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Thinning the wardrobe

I recently did a major clean out of my walk in closet, bureau drawers and a couple of tote boxes of seasonal clothes. I was shocked by how many clothes I had accumulated. Do I really need 5 Harris Tweed sports jackets? 10 pairs of dress pants? 15 dress shirts? And my ties I believe are multiplying like rabbits. I was ruthless and a serious reduction in my wardrobe was necessary. I dont like clutter in any part of my life and my wardrobe was overdue. In the end I took three garbage bags to the Thrift Store and I feel much better. Clothes actually hang in the closet instead of being stuffed in.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Thats a nice feeling to purge like that
Now you have more room for shaving supplies....
 
Yes, I held every item in my hands and if it didn't "spark joy" then I said thank you and it went in the give away bag. (Thanks Marie Kondo for the inspiration). And yes, now I have more room for shaving gear!
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
This is something that I need to do. I still have clothes from many years ago that I have been carting around for years. I don’t wear them so they should go. I find it hard to let anything go these days. I have a wardrobe full of winter jackets that never get worn.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
I try to estimate when i last wore something. If its like a year that helps justify tossing it to good will.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
To me, the phrase "this doesn't spark joy" translates into "I'm getting rid of a perfectly good and useful item that still have miles in it just because I don't really really like it at the moment." The frugal Scott in me ... the echos of my grandparents' Great-Depression-survivors ethos of using stuff up before getting rid of it ... tell me this is foolish and wasteful.

Put another way, I suppose that for me, the mere fact that an item is still useful and not worn out to the point of needing to be thrown out ... sparks joy.
 
To me, the phrase "this doesn't spark joy" translates into "I'm getting rid of a perfectly good and useful item that still have miles in it just because I don't really really like it at the moment." The frugal Scott in me ... the echos of my grandparents' Great-Depression-survivors ethos of using stuff up before getting rid of it ... tell me this is foolish and wasteful.

Put another way, I suppose that for me, the mere fact that an item is still useful and not worn out to the point of needing to be thrown out ... sparks joy.

You don’t have to throw it away, donation will give someone else an opportunity to make better use of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
You don’t have to throw it away, donation will give someone else an opportunity to make better use of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Just about to say this. I got my use out of it, and now I’m passing it along. Only very worn stuff wound up in the trash.
 
You don’t have to throw it away, donation will give someone else an opportunity to make better use of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
I like the idea of someone making use of items that I no longer -- or won't -- use. Share the goodness.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
own less stuff but better stuff.

IMHO that's the key.

But we tend to enjoy buying stuff way too much to leave well enough alone when we should, and end up with way too much stuff.

... and we have to stock up what we like due to the impending shavepocalypse, and clothingpocalypse and shoepocalypse and bootpocalypse, and ...
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I've just been doing an "audit" of the wardrobe over recent weeks. Lots of shopping to replace worn out items, but lots of clearing out of surplus too.

Although I no longer work due to disability, and don't need work specific clothing, that also means that I can't do laundry as freely as the next man. As such, I need to be sure there's enough in the wardrobe, to get me to the day where I'm fit enough to do catch up with the washing. This is the main deciding factor of what I need in terms of clothing quantities.

My underwear typically hovers around a month's supply, and this has been constant for quite a while, although the socks tend to be a fortnight longer, as there's a weeks worth of thin shortie type socks for the height of summer, and a weeks worth of thick hiking socks for out walking or really cold days.

As to outer wear, I can comfortably go around two weeks in high summer, and two weeks of deep winter without laundry, plus three weeks of "average" weather clothing. This for me is a sensible amount. If I find myself unable to do laundry for a few weeks, I can get by.

For specifics, here's how the numbers came out when I'd done. These weren't target numbers, but the durations between wash days as stated above were.

15 Long sleeve shirts
5 short sleeve shirts
6 polo shirts
4 long sleeve tee
3 short sleeve tee
(plus another 15-ish tees for undershirt use or sleeping in - worn but not "shown")

10 warm mid layer tops and light pullovers
5 "top" layers for doubling up on layers
3 thin fleeces
4 winter fleeces
4 casual waistcoats

2 smart trousers
4 jeans
2 thin cords
3 chinos
2 heavy duty cargo/work trousers
2 hiking trousers

2 chino type shorts
4 sport shorts
2 cut off jeans
4 fleece/jersey shorts as nightwear/loungewear

2 blazer/jackets
1 suit
4 dress waistcoats
1 evening suit (tux)

Outdoor coats/jackets came in at 6 across a range of different weather needs, and footwear of all types from slippers to wellies came in at 15.
 
I definitely need to clear out my wardrobe as my Harris 'Tweeds need more breathing space and I'm getting to that age where I think some of my shoes are going to out-live me. I might just stick a few things on eBay and put the funds towards a nice vintage Omega watch.
 
I recently did a major clean out of my walk in closet, bureau drawers and a couple of tote boxes of seasonal clothes. I was shocked by how many clothes I had accumulated. Do I really need 5 Harris Tweed sports jackets? 10 pairs of dress pants? 15 dress shirts? And my ties I believe are multiplying like rabbits. I was ruthless and a serious reduction in my wardrobe was necessary. I dont like clutter in any part of my life and my wardrobe was overdue. In the end I took three garbage bags to the Thrift Store and I feel much better. Clothes actually hang in the closet instead of being stuffed in.

Sir, you are much tougher than I am!! :a17::a17:

The best I could do was to thin out old trousers that I would never get back into!
 
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