I have decluttered 80% of my clothes

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I’m hoping this will revolutionise my life. If not I think I’ll probably regret it .
I now own just :

8 pairs of socks
12 pairs of knickers
2 bras
2 pairs of tights

1 pair of jeans
4 pairs leggings
2 dresses
1 skirt
2 cardigans
2 jumpers
2 vest tops
2 long sleeve tops

5 pairs pjs

Trainers
Boots

Raincoat
Black jacket
Smart grey coat
1 pair gloves
2 scarves

I’m hoping this is enough of a capsule wardrobe. I threw away everything that either didn’t fit me right now (I’d collected a wardrobe of stuff to slim into, also stuff for if I put on weight and even a maternity wardrobe for of I had another dc. I even had a load of stuff from when o decided I wanted to change my image 🤦‍♀️ But actually that was a mid life crisis I think ).

I’m worried I’ll regret it but hopefully not. Has anyone else done this? Did it work out and was it better with laundry ?

@StrongLegs

Well done OP. I do this regularly and it's brilliant. It's so much easier to find the nice stuff, and I don't have all the subliminal guilt any more because there are no clothes that I don't look good in. Yay!

My one slight worry is the two bra plan. It's very tricky to suddenly realise they're both in the washing machine when you have 5 minutes to get out of the door to a polite occassion.

This happened to me recently. I then panicked and bought three new bras online, all of where were too small, so that I can hardly breathe in them. Inexplicably I kept them all. I have no idea why.

I probably do need another bra , the 2 bra plan only ended up that way as all the others no longer fit, my nursing bras looked awful And I had a couple of lovely bralettes that looked beautiful online yet on me were possibly the most unflattering things ever - zero support and yet managed to squash me flat and well just horrific 🤣

Ah! Yes I completely know that feeling.Well done for getting rid of the unflattering ones. That is a really really great thing to do. I'm sure you will feel a million dollars in your new wardrobe. :-)

I have parcelled up my too-tight ones to go back and will buy a couple of new ones, if I can figure out how to do that online.

One of my weirdest discoveries recently is that I actually look much better in M&S gents clothes. I'm tall and quite androgenous, and as I hurtle towards 50 I'm realising that actually men's t-shirts and jumpers look much better on me than women's clothes. It took a lot of hard thinking to get there though. I think that really thinking hard about what you want from your clothes is a wonderful idea. Good luck there!

Well done op. I am going to follow your example in November and over-haul all of my clothes.

Well done op! I am feeling inspired now!!

That's amazing OP! I'm interested to know how it affects the laundry. I drown in laundry for 5 people and can never work our whether fewer clothes would be better or worse or just the same.

You could live with that capsule for a little while and gradually add to it as you realise you actually would wear a black cardigan or a warmer pair of boots or whatever it might be.

I have so, so many clothes. I do wear quite a lot of them (when I'm not pregnant or breastfeeding) but I do have a fair few that I own just because they are special to me or look pretty I have a dressing room with 5 large wardrobes and 4 chests of drawers and the whole room is stuffed full, with a few other things (like all my pyjamas) in an ottoman in my bedroom.

Might go through some drawers today...

I had a purge yesterday but was really disappointed that I didn't get rid of much. You are an inspiration and maybe I will have another go. Perhaps trying things on rather than just looking at them is a better way to eliminate the stuff that doesn't fit or make me feel good.

When I left my husband I had nothing so went and bought bare minimum like yours above.

I managed to get rid of a wardrobe and keep clothes in a bedside unit instead which made my room bigger and easier to clean and move around too.

10/10 recommend the change.

Have managed to stay consistent over the past year with the addition of one or 2 dresses.

I would end up doing laundry more often if I had that few clothes but I suppose it is different as I live alone so it's just my laundry and I only do specific loads when I have enough darks/whites/reds/light colours to wash.

@DontKnowMyOwnName 5 wardrobes! Fuck me. I have half a wardrobe and 2 drawers and still feel like I have too much stuff

@nordica

I would end up doing laundry more often if I had that few clothes but I suppose it is different as I live alone so it's just my laundry and I only do specific loads when I have enough darks/whites/reds/light colours to wash.

