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Tell me about your holding zone!

nemosmom

Veteran

Hi! Happy Friday!
Work has been busy, and I’ve been lurking; I am hoping to spend my day off playing in my closet.

I am toying with the idea (again) of limiting my closet and making my holding zone larger. Currently, everything is in one closet, except high season pieces (heavy boots and thick knits are stored for summer). My holding zone is 2 drawers of a dresser that holds pieces I am either on the fence about keeping, or favorite pieces that don’t fit. I worry that I will forget about pieces if I put them “out of sight”, but it’s not like I am wearing them anyway.

I know there have been posts about the holding zone, but I haven’t seen any in a while. I am curious to know: how do you use your own holding zone? Is it big or small? What do you put in it? How often do you revisit pieces in it? Do you “forget” that you have things in it? Do you even have one? Has it changed because of stay-home orders?

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32 replies

Latest reply was from MsMaven

The Cat

Veteran

My holding zone is practically non-existant.

The Cat

Veteran

When I decide to get rid of items, I normally purge either at once or in a few days, but always AFTER having considered other options (styling, altering, repairing) AND having analyzed what was wrong (style, colour, fabric, etc.), so that I can learn from experience.

Sometimes I know that a beloved item will soon have to go because it has started to look worn. In such cases, I write a note to remind myself to purge those items (i.e. sandals or winter boots) at the very latest when the season ends, and, if needed, to buy items that can replace them.

I live in a 4-seasons climate, and in my small closet I keep only items that are wearable in the actual season. All other wardrobe items are stored in my attic. So in a way, my attic serves as a holding zone. However, I only keep items that I really want to wear. I always evaluate my wardrobe as the seasons change, and find this habit very helpful.

Synne

Veteran

My goal is opposite from The Cat's! I want to expand my "think about it"-box (or multiple large bags, if being honest). And not so easily part with items again. If I have used time and resources to aquire them, I am determined to make them work! Or at least list them for sale... I have been known to have a rapid in/out-approach to my wardrobe. Not good for my wallet...

Preppy Pear

Veteran

Mine is almost empty at the moment, because we just moved. My daughter has the most hanging space in her closet so I hang “the holding zone” there, along with some off-season items.
My last holding zone was mainly some skirts and pants that didn’t fit. I thought about having them altered but realized they weren’t great candidates, so they went with the move.
I have one dress still in the holding zone - it’s black and a little shorter than I’d prefer - but I’m keeping it for now in case I need it for a funeral.

Anonymous

About a 15×15 fabric bin. It's just things that don't currently fit, though I have been able to rescue a couple pieces. I'm going to revisit them at the end of the year, but many may go.

anchie

Veteran

I just emptied mine. It is a box sitting in a closet. I do a very strict one in and one out, but items that are going out actually first sit in that box for a while, just to make sure that I haven’t made mistakes and that I didn’t want to reach for it again. And then once in a while, usually when box starts to overflow, I go through it and donate items that were there the longest and that I am sure about. If I did make mistake and wanted to wear something from the box, then something else has to go there in its place. When my weight fluctuated, this happened quite often. Something from box that was fitting me again switched place with something from closet that did not fit anymore. There were even some pants that were in and out of holding couple of times LOL.

ChristelJ

Veteran

Fun question! I have three holding zones. One is a plastic tub full of favorites that don't fit currently, but are likely to fit again one day because of weight fluctuations. I revisit that every season and when weight changes.

Another zone is a couple of large bags of items destined for donation. These sit in view and mess with my head a bit too much, though, as I am tempted to take things back out. I have been rash with purges before and regretted some hasty decisions. This zone is a source of torment!

Lately I have decided that rather than donate so much, I will try to repurpose some things. So there is a third zone headed for crafting.

Irina

Veteran

I have two closets: one in my bedroom with the current season clothes and one in a spare bedroom that holds off-season clothes. My holding zone in the second one. There is only a handful of items - some that fit well, high quality but are not worn due to a shift in my style. A couple of others do not fit well and I consider if they worth alterations. All hanged on hangers and in one spot in a closet.

unfrumped

Veteran

Considering Holding zone is separate from out-of-season,
I do have a holding zone and try to keep separate
1--"still love/very useful but a bit too tight"--I usually do not keep things that are too big, so mostly things that look like that just don't fit right--neckline too low, armholes, shoulders--sometimes things I should have paid more attention to but did not, so these go into discard zone.
2--no actual fit problem but not sure is still my style, not sure really comfortable with it, but might change mind or see it differently with different support act
3--accessories like belts , bags and scarves that I am not using but wonder if "some day"., and oh, they don't take up much room .

