I heave too many sweaters! Need suggestions of how to pick which to keep and which to give away?? - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

I heave too many sweaters! Need suggestions of how to pick which to keep and which to give away??

Staysfit

Veteran

I have 80+ sweaters and they are overflowing the 4 foot shelf I have designated for their storage. I live in a cold climate where it potentially snows October to late April and if we are unlucky early May. I have considered that maybe I also need better storage system but it would still have to work on the 4 foot shelf . The shelf is 15 inches deep and there are 15 inches between my shelves so I can stack quite a few sweaters in a pile! The problem is the clutter, I can never find the sweater I am looking for without pulling everything off the shelf and digging. Help!?

I have an abundance of solid colors and cashmere. I particularly love long sleeve cashmere crews and will definitely keep those. I already know that I wear the v necks less often unless they are loose and boyfriend style, and I only have 3 of those so I may be able to eliminate the entire group. The rest is tough.

I know I wear the hoodies again and again. The cardigans get wear year round, (most of them).

The count:
1. 11 solid long sleeve cashmere crew
2. 2 solid cashmere funnel neck
3. 9 solid v neck varying texture
4. 3 boyfriend style v neck (cashmere)
5. 1 merino v neck stripe sweater
6. 3 long sleeve crews with decorative interest
7. 7 short sleeve cashmere crews
8. 6 cashmere hoodies of varying weight and style
9. 6 cardigans with special interest (ie. Fur trim, moto style, military style, etc)
10. 1 sweater set with leather front
11. 12 hip length cardigans varying texture and weight all solid
12. 3 long cardigans
13. 4 turtle neck sweaters ( cashmere)
14. 7 sweater sets. (14 sweaters) mix of cashmere and merino
15. 1 cashmere cable blazer
16. 1 cashmere cable crew
17. 1 wrap sweater
18. 3 crop sweater cardigans
19. 1 sweater wrap dress
20. 1 sweater dress

It may add to more than 80. I did the count before I pulled them and sorted them.

General

34 replies

Latest reply was from Staysfit

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I saw your earlier post and counted. I have 50 sweaters/vests for wear across most seasons. 10 are grey. I live in a similar climate (New Hampshire).

Anonymous

Probably obvious, but could you start with color? Are there colors you have a whole bunch of or ones that don't go with much or anything like that?

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I keep all of mine arranged by color and season of wear.

Thistle

Veteran

We are close in climate as. Live in Wisconsin. So yeah, snow Oct-April with a few polar vortexes thrown in for good measure!

I am not certain trimming your sweaters just to trim is the best idea. Here are my thoughts.

Trimming- cull anything not in the best of shape, that looks worn, or that doesn't fit. Next, trim anything you just don't like all that much or that you never reach for. You may need to wait until winter to do this to see what you actually wear.

Second, pack up some of your remaining sweaters (particularly any light colored or spring colored sweaters) and tuck them away out of your closet. Come January, after you have been wearing sweaters for 3.5 months, swap out with what you have store. It's the winter refresher those of us in cold climates crave without having to spend a lot.

I only say this as I know every January I end buying a few refresher pieces as I am truly tired of what is in my closet and we still have 3.5 months (or more) of sweater weather.

Elizabeth P

Veteran

I think it's really difficult to do this off-season. You could do as Thistle says, check for things that are worn or you KNOW you didn't wear last year, or silhouettes that don't flatter (I was able to cull all my crew neck tees this way - they are not good on me, why do I own them when I have other, better necklines?). But other than that, I'd wait. Purging for the sake of it doesn't make sense to me.

amiable

Veteran

I sort my sweaters into fall/early winter, deep winter (when it's below zero) and late winter/early spring - last year, I wanted to wear dark, warm colors in the fall and early winter, and light, bright colors in late winter/early spring. The heaviest of sweaters are really too warm for both fall and spring, but I can wear nothing else for that 6 weeks or so of real honest cold (I live in Nebraska)

Liz

Veteran

It seems like the first step is to stem the inflow -- stop buying sweaters. Or, start doing one-in, one-out.

From your screen name, "staysfit," it seems you know a whole lot about how to discipline yourself for the sake of a goal. What have you learned about handling your body, food, or exercise that you could apply to your closet?

Anonymous

It looks like your have at least 200-250 days to wear sweaters not counting the year round ones, so a large sweater wardrobe makes sense. As Amiable suggested, you might separate into seasons and only keep some out at a time to make your shelf more manageable. I am doing this with all my clothing and even shoes and accessories and find that it is fun to pull out old favorites that then seem new aces times a year. That is also the very best time for me to edit out what I no longer love so much and to make capsules.

Laurinda

Veteran

Sounds like your main concern is storage and access?

I live in a similar climate, and probably have a similar number of sweaters. (I'm not a minimalist, never gonna be, no thank you). I agree with Amiable & Thistle on the pleasure of a mid-winter refresher, I swap colors from fall earth-tones to spring pastels. And horror of horrors: I hang the lighter weight tops on velvet hangers.

