When do you purge summer clothes? - YouLookFab Forum

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When do you purge summer clothes?

Elizabeth P

Veteran

I have several tops that I know I am ready to get rid of, but it seems strange to get rid of them now, as I know others won't want them, and they'll more likely end up in a landfill than if I pass them on in the spring.

What do you do? Get rid of them as soon as you've made the decision? Make purging decisions at the beginning of a season? Hang on to things until the season rolls around again?

General

24 replies

Latest reply was from Elizabeth P

Aida

Veteran

I usually donate right away though sometimes I'll keep the bag until whenever the retail season ends (so, Jan/Feb and Aug/Sept) and donate then. I hadn't considered seasonal purchasing!

EDIT: I suppose I just need to flip my donation time -- do the summer stuff in jan/feb, and the winter stuff in aug/sept!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Whenever. End of season and beginning of season and mid -season. If I am planning to gift or consign I wait (put in holding zone) until the appropriate time for that (whenever that might be). If donating, I just donate.

Anonymous

I donate as soon as I get the urge to purge something. I'm a very decisive person, though. I can't think of anything I've purged that I'd want back. Donating before things get too far gone allows other people to get some good out of them. That said, I have worn things until they wore out, but those were favs, not things I was ambivalent about.

Elizabeth P

Veteran

The items I have to donate are in great shape, not that old, just not my style. So I think they'd have value to someone else. I think I may hang on to them, I really can't imagine them being given a serious glance at this time of year.

If they were more worn or old pieces I wouldn't think twice about turfing them now.

See... this is why I get stuck with purging! I need to get rid of things "perfectly".

JAileen

Veteran

I volunteer at a thrift store that benefits a nonprofit organization. In the back room there are racks for off season donations.

Aquamarine

Veteran

I am very haphazard about donating....it's usually whenever I get the urge to edit my closet, which has no timetable.

Sara L.

Veteran

I have a hamper just for donations in the corner of my bedroom. I put stuff from the whole family in there. When it fills up, I bag everything up and take it to Goodwill. Stuff can sit there for months until the hamper fills up so I don't worry about what season it is.

Banoffi

Veteran

I have to admit I've never given the season any thought when I've purged clothes. When I'm in culling mode, I just want to get rid of the items I don't wear, don't work or are worn out and be done with it.

unfrumped

Veteran

I have dabbled in consignment and in direct-sale second hand stores. anNeither is very good for me but consignment is the worst, very picky about season and then I have to " check for checks", so after another fitful round I have sworn off. I may swear off the direct sale also, but so far they seem to keep all seasons on the go in the shop, so a doable system is to take my pile there and then on to Goodwill and church with what's left.
At any rate if just giving to Goodwill, I never gave a thought to right or wrong season or that I needed to pace my discarding ; I let them sort it out.

All of that is part of still being tied to sunk- cost burdens and something I'm working on letting go of.

Carla

Veteran

One cull in March for S/S (before a late winter mini-break in a warm place) and October for F/W. I do the same with DH over a weekend at around the same time. Then with lists in hand, we spend a weekend in the big city and do a big shop.

Between the big culls, I might toss something worn out or put a 'mistake' in a holding zone and it goes out with the seasonal cull.

Very little went out last spring, though I did a big shoe purge. I just can't do heels any longer.

The place I donate takes everything, and will rag items that aren't fit for a second time around.

deb

Veteran

when i put them on and decide they need to go.

Barbara Diane

Veteran

There are some places that only take things "in season". I checked, and our Image for Success, which is similar to Dress for Success, is only accepting fall/winter clothing now. They do not have enough room to store clothes and will be providing fall/winter clothes for their clients.
Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. will take anything anytime.
I had fall/winter stuff for consignment that I never consigned because I held it for in season, but somewhere out of sight. As it was some of the better clothing, I'll take it to Image for Success. Thanks for the reminder.
I do try to get items out of the house when I am ready for them to be out of the house.

Sally

Veteran

I'm sorting out my summer now (I live in southern hemisphere) so I'm purging those clothes which no longer fit.

Style Fan

Veteran

I donate everything. I have not had great experiences with consignment stores. I won't go into the drama here. I donate when I clean out my closet. Out it goes. I don't think about the season.

Anonymous

Hmmm. I had not factored in that consideration. Historically, I always cleaned/pressed/stored my Spring/Summer clothes as I transitioned to Fall/Winter. When I pulled them out the next year, I wondered why I bothered to spend time and money storing some of those items. They were donated at that time.

This year I have decided to skip cleaning/pressing/storing things that I will very likely donate next year. If I haven't worn it this season, out it goes NOW. Might it end up in a landfill? Possibly. But so much of what is donated ends up in the landfill anyway.

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Thanks for all the input ladies. Sounds like. Out of you are "get it out of my sight, now" purgers.

