What items have you regretted purging? - YouLookFab Forum

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What items have you regretted purging?

Suja

Veteran

Today's post about the possible return of maxi coats brought back fond memories of one I had in the early 2000s. I'm petite but it was slim enough that it didn't overwhelm me and I felt so elegant and sophisticated wearing it. I purged it a few years ago when I didn't see a single maxi coat on the street and felt it was dated. I have some regrets because even if maxi coats come back, it is hard to find one that works for petites.

What are your purge regrets? Any thoughts on how to prevent them in the future? My rule of thumb is going to be "Never purge an item that makes you feel extra fab and would be hard to replace."

34 replies

Latest reply was from Carole

Anonymous

Oh this is so eery - I was just thinking about this exact same thing - the "maxi" coat. I used to love how luxurious they felt and how sophisticated they looked, but my eye changed over the years and all at once I saw them as droopy and outdated. I had a gorgeous camel alpaca wool bathrobe style one, and I wonder how it would look now. I do believe though, that even though a style or fashion returns to popularity, there is always a silhouette tweak that makes the old version still not right. That's what I'm telling myself anyways

Joyce B

Veteran

That's why I don't purge unless I am absolutely sure because I don't want to be sorry later on. I do need to do some purging so there is a down side to being too careful with that.

Thistle

Veteran

An exercise ball I had some years ago. I regretted it enough I bought another one.

sftbllgir

I always like to purge so my collections feel a little more fresh and I only have my must have items. I always seem to regret it just a little though. It always seems that once you let go of an item because you never used it, you end up wanting it back later!

Kim

Veteran

You know, I have purged a lot of things over the years and NOT ONE thing comes to mind that I'd like to have back enough that I can remember it! LOL

Either I'm not purging enough (unlikely) or I just don't get that attached to what I'm wearing. I'm not petite though, so I don't usually have trouble finding things to fit. In fact, the opposite is true. So. many. things....so. little. money...

I'm in a good place I think!

Anonymous

Nothing really. Out of sight, out of mind I guess. I've had a few items "boomerang" back to me, that I thought I really missed (things I gave to a friend). When they were offered back to me, It suddenly became apparent why I culled them out in the first place. We tend to remember past items fondly, but in the cold, hard light of day your maxi coat may have still given off a dated vibe that would keep you from wearing it.

I'm telling you this to make you feel better, but if you still really miss it, you could always try the thrift stores (I'm tall, and everything I like turns out to be petite, lol). With any luck, the designers will start turning out even better versions of the maxi coat and you'll have your pick in a current silhouette, complete with that long, elegant *swish* you remember.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I regret that my Mama let go of her stuff from the '60s and '70s. I would love to have had some of that in my closet today.

Personally, I do not regret purging anything. I DO wish I had taken more photos of our style in the '80s though.

Anonymous

I was going to say nothing comes to mind, but then a pair of slouchy, stacked heel knee-high black boots came to mind. They would fit right in with today's trends. I'm afraid I don't have any wise words as to how to stop it happening in the future as I have quite a purging and de-cluttering mentality and do it a lot.

Dhar in Sac

i had an olive utility jacket that i rarely wore and got rid of it last year.... right before they started popping up everywhere as the next cool jacket. kicking myself for ditching it!

Deb

Veteran

I know what you mean. One needs to purge with care especially on special clothes. Sometimes I wish I kept more of my beautiful dresses from my younger years. They would be vintage gems now. Mind you, I have kept a handful partly for the sentiment and partly to keep some of my history.
Hopefully the designers will make petite maxi coats and you'll find another that you love even more than your green one Suja.

milehighstyle (Linda)

Veteran

I was thinking the same thing about the maxi coat after reading Angie's post this morning - although it would be 20 years old by now (my Mom bought it for me right before I moved to Colorado) and would probably look dated. I don't think it was petite, the sleeves were too long and it completely swamped me. Come to think about it, I didn't even wear my knee length wool coat that much last winter, just my thigh length ones. So, no regrets, just opportunities to find something even better, right?

Suja

Veteran

Lisap: I sometimes wonder where the line is between staying modern and being a slave to the commercially-motivated fashion industry. On the one hand, we all want to be modern but in some ways, the fashion industry uses our fear or looking dated to see what we have as inadequate and pursue something similar but different. Maybe we are trained to think the modern version is better when in fact it is sometimes better and sometimes worse.

Kim: Good for you! I am surprised at how little I regret.

Clare: I think you are right about over-romanticizing the maxi coat. Perhaps my love for it was more sentimental and that was the reason to keep it.

Angie: Taking more photos is a brilliant idea. I often think my outfit photos are going to remind me of how fab I was/am as I get older. I take pictures of my kid's artwork as there is just so much of it that I would have boxes and boxes overflowing if I kept it. Maybe I should do something similar with my clothes.

I changed my mind, I don't regret the maxi coat purging IF someone else found it and loved it. No regrets if the fabric got recycled or re-purposed. Maybe a little regret if it is laying in a landfill somewhere.

shedev

Veteran

Way to turn that thinking around. I cant think of anything I've regretted.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I don't regret anything either. I wish I had photos of me wearing the clothes though.

Gaylene

Veteran

Ditto what Clalre said. I think that nostalgia plays a big role when looking back.

But it will be interesting to see if my feelings are the same after my recent closet reduction. For the first time, I was purging things I currently love wearing, including some items that I have only had for a few months, in order to downsize my closet to less than 125 pieces--a number that includes shoes, layering tops, outerwear, exercise wear, and gear. My shoe and boot collection alone has gone from 75+ to 20. The woman at the local consignment shop rubs her hands gleefully when she sees me walk through the door!

Gigi

Veteran

I also agree with Claire and Lisap. Once the item is gone, we romanticize it and make it into the "perfect" item. But it most likely would still have a dated vibe to it, because things usually have some kind of updated "tweak" when they come around again.