Oh, and mind the evil wool-eating moths!

Rambling Ann

(website)

Veteran

If you could hang them, would you have room to keep more? This method is ingenious for hanging sweaters on a regular hanger
http://snapguide.com/guides/hang-a-sweater/

unfrumped

Veteran

Great ideas above! I don't have such a cold climate but run cold so wear sweaters a lot.
I found ruthless fit evaluation is helpful. Some crew neck sizes or depths are more flattering- keep only the best. Fits are looser and I've always svoided tight fits, so anything that has shrunken tighter than classic easy tailored fit goes out, and classics I may wear less, if add some trendy oversized types, but will keep, at least-- especially since need them with normal jackets. Any marginal or draining colors, out. Problem lengths, out. But, remember proportions-- skirt sweaters vs pants, and pants rise or fullness issues.
Point is, you love sweaters and are likely to buy more at times, so all should be great, and ones added as good or better.
Buying new ones is an issue for me and I realize I was not being picky enough. Was trying to stockpile or had sales goggles.

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

I bought a few stacking shelves from the Container Store a few years ago to sort out a massive armoire space (you could fit a TV in there) - this helped cut down T-Shirt Mountain into manageable chunks. My mom also bought me a couple of hanging shelf cubicle things from Joy Mangano. (Mine are beige) They are sturdy, and I am able to stack 3-4 sweaters to a shelf, which gives easier access. They are heavy though, so I hang them next to the wall brackets.

http://www.hsn.com/products/hu.....4&

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

Staysfit, you have a lot of good suggestions here already. I wear sweaters year-round; I'm always cold. So I have as many as you do or more, and I live in what's considered a moderate climate! I don't think you should try to eliminate sweaters that you still like and want to wear, even if you feel you wear them infrequently. As others have said, you need options to get you through a long cold season without getting too bored. I love unfrumped's suggestions for rigorous evaluation of what to keep. After that, I'd focus on organization.
I hang some of my sweaters the way it's done in Rambling Ann's link. The chunkier ones that don't wrinkle from being folded go on shelves or in drawers. I second the idea of storing off-season sweaters and even rotating sweaters once during your long winter season.

unfrumped

Veteran

Also, I have moth-aversion, and prefer being over-vigilant rather than under.
Cashmere seems much more tasty than merino, but who knows. So I'm not willing to keep all my cashmere out all year long. And, it needs to be washed (or drycleaned) at intervals. (Or place in freezer for a couple of days!) So I store clean out-of-season sweaters in closed bins, and I also have been using Thistle's concept of seasonal sweater rotation, mostly by color palette, and plan to do even more of that this coming winter. That means I will pick out a group of sweaters for say late Oct-Dec, in the deeper tones, and "save" lighter colors, orchid, pinks and finer-gauge sweaters of any type for late winter and cold spring. I do some overlapping and can still access any given sweater if I want, of course. That means I will have some sweaters in heavier rotation and then wash, rather than have twice as many worn-once sweaters on the go. This approach also helps me see if I'm overstocked on certain colors or weights or where I want to put my sweater $$ for refreshers. I actually hang all of my sweaters while they are in use (mea culpa, I know) because I hate folding and stacking more than almost anything.

Marley

Veteran

All good suggestions! My only other thought - what about color? Do you have identified neutrals, colors, and accents in your wardrobe? If so, how about wearing those and putting the rest away somewhere out of sight?

Also, my experience with sweaters (no matter the fabric content) is that they pill - a lot. I'd go through and weed out those that are pilled and get rid of them immediately.

I store my sweaters rolled up in a dresser drawer. When I open the drawer I can see every single sweater and easily pull it out - no wresting with stacks that spill over, or forgetting about a sweater because its at the bottom of the stack. I used to try to store them on closet shelves - but it was just too much of a hassle for me!

Staysfit

Veteran

Wow! I'm loving these great suggestions, and I'm glad to learn that I have a collection and that I'm not a hoarder after all!

The hanging space in my closet is all occupied. Does anyone use under bed storage? Maybe I could find a different location for my jeans which are hanging in the closet. (11 pairs - mixed blue, white, skinny, straight) They take a lot of space.

I wish I could be as disciplined with my shopping and sweater purchases as I am my diet and exercising! Such a good point Liz! I guess this is my weakness but I'm ready to work on it. I just love color and texture as much as others love chocolate!

Alana in Canada

(website)

Veteran

you could just need some boxes--your dimensions remind me of the old Ikea expedit shelving units. Could you use a container like this one and roll your sweaters and store them on end, like towels?

viva

Veteran

Clearly I need more sweaters.

Dee

Veteran

If you're happy with the number you have, then you've gotten some great storage suggestions. Also, I'm quite jealous of your cashmere collection since I also live in a cold climate

If you are thinking of reducing the number though... Based on Joy's numbers, let's say you have 240 days where you can wear a sweater. With 80 sweaters, you can pretty much wear each one three times in that period. If there are some workhorses you reach for more than that, you might be able to pare down the ones you're only wearing once or not at all. As others said though, that can be hard to do out of season. Just some thoughts.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

He-he Viva! And I was thinking that I am overdoing it with almost 20 sweaters (and I live in Canada)
I don't really have to add anything to the brilliant advice you already got - just wanted to wish you luck with your sweater review!