Because I can use a spare bedroom closet (pros and cons re: that--no discipline!), I also can put things there that I just can't deal with right now--former work clothes that I'm just not even reviewing right now.

Column

Veteran

My holding zone is indispensable; this concept revolutionized my closet! I can "keep" items in the "should I; shouldn't I?" list separate from my wearable closet.

My "zone" is mostly filled with place-holders--those pieces that weren't perfect for whatever reason but filled a hole. I do turn it it occasionally. I actually turned to it as my COVID wardrobe at first when I thought I had to wash everything in hot water and bleach. I didn't care if I ruined something (which I did--a watermelon JCrew sweater whose fabric blend was too warm for my metabolism when I retired it but would work now, so I am sad. The bleach ate holes through it). But I have lots of closets, so space is not an issue. And I hang everything, so my zoned items are in plain sight.

Windchime

Veteran

I’m spoiled right now with an unused spare bedroom and closet which I use as a holding zone. I put things in there which I’m “meh” about but don’t feel strongly I should pass on. Sometimes things languish there for a couple years before I decide to either keep them or pass them on.

nuancedream

Veteran

What's a holding zone? Just kidding! Actually, I do have one and it only has a few sheath/bodycon dresses and some shoes/booties that are too high for me to walk in comfortably. My bombshell days are long gone and that's fine with me.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

I have 3 types of holding zones:

-clothes I’m not currently wearing because they don’t fit the season/my current needs, in suitcases (summer, winter, & fancy stuff (holiday and professional attire)) in the cellar. With the exception of 3 tops & a skirt, everything I threw on in my recent post of 8 possible outfits for a job interview came from the fancy stuff suitcase.

-clothes I’m not currently wearing because they don’t fit. Specifically, things that don’t fit because they are too small; once something is too big, I generally get rid of it right away. Most of them are in the cellar, in their appropriate seasonal suitcase, but when I’m ready to wear a smaller size, I also bring up a couple things I think I’ll be able to wear “soon” as motivation. I keep them in a corner of my closet and try them on occasionally, like this dress two days ago. That’s where the navy skirt was. I don’t think it’s ready to wear with a smoothly tucked-in T yet, but had no problem with the way it looked with a bloused-out top and jacket over it. As I lose the lower tum, the skirt will ride lower and become effectively shorter. I’m supposed to be done with this body reshaping by my birthday in August, accept the body I have then, and get rid of the small stuff Yikes! It makes sense to do so, but if I get to that point it’ll be really rough and hard to give up on myself that way, especially as I’m trying to build up in many areas of my life, & put other failures behind me.

—stuff I’m thinking of getting rid of. I didn’t bring any of this when we moved (around the time of your move to Chicago) but a couple weeks ago when I got things out for this summer, I chose not to bring up some items because I’m not feeling them. If I haven’t worn them by the time next S/S rolls around, I’ll have to figure out what to do with them.

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Janet

(website)

Veteran

My holding zone is, well, significant. I’m using it a LOT right now. But it serves multiple purposes.

We have a large closet in our finished basement that contains my holding zone. There are a couple of good-sized hanging garment bags. One holds winter wool coats and blazers out of season (and switches to summer clothes when the seasons change), as it zips closed with lots of moth protectant sachets.

Another hanging garment storage container holds a combination of off-season items and items I’m currently not wearing for whatever reason:

- size is slightly small but within reason I might fit back into it
- not a style currently favored but an item I really love, that I think may come back into usefulness
- items that are a little too dressy for my current life but come in handy for a special occasion
- cocktail attire and formalwear
- a few sentimental items

I even have some footwear and bags in my holding zone.

I know it’s been popular to get rid of everything that one isn’t currently wearing, but I’m kind of feeling the strategy of keeping things I like for a while and seeing if they become useful again, or if I find a new way to appreciate them.

ETA photos. 1 - my holding zone area. 2 - out of season coats and jackets.
3 - Misc out of season and some items that have not been worn in a while, potentially to be edited. 4 - seasonal storage and some too-small items that I am reluctant to let go (looking at you, DVF wrap dress). 5 - occasion wear and sentimental stuff.

And even my husband has a holding zone, in our guest room closet (pics 6-7). It holds his good wool sport coats which he doesn’t need much now, his infrequently used golf jackets, sports jerseys, and some sentimental items.

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Anonymous

How does the chair in my office sound?

