I love clothes. I even love clothes that are on my rail that I never wear. I get literal goosebumps when I look at some fabric patterns and I love the way natural fabrics feel. I am not a candidate for a minimal wardrobe!
Clothes can easily get out of hand though, especially when you like charity shops and cannot resist a bargain. I have tried various methods to keep them under control, including pulling all of them out and going through them. That doesn’t work for me but what does is a couple of weeks of daily small decluttering and sorting.
Initial clothes sorting checklist
You can split this task into one a day and just pull things out of your wardrobe as you identify them.
- Pack away out of season clothes (go through them in season or you might make mistakes)
- Pack away anything you cannot bear to part with that is 2 sizes away from where you are now
- Store duplicates of favourite items so you can replace the original when needed.
- Donate anything that doesn’t make you feel great, saving some things for messy jobs like painting.
- Donate or recycle anything that needs mending you are never going to get around to.
Reasons to keep clothes
When you see an item of clothing you know you never want to get rid of, put it somewhere safe. One end of the rail or one drawer. This is so you don’t have to keep evaluating things over and over again.
- They have happy memories
- You wear them often and LIKE them
- They make you feel special
- They are well made and in good condition, or can be mended and kept going
- They are for a specific purpose like running or gardening
Reasons to ditch clothes
This little checklist will help you identify clothes that really are not working for you.
- They don’t fit properly and never will, no matter how much weight you gain or lose
- They don’t hang well and never will
- They make you feel downtrodden
- They are uncomfortable
- They are so delicate you never wear them and it makes you feel bad keeping them
Just sort a handful of clothes a day and you will start to see a difference very soon. It helps if you have a designated bag or box to put the clothes to donate into and have decided where to get rid of the bag when it is full.