Surely you still wear clothes so the amount of laundry is ultimately the same. Some people do have dirty laundry hanging around whilst they wait for the right colour clothing to become enough for a wash but most colours can wash together and whites separately?

Please come to mine and sort out the DH's clothes! His stuff would fill a clothes shop.

I wish I could do this. But unfortunately my tumble drier has no work ethic and dries clothes now and again if it feels like it. I have just spent SEVEN days drying 2 loads of washing!

I have shoes and clothes I keep just in case. It’s time for a chuck out !
Unfortunately our charity shop has a sign saying no donations.

So it sounds like you've pared it down, and then will add more seasonal and event pieces as and when? Sounds like a really good idea.
Do you work from home? My work wardrobe is quite substantial!

Sorry, OP, just read that you don't work outside the home.
That simplifies it! I'd still be interested to see how you manage, or what you feel you need to add.

I’m seriously impressed and inspired
Too much bloody stuff everywhere.

too many pj an too few socks...
other than that. it seems like a good wardrobe.
make sure you get a rack so that you can hang up clothes to be worn again.

many congrats, OP

It's good to get rid of the stuff you will never wear. I'm doing this albeit more slowly. (I am hoping that we will come to do more socialising at some point in the future!).

Now, I did find out that if you don't get rid of stuff it does just rot, quite literally. When I was sorting my shoes some of my heels and wedges (the opposite of casual shoes) had started to perish. The coating on the leather was peeling off. So that was a lesson! I don't want to be creating more rubbish like that. Added to this I feel a sadness when you see some abandoned houses with stuff in them the is left to the same fate. It's all rubbish if not used!

But I'm not particularly brutal with this. I just pull out stuff to donate when I know I will be walking past charity shops or we get charity bags. Our supermarket also has a charity book stand and food bank collection point.

DontOwnMyOwnName you and your family probably just don’t wear stuff enough. Are you in the wear a t.shirt once and then it needs to be washed mindset? Change towels a few times a week?

I was raised washing everything by hand until we got a twin tub when I was about 14, spot cleaning was definitely a thing. I don’t wear dirty clothes but they do get worn for a while.

An example , I walk for an hour every day, so I leave my socks in my walking boots and wear them twice they are only worn for an hour each time. I also have walking trousers, this is woodland, fields walking so muddy potential.They stay with the boots and get worn for a few days.

Lucent I think we're 'medium' on the regularity of washing. I do tend to wash everyone's clothes at the end of the day and jammies are worn once, but my DC are little and make a mess of all their clothes and mine, and I've got a newborn so my clothes and PJs are covered in bodily fluids most of the time... Sometimes mine, sometimes others

I think I could wash less though and might encourage the DC to re-wear anything still clean if possible. The 5yo will have PJs, school uniform, home clothes (for wearing to dance class or whatever) and then new PJs at night. Every day. That's definitely too much but everything he wears is somehow filthy in approximately 5 minutes

I really do have too many clothes. I barely got any new clothes as a child and buy far too many now, albeit I do buy a lot of second hand.

Have you got enough to go on holiday for a week with and be able to pack in advance? I've found before once I've packed for a holiday, I don't have enough clothes I want to wear for the time being.

That's inspiring OP, I need to have a massive cull. Not only clothes that are past their best, too big, too small or just not the right style, shape or colour. But also shoes (so many heels that I rarely wear), bags, coats and jackets.

I'm going to start by sorting out my summer things and putting them away in the underbed drawers. Next, things that are tatty and broken (baggy and holey t-shirts and leggings, shoes with broken strap - unrepairable, I have tried - and bag with broken zip and scabby handles).

I have one or two nice things but the majority of stuff is just cheap (Primark, H&M type), plasticky (faux leather or suede shoes, bags and belts) or poor quality and worn out.

I'm hoping that the clothing bank will at least be able to recycle into rags, as things are not good enough to donate to the charity shop.

I took about 20 pairs of shoes to the charity shop last week. That felt good. Some were good quality but I don’t wear high heels and it’s time to give up on this idea.