If you want to simply clear out your closet I would suggest the declutter by type route mentioned above. If you want to change your attitude about clothing to prevent overstuffed closets in the future it might be worth taking a look at websites about a self-imposed clothes shopping ban (there was a similar thread on Unclutterer not too long ago) or Project33 (33 items of clothing for3 months - not as hard as it sounds unless you are a fashionista), or capsule type wardrobes. You'll figure out what you really love and wear.
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Posted 4 months ago #
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"ballgowns and costumes"
Is there anyone else that wants to go play in ChaCha's closet besides me? :-)
Posted 4 months ago # -
I have one high bar with a shelf above and a set of built in cubbies at one end. In the cubbies are (top to bottom) summer pants - capris, shorts; sweat shirts and fleece pullovers (rolled and stored in a basket for easy viewing and retrival); jeans; other casual pants and those "waiting in the wings" as in they almost fit! On the shelf above are purses not in use, less often worn shoes in plastic boxes (dance shoes, high heels, sandals in winter); snorkel equipment (only place they'll fit) and 2 totes of too small clothing, purged down from 3 and 1 is only 1/2 full. The rod itself is arranged by types and has a hanging shoe thing next to the cubbies holding my every day shoes. Cowboy (girl?) and dance boots sit on the floor. Outerwear, jackets, coats, boots, hats, gloves/mittens are in entry closet. Dresser holds nightwear, work out clothes, t-shirts ( long-sleeved, short-sleeved and sleeveless (very few), and socks and underwear.
I love the idential sock idea, but I also like to have a few different colors - black, brown, tan, gray and denim. I think I could probably cull my novelty socks. Ow. I liked the thin weight for wearing with my work shoes, and it was a bit of whimsey in a fairly dull - fashion wise - work environment. I find I don't wear them much in retirement, preferring a slightly heavier sock, with less elastic in the top. If I cull these, I'll still have enough to last to the end of my self-imposed no new clothes year.
Ella, I like doing my purging by type. Even though I have more room than you, taking everything out would overwhelm me as well. I!ve also been known to just pit something on, decide it doesn't work for whatevr reason, and chick it straight into the donation box. Happened yestereday with a red fleece top. I wondered why I hadn't worn it all winter, so I put it on-too short. I kept tugging it down, and 10 minutes lat it was in the donate box. :)
Posted 4 months ago # -
I love closet purges, and do one a couple of times a year, with the seasons. I tend to be awfully hard on clothes, so there is a certain amount of uncluttering there because I only keep clothes that I can wear to work,plus exercise wear, a couple of dressier outfits/pieces for the inevitable wedding/funeral, and a trashed shirt and capris for mucky tasks like painting and deep scrubbing (ha! like that happens). We can wear jeans to work here, if they are more trousers than jeans-jeans, so that makes things easier.
I also make a note of any items I pass over, briefly try to figure out why, then donate them. Usually it's a top that rides up, or something I don't feel good in. I've stopped blaming myself for not feeling good in something, and trying to force it. Now I cheerfully blame the clothes and pass them on without too much introspection.
I have one rail and a few small drawers for underwear, socks, and bras, exercise clothes, and sweaters. On the rail I used to rigidly organize where things went but life's too short for that. There isn't so much in there that I can't see what's there in a glance, so no need to be overly structured. The things I wear often tend to migrate to the right and the less frequently worn items to the dark corner on the left.
For fun I have often had a girlfriend over to keep me company and drink wine and offer opinions while I purge . Recently a stylist friend came over and we were very productive! (and drank much wine;) Do you have someone you trust and who's fun who could come over and keep you company while you do one section of clothes? I am thinking along the lines of "hey, wanna come over for a couple of hours and drink wine/tea/coffee/whatever and keep me company while I sort through my blouses? That always worked for me--makes it a relaxed and easy rather than defeatist task.
Let us know how you end up handling it!
Posted 4 months ago # -
It's so good to read all your comments because they're helping me to mentally prepare and focus in on how and where to begin. I'm planning to track the details of my progress on January's ATAD and FATAD threads, but I'll also keep coming back to this thread with questions as I go along.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Hi, Aside from doing a "purge" when the seasons change, by not putting away things that i know i will not want to wear next season, i also turn all the hangers the "wrong way" and then i can see right away if i have used a blouse or pair of pants, sweater, etc. Unfortunately i belong to the kind of people who has three different sizes still in storage. Because i buy fashion styles that are called classics, and because i buy good quality, i don't want to give away those clothes that are a size too small, i.e. i do not want to give up on my self, my struggle to get to that size again.
So i use my mum's old suitcases to store those items- not too many, and open it every year to remind myself that they are still there, check their condition, replace lavendr sachets...