I haven't ever purged anything that I've regretted, but that's because up until this past year, I had a very, very tiny closet, so everything was worn until it was worn out. No purging was needed until the item was so worn out I wouldn't even take it to Goodwill.

GoddessMel

Oh gosh, SO MANY THINGS! I recently passed on a pair of ink blue / navy cigarette pants thinking I had only worn them twice and wouldn't get much wear from these as I also have a black pair that tends to get a lot of wear. Only a month later and I'm wishing I held on to them as I want to edge out all the black in my wardrobe in favour of ink or navy On the upside, my daggy old navy blazer is on the way out so a navy pant suit is in my future
Over the years I've purged so many things thinking I'd minimise my wardrobe, streamline things and go all minimal only to find that the item I got rid of was a perfect grab-and-go or something extra jazzy for those 'blah' days. Oh well, I'm learning to be more restrained and to purchase consciously rather than shop on a whim then purge and regret.

Style Fan

Veteran

I regret purging a linen two piece ensemble from Sarah Pacini (a designer from Belgium). I always keep her pieces for years but this I let go. It was olive green/brown (perfect colour for me), fluid fit with cut outs. I loved it. I can't talk about it anymore.

Staysfit

Veteran

The maxi coat post made me remember that I still have a Chocolate Brown wool Maxi Coat in the hall closet. It has moved with me from house to house for years. I kept thinking I would cut it down into something shorter! Ha, it's a good thing I didn't do it yet. I may get another go at wearing it without alteration first. I kept it because it is my absolute favorite neutral color, it's soft, and for some reason the color is difficult to find. You can always find black, but not Chocolate Brown.

Having said that, I have never regretted purging a thing from my wardrobe. I'm like an infant - out of sight, out of mind.

Sal

Veteran

Not a lot to be honest- I feel sad but pleased when an item is worn out, or stained beyond repair, but mostly with purged items I no longer love them and I hope they go to a new better home!

E

Veteran

I went through a minimalist phase & purged a perfectly good light camel wool coat, because I decided I only 'needed' 2 wool coats (one long, one short). Turns out, having only very dark outerwear makes me sad. And I'm not a minimalist: I'll gladly have a full coat closet so that I have variety. I finally found a replacement coat on Ebay earlier this year: it's vintage with a detachable hood & awesome full skirt & was only $20, so it ended up working out. But I was annoyed with myself in the meantime! Another victim of that phase was a lovely lightweight muted red summer blouse with waist definition that I would be wearing the heck out of now if I still had it, considering how difficult it is for me to find a woven blouse that fits my waist & doesn't pull at the bust (which is silly, because I don't have a big bust). Sigh. But that phase was several years ago: I can't think of anything more recent that I regret.

Now that I've realised I'm not a minimalist, I cull verrry slowly (multiple holding zones, lol) to make sure it's not a mistake. But I almost never fish something out: usually, if I do, I wear it for a day and put it right back in the cull pile. I think this works because now I only cull if the piece is annoying me in some way or if I've found an 'upgrade' so it's now redundant vs culling for the sake of arbitrary numbers. The latter is bad news for me!

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Not too much, although I occasionally regret a pair of shoes. This may be due to memory failure rather than wise purging though.

Anonymous

I've been very lucky. There may have been one or two pieces that I regretted purging, but it is very rare for me to regret that. I usually feel a sense of relief.

chadya

Veteran

Maybe some DVF dress that I got way, way back at Loehmans in the 80's
however they might not look right today anyway.

kerry

Veteran

I don't often (ever?) regret a purge. I purge frequently but still, somehow, manage to hand onto things I shouldn't (not many but some). What I do regret sometimes is not duplicating a favourite item. Then when I wear it out I can't find a suitable replacement.

viva

Veteran

Right now I am really regretting purging an interesting Milly coat in forest green, which would be right on trend. I had bought it on consignment, and I kept it for one winter, wore it exactly once, and then let it go.

It was a truly gorgeous color, I got it for a song, and it fit me perfectly. It was lightweight wool, had a gorgeous body shape, but the collar was really different for me and that made me uncertain that it was worth holding onto.

I've thought about it several times since then. It's taught me something: For me, although I really like to have a smallish wardrobe made of things I wear often, I think it would be fine to have a unique coat that I wear rarely.

I still miss it.

retailgirl

Veteran

Sometimes I think I wish I had kept stuff, but then I remember a few years ago when I lost 20+ pounds and was able to wear things I had held onto...none of them looked as good as they did in my imagination. Even very classic things change in subtle ways, maybe I'm more in tune to this because I work in retail. I had a black cashmere coat made by a mens topcoat manufacturer that you would think was very classic...but after a few years, the lapel, the button stance, the shoulder line just weren't current. So, goodbye! At least it can keep someone warm who might not have a coat otherwise.

Joy

Veteran

My Birkies from the 60's and a knee-covering, fitted beaver coat from who knows when.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

The only thing that comes to mind -- and I've mentioned it before -- is a burgundy silk western-style shirt that I loved wearing. It had salmon-colored piping, which might sound a little weird with the burgundy, but it worked. Isabel Marant made a shirt a couple of years later that was similar, but I had already purged my shirt after I lost about 15 lbs and the fit became loose. Now, with semi-tucking and fluid fits, I would probably still wear it, and I wish I still had it.

I wish I'd hung onto maybe one other pair of my jeans that got too big after that weight loss too, because now I'd cut them off into BF shorts. I could use one more pair of those, since my existing faded denim pair is getting a bit worn out.

But those are two items out of literally hundreds I've purged over the last few years since joining YLF. Those are pretty good numbers, so I'll continue to cull my wardrobe thoughtfully.

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