I went through my closet today to see if there are any holding zone items I'm excited to wear (at the moment, the answer is no). Also stuck a few things into the holding zone that I haven't been reaching for. I also took the time to make a Holding Zone Collection! Curious to know others' culling/purging strategies: do you get things out of the house right away, or set them aside for a while before you decide to part with them? How many items do have in your holding zone, if you have one? How often do you clear it out?

I'm at fifteen pieces at the moment, not including shoes. I have a few pairs I may let go of but that's a separate thought process, as shoes are more difficult to replace and create larger wardrobe holes when removed! Detailed rundown of my iffy items and my thoughts on them below, for those who enjoy deep dives.

The two breton tops are in purgatory because the bracelet length sleeves and boatnecks both make me go "ugh" at the moment. I *might* feel differently once it's a bit warmer?

The short merino dresses both predate DS (so over seven years) and are starting to develop pinholes along the hems. They've had a good run. The Boden polka-dot dress is only half as old, but also starting to develop some tiny holes at key seams. It's a fairly heavy jersey fabric and the skirt seems to pull down on the seam at the waist. I might demote it to beach use for a season or two. Same goes for the raspberry dress (from 2018-ish I think?); it's a bit too big for me (esp. armholes/bust), so I have to decide whether to keep just for the beach or let it go to a new home.

The Levi's are something I've been "off" for a while. The wash is a bit busy IRL (too much distressing), and the rise feels *so low*. These are from 2015-ish, when non-skinny options were very limited. I've kept them because they're a good length to wear with a single wide cuff, and they're high-quality selvedge denim. The Uniqlo jeans (actually two pairs, one light and one dark, from 2016 or 2017) have been useful as "summer jeans"; they're very lightweight and are an odd length that I can only wear rolled up because they are too short on me at full length. I have other options for summer pants now that I like better and feel more versatile, so I don't reach for these much anymore. Will hang on until June or July to make a final decision.

The silk pants (purchased three or four years ago) are part of a small experimental silk capsule. Turns out I don't like silk crepe very much, though I'm okay with sturdy, nubby raw silk (and knit silk for baselayers). These pants are also tighter around the calf than I would like. Not unwearable, but the clingy calf/loose hip just feels not-quite-right every time I wear them. I would love to find a replacement for them, a dressy black ankle pant with a slightly different fit/fabrication.

The denim jacket (4 yrs old) is a potential dye project. I'm not feeling optic white at all these days, and can probably take this to an ecru colour pretty easily using a black tea solution.

The coffee press top is an old, old favorite (at least seven years). Frayed cuffs and pilling mean I'm not wearing it much anymore. Probably time to clip the graphic and sew it onto something else as a patch. The red/white turtleneck sweater is even older, thrifted over a decade ago (was very hard to find a photo for Finds, and I'm too lazy to take and upload my own!). It is a permanent resident in the holding zone due to pilling and slight overall rattiness, but I love it so much that I pull it out to wear a few times a year. I have yet to find a suitable replacement. Apparently I'm the only person in the world who considers a chunky cotton rugby stripe turtleneck to be an essential!

The two outerwear pieces -- puffer (6 years) and rain coat (5 years) -- are both feeling a bit superfluous these days as I've added other coats/jacket that do what they were supposed to do, but better. I still like the colours, though.

I'm quite pleased that all of these items are at least three years old, and most of them significantly older than that. None of them have been sitting gathering dust, and almost all of them have more visible wear than Angie would tolerate in her wardrobe. The only exceptions are the silk pants and the white denim jacket, which I baby due to fabric and colour, respectively.