In my closet i have made a few "separators": round circles with a slit, out of hard cardboard that fit on to the rod to keep short sleeve blouses separate from long sleeve ones and from sweaters. I have all my pants on one end of the rod.
I have old IKEA bedside table 3 drawers (without legs) under the blouses in which i keep scarves, one drawer for long, one for square, one for super large shawls.
I hung a double strung of covered wire on the closet door for the belts and on the other door one of those pocket containers for stockings and socks.Wishing you much success!
Posted 4 months ago # -
Conny - the "wrong way" hanger trick is a good one that I've used before! I should have mentioned that one. For my husband's clothes, I also do something similar, which is that I simply always replace the clean clothes to the right of whatever is hanging in the closet. So his clothes naturally "sort" themselves with the least worn clothes on the far left. Then when I want to nudge him to donate things, I know exactly which things to suggest! (Tricky, I know...and I know I shouldn't be an unclutterer nag, but the fact that we share a closet makes it more my business than if we had separate closets.)
Posted 4 months ago # -
@Another Deb: :-) I firmly believe that a big reason women love ballroom dancing is the CLOTHES.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Conny, I've got some saved things, too! It gets a bad rap sometimes, but I don't see anything wrong with it as long as there's a hard size limit like a suitcase or a snaptop box. Even classic clothes require some reevaluation after a while because cuts, collars, etc. can make something look out of date.
There's also the life-stage thing. I recently pulled out some clothes from high school and early college that fit again. The jeans were great (and much better quality than what I can find in stores now). The skirts and shirts were in perfect condition but what was appropriate for a teenage girl in the early aughts was not really appropriate for a grown, married woman.
@Ella, I know this purge is going to be a success!
Posted 4 months ago # -
Two simple tips that I do and love...
My first trip, I like to use hanging shoe organizers (the plastic kind that hang behind a door)
I have one in our linen closet for odds and ends. Masking tape, measuring tape, extra pens/markets, child safety products, flash light. I have a second one hanging in our master closet. We do not have a medicine cabinet. So all meds, toothbrushes, tooth paste, floss, extra contacts, anything bathroom related is in it.
Me second tip, I hang all my clothing ROYGB, it's just more pleasing to the eye. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue. Black at the end, white at the start of the clothing.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Like bandicoot, I've pared down my wardrobe colors to mostly solids of black, white, gray, blues (I used to wear red, but prefer soothing blues now), and a few neutrals: off-white, tan, taupe. To my eye, these colors look good on blue-eyed blonde me, but I could be wrong! Does anyone here use the "Color Me Beautiful" system? I've put in a request for the book at my library.
Posted 4 months ago # -
@Ella: I've done a few online quizzes a-la "Color Me Beautiful" but it's not a perfect system. I know what definitely looks bad and what colors I like - what looks atrocious I, hopefully, will avoid. What I like will give me the confidence which will, again hopefully, outshine imperfect color choices.
I tend to stick to teal, white, burgundy, navy, with a bit of orange/magenta, and have a variety of neutrals due to indecision about skin tone (neutral = warm with even the slightest tan or with hair down, cool with hair up).
I like having everything visual: I put a hanging organizer on my rod so all of my folding clothes can be there as well.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Since I live very casually and change clothes when I get to work, most of my clothes are folded. I live in a 4-season area, so have all types of clothing. I have 24" of hanging space for skirts and winter coats, the rest is all shelving, with clothes in piles by type. Piles move around depending on season - Ts on a higher shelf in winter, fleece within easier reach, etc. Plus I cycle clothes by always pulling out from the bottom of a stack, just washed clothes go on top. Worn but still-clean clothes get hung behind my bedroom door, and every week what's hanging gets washed.
I evaluate and purge as I fold after washing (unless I happen to see something and decide to ditch immediately). I have way too many Ts, so as I wash them they get evaluated for fit/wear/comfort/condition and put back or set aside for sale/donation/toss. My clothes must fit in the stack, so I have automatic limits. I have lots of piles of layers and could probably thin them down, except that some piles are for extreme weather conditions and I've had a fairly mild winter so far.
So basically I'm evaluating my washable goods every time I do laundry. Some of my dish cloths are getting fairly worn and stained, so they're almost at the tossing point, same with some of my potholders. The only stuff that doesn't get addressed by this system are the clothes that I rarely wear, like skirts. I make myself pull them out periodically and assess them for fit and comfort.
Oh, and shoes/boots must fit on the right-hand shelves in the closet. If they don't fit, something must go.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Ella: a group of friends and I had the "color me beautiful" analysis done as a group many, many years ago. It was something I had never given much thought to before, so it was useful. Having the analyst drape fabrics on me so I could see the difference in the color palettes was also helpful. Can't hurt!
