Too many clothes

[Drowninginoptions]

I have recently downsized my home and am now struggling with wardrobe space. Summer will hopefully be here soon so I decided to drag all my summer items out of their storage space. Trying to find space for everything is impossible! I need to reduce the number of clothes, although it does seem a shame to get rid of expensive items.

I decided to count the number of items (excluding underwear, socks, accessories etc) and I have more than 200 items of clothing. I have been collecting these clothes over 40 years and until recently most of them still fitted me but now I am less active, I am putting on weight and although the majority are still wearable, some are not very flattering and now in my 60s I should probably stop wearing them.

My question is where to start. I have seen a colour consultant advertising various services recently and wondered if that might be a way to go, or maybe trying to create a capsule wardrobe. Has anyone had any experience using a consultant for this type of thing as being on my own I feel it would be helpful to have someone else's opinion on what suits me and what doesn't? I think most of my friends would be too polite to provide an honest opinion. Any ideas on how to go about this?

Surely just keep the stuff you love and give the rest to charity

The problem is that I love most of it which is why I have kept it all!

Can you just pack away seasonal stuff into vacuum bags or a suitcase?

A colour/style consultation might help with focus. You can pull out the garments that don't fit your profile, then make the call on whether to keep a few "specials" regardless. They should also help you fit your wardrobe to lifestyle and identify gaps/duplicates.

I found it took the shine off things to look at them as wrong colour, wrong style, not fitting and nowhere to wear them anyway. I had a bronze colour shiny ballgown that hit all four categories!

You can donate good clothes to many organisations and they will not get ragged if they are good quality and wearable. There is no point an expensive item sitting in your wardrobe as a museum piece unless clothes collecting is your hobby.

It sounds as though you need to do a cull before you see a colour consultant. If there are things that no longer flatter you, you should just get rid of them now. You have plenty of alternatives in your wardrobe. It is hard, when they are nice clothes, still in good condition etc, you remember how much money they cost and it's hard to get rid. I've been there but trying to get braver! It helps if you can either sell them and get some money back or donate them to a cause close to your heart.

@JarOfRocks is correct. Once you have removed the clothes that are no longer viable, there will be more clarity.