While I'm not exactly a clothes-horse, I could stand to have a bit more organization/strategy/sanity in there, so I set out once upon a time to both clean things out and hopefully move closer to the goal of a "personal uniform"... a concept that I really like and which fits my personal style (I can see why it wouldn't float everyone's boat, but I'm not very creative when it comes to clothes, I'm happy just to look neat with minimum fuss).
The first part was easy... get rid of anything that will most likely never fit again, or just looks terrible on me in a very obvious way, or is falling apart. That part went fast, since I'll never be a size 6 again, by a long shot. The harder part was when I came to the "but that XYZ fits me 'ok' and it's nice" stuff... but that I NEVER wear. I gave up, hung it all back up, and resolved to revisit the issue later.
It's later.
While trying to figure out how to deal with these items, I decided to try a new idea- since I work from home on Fridays I was going to put on each item, with proper underpinnings if necessary, (yes, even the cocktail dress with the strapless bra and heels) and wear it around the house/in my home office, while stopping to look in every mirror I passed.
Two things happened... One, I ended up donating/arranging to give to a friend *ALL* of the clothes I tried on except one dress which I will keep (machine wash, travels without wrinkling, dresses up and down? score!) and I decided to start exercise classes again :P
Why did this work for me? Wearing something around for a couple hours is a great way to see if something is not only nice on the hangar but easy to move in and flatters you. Does the skirt ride up every time you sit down? When you reach out does that armhole attack you? Is that loose fitting bodice REALLY flattering to your small-chested frame, or just make the bottom half look out of proportion? Have you already had it altered (twice) and it STILL doesn't fit right?
Oh, and don't forget the brand-new-never-worn dress I bought to wear to a wedding overseas... and our luggage went missing for over a week... and we had to buy local, expensive, badly-made, ill-fitting clothes to wear (those went to goodwill fast) and the airline didn't help us out to pay for them... and every time I look at that darn dress I remember ALL of those things even though it fits and is flattering and pretty. That one went too.
Just some thoughts, in case someone is in the same dilemma I was in.
