De-Cluttering Clothes 2015

 

Earlier in the week I wrote a post listing all the clothes I bought in 2015.  Despite trying not to buy anything I ended up with a fairly long list.  I'm pleased to say though that the list of clothes I disposed of is much longer.

The Christmas before last I read, almost in one sitting, the book by Marie Kondo on the art of tidying.  I could hardly wait to get home to put everything she advised into practice and then when I got home I forgot all about it.  Well not completely, I have taken to folding up my scarves and my knickers.  If I had followed her instructions I would have gathered every item of clothing I own, all the contents of the wardrobe and the chest of drawers, the bags stored under the bed, the heap in the ironing basket, the dressing gowns and coats on the hooks on the bathroom and bedroom doors, the coats from the hall cupboard, the hats hidden in the stool in the living room, the apron in the kitchen and presumably everything from the dirty clothes basket as well.  Of course I never got round to doing this.  Instead, every week or two, I gathered a few things up and either photographed them in preparation for listing them on eBay or I put them in my work bag so I could drop them off in the charity shop near my office.

So in no particular order here is the list.

1.    Nine Items of Underwear

One bra was given to the charity shop.  Apparently bras are in much demand in some places in Africa so if they are in a reasonable condition you should donate them - most people don't and nor did I until I read about this. The remaining assortment of knickers, socks and tights went into the recycling bin.  (I actually disposed of quite a lot more than 9 items but as they were replaced immediately they don't go on the list.)

2.    Nine T-Shirts

Over the past few years I've acquired quite a few t-shirts from races and other charity related events.  I realised that I don't need a t-shirt to remind me of what I've achieved so most of them went to the charity shop, with some older ones going into the recycling bin.

3.    Two Scarves

I have a lot of scarves.  Now someone else has these two.

4.    Four Pairs of Footwear

As my mother would have said I am very hard on shoes.  I have also noticed that the more money I spend on shoes the harder I am.  Anything made of soft, buttery leather is guaranteed to be ruined within weeks.  Last year I threw in the recycling bin a pair of brogues and a pair of loafers.  I donated some  workman type boots to the charity shop.  I'd bought them in T K Maxx on a day when I must have been feeling a bit genderfluid.  I also gave a pair of good walking shoes to my sister.  I never found them very comfortable but when visiting me in London she managed to go for a long walk wearing them so I let her keep them.  I had been planning to sell them on eBay.

5.    Three Skirts

In 2014  I lost some weight.  I have never been sylph- like but during my mother's illness and the horrible period at work before I got made redundant I  gained weight.  Anyway by the end of 2014 I was a size smaller and quite a few of my clothes no longer fitted me.  I'd had the skirt above which came from Whistles for several years.  I sold it on eBay.  I donated another skirt from Toast to the charity shop and another moth-damaged skirt went into the recycling.

6.     Four Items Sports Gear

I sold a pair of waterproof overtrousers on eBay and another pair of trousers got donated to the charity shop; another T K Maxx buy which I always felt made me look like a middle-aged woman pretending to be a mugger.  A pair of sweat pants and a sweat shirt went to the charity shop.  Strangely the pants are the only thing so far that I have given away that I slightly regret.

7.    Four Pairs of Trousers

One of these pairs were cords which I wore when I was feeling miserable.  Marie Kondo would not have approved.  I was glad to see the back of them.  Another pair I really liked and wore a lot but they had become too big.  I also threw away a pair from Cos which were worn and another pair also from Cos went to the charity shop.  I have mixed feelings about Cos.  In theory I love this shop but in reality the clothes are often unwearable or very unflattering.

8.    Three Coats

 In New York in 2008 I bought a blue coat from a vintage shop in lower Manhattan.  It had been made by a dressmaker and was lovely to look at it but it never really fitted properly and it made me feel a little guilty every time I looked at it as I always thought I should get more wear out of it.  Sold on eBay. Another jacket I bought from the outlet centre in Antrim near to where my mother lived.  I strongly associated this coat with my  mother.  I remember trying it on in her kitchen and she admired its cut.  Rationally I know that was not a reason to keep it but I still found it hard giving this away.  I also donated a Mackintosh,  a real one which I'd got in a Liberty sale.  I had it for almost ten years and probably wore it three times in the last five years.  I felt a real sense of relief once it was out of the house.

9.     One Grey Dress

Although I was only unemployed for a very short period of time I was completely neurotic about spending money and then when I got my job I went out and bought a new work wardrobe.  This dress was quite sacklike but I really liked it as it hung well and when it was really cold I could wear a t-shirt  underneath and a cardigan on top.  I wore it a lot.  I thought it had a Bloomsbury air about it but Traybake always referred to it as one of my nun outfits.  When I lost weight it was far too big for me so it went to the charity shop.

10.     Sheepskin Gloves

I left these gloves on the bus and I was so upset.  I find it really hard to get gloves to fit me as I have very long fingers and I liked these very much.  I did manage to replace just after Christmas with a less nice pair but at least they fit me.

11.     Charity Baseball Hat

Like I would ever wear a baseball hat!

12.    Four Cardigans

Moths! Bastards!

13.    Two Jumpers

In San Francisco I bought, without trying on,  a pink jumper from J. Crew.  It was much too big and the wrong colour so it went to the charity shop.  The other jumper was a victim of the moths.

14.    Eight Tops

I disposed of eight tops including a Whistles blouse that was at least ten years old and a couple of shirts from Toast and a Jaeger top that I rarely wore.  I sold some things on eBay and the rest went to the charity shop.  Strangely the items that were cheaper originally were sold and the more expensive stuff was donated.

15.     Two Items of Nightwear

An ancient dressing gown went to a charity shop and a pair of PJs went in the bin.

16.    One Apron

I got a new one so eventually this one went

My grand total is 58 items which is actually quite impressive.  I have a lot more space in my chest of drawers although my wardrobe is tiny so it is still  packed.  There is still quite a lot to go but overall I'm pretty pleased with this.  I have a sneaking suspicion though that if I had followed Marie Kondo's advice properly I would have a lot less clothes.  One thing I noticed in making this list is that the clothes I got rid of generally came from more expensive shops than the clothes I bought last year.  I think now the clothes I really, really like are extremely expensive - hello, Margaret Howell - and I can't bring myself to spend in mid range shops as the prices they charge are too high for the quality of the clothes.

I shall continue with this exercise this year.

 

Comments

[Fresh Blade]

Informative and entertaining. Guffawed about pretending to be a mugger.

[carolbaby]

I am utterly crazy about these de-cluttering and re-cluttering posts. I *heart* the minutiae of everyday life.

I'm really impressed that you're able to recycle clothing! Our city (probably our country) has not progressed beyond the usual paper, glass, plastic & metal.

[Anyresemblance]

Hey carolbaby, we have Revolve here where you can drop off everything serviceable for resale, reuse and I always put clothes in the St Vinnies bins. I always loved that quarterly kerbside collection Sydney does. I, too, love these posts.

[Susannah]

I did the Konmari method with my winter clothes. I had to work up to pulling every item out and putting it on my bed. The amount of clothes was obscene - I was actually ashamed to have so much. 4 large bags left to various places and then I did a a capsule winter wardrobe of 40 + items. Very happy I did it and I'll do the same for spring/summer.