Decluttering your clothes - different sizes - what to do?

[Tengreenhats6543]

I would really appreciate your advice please.

Children have left home.

I’m currently decluttering my house by category and I’m wading through my clothes of which I have far too many because, now I am far too fat, I have so many really lovely clothes in different sizes that I have grown out of; right through from size 10 to 18/20.

I really love clothes so this is quite a difficult challenge for me.

The other problem is that now I am no longer cooking family meals, I seriously intend to get slimmer. Yes, I know we all say that, but I am determined about this and need to do so anyway for health reasons.

Can anyone who has been in a similar situation please advise me?

How did you manage this situation?

I don’t want to have to re-buy all of my clothes as I go down the size scale as we need money for the new house we are down-sizing to, and some of them are really good quality; better quality than I can afford now actually!

Also, I dress in a very classic traditional style and so what suits me hasn’t changed much over the years.

Should I just keep one zipped clothes storage bag of say 10 items in each dress size?

What did you do?

Many thanks; all suggestions gratefully received!

Ditch everything that isn’t your current size. Sell it on Vinted if you can. Put the money in a separate account. Buy new stuff with it as you need it. Buy from Vinted where possible.

Thanks for your response. I like the Vinted idea but what is your reasoning behind getting rid of good quality clothes that I will need within a year (hopefully)?

I've gone down a couple of sizes so I'm reducing the larger sizes. All the biggest size - gone. Anything I wouldn't wear even if it fit (different lifestyle now)- gone.

After that, I've kept some bigger sizes where they would be hard to replace (eg, colours that haven't been in fashion for a long time). And some bits that are just sentimental cos I have the space.

Thanks DisplayPurposesOnly

Forgive me for asking this; because it applies to me and not to you! But did you think about keeping some larger sizes (other than the special pieces) in case you go up in size again? If so, what is your reasoning behind not doing so?

I know, I know, my clothes addiction is bad 🙈

Keep stuff that you love. Especially if not easy to replace. So generic black trousers/white blouse is more on the transfer list than something more unique.

If it 'nearly' fits consider the shape - if it's tight in 1 place but already loose in another, ditch it!

Be aware your shape may well change - and specific tastes. There's some (wedding guest) clothes that were great when I bought them but looked super frumpy 15 years later at the same weight but older.

Be strict on if it's damaged/marked.

Once you've got a short list, think about what you would wear together and what else you'd need to make a capsule wardrobe or if something wouldn't be easy to wear with what you have/your life until you have a reasonable amount for your storage area

Not my biggest size (which was 20), no. There weren't many, all easily replaceable and I really really hope to never need that size again!

I don't think I've kept many 18s either. My winter coat is one, will try to replace that this autumn. It's mainly 16s I've kept.

I've never lost weight/been on a diet before so who knows if I'll keep it off😆I have to try though (as my type 2 diabetes is now in remission).

Thank you Randomsabreur

That is very good advice about one’s shape changing. Post-meno, fat is distributed differently… unfortunately 😬

Yes and we have all become much more casual now; although having said that, some of the styles I wore in the eighties seem to be fashionable with my daughters who are 21 & 23 years old! I probably will never wear them again though sadly!

That’s a good check list though thanks!

THIS.

Reasoning == if you lose all that weight, you will very much want to buy new clothes in latest colours fashion styles lengths season. You will suddenly see the 'old' stuff as 'too old'. Selling the items that don't fit will help fund the new purchases. Donating the items that don't fit will help someone who needs/wants inexpensive nice clothes and help a charity raise funds. Getting rid of don't-fit-items will stop you feeling depressed about their existence if losing weight doesn't happen like you hope it will. Getting shot of it all gives you space back literally in your life to better organise your remaining clothes and prevents risk of damage by moths or mustiness in meantime.

Basically, the only reasons to keep clothes are "maybe" reasons; the reasons to sell or give clothes away are almost all guaranteed benefits.

About 2 yrs ago, a large Friend gave away a lot of no-longer-fits items to me & another friend... LF spots me wearing some of those items when we meet up & we are both made happy: I am happy because her clothes remind me of our lovely friendship. LF may get down to those sizes again one day, and she will definitely treat herself to great new wardrobe when she does.

Very well done on the weight loss DisplayPurposesOnly 👏

That’s v impressive!

Getting rid of the largest sizes is a good incentive to keep the weight off I reckon!

No I wouldnt get rid of stuff, its really difficult to replace nice things, particularly if they are older and classic, fabric and fit these days is awful

Put them away and give yourself a timescale, a year, 2 years (I dont know how much you have to lose). Be realistic, also make sure you're using every tool in the box (WLI?) or something that actually works for you and has evidentially worked for you in the past.

I have slowly been losing weight this year. Lost 3 and a half stone overall. I have done exactly what PP suggested. Sell everything that’s too big on Vinted. If there’s something you desperately need to replace in a smaller size, just buy it from Vinted as then you won’t have wasted money as you go down through the sizes.

