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Cleaning House

Elly

Veteran

My task for the second half of the month has been to finish sorting my closet-- the difficult areas that I usually leave untouched-- gear, sleepwear, special occasion items, and orphans.

I've decided to let the orphans and the special occasion items go-- most of them have been sitting without use for YEARS. I have two skirts that are duking it out for a place in my closet.

Gear and sleepwear was harder since my play capsules work hard. By doing this I've been able to identify areas where I have way too much and where I have holes (I think they do exist, believe it or not).

I've split it into 5 mini-capsules:
outdoors
gym clothes
sleepwear
home improvement
art clothes

I was able to get rid of 7 sweatshirts, a pair of pants, three pair of sweats, 6 pairs of shorts, 6 shirts, and tons of old tees and a few additional items.

I kept a few old tees to sleep in, but would like to replace them with nicer cotton. I also need to replace a sweatshirt, wicking tees, a pair of sleep pants, and 1-2 pair of lounge shorts. This should free up a lot of dresser space for me.

Has anyone else successfully conquered their closet purging demons?

General

20 replies

Latest reply was from Elly

jenanded

Veteran

Oh wow... you got a lot done especially demons. I just love that it makes you feel better to let this stuff go. Well done.

Staysfit

Veteran

kudos to you! I haven't started in with my gear or other demons yet. It was hard enough to get through my wardrobe!

cheryle (Dianthus)

(website)

Veteran

My August goal was to do a closet clean-out too but I haven't gotten very far with it. Kudos to you for getting in there and getting to the hard parts Elly. Perhaps I will be inspired by your success.

Summer

Veteran

Good for you, Elly. Closet-sorting is very satisfying, isn't it? (after it's done!).
I have one area that always gets neglected: my "painting the house" clothes. Whenever I have a worn-out top or pair of jeans, I tend to pop them straight into the painting drawer without first tossing out a few of the even older items already there. Drawer-sorting spree on the way!

kkards

Veteran

my sleeping capsule is over flowing…whenever i decide a tee is no longer wearable for daytime wear, it goes into the nighttime pile, yet i never seem to toss anything out of the nighttime pile….this has been on my to do list for a long time….but i will get to it, i will….

Maneera

(website)

Veteran

Kkards....your comment made me laugh! I suppose it's time for you to weed out hole-y tees and bottoms from your sleepwear pile!

Elly, great job on your progress. Feels good, right?

I have recently done another large wardrobe edit and tackled everything together. I went through all my belongings over the course of 3 days, and successfully weeded out everything that doesn't work. I saw a lot of tops and bottoms in my sleepwear collection too, most of them looking crappy, so I decided to purge most of it. This is what I did to sort things and prevent what's happening in Kkards sleepwear section:

I took out everything that was sleepwear or could become sleepwear because it was old. I added all old workout tees and lounge shorts that could become sleepwear.....so it was all together.

Earlier, I used to pile up sleeping T-shirts together and sleeping shorts together. Then pulled things randomly and wore...that was a mistake.

So this time, I made sets that matched best ---- for example if I had pink shorts, I found a pink print tshirt to go with it, same for blue or orange or red. Once I was done, I packed up everything I didn't think deserved to be worn to be used as dusters.

Then I took the orphans -- the leftover tees and shorts that I didn't want to discard, and I went off to a cheap market where you can buy really affordable shorts and t-shirts. I matched tees and shorts to complete my sets right then and there, instead of leaving it for another day. I had a set number in mind - 12 sets in my case, worth 2 weeks if I couldn't do laundry.

Now nothing has holes, nothing is faded, and the sets match so they look presentable and intentionally paired together! Once a set gets washed, it is added at the bottom of the pile every time. Earlier, I had some tees and shorts that got more wear than others, and even if I wanted to coordinate shorts and tee, something could be in the wash. Now that doesn't happen at all since each set rotates together. It's brilliant!

Tania

Veteran

Nice work!

Alassë

Veteran

Great job, Elly!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

*APPLAUSE*

This is sweet music to my ears, Elly. You are going like a Boeing.

Elly

Veteran

I decided to go ahead and start this thread because it seemed like I wasn't the only one struggling with this. Years ago I posted something about "demoting" clothes-- a concept that has never worked out well for me.

I too was one who hoarded clothing for painting/art and for household projects and doing outdoorsy things and even to wear on weekends.

However, truth be told, I spend so much of my time doing outdoorsy things I really am served better by purposed-built clothing, and the same with gym clothes-- I even prefer loungewear that is made for lounging since I'm not a big PJ wearer (and when I do wear PJs it is when I am traveling and others might see me-- so I don't want to look ratty).

