New Years Day: wardrobe purge #2, difficult - YouLookFab Forum

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New Years Day: wardrobe purge #2, difficult

Cococat

Veteran

I've been putting off round 2 because I knew it would be more painful than round 1, but I've been at it for most of the afternoon and I now have two full garbage bags, one to go to Red Cross and the other to storage.

I'll start with some positives:
-I found a beautiful ines de la fressange x uniqlo dress that I had forgotten about. It looked very flattering on and I'm looking forward to wearing it.
-There is some space between things hanging in my wardrobe which should minimise crushing
-I feel a little less overwhelmed and have a better idea about what I have

Some negatives:
-There were too many things with tags still attached, most were dressy/glam LBD type dresses and impulsive buys
-There were too many unworn 'too good to miss' bargain items mostly bought OS.
-I've put on about 7kg in the past 5 years and some really beautiful and expensive things don't fit anymore. That was a reality check actually trying them on. Some of these items will be stored...I would love to lose the weight...but I'm not sure if I have the motivation.

I think there will be a round 3. Ugh!

Is anyone else doing a serious wardrobe purge for the New Year? I would love to hear how you are going with it.

Dressing

16 replies

Latest reply was from Angie

Brooklyn

Veteran

Yes, I put a lot of my clothes into storage at the start of our home renovation. Now that we have finished, I am unpacking them all. But having made do without them for a year, I now wonder whether I really need them all. I would definitely like a smaller wardrobe. It's really hard getting rid of the never worn or hardly worn stuff. The guilt! But I console myself with the thought that a charity is benefitting from my mistake. I think the main thing is not to go out and buy lots more stuff to replace the purged stuff. That space between the hangars is a beautiful thing isn't it?

Bijou

Veteran

I understand the guilt that getting rid of barely worn items. It sounds as though you suffer from a similar problem to me - buying for the lifestyle you want rather than the one you have. This has been a big lesson for me in 2015. I have to keep reminding myself that value is in $ per wear and to be honest in evaluating how frequently I am going to wear something given my lifestyle (and not my lifestyle before kids!). As for the weight gain, don't beat yourself up on that, you have a great figure and look slim and healthy.

Anonymous

Congratulations on the progress you have made. Good job!

I will be doing a mini-purge later this week. I have fine tuned my wardrobe so I think I am fairly good. My mini-purge will focus on pieces that don't bring me joy. I am genuinely afraid to find out how much of my wardrobe doesn't bring me joy. What if 95 percent of my wardrobe is just "meh?"

I think I am going to find that most of what doesn't bring me joy are pieces that I bought on sale, at prices that were too good to pass up. The tags are all off and they have all been worn at least once, but they didn't add anything to my style journey (or my self esteem).

I don't have a New Year's Resolution this year, but if I did, it would be to STOP shopping sales. Just stop.

Happy New Year.

Anonymous

Wow, I'm massively impressed at your resolve! Congratulations. I hope you find a way to treat yourself for a tough task well done. You deserve it: this kind of task is as emotionally draining as physically, something your post has helped me realise.

This year, I'm breaking my purge down into 5 or 6 mini seasons, which is the weather we tend to have here. I'm going to use Angie's #2 -- how I feel in each item -- to evaluate what I keep. After that, I'll tackle some major purges next year. I'm going to try not to be tempted into buying more work clothes as that part of my wardrobe will be winding down.

I am glad to hear you will store beloved items even if they don't fit. I used to follow the 'if it doesn't fit, toss it,' adage and regretted many of those tosses when I lost weight 3 years ago.

ETA: can you take the items with tags still on to resale? I experimented with resale this year. You don't make a lot of money, but resale can be good for the local community and local jobs: the shop owner told me she hires one SA and pays a friend's son who has disabilities to help her sort and manage items.

Anonymous

CocoC. Good on you to purge a little more. I love your new direction with your simpler outfits and colour palette. I think it's very chic. If you need to purge in order to focus on your new style, then definitely do it and keep it up!
My main purging issues come about over pieces that are neither fab nor terrible. Those are ones that I force myself to wear until I can find a better replacement. I think it was Suz who said that it's ok to not have everything perfect. I do feel though, that my wardrobe is slowly and steadily getting better and better.
Happy new year to you.

Anonymous

I suppose my point above is very obvious. Of course it's hard to get rid of meh pieces.

