Anyone ever binned their entire wardrobe and started again?

[BatsHatIsWonky]

I'm in the process of doing just that. Well, the majority of it. I'm keeping ..

My grenson boots
My Gucci trainers
My bostons
My converse
My bird + Wolf camo jacket
Leather jackets
My Levi's jacket
A nice Isabel Marant coat
A Reiss jacket

So basically - my shoes and jackets are being kept!

The rest i can't stand any longer so it's going. 10 bin bags - some selling on eBay, most to charity

I'm guilty of buying for the life I think I should be living and not the life I actually have so it's time to start again,

@PollyThePixie what underwear are you buying

I donated 60% of my wardrobe this week and it feels great. I have no plans to buy new pieces, but can see more clearly what I have and only have what I love taking up the space.

I see what you're saying but it's a bit of a false argument because eBay, Vinted etc are absolutely saturated with unwanted clothes. As are charity shops.

There is simply no argument for binning all your clothes and replacing them with new ones being good for the environment. There just isn't.

It is attitudes like this in millions of people that actually fund the fashion industry to be as wasteful as it is.

Shrugging it off and saying 'not my fault, not my problem, ordinary people have to live their lives' is fine and understandable, it's what most people will do and it's the path of least resistance for you as an individual. I get it.

It doesn't mean it's the responsible thing to do.

Did this when I moved country and more importantly climate! Had to get rid of most of my spring/autumn/winter clothes as now I only have very hot summer. It took me quite a while to find my new style, i missed elements of my old wardrobe but couldn't work out how to 'do them' in a hot climate - like I really miss wearing layers, gorgeous jackets, black (I had so much black) and even jeans can be tough. I'd say it took a year to find the new 'me' that means I genuinely like and wear most of my wardrobe.

On the subject of umdies I was really surprised at how good Skims are once I worked out sizing. And Boody are so so comfortable but I find them best under comfy clothes as opposed to anything that shows VPL

Would love to do that! There’s a brand (can’t remember the name for the life of me) that has ‘capsules’ of 5 pieces that make up 30 different outfits. Have always wanted to invest in one of their capsule!

@cloudcs I hear you.

I am also looking to de-clutter my wardrobe, my problem is I love clothes/fashion and the dopamine hit of buying them - but I'm out in the sticks so buy them almost exclusively on eBay.

They rarely ever live up to my expectations and just end up sitting in my wardrobe.
I am lucky, I can pretty much wear anything, but I just don't have the lifestyle to need most of the clothes I think I must have.

But....Cloud is so right.
The world is drowning in clothes. My local clothes banks are all full, the charity shops won't take any more - they are full too. We send container ship after container ship to Africa etc with our discarded clothes, but they don't need 1,000000 polyester floral midis!
It's so wasteful, we are the problem, we need to get back to living in a sustainable way resisting the capitalist machine in which we all operate which is designed to keep us working and consuming.
It's hard, I don't do it, but I do understand the problems and hopefully the younger generations who will be living in the world we helped shape will learn from our mistakes even if we aren't willing to.

And when I say I don't do it...I mean I'm trying too, but it's hard because I was brought up in a frugal way (we had money - just wasn't spent on the tat us kids would have liked!) so I think my over-consumption is in part a reaction to that. I'm also interested in fashion (not insta fashion!) textures and colour so like to respond to that - it make me feel good. But I need to work out a way that won't be adding more and more to the global crisis as I'm not stupid, I don't think any of us are (bar Trump!) but we pretend not to be aware because it suits us to carry on as usual.

@milkyway1 Yup. I love clothes as well and I am far from perfect. There are things we could all do better. But it's important to be aware of our choices and the impact they have.

I throw out/ sell/ donate perfectly good clothes because I'm fed up of them, or maybe it was a mistake to buy a particular item and I never wore it. We all do that.

But throwing out and replacing your entire wardrobe just because you fancy a change is madness, and by starting this thread, OP has probably encouraged several more people to do the exact same thing she is doing.

Big corporations and fashion manufacturers behave the way they do because they are informed by our choices as consumers. Just think about your choices. Look up the carbon footprint of manufacturing the top/ dress you just bought and shipping it to your local H&M or Zara or John Lewis. You might be shocked.

I’ve pretty much done that with my summer wardrobe over the last few months! I’m a couple of sizes bigger than pre lockdown and my tastes have completely changed as well. I’ve just started ordering some winter bits too. Probably spent a few hundred ££ in dribs and drabs, but a lot of it is interchangeable (I seem to have gone for a lot of black / white / navy / neutrals / olive green, plus a few contrasting bright items) and I’m really happy with how I look. My previous boden middle class (I’m not!) mum vibe just felt hideously dated and not ‘me’ anymore.

I don't think our choices lead manufacturers, rather that manufacturers lead us.
We can only buy what's available. Clothes manufacturers have saturated the market on purpose with cheap shite that lasts 5 minutes before looking raggedy, because then they can sell us more. That didn't come from consumer demand. It doesn't work for them to sell us good quality, long lasting items. That's why countries like India are growing in our discarded material!

Most of us would prefer to buy items that last, that we can sell on if we no longer need them, items that were made decently with generous hems and seams, so we (or whoever buys them from us) can get them altered. Those clothes would obviously cost more, but they'd be worth the money. Even expensive clothes can be largely rubbish materials now. Then people who want to change their wardrobes won't be adding to waste. It's not the OPs fault - in reselling her old clothes, she's doing her best.