Gigi

Veteran

I agree with the others that it is premature to cull, especially out of season. I would try to find a way to organize them for the winter so that you can pay attention to what you wear. Maybe you could buy some clear storage boxes and arrange the sweaters according to color? You could also photograph each sweater and perhaps tape the photos to the outside of the box.

I don't have much storage space at all, so I am not much help when it comes to organizing larger wardrobes. But your climate sounds like mine (Minnesota), so it's really important to make sure that you don't give anything away that you might turn out to need! Many of us on the forum who have long winters have decided that we need about three winter capsules: late fall/early winter, deep winter, and late winter/early spring. So you could switch to a different set of sweaters for each category.

Staysfit

Veteran

Ha Ha Dee! You caught me!! I had also done the calculations once I counted my sweaters and realized this same thing but I didn't want to own up. Now the truth is out in public and I have to admit that I can go through the entire cold season and wear each sweater only 3 times!! Ridiculous!! I am definitely back on the hoarder list!

Marley, I really love the idea of rolling my sweaters and putting them in a dresser drawer. I don't have any open dresser drawers right now, but I have some plastic storage bins with drawers that might work, Do you have a particular rolling method? If I divide my sweaters in some manner, perhaps by suitability for the outdoor temperature, as has been suggested by several people, and store some of them in another location (I was thinking of a container that would fit under my bed), then I could fit the rest neatly into the drawers of the plastic bins! That would eliminate the stacks in my closet which are making me crazy at the moment!

There are definitely some sweaters that I know I hardly wore last winter. I have started to take my quilting pins and I put them on the hangers of the clothing I wear or I pin them in a sweater every time I wear it. That way I know if it has been used in a given season. I will definitely know which sweaters I have worn and not worn in the fall and winter this year. I will not keep anything that doesn't get used, unless it is a special occasion item.

I haven't encountered moths in my closet yet but I dread the day this happens!! Oh my!! It would be tragic for me. Not only do I have my sweaters, but I have my favorite mohair/wool winter coat and a beautiful wool poncho/cape with faux fur collar. I am hoping they never arrive. I am having an obsessive compulsive moment, and think I may need to go and wash all the sweaters!! (I wonder how long that would take - hand washing 80 sweaters?)

The worst sweater pilling seems to be on my short sleeved cashmere tee's. I have no idea why? I have spent many minutes with the razor trying to fix this, but they just come back to haunt me. Maybe these should also go to the chopping block unless anyone has a good suggestion??

Firecracker (Sharan)

Veteran

I fold my jeans and store them on a shelf. Maybe you could fold some of the jeans to free up hanging space for just those sweaters that might show wrinkles from folding.

Staysfit

Veteran

Firecracker, that's a great idea!

I have already experimented with the sweater hanging technique that was in the video clip referenced by Rambling Ann. It works well with what I have. I have a space for the jeans, and I think stacked jeans are easier to manage than stacked sweaters! They aren't as slippery when you try to take just one from the pile.

chadya

Veteran

good luck with that

Staysfit

Veteran

Hm, maybe you are right! It is a bit tricky getting jeans out of the stacks at the gap!!!!

Marilyn

I would get rid of the least favorites and making room for something you love and feel great in!
I do love the idea of rolling the sweaters for storage.

unfrumped

Veteran

I say, pick a day, select some good music and a glass of wine, and toss them all on your (made up) bed and sort them into piles. Some categories might overlap, but for me, "temperature rating" is a main type (all season, typical winter, polar vortex), then proportion (long or short) and color. Also are categories of "edgy fit that looks good with some things" vs. "cozy fail-proof fit for really bad days".

Start trying on (turn on a portable fan, if needed). Some order may emerge, or you might just have fun drinking to the music!
As other suggested, if you have concerns you might make a rash decision in summer when sweaters seem less attractive, you could wait until cooler weather. But you might be ready now for the "first draft" of eliminations based on obvious issues with fit, pilling, bad colors.
Keep asking questions such as, would I buy this today? Is there a sweater I'm coveting now, or better, would really create some better outfits, but think I already have too many?

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I both stack my jeans, and fold my sweaters to line up in a drawer. You're right in that jeans are easier to maneuver in a stack than limp sweaters are. A bonus to stacking the jeans - I figured a system for worn but not yet dirty jeans. I turn the waistbands out towards me in the stack. Clean, freshly laundered jeans the waistband remains toward the back wall of the closet.
And my paltry less than 20 sweaters fit great in one drawer (We do get snow for 6 months some years, but I like jackets just as much as sweaters.)

This post has 1 photo. Photos uploaded by this member are only visible to other logged in members.

If you aren't a member, but would like to participate, please consider signing up. It only takes a minute and we'd love to have you.

12