Of the 29 items no longer in my closet, I donated or swapped half of them away because the style no longer suited me. Eight items didn’t fit right or were uncomfortable. I ruined a sweater and a skirt. I lost a pair of earrings. And I wore out four pairs of shoes.
I have a hard time letting go of a wardrobe item just because I no longer like the style. I have 14 things on hold, mostly accessories, because they just don’t excite me anymore. Some of them are in the swap pile. I need to reevaluate the rest. Should they be swapped? Repurposed? Altered?
The 16 items still in rotation are either great performers, beautiful garments, or have sentimental value. I must have worn my Nine West boots 200 times by now and they haven’t been resoled, yet. I just polish them a few times a year. My Forever 21, pin-striped trousers were cheap, but still look good. (And manage to accommodate weight fluctuations.) My velvet jackets may be a little stodgy, but are so lovely and perfect for the fall and winter. I’m doing my best to hold on to the blogoversary garments. The cardigan was ruined. I’ve gone through a few pairs of shoes. But I still have the skirt and lace blouse!
Where are the duds you were wearing five years ago? Would you say that half of them are no longer in your wardrobe? Do some things linger on, unworn? Why do you decide to discard garments and accessories? What is your criteria for keeping them?
7 comments:
This series has been fantastic! How great is it that you have an archive of outfits dating so far back? Mine only goes back one year. I'd be scared to see how I dressed five years ago. Hm, I had just been hired for my first full-time job and was wearing a lot of boring button-downs and dress pants with very few accessories. Very 2006.
Thanks so much for doing this Closet Circulation series. It's always really fascinating to see how someone's style evolves over the years, and I really wish I had this kind of archive to get a sense of my own wardrobe. Thanks for sharing!
I enjoyed reading these series of posts and seeing how your style has evolved.
I usually get attached to stuff so in order to convince myself that i am letting a garment go - i give it one more try. It's a bit masochist.
I wear it one more time and pull and tug at it all day and at night i take it off and decide if it stays or goes.
When they go i usually do a recap at the end of the month where i list items that are leaving and also why.
That way there is no remorse and i KNOW what i do with my stuff.
I think that my closet is made mostly of 40% old (over 3 years) and the rest is pretty new.
I found this post very interesting, as I think about the lifespan of my own wardrobe items constantly. I'm very impressed by the longevity of those boots! And I know exactly what you mean about certain pieces losing their allure after the passage of time. I tend to get rid of things in dribs and drabs. That is, if I wear something and don't feel great in it for some reason by the end of the day, then I toss it or wash it and put it in the Goodwill bag. Shoes I wear until they fall apart. Most accessories I hang onto, except for some ho-hum delicate stuff that I recently excavated from my jewelry chests and had bought eons ago. I managed to repurpose some of it for my jewelry-making projects. Why wear a necklace or bangle if it doesn't have some personality, right?
I have really enjoyed this series, and hearing what happened to all the clothes! Your style has changed so much over the years, and I feel priviledged to have watch your evolution.
Five years ago? Ha! I was on my way to losing 50 lbs. I don't have even 1% of my wardrobe from 5 years ago. If an item doesn't inspire me now, I just let it go - I know there are too many even more amazing and fabulous items out there yet to find (and a girl only has so much room in her closet, heh).
I hang on to items for years if I can, unless I just really don't like it anymore. But recently, I lost a lot of weight and went through a total style change last year so my wardrobe had been going through a big rotation period lately. I have a feeling that what I've acquired lately will still be around 5 years from now though.
I constantly weed out clothes on this criteria: out-dated; uncomfortable, wrong size, wrong color or what was I thinking when I bought it? I do keep my good suits for several years, but also am not buying them anymore, as how many jackets with black pants does a woman need? Right now I am wearing one of my oldest garments, a gifted 10 yr. old turtleneck that I still love. Reading blogs has helped me rethink the clothes I already have, being braver about mixing things up, adding more interesting accessories and breaking up those suits. Its much more fun to get dressed now.
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