I think I need to do a drastic clothes clear out/destash...

[viccat]

I have a lot of clothes. And I mean A LOT. Two double wardrobes, a large chest of drawers and more in a couple of large storage boxes and bags (winter clothes in the summer and summer clothes in the winter get rotated into the storage bags). Much of it is 5-10+ years old but I often go back to old favourites again after not wearing them for ages... There are some cheaper items from H&M and ASOS, a lot of Boden, White Stuff etc. that I bought second hand.

However I also have a lot that is now too small (old favourites kept in case I lose weight again...) or got worn when I had an office job but isn't worn now. And also a lot that has never been worn much but I still like. Having it around has started feeling quite frustrating and anxiety-inducing, for example after doing laundry I often don't have any space to put the clean clothes anywhere in my wardrobe until a few more things have been worn and moved to the washing basket!

I've already got rid of a lot in the past year or so and replaced with things I love and fit me and my lifestyle (I work from home). I probably wear about 20 items on rotation (most of it basic tops paired with different bottoms). I'm dreaming of another huge clear out to really drastically reduce what I have, and to then buy a few more things I really love and will wear instead.

Is there any good way to at least make some money out of it - eBay doesn't seem very profitable these days and Facebook selling groups are also hard work? No car so can't do a car boot sale... Is it best to just charity shop it all? I feel terrible about how much money I've spent over the years but I guess it's done now anyway...

Go through similar items e.g. trousers and pick the ones you wear. The ones you never wear, put in a pile.
Top name brands in regular sizes should sell on eBay.
High street stuff charity shop them.

Maybe you can invite some friends round for a shopping event? You can have music, drinks and nibbles and they can have a shop of your wardrobe and make a donation towards your new clothing budget.

There's also ASOS market place, Depop, dress agencies, Facebook groups, etc.

I have/had similar problem.
I went on holiday a few weeks ago and out of all my 'holiday' clothes - which I generally can't wear in the UK because I feel the cold too much, I only selected the same (newer) items.
I realised even though I have been holding on to all these clothes in reality I'm never going to choose to wear them over my nicer stuff.
I had also been hanging onto them thinking I've spent money on these and maybe I can sell them on.....but even though I could do with the money, the time and effort is not worth it for me.

A poster on here suggested getting everything out on the bed and trying everything on. It was pretty quick and I filled a big suitcase (with another 1-2 worth to come) and wheeled it to my nearest charity shop (I have a car, but I'm only 20 mins walk and there's no parking).

If the charity can make some money from my clothes which were all in good condition, then fantastic.

My wardrobe looks so much better now, it doesn't look like a hoarders nightmare, and last night I went out in a completely 'new' outfit from my existing clothes which I had never worn - but trying them on and deciding to keep them means I have to wear them or they need to go.
I got loads of compliments from my fiends and lots of admiring glances in the bar (not a given at my age!) in my new/old clothes.

It's helped me realise how much I like dressing up a bit and having fun with clothes and also what few pieces I need to buy to update my look, which I am happy to buy because I'm not worrying about adding to my (was) bursting wardrobe.

Do you have the time to invest in eBaying or similar?
You could look for a car boot sale type event and do all in one go...or my choice would be to give to charity. And hold off buying those new things you think you need till you've been through your hoard!

Ooh, i wish i could do this for people. You have such a fulfilling task ahead of you!
Don't focus on getting to make money, that will confuse matters. Start by focusing on getting yourself down to one wardrobe and chest of drawers. Then go through your heap and work out what to do.

Thank you all for the ideas. I should say I did a bit of Marie Kondo style sorting out already in December/January but it only made a small dent... Although the folding system helped a lot and at least I can see what I have in my drawers now!

I've spoken to a couple of friends and we are planning to do a carboot sale and donate the money to a small charity we all volunteer for. I'm going to try to eBay a few brand name items as well, it only seems to be worth it for things that are likely to sell for £10-20...

My first goal is to get rid of enough to at least have space for everything I own so that clean laundry doesn't sit piled up on chairs.

I have a similar problem. We did not have a huge amount of money when I was growing up, so I always feel tempted to hold onto things. But then I read something that explained how much space to store things costs and how keeping stuff is making me poorer as I need a bigger house etc., so that helped to an extent to start with. I have started moving my regular items to the nearest wardrobe and organising them, so that I can have a better overview of the less worn items. It’s shocking how many black trousers I have! I tried eBay but had zero success with some brand new with tags stuff that I never got round to sending back. I totally get your point about the stress of having nowhere to put things. I feel so guilty about the waste and that I bought all this stuff in the first place, and it’s very much a work in progress for me. I have imposed a non-buying rule now as well.

Me too! I’ve made a start but it’s slow progress. I also didn’t have much when I was growing up so I tend to hang onto things now and also have been through phases where when I’ve had ‘spare’ cash I’ve gone a bit mad and bought loads that I really didn’t need.

Same experience as Spoldge on eBay, recently even tagged branded stuff just doesn’t sell or sells for buttons so it’s just not worth it. I sold quite a few clothes and shoes a couple of years ago and felt it was worth the effort but have given up now.

I feel incredibly guilty at the sense of ‘waste’

I had the opposite experience as a child really - only child and my mum also loves clothes so she bought me lots. She was quite obsessed with the idea of having lots of different things so would buy a top in various colours and so on, and we did a lot of shopping/browsing for fun, as a hobby almost...

I've definitely caught my mum's love of clothes. I just love the different fabrics, patterns, shapes - just the huge range of possibilities, putting outfits together - all of that.

As for the second hand market, yes I also had better success with eBay in the past, I remember 5+ years ago a Boden or White Stuff skirt for example would create a bidding war but not so much now. I've sold a few things in FB groups but usually end up photographing and listing 10 things and selling one of them so it's a lot of work for nothing.