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Closet culling: Do you purge before, after, during a season?

ironkurtin

Veteran

I'm going through my summer stuff to put it away, and I'm hesitant to dump some things I didn't wear this summer - only because I wasn't in an office this past season (unemployment stinks) and don't know if I'll need them for next, when - cross fingers - I am (steady employment for the win!).

This raised a question in my mind: when do *you* find the best time to purge? Immediately after a season? Immediately before? During? I typically purge during all three, but mostly about midway through when it becomes clear which items I'm never going to wear. You?

General

26 replies

Latest reply was from Mo

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

No set routine. I purge as often as possible.

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

I usually find myself doing it once the weather has changed, as I look back on last year (the pro of having an outfit blog!) and decide what I want to carry through for this season and what new things I want to buy. Sometimes it takes a while to settle in to a new season, though, so it tends to run all season long for me...with the bulk done at the beginning.

Isabel

Veteran

I have started purging during. I do the main one at the start.

nancylee

Veteran

I tend to purge most at the beginning of a season. It's when I evaluate what items feel like "me" and what items no longer work for me. I also reconsider items I haven't worn after a season has passed....and get rid of a few more things then.

Adelfa

Veteran

I purge shortly after the new season sets in, when my closet starts getting crowded due to the fact that I've been bringing in the new season's clothes without putting away the old season's clothes. That is my major purge.

I purge during a season when it feels like I have a closet or drawer full of clothes with nothing to wear. That is my opportunity to identify items that are working well, move along the things I'm not wearing, and identify any wardrobe holes.

I didn't use to, but I now love the purging process.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I purge worn or ill fitting things at the end of a season, and those that no longer feel like me. I purge again bi-yearly when I switch my clothes from one closet to another. (I store winter-only things in summer and summer-only things in winter). And I purge a little bit during the season as well.

Hmmm. No wonder my closet is so empty; I purge more than I shop!

Queen Mum

Veteran

yes...

a little all year long. I probably have always done my biggest purges at the beginning of each season, although I finally have my closet at the exact size I want so from here on out it will be one in, one out.... in the the new, out with the old

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I purge whenever I feel the mini-Angie sitting on my shoulder questioning if I really need thing X that I haven't worn for a month!

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

I purge throughout. I have taken to keeping a bag next to my closet and as I realize an item is not working out for whatever reason, instead of letting it continue to hang in my closet unworn and overlooked, I pack it into the bag. When the bag is full, I check through one last time to make sure I didn't jump the gun on anything, then I either donate it or pack it away (if it doesn't fit).

Sara L.

Veteran

I do a large purge in the fall and spring when I pack away the past season's clothes and bring out the new season. I purge both items from the current closet that are being packed away and also stuff that I'm unpacking - sometimes my style has changed enough over the past few months that clothes that I liked last season look awful to me (in my head I'm thinking "why did I keep THAT"). I enjoy creating space in my closet as I don't like clutter.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

I also purge all the time...

MsMaven

Veteran

Mainly at the beginning of a new season. I was shocked when I opened my sweater drawer a couple of weeks ago. What was I thinking when I bought all of these? Then as the weather cooled and I tried wearing some of them I realized that I had been carried away by sale prices. There is no place in my wardrobe for an itchy sweater, even it it was 40% off at BR.

JennyAnne

(website)

Veteran

I purge mostly at the beginning of a season, when I'm getting out the clothes for the weather coming. I figure if it doesn't excite me after not seeing it for 6 months, I'm defiitely not going to miss it.

rae

(website)

Veteran

Eh, every time I get something new in, so pretty constantly.

Amy

(website)

Veteran

I'm constantly re-thinking things and purging as I go along. I don't have a lot of storage space, so if something isn't working for me very well, it goes.

afterism

Living in the tropics I don't really have seasonal clothing, pretty much everything is transitional (Except for some heavy jumpers).

This means that I purge whenever I am feeling motivated. I also tend to do an ongoing purge, if I consider wearing something but decide I don't like it I put it in the donate pile.

Deborah

Veteran

I continually purge Particuarly since YLF I have been quite brutal about what stays and what goes but it does seem to be a continuous task.

Vildy

Veteran

I also purge continuously. I find that I have two separate wardrobes in terms of mood.
My summer clothes tend to be crisper in feeling and a lot of patterned items. More energetic. My winter clothes tend to be mellower, more subdued palette, more mixing of texture vs pattern. It's like two different people live here. Once I get deeper and deeper into that late fall/early winter mood, I can't make any real judgment about summer clothes anymore. By late summer I start wondering why I don't make a go of wearing very contrasty, black and white outfits in the winter - like the Hasidim on the runway. But I hold off purging with this in mind because pretty soon I begin to crave to wear grays.

I purge most when spurred on by new acquisitions in the season. If I see my wardrobe is taking a different direction, then it is easier to get rid of things that I have that contradict that.

Anonymous

I usually purge when changing seasons, but you have an unusual circumstance. And you don't know what kind of office/work environment you will work in, so this time, I say don't purge until next spring. (and good luck, it does suck, happened to me twice)

ButterflyLady

(website)

Veteran

I purge all the time - sometimes as I am getting out the new season's clothes - a fresh look at something after several months often makes the decision easier. I also purge if I put something on and it's not right - doesn't fit right, rides up, itches, doesn't go with anything etc - out it goes! And during the season, as I buy new (better) items - I've just bought some new ankle boots, the old ones are looking tired, so they're going.

I don't have an enormous amount of space, which really helps - it all has to stayed contained within the space I have, so I have to purge if I want to shop!

Lisa

Veteran

I've been purging at the beginning and end of a season. At the beginning I put the questionable item in a hold bag for my first purge. If I don't pull them out during the season, at the end of the season they get donated. Ideally at some point, I'll have my wardrobe at a size where I can one in and one out items instead of shuffling clothes around in different piles.

Aziraphale

Veteran

I purge whenever the fancy strikes! But not all that often. Maybe twice a year?

Elly

Veteran

I don't purge often enough-- obviously!

I actually am not a hanger-onto-er of things in general, and don't tend to be particularly attached to my clothing.

That said, my closet is in such a sad state right now. It is a product of neglect. You see, if you leave teal cotton hippie skirts from 2002 in your closet and allow them to collect for a long enough time (and add in a couple of hand-me-downs from you grandmother or men) you can trick yourself into thinking you have a full closet and don't need to shop.

That is how you end up with nowhere to put your "junk" and nothing to wear anywhere that doesn't involve hay.

Then you develop a fear of the purge because if you purge something you may have to go without pants to an unexpected funeral.

It is a downward spiral, I tell you.

Anonymous

At the beginning and the end of a season. When I start to cram 2 seasons in one wardrobe. Or when I'm frustrated with an item:). Don't throw away the office looks. wait for a new office job, and then you can decide.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Pretty much continuously lately, but in the past it usually coincided with either the change of seasons or a crisis point where I run out of hangers in my closet.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Only when moving did the thought occur previously. That's why I had a lot of stuff and many 5+ year old styles that were starting to date, unbeknownst to me! Now I'm trying to stick with one in one out and pull things as I come across them.
For instance, I had a black jersey foldover skirt that just bugged me with the extra thickness at the waist. I tried to work with it and style it, but decided I'd try and alter the waist or just get rid of it. The alteration was a failure. Then began the search for a replacement casual black skirt. And so on . . .