In all seriousness, I moved from a 4 bedroom house with lots of storage (which I only appreciated after we moved last spring ) to a 2 bedroom condo with NO storage. My out of season stuff is packed and/or hung away in wardrobes and Rubbermaid totes. A holding zone is now almost impossible. You know, I don't think I ever rescued anything from the holding zone I kept in our house, and every season I'd look at it, think about it briefly, then leave it there until I finally lost patience with it and got rid of it all. I never, ever , found a holding zone useful . (not considering it as storage for out-of-season things) There is nothing more demoralizing to me that hanging on to clothes that don't fit.

avicennia

Veteran

I hang items on the closet door knob so I’m forced to look at them. They usually stay there for a week or two before they either go to the charity shop or to the tailor (often a small alteration can solve the issue that caused me to question the garment.) I have a very small selection of quality items in a long term holding, but few things end up there. Over the years YLF and tailoring has helped me reduce the number of items that are questioned in terms of style and fit. Today most of my holding zone questioning relates to wear and tear.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

No holding zone! No storage room in loft life

slim cat

Veteran

No holding zone in one-bedroom apartment but a few pieces hidden in the back of the closet: black "opera" coat ( 3/4 sleeves and beaded
collar - no wear a few years ), navy leather jacket ( no love - worn 2-3 times, sad to give away ), silk skirt ( out of current style, slightly small - love print and fabric ).
A few pieces mixed with my seasonal things packed into plastic box and the suitcase.

SarahD8

Veteran

My holding zone is a small plastic bin that I keep on a high shelf in my wardrobe cupboard. It contains a few pairs of pants that don't fit (too big or too small -- pants are hard to find/hard to fit for me), a couple of sweaters that are good quality but I've gone "off" for the time being, and a few sentimental items.

I made a VERY comprehensive wardrobe inventory in a Word document at the beginning of the year and have a section for my holding zone -- contains a description of the item and WHY it's in the holding zone. Helps fight the "out of sight, out of mind" factor for me and also keeps me honest.

The bin is pretty full and I don't want my holding zone to exceed the capacity, so if I add something to it I pretty much have to put something in the giveaway bag. This is a feature not a bug!

I have NOT had good luck in the past with rearranging the contents of my closet/wardrobe to highlight a seasonal capsule or similar. I am not good at follow-through at the end of the season or whatever the relevant period is.

If I want to dress from a subset of my wardrobe I prefer to write down the items in my capsule and play with combinations etc. on paper. I'm also a kinetic learner, so the act of writing helps cement the capsule and combinations in my memory.

Runcarla

Veteran

No holding zone per se. There is a donation bag in the laundry room closet where edited stuff gets stored until the quarterly pick up my the mission. I rarely dig things out, but I did salvage a green t-shirt for painting, and now it is once again living in my dresser!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

YLF has helped me to change my ways. I am incredibly sentimental about loved clothing, and weight gain- which mainly happened in the 2000s reaching its highest in 2008 at menopause and pretty much staying there in last 12 years-meant I had almost nothing that fit. My wardrobe bloated like mad because I had to buy more to cover myself! I did used to edit mistakes, and certain less loved older items. But still my previous home was fairly covered in my clothing-as my daughters grew up and moved out in 2012 and 2015 respectively I took over their wardrobe spaces too! It couldn’t continue. I still have about 10% of my active closet pre-2011.
Now I have a bigger walk-in- wardrobe, everything is in there, bar one or two vintage items I would like to sell but they didn’t sell last year. A small donation bag sits in the storage room, recently emptied. I am trying to donate little for the sake of the environment. Buy only good stuff and wear it! It’s working, but after 4 years of tracking wears...

celia

Veteran

This year, way before COVID I decided that I was going to hold on to clothes instead of purging as I would usually would do. There were several reasons for it like weight fluctuations, DD is now 12 and who knows what she might like in a couple of years and can wear from my wardrobe, I like the idea of loved clothes and I am happier when I get a compliment from something that I have for a long time than a compliment for a great deal or something new, DYOT is clearly my thing because I get back to the same kind of clothes/colors/styles in cycles, I hope that this curtails spending because I can always 'buy ' things from my holding zone as consumption is starting to bother me.
This being said I don't hold to things that bring bad memories to me and the things that I might consider to purge are confined to a shelve in a cupboard in the house far away from any of the other clothes.

suzieq

I have bags of clothing that I’m donating to charity. Massive wardrobe edit.

