Love this thank you Dacy . I also love a decision tree.When I read yours I made a little adjustment when I got to ‘clothes that don’t fit’ AND it’s special AND I would be excited to wear, my next action is ‘can they be altered?’ So I have some fav old clothes altered to wear or turned into a scarf if it’s silk. As a long time clothes appreciater without any practical skills, it’s amazing to me how my new fab dressmaker Ahna can look at a garment and tell me yesss I could use this fabric to put an armhole gusset here… or turn a fixed waistband into an elastic one (which is what all waistbands should be !!)
I've seen people even recommend getting rid of clothing that you haven't worn in the last 6 months. It's nuts.
There's plenty of reasons to not wear something recently:
Didn't go skiing/to the beach this year because you couldn't afford it
Currently working in a casual office, but most companies in your industry wear suits
Pregnant then on maternity leave.
Working in Hawaii for a year before returning to Chicago.
Life changes. Keep what makes you happy, buy/make quality, and don't dispose of quality clothing you know you will only have to replace later (just don't keep too much, only the best bits).
I have a question. I have a whole bunch of clothes that fit but I don’t wear because they are for special occasions that I no longer have in my life. I don’t have galas or weddings or fancy parties to go to. I have these very fancy clothes in my closet and it’s unlikely that I will ever wear them again. I have no desire to create a reason to wear them again. But I am worried that I will be unprepared (gasp!) if I don’t have them. Any advice for the person who is always over prepared to figure out how to let go of at least some of these clothes?
A couple of things: first of all, the scarcity is real, and if you need to keep them, give yourself permission. Do you have other alternatives you could wear IF those occasions arose? Could you get rid of all but 1 or 2 options? One thing that might help is to think of others who experience size scarcity and whether your letting these things go could help them.
Amy, do you love every single one of those fancy outfits? If so, keep them. If not, send them on to their next lives.
There's no reason you can't have a party with friends where you all get to dress up just for fun. I used to know someone who wore a bridal tiara to vacuum. Made life much more entertaining!
Thank you for all these reminders and encouragement Dacy! I want to copy out the gentle encouraging statements in my journal to help me when I get overwhelmed.
I have a question about the flowchart. Sorry to be too focussed on details. For the box "would you be excited to wear it if it fit", there is only one possible answer -- "no". Is that intentional? For me a lot of my angst ends up in that area, tangled in "I would totally wear this every week if it fit" or "I used to feel so good in this, I wish I could wear it again". Is there a "yes" option leading from that box? Or is this a subtle way to encourage us to not dwell on the "what if" side of things?
"Do I like it, do I wear it (even once a year), does it fit my lifestyle?"
"Yes."
"Put it back in the closet."
This goes against the grain of much that I've read. The recommendation is generally if you haven't worn it in a certain amount of time, get rid of it. Living in a climate with four distinct seasons (although spring comes and goes so fast you can twist your neck trying to see it), it's very easy not to wear EVERYTHING in my closet within a year's cycle. While I've decluttered closets three times now, I did not give away several items I love, but didn't wear last summer. Mostly last summer it was too hot to wear much of anything other than loose fitting, white, cotton dresses. So, thanks for permission to keep the black, cotton, sleeveless, maxi dress with the plunging neckline that I had tailored last year (so that the neckline wasn't so "plunge.")
I hate "purge" too! I tried to champion the word "prune" as an alternative to "decluttering" or "editing" because its definition feels more precise: “To reduce, especially by eliminating superfluous matter” or even the gardener’s definition, “to cut off or cut back parts for better shape or more fruitful growth.”
Love this thank you Dacy . I also love a decision tree.When I read yours I made a little adjustment when I got to ‘clothes that don’t fit’ AND it’s special AND I would be excited to wear, my next action is ‘can they be altered?’ So I have some fav old clothes altered to wear or turned into a scarf if it’s silk. As a long time clothes appreciater without any practical skills, it’s amazing to me how my new fab dressmaker Ahna can look at a garment and tell me yesss I could use this fabric to put an armhole gusset here… or turn a fixed waistband into an elastic one (which is what all waistbands should be !!)
This is incredibly helpful and calmifying.
I've seen people even recommend getting rid of clothing that you haven't worn in the last 6 months. It's nuts.
There's plenty of reasons to not wear something recently:
Didn't go skiing/to the beach this year because you couldn't afford it
Currently working in a casual office, but most companies in your industry wear suits
Pregnant then on maternity leave.
Working in Hawaii for a year before returning to Chicago.
Life changes. Keep what makes you happy, buy/make quality, and don't dispose of quality clothing you know you will only have to replace later (just don't keep too much, only the best bits).
I have a question. I have a whole bunch of clothes that fit but I don’t wear because they are for special occasions that I no longer have in my life. I don’t have galas or weddings or fancy parties to go to. I have these very fancy clothes in my closet and it’s unlikely that I will ever wear them again. I have no desire to create a reason to wear them again. But I am worried that I will be unprepared (gasp!) if I don’t have them. Any advice for the person who is always over prepared to figure out how to let go of at least some of these clothes?
A couple of things: first of all, the scarcity is real, and if you need to keep them, give yourself permission. Do you have other alternatives you could wear IF those occasions arose? Could you get rid of all but 1 or 2 options? One thing that might help is to think of others who experience size scarcity and whether your letting these things go could help them.
Amy, do you love every single one of those fancy outfits? If so, keep them. If not, send them on to their next lives.
There's no reason you can't have a party with friends where you all get to dress up just for fun. I used to know someone who wore a bridal tiara to vacuum. Made life much more entertaining!
Thank you for all these reminders and encouragement Dacy! I want to copy out the gentle encouraging statements in my journal to help me when I get overwhelmed.
I have a question about the flowchart. Sorry to be too focussed on details. For the box "would you be excited to wear it if it fit", there is only one possible answer -- "no". Is that intentional? For me a lot of my angst ends up in that area, tangled in "I would totally wear this every week if it fit" or "I used to feel so good in this, I wish I could wear it again". Is there a "yes" option leading from that box? Or is this a subtle way to encourage us to not dwell on the "what if" side of things?
I totally made a mistake there! If yes, then store those items! But only the really good ones!
Thank you, I totally had this question also
In the decision tree I especially like this -
"Do I like it, do I wear it (even once a year), does it fit my lifestyle?"
"Yes."
"Put it back in the closet."
This goes against the grain of much that I've read. The recommendation is generally if you haven't worn it in a certain amount of time, get rid of it. Living in a climate with four distinct seasons (although spring comes and goes so fast you can twist your neck trying to see it), it's very easy not to wear EVERYTHING in my closet within a year's cycle. While I've decluttered closets three times now, I did not give away several items I love, but didn't wear last summer. Mostly last summer it was too hot to wear much of anything other than loose fitting, white, cotton dresses. So, thanks for permission to keep the black, cotton, sleeveless, maxi dress with the plunging neckline that I had tailored last year (so that the neckline wasn't so "plunge.")
Absolutely! And maybe someone only wears a holiday themed item once a year, but they do every year and would have to replace it if they got rid of it!
I hate "purge" too! I tried to champion the word "prune" as an alternative to "decluttering" or "editing" because its definition feels more precise: “To reduce, especially by eliminating superfluous matter” or even the gardener’s definition, “to cut off or cut back parts for better shape or more fruitful growth.”
I like that, too.
I like prune!