I throw out/ sell/ donate perfectly good clothes because I'm fed up of them, or maybe it was a mistake to buy a particular item and I never wore it. We all do that.

So you do it piecemeal, the OP does it all at once, you are no different to the OP.

I think it's good that @cloudcs has started off some discussion about the environmental angle - not because I agree that a major wardrobe refresh is necessarily wasteful, but because it's worth thinking about the least bad way to do it.
Anything you don't wear at all is guaranteed wasted if it just sits in your wardrobe. Out on Vinted / eBay / the charity shop, there's a chance it will be actually used. Try and find out if charity shops locally will also recycle textiles - clothes that are so well-loved they're no longer in a state to sell on.
I also think that if something makes you feel crap about yourself when you put it on, then that's not 'perfectly good clothes', and it should go to a better home. Others have already made the point that if you have storage space it may be better to keep things that you do like but just don't wear at the moment / have gone out of fashion but might come back in.
I think the key to doing it more sustainably is for it to be a slower process, not a quick fix. Time to find more items second hand, time to think carefully about what you'll actually wear, and to spread the cost of buying better quality. Maybe ask for specific things for Christmas or cash towards the wardrobe refresh, and then that saves the waste of people buying you random presents that also languish unloved.

@alittleadvicepls sounds a bit like stitch fix or Lookiero maybe?

@OneRingToRuleThemAll it definitely makes such a difference to be able to actually see what you have!

As I said, I'm not perfect and don't purport to be, but it's not the same at all.

As @LifeofBrienne points out, doing it bit by bit over a long period is much more sustainable than just throwing your arms up and saying 'right! I don't want ANY of this anymore!' - that's irrational when you probably have stuff you wear regularly in your wardrobe.

The things I would get rid of are things I'm not wearing. OP is getting rid of her entire wardrobe of clothes which presumably she currently wears day to day, because she fancies a change.

It's not the same.

Good tips @LifeofBrienne

If you actually read all the op's posts:
She's not getting rid of her entire wardrobe.
She doesn't wear a lot of her clothes for various reasons, including not suiting her lifestyle.
There are things she intends to keep.
She's talking about buying replacements that will last.
She already buys a lot of her clothes on Vinted.

I still have my misgivings, which I've voiced but - and speaking strictly for me - I'm in no position to lecture people I don't even know about waste.

I also think that, when women become mothers, it's quite common to find yourself with an unfamiliar body and catapulted into a new lifestyle, only to find yourself chucked out of it just as abruptly a few years later. Positive and non-judgemental tips about how to manage these stages are always welcome.

Before you start over again maybe a bit of self-analysis is needed rather than just colour analysis?

I agree it sounds very wasteful (so you won't like me posting.)

But what comes to mind is you are buying on impulse, not knowing what suits your lifestyle, compromising on items that aren't quite right.

Honesty is what's needed both with your shape, size, lifestyle, needs.

It's just my opinion but I doubt anyone unless they are Royalty or a film star needs 40 dresses.

I have around 6 for summer and 5 for autumn/winter.
I too WFH.

Most of my posts are very balanced (apart from a return snip when OP was sarcastic and rude to me).

I have just answered the OP's question and explained why this creates waste. It's not a lecture, it's just a fact. People can do what they like. It's simply something we should all be thinking about.

So bored of the derail tbh. You've made your point @cloudcs and clearly like the sound of your own voice.

I just fancied a lighthearted thread about clothes with likeminded people - posted in the right section of the site. I didn't want a prolonged back and forth with one poster (you) about my eco credentials because you have no idea tbh

So I'll hide the thread now and leave you to take over and continue it in the way you clearly want to.

@BatsHatIsWonky It's not a derail, it's a direct answer to the question you posted, and your responses to me simply engaging people in discussion are extremely immature.

If this isn't what you wanted to talk about then your question is badly worded. If you just wanted to talk about what to buy then that's what you should have asked.

If you want a completely predictable conversation with people who agree with and support you then I recommend you talk to your friends rather than posting online.

Omg, @cloudcs, would you ever give it a rest?

People tag me so I respond. That's how discussion forums work.

I am sorry OP has left, because I too am refreshing my wardrobe after some big lifestyle changes.

I have lost a dress size
begun WFH most of the time but I do go out to the theatre, art galleries and the ballet quite often, and occ have conferences
Crossed 50
Walk a lot and spend a lot of time in leggings and jeans, though not super expensive ones
Don't have a huge budget
Live in a tiny flat ( downsized) so have very little space and aiming for a capsule wardrobe.

I don't have 40 dresses- wouldn't have a use for them- but I have bought a few these sales from Hush, Zara. and Thought for going out in. 4 for autumn is enough for my lifestyle which I will rotate. I rarely attend weddings.

I spend most of my time in walking gear, so am thinking of buying better quality ones and a good wool coat or a better quality of parka.

Replacing some of my outdated slim jeans with wideleg cords and maybe a cord dress.

Investing in some good boots in the winter sales as I mostly live in trainers.

If you read the OP she is clearly not throwing out everything, and you carry on justifying yourself throwing your clothes away over a period of time rather than in one go, you are no different, so quit with your virtue signalling and well done for chasing the OP away on what was an interesting thread.