I was worried I would ruin my "construction and paint clothes" and run out, which I just recently figured out was kinda a silly fear for me-- other than jeans (which are hard to destroy) most of my construction and art capsules are inexpensive loungewear or men's tees and overshirts. Stuff that I could replace for less than $10 new and for dollars at the thrift store, quite easily. Hoarding problem solved.

In addition, the thought of moving/packing/storing or packing to be working on the road really is helping me narrow things down to what really "works" in my wardrobe.

I also cheated-- I pulled things out and checked the fit and condition and then made a list and made the decisions by plugging items into another list of needs for each of the activities. Way easier to get rid of soft old clothes with lots of memories this way. I actually found a couple minor holes in my functional sleepwear and outdoors capsules because I had multiples of certain items that weren't right--- like 3 cream sweatshirts that were TOTALLY impractical for the only thing I'm likely to wear them for, fishing at the lake and nothing dark enough I'd feel fine sitting on the muddy bank in.

Thistle

Veteran

Wow, super impressed! You really tackled that closet.

Hmmm, I seemed to have misplaced the discipline to tackle mine

chadya

Veteran

I may have posted this before here if you have read it then you can read quickly.

The last time I did a major closet cleanout, I culled sleeping/hanging around the house category down to about 14 items of each per season.

I got rid of many souvenir T shirts, ratty sweatshirts and pullon type pants and just 10/14 of each.

has worked out well.

shedev

Veteran

Mine was jeans. Purging was due to fit issues. I did bring in some updates, but not quite as many as I purged.

Sara L.

Veteran

Great job! Those are the categories I tend to skip when I do closet purges as well. I really need to go through my exercise gear stuff.

jackiec

Veteran

Well done! I did a big purge this spring and it felt amazing.

Anonymous

I did an activity based capsule re-org a few years ago. Unlike others, I tend to buy zero clothing for once- or twice-a-year occasions, and just tended to make do with clothes that were quite inappropriate. I now have a capsule for interviews, funerals, winter special occasions, and summer special occasions. I have precisely 1 outfit for each, and plan on wearing the same thing for many years! This makes me happy that I have appropriate clothes to wear for everything. I don't care if they're dated.

One of the areas that feels a bit under serviced is my summer weekend capsule. I keep thinking I don't need many clothes in this category, but I always forget about the two or three weeks off I take in the summer.

Elly

Veteran

Smittie-- I'm totally with you on the special occasion problem. I've always suffered from that in the past. Shortly after coming to YLF I started building an interview capsule (pencil skirt, heeled oxfords, summer and winter dress slacks, light and dark button downs) and shortly after I started working at my current job I began building what I call a "gallery capsule". Basically, it covers all the gallery openings and work events I attend (cocoon dress, tube skirt, summer and winter drape-front top,a silk tee blouse, fall weight turtleneck, dress booties). These two capsules and my jackets/wraps (leather, denim, satin) have MOST of my special occasion needs covered. I also have a very summery dress and a pair of heeled sandals for summer weddings and graduations. I've never been invited to a winter wedding (they aren't common here) but I'd need something a bit more festive, I think-- I could get dressed in a pinch though. I could use a warm but light sweater for my interview capsule and a pair of closed-toe heels for transitional wear and fancy winter occasions. I'd also love a pair of summer "gallery pants" (slim black crops or a jogger of some sort) and some great flat dress shoes for warm weather-- I'm slowly building, though.

I think my biggest "special occasion" hole is a fairly casual one and that is what to wear on dates and to casual get-togethers in the summer --- I wear jeans to work and shorts for weekend wear but wouldn't mind having a CASUAL summer skirt or dress even though I'm not much of the sundress type to give the SO something different than work to look at even though our social life is very casual.

Chadya and Maneera-- you are both so clever with your paired sleep capsules! I don't need that many items, but I'm trying to pair up what I have and then buy some nicer tops to supplement.

chadya

Veteran

@Elly thanks for the compliment,
tank top and undies, not so fancy
Kmart PJ in the winter

but it works

Anonymous

High five to you Elly!
I think you need a casual summer dress. I feel much better going to the restaurant in a dress or skirt in the summer. Summer festivals would be another good occasion.
Gallery openings sound fabulous

Elly

Veteran

Gallery openings are a lot of fun-- I'm a member of a local photographers organization which means I get invites, but we are a small enough community that nothing is super exclusive-- the more the merrier, for the most part. It is nice to have somewhere to go to dress up a bit and talk art or history and have small bites. The SO has a bit of a wonky work schedule, so we don't go out to eat very often unless it is with friends.

I will have to keep my eyes out.