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Thread: Ladies: purging closet questions

  1. #1
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    Ladies: purging closet questions

    How low can you go in terms of # of items? What clothing items have you gotten rid of?
    I am doing a major purge. This has been a step by step process, over several months as I am losing weight; 30 pounds thus far and 15 more to go to get where I want to be. So I do this in phases:
    1) Tried on all the shorts, pants and capris after I realized too many were literally falling off when I put them on and went out for the day. Put in pile to give away.
    2) Tried on all the shirts. Added to the pile, all the ones which didn't fit well anymore and didn't cover well enough. I have evolved in that over the years, and am now no longer comfortable wearing clothes that show more skin that I want to show.
    3) Went through all the dressier clothes, and added to the pile skirts that don't have matching tops.
    4) Went through all the casual clothes, and added to the pile tops that are just too worn out looking. Not too many of those but every little bit helps.
    5) Tossed away all the slips. Who wears those anyway anymore? I sure don't.
    6) Tossed in the pile clothes that I just never wear, of the casual clothes, for reasons that I am just not sure of.
    7) Kept most of the dressy clothes, but did get rid of some. I live a casual country life now and have not gone to any dressy affairs in almost a year, but who knows, maybe that will change some time in the future? No clue.

    Now I am counting what is left. STILL too many! Am hoping that when I lose another 15 pounds, that will help as more will not fit. But I am curious for the most part, how many outfits, casual and dressy, do you own and use? My intent, is to get my wardrobe down to ONE closet full; Right now I need an extra closet to store the dressy stuff. Not good!

  2. #2
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    I have one dresser and one closet under 3 ft wide, maybe a few winter coats somewhere else. That is all. I haven't done anything dressy in a ling time so i would need to shop anyway.

    I have more than 10 pairs of pants and that seems a lit, but that includes a pairof dressy ones that fit great. I have 6 skirts, plenty of those. For summer i run camps so i have 6 outfits and exactly, just had to buy new shorts and threw a pair away. But i do need to shop for camp friendly ( not cotton) shorts.

    Not having space to keep things works, and i rarely have missed anything

  3. #3
    Yppej
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    In any given season I wear what fits in a five drawer dresser and half of a standard (not walk-in) closet. This does not include winter outerwear and yard work clothes. Out of season clothes are in the other half of the closet but also other things I am storing besides clothes.

    #2 on your list was a focus for me past year. I am trying to dress my age without being frumpy. #5 I have one slip left in case I go to a holiday party with a staticky dress but I have not worn it in years.

    Congratulations on the weight loss!

  4. #4
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    I have half of a walk in closet but my side is not full. Also I don't put t-shirts in drawers but hang them instead. About the only time I wear dress clothes is on cruises so don't need a lot of those.

  5. #5
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    I'm having trouble with clothes from work. They aren't too office-ey, and I know I could certainly still wear them in theory, but as a practical matter, it is highly unlikely. Maybe I just need a little more time with this one.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Yppej View Post
    In any given season I wear what fits in a five drawer dresser and half of a standard (not walk-in) closet. This does not include winter outerwear and yard work clothes. Out of season clothes are in the other half of the closet but also other things I am storing besides clothes.

    #2 on your list was a focus for me past year. I am trying to dress my age without being frumpy. #5 I have one slip left in case I go to a holiday party with a staticky dress but I have not worn it in years.

    Congratulations on the weight loss!
    Yes, I think we do have to evolve our dress as we age. Gone are the days when they could save the same long black gown to wear over and over when going out ha ha! I have to figure out what is in style and appropriate for my age. But that usually means a trip to a regular store in a mall, gasp! I do know I am tending towards more dignified. Thanks for the congrats...it is doable when you figure it out and follow the rules.
    I don't use a chest of drawers, just hang everything, easier than folding and no wrinkles, but have this cool huge canvas shoe storage thing that I bought on line for about $25, Amazon, and bought some fabric bins from the dollar store put above the shoes in the unit, on the shelves, to use for underwear and socks. I got rid of all my thin soles shoes and flip flops since I had a bout with plantar fascitis.

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    Quote Originally Posted by rosarugosa View Post
    I'm having trouble with clothes from work. They aren't too office-ey, and I know I could certainly still wear them in theory, but as a practical matter, it is highly unlikely. Maybe I just need a little more time with this one.
    When I finally retired early, I got rid of almost all my work clothes. Just did not want to look at them any more!

  8. #8
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    Work clothes, oh you are all so jealous of me! I just bought my new vans for summer camp, they are black and dark floral. I can wear nice jeans almost every day and either converse or vans, of course on my hippy meditation teacher days it is leggings with a dress.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Gardenarian's Avatar
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    I don't go by number of items, but by the space I have for clothes. Good thing I don't have one of those walk in closets.

    I'm going on a month long trip soon, and figuring out what to pack is turning out to be an exercise in purging. There are so many things I decided not to bring because they're not very comfortable or flattering - those are going in the donation pile.

    I have a good sized closet and a dresser. I have one drawer for t-shirts, which is overflowing. Need to do some pruning there. I also have the habit of throwing worn out tank tops, tees, sweats etc. Into my pajama drawer, and that is getting tight too. I do love old super-soft things.

  10. #10
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    I have way too many clothes. I have one tall, narrow armoire that is filled just with PJs. I try to cull this, but I actually wear them all. Many soft old John Prine, Leonard Cohen, etc., t shirts filled with memories. Then I have a dresser with two drawers for pants, 3 for shirts, one for leggings and sweats. I have a decent sized closet with all of my tops, which I tend to accumulate because I wear tunics to try to hide my belly so when i see cute ones on sale I snap them up. I have a few dresses/skirts. Then I have a bin for underwear/bras and two for socks (I have a lot of these so I can go a long time between doing laundry as laundry is hard for me). Then I have stored in two under the bed bags, clothes that are one size down as I am trying to lose wt and I blew through that size, the stuff is like new.

    The problem is I've never dealt with my work clothes. They were business casual so they still fit into my life. They are one size down so should be stored away with the other stuff but for some reason, I can't take them out of my main closet and they take up half the closet. It feels like admitting defeat to pack them away, even though they don't fit. It's crazy!

    Since I've gained wt over the years, my feet are 1/2 a size larger. I have to go through all my shoes and get rid of the ones that no longer fit because I don't think your feet go back to being smaller when you lose wt. They are longer now, not wider or anything. So those shoes have got to go. I have an amazing shoe holder that goes on the back of my closet door and it holds 32 pairs. It's full.

    I'm currently on a diet with a goal to lose 20 lbs in 6 mos. That should bring me to the one size down clothes. But I sort of feel bad because I've been this size a long time and I have a LOT in this size. I know this sounds stupid but I like these clothes. I have a rule that I ever pay more than $20 for an item unless it's for a dress or a winter coat but still, fiscally it adds up. I'm not working, I did not need all these outfits.

    oh, this is a loaded topic for me!

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