Just too many clothes! Help!

[peaceanddove]

So, I love Marie Kondo. Everything in my drawers is carefully folded, and everything in my wardrobes is neatly categorised. I genuinely like all my clothes and everything fits. I don't even have a problem storing all of it.

But there's just far, far too much. I now have 4 double wardrobes full of clothes (and about to break open a fifth), and a separate cupboard filled with coats & jackets. I have no idea how many pairs of shoes/boots I own?

I simply don't need this amount of clothes. I love clothes but the sheer number of mine makes me feel cluttered and always indecisive if I'm wearing the right thing.

So, how do I decide what to keep/donate when all of it 'sparks joy'. Help!

Put stuff in a bag in the loft and if you haven't missed it in a year then it can go...

I think prioritising is probably the way forward. Pick what you are going to wear for winter and curate outfits from it. Put aside things that are old and tatty but may need updating into 'incubation'. Ask yourself does this go with several other things? If not could you buy one thing that would make it work with several things? Be ruthless, when did you wear it last?

Get help, do you have a daughter, mum, friend who knows you well and can be brutal and say yes you wear it, no it's going, you haven't worn it in 10 years and it doesn't fit you etc

Just get rid of everything you haven't worn in the last month . I only have winter or summer clothes out at a time so I have one bag of summer or winter depending on season .

I sympathise, but found that looking hard at what I actually wore, really helped. There were lots of things I really liked, but did I actually wear them? No. Do you have anything you like the idea of yourself wearing, but in reality, you never pull it out? Maybe imagine you are going away for a fortnight, once in winter, and once in summer. What would you pack in a large suitcase? That helped me focus on the clothes I really liked best.

I get rid of everything I haven't worn in a month (there's a backwards hanger trick you'll find online). And I get rid of duplicate items e.g. I don't need the same jumper in 4 colours or 15 vest tops to go underneath other tops. My clothes are stored in autumn/winter and spring/summer so I don't have to fight through them all to find one thing and at the end of each season I get rid of what I haven't worn

If you haven't worn it in a year get rid.

Could you use a tracking app like Stylebook? It gives you statistics on most / least worn items so you could make an informed decision.

I like these ideas. I was fairly ruthless back in the Summer and had a big purge. So now I'm only left with stuff I genuinely like, fits well and is in good nick. That's why it's so hard. I like the backwards hanger trick, but maybe do it over several months rather than just one?

I would start with what to keep, depending on your lifestyle, i.e. how much smart work/casual/sports/going out stuff. List what you need say 3 jeans 5 leggings 4 dresses whatever. Then keep the best of each type. Everything else is surplus no matter how nice.

Also if you fancy it, getting a style/colour consultation means you will have a coherent wardrobe that goes together and suits you. It's easier to part with much loved items if you admit they don't do you any favours.

I sold half my wardrobe on vinted a few months ago, made around £500 😬, but then I discovered I could also buy clothes on vinted.

I love buying clothes but have reduced my wardrobe down a little and bought things I will actually wear. I have now got to the point where I don’t think I need to buy anything else.

Work out what clothes you actually need, what you wear the most, sell anything you haven’t worn for a year (or haven’t ever worn). Get rid of any shoes that are uncomfortable, shoes/boots are what I spend the most on but a lot don’t fit well and I wear them once and decide they are not for me.

My ideal list would be…

7 casual outfits
A funeral outfit
Job interview outfit
Gym wear
A sensible coat
A formal coat/jacket
4 pairs of boots 😬
1 pair of sensible shoes
4 pairs of trainers
2 pairs of sandals

But realistically I probably have double what I should have.

I loved Marie Kondo until I realised that everything I owned sparked joy and that was part of the problem!

Drag everything out one at a time. Tops, jumpers, dresses etc. Four piles - keep, maybe, charity, bin.

Keep - do you like it, is it useful/practical, have you worn it recently, does it fit, is it in good nick?
Maybe - would you wear it, does it fit/is it going to fit? Then store it, if you’ve not touched anything in the bag/missed it just send the whole bag to the charity. If you want a selected piece then take that ONE thing.

I had a huge clear out this summer and my god the difference is enormous. Everything is organised, washed, ironed etc and ready to go it improved my mental health MASSIVELY.

As you seem to have plenty of wardrobes, I’d put a selection of your clothes into one ‘working p’ wardrobe and only use that. You can only wear what’s in that wardrobe so it limits your day to day choice.

I wouldn’t get rid of your other clothes as later you might want to mix things up and you might end up just buying new stuff. You could have a switchover where you move things in and out periodically. Kind of Project 333 but with more items unless that’s still causing indecision.

You sound like my kind of woman, OP! I have a separate coats wardrobe 😬. My way of managing my stash is only having a small percentage of it in my ‘every day’ wardrobe at any one time. That way I can find things and when I’m done with wearing them at that time (or the season changes) I can swap over and get different things out of storage....at least that’s the theory! It mostly works. I’m not wealthy, just a magpie with a love of clothes and an eBay habit.

Why not shop your wardrobe to put together a project 333 wardrobe. So pick around 33 items to create a capsular wardrobe that you will wear for the next three months.
Maybe store it separately if you have space.
Then in 3 months put it all back and shop you own wardrobe for the next.

I think if you love everything you've got then maybe even doing this switch over monthly would make sure it all gets a look in.

@GranolaHolmes

Why not shop your wardrobe to put together a project 333 wardrobe. So pick around 33 items to create a capsular wardrobe that you will wear for the next three months. Maybe store it separately if you have space. Then in 3 months put it all back and shop you own wardrobe for the next.

I think if you love everything you've got then maybe even doing this switch over monthly would make sure it all gets a look in.

Oh my God. I love this idea. Genius. Thank you ❤️

I have really a lot of clothes as well. I spend some time creating about 10 different outfits and store them together and wear them for about a month and then swap them. I have a rule where I won’t wear the same thing twice in a week too.

How are you getting on OP?

Get rid of the multiples, i.e. you only need 1 x white T, 1 x black T etc. 1 pair of skinnies in blue etcetc
Bag up stuff u haven't worn for 2 years and ditch the lot, unless something really sparks joy.

Have your colour and style done and then you can chuck everything that’s not the right colour and shape for you.