Tell me your wardrobe rules

[BettyCarver]

Ok I know there are numerous 'cull' threads already but I need to take things a step further and establish some basic wardrobe rules. I'm a terrible hoarder, guilty as charged of hanging onto those combat trousers just in case they make a comeback...

Anything torn, irreparable or obviously worn out, I'm happy to bin. Likewise I get rid of anything that doesn't fit any more. It's everything else I struggle with. Here's where my thinking is. I could:

• get rid of anything not worn in last 12 months. But what about posh frocks and occasional wear... What time frame for these?

• have a quota for each type of clothing... no more than X amount of jumpers. But how many is too many?

• factor in the cost of the item. It's certainly easier to bin a ten quid t shirt than a hundred quid dress even if I wear the t shirt more..

• have a strict one in, one out policy

Help! What wardrobe rules work for you?

I read on here the other day that combat trousers ARE back in OP Not very helpful I know!
I vacuum pack my posh frocks and put them away, could that work for you too?

Good shout. I know some people are really organised about packing away occasional outfits, and even putting away their winter clothes during the summer. I've got those vacuum pack bags, just never got round to it. That's a good start though.

I give occasion dresses about 5 years maybe? After that I look at them and think yep, this style was everywhere at all the weddings I went to in 2014. I buy quite strongly patterned memorable dresses though; I've a 10 year old Little Black Dress.

Oh, and I personally reckon maybe 10 jumpers unless you wear thin ones for work that need washing a lot. I wear mine over other tops.

After a bit of a lightbulb moment with Marie Kondo I only have clothes that make me very happy or serve a specific purpose like basic vest tops. Same rule for buying, don’t keep anything that doesn’t make me instantly excited to wear it. I now get rid of something as soon as I’m just wearing it because It’s easy, I’ve learnt to be more careful about purchases so I don’t think I’m wasteful. There was one small section of her book that discussed how people wear the same things on repeat even though they don’t bring joy. That really resonated with me and I threw out loads of stuff I wore lots but didn’t love and kept things like my ball gown that I haven’t worn in years but is timeless.
Reflecting back my wardrobe is now more colourful, less centred around “jeans and a top” and overall better quality than it used to be and I really enjoy picking out outfits most days.
I need to get back into the habit of using my wardrobe app too as I easily forget outfit combos that I’ve discovered

I'm not sure if this is useful in terms of culling, but my "rule" is that I spend more on bottoms than tops. I am a hippy size 10, and while a £5 H&M t-shirt looks fine, I need to pay more for trousers or they tend to look crap. I know that Cos, Whistles, and Levi's cut well for my big arse, and shop there even though I could get much cheaper jeans/trousers elsewhere.

I am a seasonal switcher and do the vacuum pack bags. It means I never reach into my wardrobe in December and see summer frocks, and I always feel like I'm being reunited with old friends when I bring the new season out. My exceptions to that are jeans and cardis which stay in the wardrobe all year round.

This isn't a rule, but I have saved searches on Depop for things I know I like but are a bit ££. For example, Arket do a perfect v-neck boxy cardigan in alpaca wool which I own in pretty much every colour-way, mainly bought on Depop in perfect condition.

I do a spring to summer and autumn to winter changeover. When packing things away if I haven’t worn an item at all that season I bin it - you have to be completely ruthless and unsentimental about it. The cost of purchase should never be a criteria in my view.

Exceptions: swimwear, beach coverups, holiday dresses (the kind that are just not right when worn in the UK), and formal frocks that stand the test of time.

Mine is to store like with like. Just being able to visually see how many of an item/category I have makes it easier to make sensible decisions and understand problems.

It’s blindingly obvious, but for years I just hung things higgledy-piggledy.

This is so helpful, ladies. Keep the tips coming. I've got to get in control of this!

I've got rid of everything I don't absolutely love when I put it on.
This can be a simple tshirt or a cardigan or shoes or whatever but I have to adore wearing it. No maybes or doubts or tugging at it ... if I feel "not sure" - out it goes. My wardrobe has shrunk and I love everything in it.