Anonymous

I put the type of things you described in a bag, close it up and leave it on the floor of my closet for anywhere from a few days to a week. If in that time I have no change of heart I put the bag into the collection bin.

It doesn't feel luxurious to me to have a large wardrobe, the maintenance of anything non serviceable feels oppressive.

I'm not an investment buyer and I really only enjoy an item for a few years at best.

Helena

Veteran

I have a holding zone because I have an over-editing problem which had to be dealt with So if I have pieces which fit well, are it good condition and are still reasonably current, I pop them in there (unless I am really 100% convinced that I am over it). Then, when I get on whatever kick I'm on (add colour! be more dressy! whatever random idea I came up with!), I can look there first and try it out without shopping right away. Often it's enough to scratch the temporary itch; sometimes I become convinced the item should go, and sometimes it finds a home in the closet again! I use a plastic storage bin and tuck it in the closet, so they are not totally out of sight, but they are not mixed in with my regular stuff, either.

I love your seasonal management system (just focusing on the high point of the season) and will be adopting this going forward, so thanks!

Brooklyn

Veteran

I guess I have 2 holding zones:
The first is drawer. I put items there that I like but have a problem. This is to give me time to think about fixing the problem. So the Zara dress that I repurposed into a skirt was there for a while. It’s now back in the main closet (as a skirt).
The second is a closet in a spare room. I put items there that I’ve tired of or don’t feel like wearing at the moment. Some of my work gear is there. But some things are just a case of “I like the newer item better”. I do find that I can retrieve things from this holding zone after a “rest period” and enjoy wearing them again.
I try not to part with things easily. Right now I’m renovating the first top and dress that I ever wore on YLF (5 years ago, and they were a few years old then).
The main things that I part with are things that fall into the “what was I thinking?” category and things that are showing obvious signs of wear.

cindysmith

Veteran

My holding zone is a large rubbermaid tote bin that hides behind a chair where the passenger seat of my RV used to be. I recently went through it, and it was painfully obvious that it hadn't been visited in a while LOL. I looked at garments as I pulled them out of the bin, and many items had me scratching my head while wondering what the heck I was thinking when I bought or stored an item. I went through it because I had lost some bulk around my midsection pre-coronapocalypse (the gym was having the desired effect!), and I was able to pull out some things to wear again. There are still a number of items in there that I'm hoping will fit again, which means I need to get off my arse and work out again; the coronapocalypse + RV life has made staying fit and strong quite challenging.

My holding zone generally contains 'special' pieces, like premium denim and contemporary label tops. Because our predominant weather pattern here in Texas is too freaking hot and suffocatingly humid, I almost never put winter weight items in it. I find that sweaters are the one area where my tastes shift the most, so most of them wouldn't survive my ever-changing preferences for and therefore don't get holding-zoned.

I have found things I forgot I owned hiding within it; and when I say 'forgot I owned' I mean I went further than forgetting it was in my holding zone--I actually forgot I ever owned the items at all! Sentimental pieces don't go into the holding zone unless they actually get worn; instead, I keep those pieces with other sentimental items like photographs and mementos.

Whenever I do a closet edit, I keep the bags of donated items in my car for a while in case I change my mind about one, but I don't keep them for too long because otherwise I'll pull things out that really? I shouldn't be revisiting at all. I had to force myself to make a stop at goodwill yesterday to drop off some things because a friend got a look inside my car and went into therapist mode; I had to admit that my friend was right about the mess in my home and car reflecting the mess between my ears LOL

Staysfit

Veteran

My holding zone consists of one hanging rail in a spare bedroom that is used as a study, and a few shelves in built in cabinets underneath some library style book shelves in a "book nook". I have my tall boots and some more formal dresses in the study closet. I put some knits and a few pair of Jean's that felt snug on the shelves. I recently took prednisone for non-coronavirus related bronchitis and it caused some weight gain, which I hope will be temporary. It always has been in the past, but I am post menopausal now, so I am unsure.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

My answer is more or less like Carla's. I don't really have a "holding zone," per se. Instead, I have a bag or box with items to donate which I try to take (or have picked up) on a seasonal basis as needed. (Although right now, I am simply storing it until such time as it can be picked up.)

Also, like Carla, I'll occasionally "rescue" an item from this bin and repurpose it. Most recently, I retrieved an old pair of jeans and a tee for my gardening capsule.

I also keep a few items -- strictly occasion wear or specialized gear-- that I'm not 100% sure I'll ever wear again, but that I still like in theory and would conceivably wear if the occasion did come up. Those are in a different closet from my main closet.

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