Want to have a declutter of wardrobe but worried I won’t have much left! Any tips please?

[Poppysball]

I am constantly struggling to know what to wear. I tend to impulse buy, and only items that have been reduced.
As a result I have a whole wardrobe full of random clothes but not much that actually goes together, meaning some of it I hardly wear.

Then I have other items that I’ve had for a while which are looking a bit worn and old. Because I like them or they’re comfy I keep them but I would like to smarten up a bit and so I’m thinking should I get rid of these things that have seen better days?

I don’t have much spare money at all for clothes and so I’m reluctant to throw things out as I can’t afford to buy much new stuff.

What would you do? Keep or throw? And how do deal with all the odd items that don’t really go with anything?

Thanks for any help!

Oh that’s a tough one. Perhaps a staggered approach? If the aim is to wear tatty clothes less often could you have a purge so you only have the ‘best’ one of each? Or hide them so you e got the stash for an emergency but not in easy reach?
Are there clothes you could mend, adjust or dye? Rather than getting rid? Dying old faded clothes back to their original colour might help. Good luck. X

Depop, eBay and Facebook sell. You won't get what you paid for them but you'll get something. Stagger it and operate a one in two out system. Also, split the clothes you want to keep from what you want to get rid of. You'll soon see if you want that piece if you hunt it down. Also, if you have an iPhone, download Stylebook. I was recommended it on here and it's been absolute game changer.
I had about 400 items and I'm now down to about 90. I want to go lower and replace some items with better quality items but it's a long term process rather than an overnight thing.

Thank you, I probably made it sound worse than it is. I wouldn’t say they are tatty, just have that look of having been washed many a time, some a bit faded or bobbly. Anything damaged or ripped etc I wouldn’t hang on to.
I think i’d just like to in future buy things that go with other things, I don’t seem to be very good at that so have all these clothes but nothing to wear!!

Also, even if they are a bit tatty and worn you would be surprised who will still buy them. I had a dickies too absolute trashed with a bleach accident and because it was from 00s and basically explained it was vintage and distressed it sold for more than I originally bought it for in 2004. I even managed to sell odd earrings and all sorts!

Dickies top*

cheese is stylebook an app? How does it work?

Yes, it's paid for but worth the £3.99 outlay. You snap pictures of what's in your wardrobe and categorise them. You can then create looks and match things up you'd never dream of. It'll also show you where gaps are and if you can't be bothered to log it, you'll know to get rid. Also shows you cost per wear if you log your outfits so you can see what you get the best value from etc.

Thanks cheese, I have used facebook successfully many times, however occasionally I’ve had the buyer complain about something and for the sake of a couple of quid I couldn’t be doing with all the faffing around getting them to return and refund!

so it’s put me off using it a bit

Yeah. There's def a few chancers out there. Ive had a lot more more success with Depop to be honest and find it hilarious that old clothes I wore in my younger days are de rigeur again.

I have to wait for a "ruthless" day and them I'm in the right frame of mind to charity shop (almost) anything I haven't worn for a year. I should sell them really as quite a lot has only been worn a couple of times.

What are the items that don't go with anything? For instance, if you have a bright patterned top - wear with black jeans. A patterned skirt? - wear with plain t-shirt etc.

If you have clothes you haven't worn but would like to, then shop for basics to go with them. In future, when you see something you like, think what you have in your wardrobe it would go with, if you have nothing, try and choose something to go with it from the same shop at the same time - shops often place similar colours/themes together. If you can't find anything to go with it, don't buy it.

When I am having a wardrobe clear out, I always imagine a friend looking through my wardrobe, and whether I'd feel embarrassed about anything they pulled out, such as stained/bobbly top etc, and get rid of those things.

You might put the things you think you are done with in a box, and put it away for a while.

This could be me! I always buy odd bargains in the sale then struggle to make outfits. My wardrobes are bulging. I love to look round the shops and kept coming back with new stuff I didn't need. One thing that's helped is looking for a particular item that goes with what I already have - eg a grey pair of jeans. So I get the fun of shopping but frequently buy nothing (because I can't find exactly the right jeans) and when I do it's something I need.

Don't know if this would help you, but I keep an ongoing list on my phone of the gaps in my wardrobe- e.g. Tshirt to go with red flowery skirt. So if I'm shopping, I've got a reminder there, and it adds focus to planned shopping trips, as well as being a useful reminder for more ad hoc shopping, like when I'm supposed to be food shopping in the supermarket.
The other thing that might help with refreshing your wardrobe is dye. If you're able to pinpoint the reason you don t wear a particular item is either that you don't like the original colour, or it is faded, dylon is your friend. This works very well with faded black.

Something I read was to hang everything up with the hangers facing all one way, then each time you wear something turn the hanger round. Eventually you'd be able to tell what you were actually wearing and not wearing.
I have the Stylebook app and it's been great for organising my clothes but also shoes and handbags too. The idea of having to photograph everything definitely made me more ruthless in charity shopping a lot of my unloved stuff.
I think you need to be in the right frame of mind to get rid of 'comfort' items, maybe you could think in terms of full outfits or occasions rather than individual pieces?