How can I choose which clothes to keep?

[glitterbiscuits]

I have too many clothes. I can’t get them in the wardrobe.
I need to purge but I open the wardrobe doors and I look at them and I like them. Then I think about how much money they cost. There lots of different styles. But then I have something for any occasion!
I don’t need to sell them. I don’t have a close enough friend to help me.
I had heard about facing the hangers the other way and if you don’t wear them in a year then you give them away. But I can’t wait a year to shut the wardrobe doors!
Any top tips?

Ragwort

I'm at the age where I'm going to lots of weddings!

I have two wedding outfits and that's it. Both can be dressed up for weddings and special occasions but also dressed down for everyday wear.

One is a navy blue jumpsuit
The other is an A-line black-and-white 60s style skirt which I wear with different tops

It means I wear the same outfits to different weddings (see here) but I don't care- saves me buying shit loads of clothes that I'll only wear once or twice.

Do the Konmari method! Split them all into categories: Tops, trousers, jackets, socks, etc - there is a list if you google konmari clothing categories.

Then do the thing of picking the ones you love. It doesn't take as long as trying everything on or doing a world cup. You'll be able to see everything you have and therefore make better choices.

Take a whole category out of your wardrobe. Look at each item closely, ask yourself of you would you buy it if it was In a shop.If not then Charity shop is the answer. Our charity shop gives you a number and lets you know how much they raised.

Between us last year it was £136, but more importantly, others had warm clothes and we had space for ours.

I managed to sort 4 black bin bags full for the charity shop.

Well done

Organisations like womensaid are very grateful for donated clothes as many women leave with the clothes on their backs.
My mum is like you she had so many clothes ! When I told her this it really helped her not to feel guilty about getting rid of stuff as she would be helping women in trouble.
Not ball gowns etc but you get the picture !

I might try that konmarie category method, BertieBots. It sounds do-able rather than trying to do everything at once and getting overwhelmed.

I just finished clearing my wardrobe this weekend and found 4 bin bags worth of stuff to donate, 2 bags that needed to be thrown out and an under bed storage box worth of out of season clothes. Even with all of those items leaving my wardrobe it is still fairly full, but I know that everything in there is something I will and do wear regularly.

The key I found was washing any dirty laundry so I have all of my clothes there for the sort out and then piling the clean laundry on the floor along with everything from the wardrobe. I gave the wardrobe a quick dust and assessed the storage I have.

My problem was that I had so much stuff hung up, I could never see it all so tended to wear the same few things again and again and was often too lazy to put everything on hangers so it just piled up on the bottom of the wardrobe so I introduced two sets of hanging shelves. I designated one set for tops and one for bottoms and then assigned shelf space to each 'type' - so the tops shelves were split into vest tops/short sleeved t shirts/long sleeved t shirts/lightweight jumpers/tunic tops and bottoms into smart trousers/work trousers/lounge pants/joggers/leggings/jeans

Then I went through everything with a donate bin and a bin bag next to me - anything damaged/with holes/zips that stick/missing buttons/threadbare etc went straight in the bin bag as often the reason the item hadn't been fixed was because I had 20 others or it was beyond fixing but I wasn't ready to part with it because it "just" needed an easy fix. Anything that didn't fit went straight into the donate bag as there's rarely any point keeping clothes I "might" one day need again. Anything that hadn't been worn in the last 2 years was donated and everything else I folded and assigned to the right category. Any category with too many items for the shelf space I went through and chose my top few items (and/or pared down when I had multiple almost identical items to just one or two) that I could not live without and donated the rest.

Any formal dresses had to pass the test of "If I was going to an event next week, would I buy this over any other new outfit?" If yes, I put it in a garment bag and stored it in my wardrobe if not it went in the donation bag.

I allowed myself one storage box for seasonal tops (I work in retail and wear specific themed and charity items that are "uniform" items only at certain times of the year e.g. Christmas jumpers) and holiday clothes that couldn't be part of my regular attire (eg ski pants/beach wear) but I only let myself keep items I used on the last appropriate holiday (if I didn't take those shorts on my last beach holiday I clearly didn't want to wear them so why let them take up room at home? If I didnt wear those ski pants when I went on my last ski trip, I'm probably not going to take them on the next one so why keep them?)

I think we look at clearing out in the wrong way. Instead of feeling like you have to het rid of stuff, think about picking your absolute favourites. I am currently in mternity clothes. I have about 6 tops and 3 pairs of trousers in my wardrobe but they all fit like a dream and suit me perfectly.

A piece of clothing has to earn its place in your wardrobe and on your back. Only take the very best and don't accept anything less!

I found the cat curled up in the sweater organiser today. No clothes, just a bit furry cushion shape.

Put similar clothes together. A clothes rail is useful, or just put them in piles e.g. skirts. Ones you don't wear put in the charity shop bag, ones that need mending, fix or put in the rags bag. Do the same with dresses, trousers, cardigans, t-shirts etc until it all fits in the wardrobe.

It doesn't matter how much something cost, if you don't like it or don't wear it, get rid. If it has resale value, try selling it, or consider it a donation to charity.
If you think you will wear it again, hang on to it but put it in an airtight container and store it.