Posted 4 months ago # -
sleepykitten already mentioned "project 333" and i´d also like to recommend it. here are some infos. http://www.theproject333.com/getting-started/
i am beginning with this project. i´ll stick to the concept and fit it to my needs. i think i will not need "one season" and change every 3 month, i just layer my tshirts add a cardi or not, so i have one season all year long ;). but i allow myself to buy new clothes. i´d like to adopt the total of 33 clothes (or 35 or 40, i mean, that´s just a random number, i want a number of clothes somewhere close to 33) and plan to find some beautiful outfits. seems to be a bit like mealplanning... clothesplanning to see the different possibilities within the existing clothes.
the most interesting thing for me so far is: i don´t have a lot more than 33 clothes that i actually wear- but i had a lot more clothes that i haven´t worn for some time because of different reasons. i donated a lot and put the rest in boxes on the top shelf. the wardrobe seems to be empty but i swear there are as many clothes to WEAR as before.
i found "the uniform project" http://theuniformproject.com/ very inspirational to understand that you don´t need a lot to look different every day.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Hmmm, yes, since I retired I have reverted to a "uniform" - jeans (denim or black) and t-shirts (long-sleeved or short seasonally) plus a vest or flannel shirt in winter.
I wear the nicer knit tops and pants I had for work when I go to church or other semi-casual functions. I have a couple of skirts and dresses, plus several blazers/jackets. All of these get appraised seasonally, and the shirts especially are not being replaced as they wear out, except probably the white/cream/black ones.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Conny, I borrowed your suitcase idea today to temporarily store the too-small clothes under my bed instead of clogging up closet space with them. Thanks for
the tip.Posted 4 months ago # -
Actually - I think I live in a lot less than 33 clothes (unless clothes counts for underthings as well).
The sock tip is fantastic - I love that. Also depending on your colouring, choosing to keep pants/slacks that match the socks also works. It makes the line of your clothes more streamlined.
I'm a sentimental old sook, so when I did my big cull - I purged all the clothes that had been given to me by well meaning relatives but were never really 'me'.
I also purged out all the clothes that didn't fit me NOW. I had 4 different sizes of the same hot pink short sleeved v-neck t-shirt. Now I have just the one that fits. :D
That turned out to be 5 garbage bags full - off to the donate. And it makes the closet so much easier to see the clothes I do like, and haven't worn because I couldn't find them!
Posted 4 months ago # -
Wardrobe editing is a constant here. I like diversity in my clothes, but I don't have a lot of closet space, so I'm always purging and replacing things as they get worn out or I get tired of them.
I have no intention of creating a personal uniform or limiting my colour or style choices, but I do find that I go through phases. For instance, in the last few months I've been wearing a lot of orange and coral paired with browns and blacks. Before that, I briefly flirted with beiges, nudes and rose-tones, and before that it was mainly teal/turquoise with white and grey. None of these things were intentional - it was a mix of trends with personal preference and pure happenstance.
In terms of organization, I have a small closet that I share with the boyfriend; thankfully it was well thought out: we have one long-ish (maybe 6') bar along one wall, and 4 shelves on the back wall. Anything that has to be on a hanger, is (left to right on my side: jackets and cardis, dresses, work pants, skirts, button-down shirts, other tops that need hanging, by sleeve length). Everything else (t-shirts and other tops that don't need hanging, jeans and other casual pants, hoodies, sweaters) are on the shelves. Workout clothes are in a bin under the bottom shelf.
Instead of a dresser, we have an Expedit unit from Ikea, with basket inserts for underwear and socks. As for all-identical socks, I don't think I'll ever be able to achieve that. In my sock bin (which is really a legwear bin) I have regular socks (black and brown, mid-calf), workout socks (white ankle socks), trouser socks (black and beige, varying sheerness and patterns, knee-high), thick winter socks, tiny half-socks used to line flats (.. what are those even called?!), stockings/pantyhose/fishnets/leggings (again, various colours, patterns and thicknesses), and probably 5 more kinds I'm forgetting. Boyfriend has: white socks for running shoes; black socks for everything else. Sigh.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I'm not into the "all one style of sock" myself. But I have found it helpful to buy socks that are distinctive in some way so it's easier to find the pairs in the laundry pile. So instead of all black socks of varying lengths and thicknesses, I have black socks of varying lengths and thicknesses, some of which have purple argyle pattern on the leg, some have a stripe around the top, some have a small logo on the ankle, etc. As long as the pattern won't show at the top of my shoes, and is on both socks in the pair, it's pretty easy to match them up. I also have some grey socks, for a break from the black, and they were also chosen with an eye to some kind of distinctive marking on them.
Posted 4 months ago #
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