best; sell all but one or two of them at an upscale consignment shop and use that money to buy yourself a gorgeous item that you can relish in your Texan life... and enjoy all the closet space left as a result!

mrseccentric

(website)

Veteran

ironkurtin, i'm no help here. i've never really accumulated all that much, clothing-wise, even so it's very difficult to give up certain items. i have found that there are a very few items that actually 'last' through the years - for me they are my Issey Miyake pieces (which were never reallly 'in fashion' to begin with) and a couple of 1940's vintage jackets that i didn't receive until they were almost 50 years old, an authentic Navy peacoat.

in other words, Vildy's points are pretty correct, IMO. Happily, real jewelry is always in style and takes up no room at all !

if you can find a sensible storage solution that could be a good way to go. re: space bags - my husband is a fanatic about researching and shopping for backpackin/camping gear. space bags are generally recommended for only short-term storage (like when you're actually on the trail) as all that compression causes fibres to deteriorate (especially down, fleece, etc.). it may be wiser to store fewer pieces but do it carefully, so they'll be in good shape if you decide to/need to wear them again.

good luck!!! steph

Kyle

Veteran

When people lose weight, conventional wisdom is that they should get rid of clothes that no longer fit. Perhaps the same is true of a lifestyle change?

Joy

Veteran

No answers, just sympathy. That sounds like my dream wardrobe.

Elly

Veteran

The first time I flew transoceanic I made the mistake of letting my mother into my house--- I went to bed with my bags all packed. I didn't realize until I was going through Denver International Airport that my mother hadn't slept------ she had unpacked all my backs and repacked everything in them in a combination of ziplocs and space bags. Apparently she thought having everything dry in case my plane crashed in the middle of the ocean would be helpful to me (insert guffaw here). Particularly frustrating for the TSA agents, that were sure I was smuggling drugs sandwiched between layers of neatly folded panties vacumn sealed into spacebags. By the end of that one every pair of my panties was spread across three tables in the sorting area.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Do you ever vacation to freezing cold places in the Winter? If not, I vote pass on the lot.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

OK, to follow the space bag tangent for a moment, I had to laugh, especially after seeing the episode of Breaking Bad the other night, when Skyler stuffs their illegally-aquired cash in space bags in between a bunch of clothing, hangs all the space bags in the closet, and the closet rail crashes to the floor.

But back to the original topic, I understand how tough it would be to part with those clothes. But if you have no plans to move back to colder climes or visit them frequently, I would think they'd just take up space and remind you that you have beautiful things you cannot wear.

Would you be interested in posting them to YLFers for possible sale? It certainly sounds like a lot of folks here may be interested in them, and I've found it's much easier to give up items if I know they're going to a good home where they'll be appreciated and used.