I’ll be honest, this post has been a long time coming. Months on end, I put about sorting out my clothes and selling them on ebay. That was an item on my month aims for ages! But, something was holding me back. And honestly, it wasn’t just a time thing, though that was a good excuse.
It sounds daft, but there was more to it than just sorting out my clothes and deciding what to do with them. Some of the things I own I have owned for a long time. They have memories, or situations attached to them. A university hoody. A old, comfy t-shirt. A favourite pair of jeans that are just a little worn.
Isn’t it a bit daft? That I didn’t want to get rid of these things, because of memories?
But, on Sunday morning, I decided enough was enough. I was fed up of avoiding the wardrobe all of my clothes were stored in. Wearing the same few items in rotation, and ignoring the rest. And I didn’t realise just how many items of clothing I actually owned.
Having a sort out of my clothes this morning. Donating/throwing out about 90% of them.
Capsule wardrobe here I come. 👗
— Nicola – The Frugal Cottage (@thefrgalcottage) June 3, 2018
So, I left both boys playing downstairs with Mr FC and got to work. I decided to work on a little section at a time, emptying it out onto our bed. First, it was dresses; I kept 3. Next, was my jumpers and t-shirts. Again, I kept 3 jumpers and the same number of t-shirts. Long sleeved tops, slightly more as I wear them for work. Jeans – I had so many pairs – mostly donated. I’ve actually kept one pair that still have the tags on (!) as a motivation to lose the weight so I’ll get into them. Perhaps if I’ve not done it in a year, I’ll donate those too.
Once I started, it was actually fairly easy. Some items I barely glanced at as I threw them on the donate pile. Others, I looked at and realised that they were worn and not suitable for wearing out in public and so went in the chuck out pile. Things that were either too big or to small were put into the donate pile.
In the end, the whole process took me less than an hour.
Something that I had been putting off for months, took me hardly any time at all.
And the best thing? How I felt afterwards.
Firstly, I felt relieved. That I had actually done what I had said I had needed to do for months. The task that I had set myself was finally completed. To be honest, most of the time I find that when I finally do something I have been putting off, it’s never as bad as I think it’s going to be. 
Secondly, I felt excited. I’m now definitely in the journey of creating a capsule wardrobe. I have wanted one for ages, to eliminate the decision of what to wear each morning. Clothes shopping has never really been a particular favourite of mine; give me bags any day of the week. But, having a streamlined wardrobe of pieces that compliment each other and suit my body shape; I’m actually looking forward to creating that.
Related post: How To Start A Capsule Wardrobe
Thirdly, other people will benefit. That sounds strange, but the clothes that I have donated to a local charity shop will [hopefully] benefit others. The people that buy my clothes secondhand, plus the charity itself that will get some money towards their causes. I like to think that more than one person will benefit in the end 🙂
4 big bags of my clothes have been taken to the charity shop or the tip today.
I feel so much better.
— Nicola – The Frugal Cottage (@thefrgalcottage) June 3, 2018
I do now need to go clothes shopping for some basic items [isn’t that ironic?] and then slowly complete my own, much smaller wardrobe. I have been watching some capsule wardrobe videos on YouTube to get some inspiration. I do want to lose some more weight first, but it’s a start.
Is there something that you’ve been putting off? Why do you think that is?
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I created a work uniform for myself a long time ago so that cut down a far chunk of clothes. BUt I still had loads. I read about the Kondo method (didn’t bother reading book, just excerpts) and Kondo’d my clothes twice. Need to do it again as I still don’t wear all the clothes I kept. I charity shopped/binned everything, couldn’t be bothered to ebay. My way of giving to charity (cos I’m lazy!)
What a brilliant thing to do. I’ve been putting it off myself for years – so many emotions and memories tied up with clothes! Have you ever read the book Elegance, a novel by Kathleen Tessaro? Good inspiration for wardrobe pruning.
I’m all for this idea too. I definitely have too many clothes, mostly because of never saying no when I’m offered things for free. I’m halfway through getting rid of my unnecessary items, just doing it much more slowly than you have!
Great post! I have recently sold most of my old work “career wear” wardrobe after reaching my financial goal to leave my job last year along with my husband. I found it so liberating to get rid of so much stuff. Any future purchases of clothing will be second hand buys. I mainly live in T-Shirt and jeans these days anyway which suits me fine.
I’ve de-cluttered my clothes twice in the last year but still have too much. Time to do it again. I don’t like the idea of ‘if you haven’t worn it for a year then get rid of it’ because when you’ve got so much, it might be that you just forgot you had it and do still love it. What I do now, is look at an item and think to myself ‘if this was in a shop now, would I buy it’? Invariable the answer is ‘no’. Love Tuppenny’s idea of a work ‘uniform’.
I am well on my way to a capsule wardrobe and have donated a lot of clothes over the past couple of years. I have almost completely separate wardrobe needs because of extremes of climate here but that also means that twice a year I go through things as I do the switchover. I shouldn’t need to purchase anything new for a couple of years aside from a couple of bras, 1 pair of shoes and a couple of white shirts (I’ve lost a lot of weight – and still working on losing more – and current shirts are just too loose at the neck and shoulders). My one weakness is cardigans but what I now do is pick a couple of accent colours and put them out to wear and the others stay in storage until next year when I may want a change. As I lose weight I will put clothes aside – I have a couple of friends that I’ll check with first and if they don’t want things then they can go to my Church’s clothes collection for the homeless.
A blog that you may find very useful is called “The Vivienne Files” she has lots of great ideas and examples of various types of capsule wardrobes for many different needs. I have found it very helpful and previous posts are clearly archived.
Yay! It’s a great feeling isn’t it?? I am at a point right now where I have to actually buy some clothes as I have dropped some weight and had very few clothes to begin with. Going to the thrift shop to do so, as I hope to drop some more yet 🙂
did something similar when i moved last… clothes clearing usually come before and after moves… naturally… you just get tired of packing and unpacking. kudos to you… tackling tasks a long time coming can be the hugest relief!
I did this a few years ago, and am now so ruthless with clothes. I buy everything second hand these days too, so it’s easy come easy go. And it’s soooooo liberating 🙂
Well done. It’s always good in the end isn’t it. I did mine a couple of years ago after reading the kon mari method book. But since then I’ve put weight back on so clothes have increased again. But I’ve not got rid of smaller ones because I plan to lose the weight again. So I’ve got several sizes in there. I do need to declutter again, because as you say, I only wear the same work clothes and casual clothes. Hopefully if I delutter drastically then I can just buy all new when I reach my target weight
A great idea, I must only wear about 10% of the clothes in my wardrobe too. Time for a clearout of the wardrobe and mind!