Sorting old clothes - YouLookFab Forum

I am going through all the boxes of clothes I have been gathering up from my closet as I lost weight this year. Initially I had them sorted by type, but then as I continued to lose I just stuffed random pieces in the boxes and...it turned into a big mess. Now I am going through them by size and type, and I'm finding out I am not sure what to do with some of this stuff.

I did give a box of 18s pants and sweaters to a local girlfriend back in the winter, and I did up a box of 16s/larges for my sister this spring. But beyond that I haven't really given anything away yet. I am not quite sure how to do it, to be honest; my husband thinks I should stop giving things away and either swap or sell it to consignment. He's got a point; I have spent a lot of money on what I have and it seems like a waste if I can't write it off for charity or sell it. (Although I am not too keen on the whole idea of selling, because it's too much work.) And there's a bunch of things that should probably just be given away to Goodwill. I would love to swap, but I can't figure out how to set one up so there's a variety of sizes. My clothes are all 14-18s, L-XXL, but I wear 10s and Ms now.

Here's what I am thinking about doing with each type. Please feel jump in and offer any advice; I've never done this before with this much volume of clothes (I have over 8 big boxes!) and I'm not sure what to do.

T-shirts, camisoles: donate
Jeans: consignment or donate
Belts, shoes: consignment or donate
Bras: throw away
Bathing suits: throw away
Pajamas: throw away
Workout gear: donate
Winter coats: consignment or donate (I have to give one to my local girlfriend, who had a very ugly, ill-fitting coat last year. She's pretty broke and she won't get a new one this year, but she needs it.)
Casual pants and shorts: donate
Work pants, skirts, blouses and sweaters: consignment or donate

I am excited about one trend: the biggest piles of sizes are definitely the 18s and XLs. Many of the smaller sizes were either handed down to me from a girlfriend or were tucked in the back of my closet from an earlier weight era; I can only see a few tops and bottoms that I bought on the way down the scale that I probably should have not bought. I think many of the things I did buy ended up going in the box to my sister, and I know she is wearing them a lot. So I did pretty well on not going overboard on clothes during the weight-loss phase, better than I thought I did, actually. Yay!

16 years ago

bella

(website)

Veteran

Kristen - congratulations once again on your weight loss. I think road map you have above is pretty good. In addition, I would add that anything in good condition goes to consignment and everything else goes to charity.
Have you tried calling a couple of consignment stores? If you told them how much stuff you have, perhaps they would be willing to come and pick through the stuff at your place. Then you could donate all the rest to goodwill.

marianna

If you do have any size 16/size XL stragglers, I'd be happy to take a look and buy them from you.

Also, you can try buy/sell stores like Plato's Closet (there is one across the street from Old Orchard). They buy modern clothes in good condition (in straight sizes) and give you 35% of what they'll sell it for. There is also a store called Crossroads in Evanston and Chicago. I use both stores frequently when I'm in need of cash!

Let me know if you have anything in my size that you'd think I'd like. I'd pay you cash, obviously.

hanna

Active Member

having sold at both PC and crossroads, i'd go with crossroads for your stuff kristen. PC is very heavy on the juniors side and i just feel like crossroads give you more for your clothes. plus they also give you the option for cash or store credit (PC is cash only), and some of the things in there are quite lovely, in case you're looking for anything.

velvetychocolate

I am having the same situation - the spare bedroom downstairs is loaded down with 'too big' clothes. I've already sent boxes of stuff to some of my online friends, and one thing I was going to suggest: sort your 'good giveaways' into size ranges.

I still need to go and do another major round of this. My upstairs bedroom closet is maybe 30% cleared out and I have a ways to go. The spare bedroom's entire closet is filled with stuff, and the guest bed is also loaded down with folded piles of clothes. It's a lot of work.

Anyway - if you're going to send stuff to friends or save things to swap, it might be useful to sort out the good stuff into piles based on size range instead of 'type' of clothing. Obviously you'll donate or throw out stuff that you don't want to pass along to a friend or what have you - but I think grouping by size is a good idea.

That's what I'm going to do.

I haven't tried the consignment shop idea - but I did drop into one a few weeks ago (first time ever!) - and the shop owner told me she'd give me 50% of whatever they sold my stuff for. She also explained that we'd negotiate on selling prices. I am not sure I'm going to bother - I have friends/family that I can send most of this stuff to. But - there you have it - you will get maybe 50% on stuff that you take into a consignment store. Might be worth the hassle for the items you don't have friends to swap with or give to.

Good luck - I'm not looking forward to doing this myself either. Overwhelm is a good word for it.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

Good plan, Kristen.

If I can convince you to give Dress For Success some of your plus sizes, (that’s the non-profit I volunteer for on Wed’s – I’m in my 6th year!), that would be fab. We are in HUGE need of sizes 14 to 18 most of the time.

Another big congratulations on your mind blowing weight loss achievement. I am so proud of you. I know that you are proud of you too :0)

Dani

Kristen, just FYI...I used to throw out clothes that were unsightly or in really bad condition and then I read in Better Homes and Gardens that Goodwill actually recycles the clothing they can't use through textile recyclers so I would encourage you to pack up the items that you had slated for the trash and take them to Goodwill. I don't have any other advice since you've already received some good thoughts from the others. Just thought I'd pass that little tidbit along. Good luck with this task!

Misia

Decluttering-good for you!!!

Dashrashi

Another plug for Dress for Success! They often need more 14-18s than they get, and it can be discouraging for the women that come looking for interview clothes when there's nothing in the right size!

Kristen

Thanks for all the suggestions. Angie and Dashrashi, I looked up DFS and there is only one location in Chicago on the far, far south side. It's not convenient at all, but it's an important organization and I would love to help so I will make a trip down there this fall.

MC, I have your email so I will contact you about 16s/XLs. I do have a good amount of those I can sell you. We should set up a date so you can come over and check out what I have and see if you want any of it. I have at least 6-8 pants, and dozens of sweaters and tops. I was in those sizes in the cold weather, so the timing is perfect as fall is coming up.

I'm still on the fence about consignment, but there are a couple of Glenview-based shops I might check out. One I know has more old-lady clothes and I haven't been to the other yet.

Melody

I say donate everything and get a receipt for your tax return. You have done a fabulous job in losing the weight, yet still have the baggage of what to do with the oversized clothes. Personally, I would dump that baggage the easiest way possible. Consigning clothes isn't a huge amount of trouble, but is personally more trouble than the funds I get from it ... my time is worth more than a few bucks (and it is usually very few bucks). I lost weight 2 years ago and went down 2 sizes ... it was very liberating to get rid of boxes and boxes of clothes and free up space.

Oh my gosh, Melody, you have hit the nail on the head as to why I have been hesitating! Yes, the boxes of clothes do feel like baggage, and one I would simply like to be free from. I've already started culling the wardrobe I do have and fit into, and those pieces I would more willing to swap and sell. But this stuff...I can sell a few pieces to known people, but the bulk I just want gone.

Besides, I've done itemized deductions on clothes before; you get to write off quite a bit, and the better the quality, the better the write-off.

Sounds good! Thanks.

Category