Cococat

Veteran

Thank you for your comments ladies and Happy New Year!

Brooklyn, I will have to be very careful not to go out and buy things to replace the purged items. Shopping has become a social occasion with my mom and sis and this is when I tend to buy things I don't need. I need to control this.

Bijou, I'm sure I do tend to buy things for my fantasy lifestyle, and it's something else I need to keep in check. Thank you for your lovely comment about my figure. I've been able to hide the extra weight pretty well because of my height, but I need to take control of it or it might keep on going up!

Sterling, I'm with you on not shopping sales, unless it's something I've had my eye on. This is where I seem to make the most mistakes.

Aliona, unfortunately we don't have resale here. There used to be somewhere locally but it's closed down. I have tried Ebay but for the time involved in taking photos and measurements, the return is so small. Our local red cross has a program where you get stamps for donating items and then 30% off any purchase after 5 stamps. They have some great NWOT accessories and costume jewelry.

Smittie, it will be interesting to see what happens with the holding zone. If I don't miss them after 12 months, then I should just get rid of them. At the moment, it relieves some of the guilt by hanging on to them.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Congratulations on doing this! It really is a huge job, emotionally as much as anything else -- but you'll feel so much clarity after doing it.

I agree with your plans for the holding zone. Sometimes we feel a sentimental attachment to items but really have no intention of wearing them again.

Peri

Veteran

I feel your pain. I find it so hard to get rid of the "good stuff", even when it is no longer good for me. Congrats on your efforts and your strength!

harmonica

Veteran

Way to go! Purging can be painful, but in the end it is a relief to let go. Congrats on doing this! Great way to start the new year! You've inspired me to take a closer look at my wardrobe.

deb

Veteran

I have lost weight and am afraid to do my annual purge. There may be nothing left that fits, lol. It sounds like you have it all under control. What a great way to start the new year.

unfrumped

Veteran

I'm in the same market.
I've ended up with what might be a form of 4-season wardrobe when I had aimed for "mostly year-round + small hot summer capsule + medium deep winter capsule". So I seem to have too many things that at least feel seasonal and then since I have favorites and am okay with repeats, I don't wear everything, or enough. Plus I have a work schedule in which a whole month or even a season can fly by and not wear some things if they're too unusual or special-occasion and very seasonal.

Add to that, I had intended to keep most things in wardrobe all the time, with except of packing away a few summer things and of course winter woolens, for moth-proofing. But then that gets too crammed, hence need to cut down.
Also, it turns out I'm sort of ambivalent about whether I like "all out all the time" vs only have to see what I'm wearing currently. I love having space between things. Then I noticed, I do need to keep out " a season ahead" (in context of S/S/F/W seasons) or I'll tend to shop for the next season and not realize I had stuff already.

Beth Ann

Veteran

Congrats on a job well done!

After a purge, I like to budget some time for outfit creation, trying combinations I've never tried before. I find it more manageable to play with one idea or item at a time. For example, I select and orphan, and spend 30 minute trying it in every combination i can think of, and accessorizing. I use photos, so I can remember the best combos later.

Now that you've removed items meant for a fantasy lifestyle, are there any holes for your "real" life? I have a far nice lounge wardrobe than I used to, since I realized that my loved ones see this wardrobe most of all --- simply putting together deliberate silhouettes with nice fabrics, and beautiful colors, made a huge difference.

retailgirl

Veteran

I think sale shopping is a killer! I've stopped browsing in my local tj maxx because I'd always come out with something that cost $20-$30. Something I didn't need but a "good deal", in many cases I'd wear it once or twice. And the irony is that I hardly ever buy clearance in the store that I work in because by the time it's on clearance, I'm sick of looking at it!

Cococat

Veteran

Great comments. Thank you.

You have inspired me to consider a couple more things:

I probably should keep a note of what's packed away for the next season in case I double up. I just boxed and went 'phew, glad that's out of sight', but I'm sure it will soon be out of mind as well.

I need to make some time for outfit creation with what's left, starting with the biggest need in my 'real life', work. I also need to take more photos and keep a visual diary. It was so helpful looking through my pics and finding my fave 2015 outfits.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

You're making GREAT progress, Coco. Carry on till you've edited your entire wardrobe. Create a holding zone and make a note of what is in it.

Then have fun playing dress up with an almighty outfit creation session.