The landfill thing really bothers me (although apparently not enough to make me stop accumulating, LOL). So I try hard to donate my clothes to groups that need them before taking them to value village, or goodwill, or the like.

I think I will come up with some sort of hybrid solution that will work for me. I do want these things out of regular rotation, because if I put them away with the rest of my summer clothes, I'll inevitibly do next seasons change in a rush, and they'll go back in my closet. I keep thinking I'll do the "ugh this thing again out it goes" thing when I unpack, but I rarely do.

L'Abeille

Veteran

I've only ever worried about this in retrospect, when I haven't worn a coat all winter and realized someone else could have used it.

But don't forget the time involved in cleaning, sorting, and transporting the stuff. Apart from yard sales and consignment, very little second-hand clothing is sold near its point of origin. My friend the trucker will take a load from Toronto to Pennsylvania, and from there to Halifax, and maybe out west with the next one. And things that don't sell are often moved on to third world countries (there's a sign at our local Frenchy's, I've seen it at flea markets in Africa, and I recall a program about the African dealers buying it somewhere in the Far East). So even thrifting doesn't have as tiny an eco footprint as we like to believe.

I honestly thought your question was coming at it the other way. At the end of this summer there are sandals, shorts and sleeveless tops I haven't worn. Some years that happens because of weather, or timing of vacation, but this year I've been ultra sensitive to cold, which I think is medication related and I'm hoping it will pass. So I'm keeping them for another year!

Tanya

Veteran

This is a very timely questions as I am about to commence a huge closet edit myself including the analysis of what I haven't worn this summer.
If I have some very nice items I want to get rid of I will pack those away in a bag/box to take to a consignment store next spring. Everything I plan to simply donate I hope to do so immediately a I have fallen victim to large holding zones in the past.

El Cee

Veteran

I have traditionally culled/purged at the beginning of a season, after taking wardrobe items out of storage. I have done this because of concern that the items taken to Goodwill at another time would be "out of season" and might be discarded and end up in a landfill. This season I will cull before putting items in storage. The items destined for Goodwill will be held until March or April in bags marked for donation. I have plenty of basement storage, so I can do this without concerns.

cjh

(website)

Veteran

I've enjoyed reading the recent posts about closet editing/culling/revamping. Yesterday I took time to do a simple "re-org", meaning resort items that have gotten out of place, hanging them in the usual categories of work or casual; sleeveless, short sleeved, or long sleeved; skirts by color (black/gray/navy/tan/colors and prints; dresses by color (seem to have a lot of sleeveless black dresses right now that I haven't worn...???). I review what I haven't worn lately, or outfits that have been neglected, to see what I might like to wear in the next few days.

Though I didn't find much in the way of bad fit, bad condition, or bad vibes, or anything that really needed to be removed, I was HUGELY tempted to put all my summer work clothes in a box to donate... My days to retirement are counting down and likely I will not be working into next year's warm weather (YAY). If the weather had turned cool enough to abandon my skirts and sleeveless tops, I might have done it this weekend. But today and this week, highs are still near 90. I see at least 2-3 more weeks of summer clothes before switching to slacks, short sleeves and cardigans.

To belatedly make the long story short, I purge and donate when I'm in the mood, need to reorg the spaces, seasons change, and/or when my donate basket fills up, which can be any time of the year.

Lyn D.

Veteran

Items I am selling I try to keep for the appropriate season, but donated items I will purge anytime.
I figure that people who are about to travel to different climates might buy them, and the thrift shop I volunteer in keeps racks of all-seasons.

KikiG

Veteran

I really try to force myself to purge anything that has become picked or pilled at the end of summer, so a motivating wardrobe crisis is created at the beginning of the new season. Summer things don't last as long, due to the extra laundry forced by hot weather. I'm about to also purge things that were favorites summer before this last one, but didn't make the team this year.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

cjh, maybe boxing them up and putting them in a holding zone is the best approach? That way you'll have them just in case you need them next summer, and if you don't you can donate them happily.

I definitely go through my summer-only items as I pack them up to put them away, and cull anything that is too worn or just really not my style anymore. Same with every season, as it comes out of storage and goes back in. If it's something really foundational, like my only pair of white jeans, or something, I make a note of it on my budget/wishlist document, so I can keep an eye out for a replacement during the end-of-season sales.

Elizabeth P

Veteran

Sorry ladies, I got tied up with back to school stuff and didn't make it back to this thread. But I did want to thank you all for your input. it's also been quite interesting reading about how differently everyone approaches this!

My favourite place to give things to is a local youth house... for kids that fall between the cracks age-wise. So timing is quite important, it's not like a huge warehouse that can store off season things easily. I think clearly marked boxes in a holding zone may be the way to go for items they may use... the others I'll get rid of as soon as I know I no longer want them when I box up for fall, and I assume I'll also have a few "ugh, this again" moments in the spring, so another batch can go out then.