Purge Plan Oh-10 Pt. 2

Clothes, clothes, clothes. I love clothes. This is probably why I have more than can safely fit in the one closet I have in my room. Fortunately for me there is a spare closet in the hall where I've kept overflow for the past 2 years. Now that I will be moving in a few months it's time to purge ... again. I say again because every year, usually more, I got through my clothes and choose which items to Donate or Ditch. I love the feeling of knowing exactly what I have to wear and where I can find it, but it's also very hard donating sentimental items or throwing them out altogether due to the fact that they are just too ratty. This time I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had done such a tremendous job of ditching and donating when I moved two years ago that I didn't have too many tough decisions to make!
After dumping out three bags of clothes from said extra closet this is what I had to sort through:

It looks like a lot less in this picture than it actually was (I guess it must be the angle)

The best place to start your clothing purge is with a ruthless attitude. If you know you're to weak to throw things out on your own, force a friend to sift through your stuff with you. When I moved 2 years ago this is exactly what I did and it ended up working out amazingly. As I went through my clothes I was able to give certain things to my friend instead of just donating it. My old closet (pictured below) was a dream come true! It took up a whole wall and had shelves and everything! It wasn't even the only closet I had in that room either! Currently however my closet is tiny so I had to make wardrobe adjustments accordingly. Today's Donate and Ditch was therefore much more manageable and I was able to do it all on my own.

So once again: I highly recommend employing a friend's ruthless judgment when cleaning out your closet. Unless that friend is Dorcas: ZZZZzzzzzz

My second tip is to know at the outset how many piles you want to sort things into and have a process that works in steps. Example:

Step 1 is sorting everything in to 5 piles:

1) Definitely Keeping (That's where my Rod Stewart Tour T-shirt went!)

2) Try On and Decide (I love this! - does it still fit?)

3) Check with Friends and Family (things i know i don't want but i know someone who might)

3) Definitely Donating (in good shape but haven't worn in 3 years)

4) Definitely Ditching. (ripped, torn, etc.)

Step 2 is trying things on and consulting friends to see if they want anything + reducing clothes to 4 piles:

When trying things on you should be honest with yourself. "Hey I can still fit into these acid wash jeans!" is not something you should hear yourself saying. Just because you can still fit into something and it's in decent condition does NOT mean you should keep it. If the item is so far gone out of style that it's coming back into style but in an updated way ditch it - unless you know how to sew or tailor clothes to update them.

Dresses. Oh Dresses. These are hard to part with because you never want to be caught without a dress and be forced last minute to buy something you may not even like. But if you haven't worn a dress in 3+ years, you probably won't need it again. I find dresses, skirts and dressier clothes harder to throw away than everyday stuff because I just don't wear them that much so it's hard to tell if it should be given away or not. BUT if, like me, you still have the dress you wore to graduation (Not prom, actual) graduation and you haven't worn it since first year of university ... you should probably let it go.

If friends don't want your clothes don't get all defensive: "I'm not going to let this piece of clothing go to someone i don't even KNOW!!!!" Just donate or ditch it and move on. I promise you won't miss it.

After this you should have 4 piles:

1) Definitely Keeping

3) Giving to Friends and Family

3) Donating

4) Ditching

Step 3 Donate, Ditch and Deliver

Step 3 is by far the most satisfying. Put away the clothes you are keeping. Give clothes to friends and family, deliver your donations to a charity of your choice (I donate to Salvation Army and The Canadian Diabetes Association) and ditch the rest.

le sigh. Now you can pat yourself on the back and try and be proactive by not buying so much in future. Heh.

KEEPING!

Giving to Friends and Family!









Donating!