At the end of last year, my wardrobe had reached the point where opening the door felt dangerous, clothes were trying to escape. Every time I pulled one thing out, three others followed it onto the floor and the annoying thing was I knew why. I’d kept pretty much every item of clothing I’d bought over the last ten years at least! All those tops I might wear again but never do, the dress I wore once to a wedding and felt amazing in even though it’s been hanging there untouched since 2016, the jeans that don’t fit but might one day and the things that I was weirdly attached to. I was fed up with fighting with my wardrobe and fed up with wearing the same few things, so I decided I was done messing about and was going to be ruthless with a proper wardrobe clear out and this is exactly how I did it!
Step one: I pulled everything out!
I started like I meant business. None of that, I’ll just have a little tidy nonsense. I pulled everything out of my wardrobe, finding things that I thought I had thrown away years ago. Oops. I even found some of the girls clothes there. It looked like a clothes shop had exploded in my bedroom. The bed and the floor soon disappeared! Once everything was out and staring me in the face, I made three piles: Keep, Donate and Toss! There was no maybe pile, I was serious about this!
I knew I needed rules, otherwise past me would start negotiating with the present me and that wouldn't end well.
If it doesn’t fit, it goes!
This one was important. If it didn’t fit me on the day I was doing the clear out, it went straight into the donate pile. I had things that were too small and too big. I wasn't keeping clothes for a version of me that may or may not exist one day.
If it hadn’t been worn in 12 months, out it went!
Twelve months is generous. It covers all seasons, birthdays, Christmas, random days out and those moments when you’re saving an outfit for something special. If I hadn’t worn it in a whole year, I wasn’t suddenly going to start now. This rule even claimed some of my PJs, which hurt a bit because you all know how much I love my PJs but if they were shoved at the back on the shelf and I always picked the same ones instead, so what was the point?
If it was damaged beyond reasonable repair, it was gone!
There was no I might fix this one day. I had trousers with holes in them that I had planned on fixing but deep down I knew I wouldn't. I had tons of paint-covered tops and leggings from when I had been decorating which I kept in case I needed them again. I haven't needed them, so most of them were thrown away and there were items that were past their best. Most of it went in the bin, but I did keep some old T-shirts to rip up for cleaning rags.
If it made me smile, I kept it.
I used the Marie Kondo rule and it worked. If I picked something up and it made me smile, it stayed. Some things were tempting to keep just for nostalgia, but I reminded myself that memories don’t live in wardrobes.
If I wore it regularly, it stayed!
This one was easy. If it’s something I reach for all the time, it didn’t even get questioned. Straight into the keep pile with no guilt attached.
To stop myself getting stressed, I worked through one category at a time. Dresses, jeans and trousers, then T-shirts, jumpers and finally pyjamas. There was no chucking things aside to deal with later. Each item had to earn its place. Some things needed trying on, especially summer dresses I hadn’t worn much yet. I asked myself how I felt in them, not how I wished I felt. That made the decision much clearer. Then came the big realisations. Did I really need eight black cardigans? I didn't, kept three and donated the rest. I counted 56 T-shirts! I cut that number in half and only kept the ones I actually loved and wore.
The donation pile quickly became my favourite, it felt like a reward. Knowing those clothes were going to people who wanted or needed them. It made it easier to let things go. Someone else gets to enjoy them instead of them gathering dust with me. The toss pile was smaller than I expected, which surprised me and the keep pile was my new wardrobe. Seeing it all together was such a moment. I could actually see what I owned, I rediscovered things I loved but hadn’t worn in ages because they’d been buried and it felt lighter.
Opening my wardrobe now doesn’t stress me out. I’m not battling hangers or digging through stuff I don’t even like. Everything there has earned its spot and the best part is that I actually wear more of what I own now. Nothing’s hiding, there's just clothes I like, that fit and that work for the life I have now.
What is your wardrobe/closet like? Organised or chaotic?
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