I have a summer and a winter wardrobe (definite bonus to being single), but I do change the clothes over from the 'store' wardrobe to the 'use' wardrobe in Spring and Autumn. I have my cull then, as by then the white t-shirts that were a bit yellow, now looking really yellow. But my downfall like you, is smarter wear. I have kept most of my formal wear, if it still fits. And in a way I am glad that I did. I bought a velvet black dress around 1996, then only wore it again for the New Year Ball 1999 going into 2000 (it was a fancy affair). I just wasn't able to part with it. And this year my dd who is 18 wore it for an upmarket event that she was invited to, at very short notice. And it fits her like a glove.

So I would say keep some sentimental pieces, but limit them.

I forgot to add in. This dress has a long zip. Its a proper solid decent zip that I have not seen in many a year, even on the more pricy items I have.

You just don't see zips like that now...

(Arb share )

Above all else: Wear your money don’t leave it in the cupboard. By this I mean make sure you don’t spend on lots of cheap items that will hardly get worn.

It makes a huge difference if you have 20 x £50 items or 5 x £200 items. In the first scenario jeans, jumper and boots will be a £150 outfit, in the second scenario jeans jumper and boots will be a £600 outfit. And yes - you are likely to look much better, chicer, thinner, whatever in the £600 outfit.

Picking the favourites that I go to and have a set space for it and only have what comfortable fits in there (rather than stuffed full) is easier because I'm judging based on what do I like more rather than any particular object.

Also, that we don't have to get rid of stuff right away - a helpful shift in thinking for me was that it's okay to store clothes elsewhere, either for seasonal reasons, to 'quarantine' them for a set amount of time to see, or just because I know certain items I only wear when I'm in a particular mood/occasions. Those things just needs to not be in the my wardrobe/dresser of everyday stuff.

My style is very much around layers, and I do have an out of season layer box that I switch - right now it has mainly jumpers and thermal shirts in it with only a couple fleeces out for chillier days, when it gets much colder it'll have the thinner/plain tank tops and lighter t-shirts that I wear under button-ups and blazers at this time of year, but wouldn't grab when it's cold. The main parts remain the same, it's how I make them comfortable that changes and however many of each has to fit in my clothes space that I've reduced down since moving, but has actually been made easier having smaller dresser drawers as I'm focusing on just having what I'll wear every day and enjoy in there with the less items elsewhere (even if it's in a box on top of the wardrobe, I can ignore that when I'm getting ready).

I also do a changeover each season and try to really question why something hasn’t been worn before I pack it away. Occasion dresses I keep in a bag in the cupboard and keep for a long time.
I could never make do with 10 jumpers. Winter seems to go on forever and I like a much bigger choice

I only have clothes in colours that really suit me including waterpoof jacket and gym clothes.

I get rid of anything I don't love wearing.

I try too wear the things I want to cull but for some reasons can't, so I make myself wear it for a day to see how I feel in it, and then decide to keep or cull, I have a long thigh length cream cardigan from m&s , one of those eyelash style sort of fluffy, every time I wear it I feel it makes me look 2 sizes bigger but because its very warm I just can't part with it, this year I'm going to find a replacement and then let it go.

I have very limited wardrobe space so have learnt over the years to be pretty strict

I work on a 1 in 1 out basis for most things as I simply don't have room for duplicate items that serve a similar purpose, especially for bulky or expensive items like boots and coats

I did a big wardrobe cull a few years ago, counted and made a list of what I had left under categorys such as bottoms, tops, shoes etc. It came to 130 items inc coats and shoes but I didn't count pj's or accessories. Since then I have a limit of being able to add 5 items per season (so 20 per year) and really try to choose things I need or that will fill a gap, and also I work on a one in one out basis so a few years later I am still at 130 items. The items I cull tend to be things that wear out or get otherwise ruined (bleach patches on my lovely forest green hoodie!) or that I really just haven't been wearing.

I am currently deciding what 5 items I need to add for Autumn- I have already bought some jeans, a 'going out' dress and a work top. So I can have 2 more- am thinking a black jacket to go with the dress and a long sleeved top.
Need to decide what 5 items to cull- definitely my sandals that fell apart and white top I stained with suncream at the beach- will look and see which other 3 items I really haven't worn for ages but haven't decided yet.