A warning. The first few stones lost won’t see you needing new clothes for a while, but as you get smaller, you zip through the sizes more quickly, even if you are losing weight slowly.

I haven’t kept a single thing from my fat clothes.

Thank you very much for that reasoning
lljkk

It does make sense! 👍

I am just so reluctant to give away such beautiful quality things that I bought when I was earning well, only to replace them with clothes which will be nowhere near as good quality.

Also, I am not a fashionable dresser, so I may not want to rush out and buy new styles when thinner tbh.

Argh, the benefits you list are very compelling though! I love the story about your friend!

I am going to have to go away and wrestle with myself about this and be disciplined.

I know I need to get rid of about 50% of all of the clothes that I own.

That’s so interesting. Thank you MadamCholetsbonnet.

Congratulations on your weight loss.

I need to lose exactly the same amount as you have done.

I didn’t know that about needing smaller sizes more rapidly the more you lose, which is useful info.

That’s a good idea about replacing the exact item from Vinted but in a smaller size.

Interesting too that you got rid of all of your larger sizes.

This is great advice.

If you have clothes in sizes 10 upto 20 - It’s taken a long time (years) to put that amount of weight on and you’ve been hanging onto clothes that don’t fit for years. These clothes will now be dated.

Sell them / donate them and get rid of anything that doesn’t fit. Every time you open up your wardrobe and see all of those clothes that don’t fit it’s depressing.

It could take a considerable amount of time to drop 10 dress sizes. By the time you do - all these clothes will look dated.

Sell them and use the funds to buy new - you’ll feel so much better for it.

Thanks for your different perspective on this.

I agree with you about fabric!

The fit may not ever be the same though even if I lose all of the weight I suppose.

I think I am going to combine strategies and try and be as ruthless as possible but keep a very few key pieces in diminishing sizes. But I will follow your advice and put a time limit on them. If the right size yet not worn again within two year; they will be sold.

I wouldn’t chuck. I try to have in my actual wardrobe only stuff that is the right size and season. Put rest in loft? If it’s well sorted it won’t take long to declutter when you need to. (Caveat: only if you can sensibly store them without them getting in the way day to day!)

Yes. Thank you for the reality check. Part of me knows you are right.

I do have space currently but we are down-sizing to a new house with less space and I really don’t want to take unnecessary items with me.

That’s good advice about only having what fits now in your wardrobe; thank you.

As NorthernSpirit said, it is depressing to keep seeing clothes that I can no longer wear, cluttering everything up.

Declutter everything else in the house, not your clothes, and start the slimming down immediately. Dispose of the clothes as they become too big for you. I would question why cooking family meals is to blame for you putting on weight. You might be kidding yourself.

Like @MadamCholetsbonnet I lost 3.5st over a year and had that same experience of changing size faster as time went on. 18s hung around for awhile but I seemed to only have a few months of 16 before I needed 14. I was thinking oh god I need new knickers again already😆

And yes to changing shape too. I've lost more off my hips and less off my chest than I expected. Im still quite pear shaped but it's less pronounced.

@Tengreenhats6543 definitely keep some clothes of each size.

Depending on the types of clothes it can be relatively easy to alter them so they still fit as you loose weight.

Thanks for your advice. I do need to declutter before we move house unfortunately.

Yes I may very well be deluding myself but the difference between having to cater for athletic bean pole teens and young adults who needed nutritious meals then and there v having the freedom of just me and dh to cook for, is like night and day. We don’t need many carbs nowadays. And we only eat once a day now at lunch time and have a small cup of veg soup in the evening instead of a meal.

So I am around food less in general and am buying much less food and I am doing different more active things in the evenings.

Thank you that’s a good point. I do have a very good little shop nearby where they do alterations as it happens.

Honestly, I'd just get rid of them. I don't find fitting into my old clothes very inspirational/motivational though and I think some people do, so it maybe depends on what sort of person you are.

I'm not thrilled with my current size either and am trying to lose weight, so not spending a lot on clothes. I buy a lot on Vinted and stick to mainly dresses, so I'm 'one and done' when getting dressed. It's about as close to minimalism as I'm going to get tbh and it does seem to simplify things getting dressed.

My advice is separate the clothes you can wear right now, from everything else (whether the reasons are seasonal, size or lifestyle) and only put the right now clothes back in the wardrobe. Always give priority to your real self, not your fantasy/future/past self.

Figure out where you can store the rest, and let the space you have determine how much you keep, starting with seasonal and favourites. Use vacuum bags if you want. But stick to the limits of the space you’ve assigned.

It can be helpful to set a date for revisiting this issue - maybe in a year’s time, if you haven’t lost weight, you might be more inclined to part with clothes.

I lost weight and I hugely regret parting with some of my favourite pieces.