Here are some closet PURGE strategies that have proven useful to me in the past and with this PURGE:
1) Discard the dredges. Delay doing laundry for a really long time and see what is left in your closet. Because we tend to wear our favs first, what left is like scraping the bottom of the barrel. If you have no desire to wear an item that's left in your closet after a long laundry delay, PURGE it.
- Using this method, I PURGEd #64 Some Long Sleeve Shirts that I really have no inclination to wear anymore.
2) Employ the hanger trick. If you do still have a desire to wear an time "some time" in the future, reverse the hanger that it's on, so it's hooking towards you. Decide on a time-frame (a season, a year) that you are willing to keep the item to see if you do happen wear it. If/when you do wear that item, return the hanger to its original orientation, and you get to keep your clothes. If that "some time" never comes and you still have clothes on reversed hangers at the end of your designated time frame, PURGE them. This is also a sneaky way of PURGing from your spouses closet cuz it's not too obvious of a tactic. For that, I'd allow a year. If s/he doesn't wear something in that time, it probably won't be missed if you PURGE it.
- Using this method, I PURGEd #65 3 Wool Sweaters that I had from last winter, but never wore this winter and #66 2 Lounge Pants of my husbands, that I'm sure he won't miss.
3) Eliminate duplicates. At one point I had dozens of boxer shorts that I like to sleep in in warmer months. While I did wear each of them at some point, I really didn't need all of them. Just keep a handful of your favorites and you can still rotate through them. Keep enough so that you won't have to do laundry constantly, but not so many that you only wear something like once a year. For me, this needs to be done with PJs, sweatshirts, T-shirts, and basically any comfy clothes. If you have more than you know what to do with, PURGE the ones that aren't your favs.
- Using this method, I PURGEd #67 a Sweatshirt and #68 a Matching Sweat Set, without batting an eye, because I know I have plenty others.
4) Find the right fit. For a very few items, they pass the hanger trick because I actually wear them and I may even wear fairly them regularly, but I hate them for one reason or another, usually because they just don't fit right. Do they expose my lower back? Do they expose too much of my chest? Too tight? Too loose? Or maybe they are just loosing their appeal for other reasons. Getting old and pilly? Not really my style anymore? So I give them one last shot and wear them again and really think about if I want to keep them. If you feel uncomfortable or self-conscious or otherwise don't feel like a million bucks, PURGE it! There's no use feeling bad about how you look and/or feel in your own clothes.
- Using this method, I was relieved to add #68 2 Long Sweaters to the donation pile. Neither were very old, but were getting pilly. Both were fairly loose and I was self conscious bending over and exposing my cleavage. While I've been wearing them, I wasn't feeling great in them. I feel much better knowing that someone else with a different body shape than mine will likely be happy in them. I also PURGEd #69 1 Long Sleeve Collared Shirt of my husbands because it was too large for him.
All in all about 4 bags of winter clothes went to Goodwill. And man was I impressed with the new facility! In Champaign they moved to just north of the interstate off Prospect in the old Rhodes Furniture building kinda behind Culvers. They have a drive up and everything. People came out to my car to help unload. It was a very smooth process and a nice place compared to the cramped building and pot-hole ridden parking lot that I was used to up until January.
So, what are your strategies for cleaning out closets? And what are the things you just can't seem to get rid of no matter how hard you try?
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