I've started culling my wardrobe today as I had an epiphany when I went to do the ironing. My ironing basket is quite full, the reason being there's not enough room in my wardrobe to put everything away. That in itself should have been enough of a red flag to spur me into action but alas, no!

What made it worse was that my wardrobe was bursting at the seams with clothes which didn't fit and consequently never got worn, clothes which I've been promising myself I was going to slim back into or the past 3 years or so. Thanks to the covid pounds, I'm even further away from achieving that goal than when I started .

Starting with one rail at a time, I have emptied my wardrobe and tried on each item. If it fits, flatters and gets worn it has gone back into the wardrobe. I then had a series of piles for the clothes that didn't tick those boxes:

• should fit after up to half a stone of weight loss
• should fit after a stone of weight loss
• charity shop for things I'll never wear again
• rag bag for the things that are too grotty for the charity shop.

I've a long way left to go yet, but already there is breathing space in my wardrobe and I know that everything in there will fit. I'm going to give myself until half term to shift the pounds. If I achieve it, I have a whole new wardrobe waiting for skinnier me, otherwise it's going to the charity shop. If I don't shift the pounds and have to shop for my new weight and shape, at least I can clearly see what I truly need.

Things that have helped with decision making:

• if it's not a definite 100% yes, then it's a no and it needs to go

• Keeping something I never wear doesn't make it less of a waste of money. Accept the mistake, let it go and aim to do better next time.

• instead of thinking about all that I am letting go, I focus on the wonderful things that I am keeping.

• it doesn't matter how comfortable/loved something is, if it is grotty it needs to go. I can treat myself to a replacement so I look and feel put together.

• My life, work and financial situation have changed since I bought a lot of what's in my wardrobe. It's ok to let go.

@anibendod I like your philosophy

I think it's important to have regular culls of clothes OP and you seem to be doing really well. I'm retiring at the end of August and have a wardrobe full of formal dresses, jackets, trousers and blouses. I've gone through them all and kept some, sent some to charity and binned the worst. Now I need to work out what I'm going to wear to suit the next stage of my life. Don't want to fall into the sweatshirt and jeans combo and am very keen on colour so it's going to be an interesting autumn.

Anyone got any tips?

I have several rules some may not be suitable for you you but as even thinking about then makes me feel calm I shall write them out and hopefully they will help.

I only wear certain colours (6 in total) but included in that is black, not that it suits me necessarily but a lbd will stand the test of time and works for dinner and theater etc, same black coat as a scarf would go on top. No matter how gorgeous a purple dress is I would just not buy it as I would never wear it (when I bought odd items like a purple dress before they ended up only going with one or two things and did not earn their keep). All my colours work together so technically all my clothes go together.

I don't buy patterns on clothes but will do on accessories.

I am an apple shape and much as I love skirts they do nothing for me so I don't buy skirts.

I buy brands that do what they were designed for eg Levi's for jeans, Freya for bras etc

In winter I wear vests or slips under everything so that gets washed regularly but the top layers don't need to be (aired and spot cleaned)

Therefore I also spend more on winters stuff than summertime stuff as I live in Ireland and we have longer winters (6 months) than summers (3 weeks)

I will allow myself a charity shop purchase that breaks all the rules because the money goes to charity and I can return it there to resell when I am done with it so I view it as a good thing!

I have a heel height and I don't go above it. I want to walk to the bus in heels and feel fairly safe not a tottering wreck. (Not as relevant now but heels will come back they always do)

Agree with all other points about keeping something you love regardless of age x

I could have written this myself- I'm on the cusp of doing my "these things, even if I ever slim back down will not be things I want to wear" cull.
@anibendod- your plan sounds like it's one I need to follow
That plus I'm going to do the color me beautiful thing if I can find somewhere, so only wear joyful things which also suit me

@BasicMadeira I wish I could be as disciplined as you when it comes to colour but I'd get bored. I guess it does make mix and matching easier though