We need to occasionally weed out our closets. Things tend to collect dust in there. And every season we find ourselves putting things in there to await another season. Right now, most likely our fall time outfits are in there waiting for us to pull them out and to put our summer stuff back in there.
Right now, my sweaters are in there and I forget what else I put in there. I don't have much in my closet anymore. I used to have games in there, kids boxes of cards and artwork, and all kinds of other junk. Over the last few years, I have cleaned out and gotten rid of lots of stuff, so now just a bunch of my sweaters are in there.
How many times do we go clothing shopping and bring it all home and then later on realize that maybe we didn't need it or it didn't fit quite right?
We are women and we are BORN TO SHOP. It's in our blood.
I try to stay out of the clothing stores now, as I have way too many outfits. But that doesn't stop me from finding outfits to collect. I find most of my outfits at yard sales now. I rarely buy something in a store now. Except earlier this summer, I did buy a few skirts. Skirts are great to wear with anything. I have hardly worn my shorts this summer. I have found that it's so much easier to jump into a nice comfortable skirt. But I won't get rid of some of the shorts in case I do want to wear them sometime.
I found myself weeding out my outfits a few nights ago and listed a bunch of them. And I still have lots of clothing. I've got a whole bureau filled with outfits and about three large stacks of outfits sitting on my bench and on a shelf. Lots to choose from.
And I keep a few outfits in my car in case of emergency. You never know when you are going to wish you had DEPENDS on the way home from somewhere. As we get older, our bladders can't seem to wait for us sometimes and don't you know the feeling when you wish you could put a thumb on it and when you get out of the car, you're rushing into the house and hoping nobody else is occupying it.
And then there is the occasional coffee spill all over an outfit, so it is a good thing to keep a spare in the car or somewhere. I keep an outfit inside the kids house too just in case.
I love yard saling as you can get a whole new wardrobe for a nice cheap price and save lots of money. It's a good way to get certain brands that otherwise you wouldn't touch.
When weeding out, I usually try everything on to see if it still fits. If it doesn't fit, it gets listed. If I haven't worn it all summer or in over a year, it gets listed. If I'm tired of wearing something and it's in good shape, it get's listed.
It's so easy to get yourself set up on Ebay to list your unwanted items. Set up an account, set yourself up to sell, get a Paypal account, and then upload your pictures, describe them, figure out your shipping and list it. Usually if I'm listing one outfit, the shipping is about $3.50. That is roughly the price. If it's heavier, you need to charge more as bulky things cost more to ship and if they are heavy you are looking at anywhere from $6 to $10. But most tops average about $3.50. Nothing that I ship is much under $3 to ship. Any little extra is a handling fee included. Plus, Ebay and Paypal get a little cut out of the shipping so you want to make it worth your while.
Sometimes, I get sentimental about an outfit. I love the pattern or the style and hold onto it longer than I should. But if it doesn't fit anymore, why keep it stored with your other items?
I am selling a gorgeous purple floral cotton tank top, St. John's Bay on Ebay. It is a beautiful pattern that you might see as wallpaper somewhere. Kind of a vintage look to it. I was tempted to cut it up for the yo yo's but figured I wouldn't get too many pieces from it. And I tried it on and found out I could only button it halfway down. Which was the clencher for me to decide to list it. Someone is already watching it, so I think it's going to sell.
You know you have way too many things when you can honestly say that you have 20-30 outfits of each type of style, shirt, tank top, sweater, pants, dresses, skirts. I'm definitely not lacking anything. I probably could go a whole month easily without wearing the same thing twice. Especially for tops. I sometimes find myself wearing my skirts more than once if they didn't get too dirty. Saves on the laundry.
Don't be afraid to throw out things too. If you have an outfit that is just retired, has stains on it or rips and looks like it's starting to fall apart, by all means throw it out. It's most likely been used and abused too many times and needs to be reincarnated into garbage or something else.
It's good to keep one or two ragged shirts around in case you are doing a messy project and you don't want to get your good clothing wrecked. Perhaps you're painting or something like that. And sometimes a used article of clothing can turn into a good rag for cleaning. It's a good way of being thrifty instead of going out to buy a new set of rags sometimes. My Mom used to keep a big blue bucket filled with rags in her food pantry. Next to the big jar of hamburger pickle slices that I would hide in the closet and eat when I came home from Junior High.
And if you are like me and are a crafter, some outfits can turn into craft projects. Just look to Pinterest to all the things you can do with a tee shirt. The one I'd be tempted to do would be to make a skirt. I think they cut the bottom part of the tee shirt and then add other fabrics and an elastic band to make the skirt. Could be fun.
And if your outfit is cotton, it's good for quilting and other sewing projects. If it's made of stretchy material, you can make a stretchy headband out of it.
You can cut up stretchy strips and make those cool braided bracelets. I've made a bunch.
I don't like knitting with the tee shirt yarn though. I don't like that you get a bumpy part where the seam was sewn. It bothers me that it shows.
Hold onto your favorites. Pick and choose what you wish to keep and what you wish to part with. Keep enough of each type so that you can mix and match. It's nice to be able to change your style. I like to have enough of my favorite colors on hand. I never know what I'm in the mood to wear until that day.
And you want enough for each season. I'm sure that I have too many sweaters and will need to weed out a few of those in a while. I will wait till fall time for that. I don't think too many people are in the mood to buy sweaters just yet.
And the good thing about outfits, is that you can always go buy new outfits whether it be at a store, Goodwill or yard sales.
For me, sometimes I end up not selling an outfit on Ebay and it ends up being mine if it's my size.
And if you have other things in your closets besides outfits, just think about it all and choose to keep the things that you think you will use. Other things can probably go if they never get used.
Even things like board games. Especially for me. My kids don't play them anymore. But I tend to hold onto dice games and cards as you never know. And someday, I will have grandchildren and that's when it will get pulled out.
But it is so true that outfits tend to pile up and take up space. Occasionally weed out and it won't look so bad.
Jennifer Jo Fay
Copyrighted August 16, 2012
Sometimes the outfits really do look better on the mannequins!
The pink top is gone as it wasn't quite my style.
Are you one of the people who has about fifty pairs of shoes in your closet? I've got a few relatives that have many pairs. Of course this awesome Bella Swan shoe is great. But I wouldn't be caught dead in those heels. Now if it were a flat, that would be a different story.
Now, they are stylish. I love their dresses. I love to be in style.
This was part of a bathing suit that I loved, but the suit didn't fit me so I got rid of it. But I love this pattern. I might have to find some cool fabric like this sometime.
Think about all your outfits and what fits and what doesn't. If you list things on Ebay, getting one of these mannequins really helps to display them right. I bought the mannequin dress form at Amazon for in between $12-$20 and it has really been a good investment. Same with my mannequin head, it pays for itself if you're going to display hats, headbands, jewelry etc on it to sell. The display and the packaging are everything.
And having some good background materials are a good thing too. I probably should be pulling out my white background and black one too.
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