Clothes clearout

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Willow500 well done!!
I had a clear out . I find the secret, apart from the moths, is to put the clothes into a black bin bag so you can't see them. Leave a few months and if you can't remember what's in the bag it can go to charity.
However I have been searching for some expensive linen trousers not seen for a year and they were the comfiest, best colour etc etc....

Willow - a kindred spirit indeed!

I took 2 bags of clothes to our vets on Wed this week as they collect for the Blue Cross. It's more convenient to take them there too as there's a big car park. One bag was full of my husband's suits - he used to wear them every day in his previous job but doesn't need them now and none fit anyway. The other was full of my things I raked out from the boxes under the bed looking for a jacket I seem to have lost. I thought it was in a spare room cupboard we've been unable to get to as bunk beds were in the way but we dismantled them on Sunday so I was able to open it (hence retrieving the suits) but it wasn't there. I've now been through everything and can only assume I've taken it somewhere and left it

I too have far too many clothes, coats, shoes and underwear - I found 15 pairs of jeans that don't fit last week but can't bring myself to give them away as I need to lose the weight again. I've also put my summer dresses/skirts away - some unworn yet again. I really need taking in hand

I really don't buy many clothes I hate shopping for one thing.
Only had one dress until this summer when I had to buy 4 because of the heat. Jogging bottoms are no good when it's warm.
I have clothes for holidays, clothes for home which seem to last for years and clothes I go out in which are mainly jeans and a top.

We held a memorable clothes exhibition in our local art centre. We invited people to bring something which they'd kept and why.
It was brilliant. Girl guide uniforms, babies shoes, wedding dresses including one which dated from 1860. There was a dress worn by a singer who had added the original programme.
I had the lovely job of making a soundtrack using songs mentioning clothes.
There are a lot. From Top Hat to Lady in Red. The event was so popular we had to do it again a couple of years later.

I am just off to the charity shop with two huge bags of clothes i have sorted this morning. Feeling good that i have done this. Have a bag of books and some jigsaws and a couple of games no longer required but in full working order so will take them too

Tell you what has stopped me from buying new clothes that I don't need on impulse - our local M&S closed last month and there are hardly any decent clothes shops left in town! However am trekking by bus one day this week to nearest large Marks, only because I have reward vouchers to spend and one of them has an expiry date in early October. Have also swapped summer/winter wardrobes last week and got rid of summer dresses and skirts that I hadn't worn for the last 3 years. The only thing was that I went out and bought 2 new sundresses because of the long hot summer....

I enjoy my spring and autumn clothes culls. I haven't done it yet this autumn but reading this thread makes me think I will now make a start. I have to give myself a good firm talking to to make sure I do actually part with some clothes each time!

I was just chatting to Himself over our coffee and was telling him about this thread and how many bin bags some hsd sorted out for the charity shops. He burst out laughing saying "we couldn't even fill that number of bags between us for what we have". So there you have it - each to his/her own I suppose.

I've still got the outfit I had for my DS's wedding in 1999. Never worn it since but can't bear to throw it out. I've also still got my wedding dress from 1965.

I have one LBD that I have worn for our traaditional New Year gathering of good friends for the last 4 yrs. In between it just hangs in the wardrobe! It was a post Christmas £35 bargain in Biba sale so I need to wear it at least once more to make it pay its way! Lucky my NYE friends have poor memories/don't care anyway what anyone wears.
I have certain clothes that are holiday wear which Synonymous will be pleased to know is a "capsule" holiday wardrobe, garden clothes that were ordinary jeans/t shirts before they got a bit worse for wear! I have work clothes and non work clothes. Some things are ancient.. when I look back in pics I see me wearing them pre DGC! I send any bad buys /special event clothes to charity shops if not re worn after 18 months! Except the outfit for DDs wedding which only just went 8 yrs on!

Grammaretto I also have pieces which I have worn for donkeys years and have even had some altered and restyled when I have felt they needed updating and were good enough to keep wearing. That is the best recycling there is.

Liz46 Reading this thread I really don't think so! People seem to think about clothes so much and I'm afraid that I don't really understand it. I enjoy dressing up and looking good but I know I can do that whenever I need to if I just look after what I already have in my wardrobe and to me that is normal. Himself is the same and we have a wardrobe each and coats in the hall cupboard. I would be beside myself if I had as much as some on here seem to have.

Synonymous I know why people hardly ever wear some clothes. We buy them for special occasions like weddings, dances, etc and they are too good to throw out but not quite right for the next do. Or they have memories attached .
For a recent big birthday, my family put pictures of me through the years around the walls. Big poster size! It wasn't as bad as it sounds because I was a lovely baby. What shocked me was that I was wearing the same clothes for the last 30 years!

Synonymous, that's how most of us aspire to be!

I am curious and puzzled why so many people seem to have so many clothes. If you don't wear them why do you house them? If you cannot use them why keep them? How can you afford so many in the first place?
I have a capsule wardrobe and always ensure that any new item of clothing goes with several of my other pieces
There are different uses for things as they become worn. eg a jacket will go down the line of uses ending in dirty garden jobs and will then get binned. If an item is not appropriate to go down the line of uses I will give it away or to charity shops. When things are looking worn I will replace but will always get rid of the worn one as it has been replaced . It has to be "One in, one out!" otherwise I would become a slave to them rather than me using and enjoying them.

Well, it seems I must have had a cull this time last year. When I dragged down what I thought was a big bag of my cold weather stuff, it was full of yet more summer clothes, obviously surplus to requirements. The charity shops will be getting plenty of those next year, but right now I need to get to the shops.

Another one who needs to do a " cull " I find when I sort my clothes and have the charity bags ready, I then have another look and think ' No, I might just hold on to that " I now realise that is never going to happen so this week , starting tomorrow I am determined to have a clear out . I find I gravitate towards the same clothes every day, striped Breton tops and dark skinny jeans have become almost a uniform ! I am known by name at my local Joules Store !

I read somewhere that we only wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time ! The other 80% languish in the wardrobe .

Glamdram I think I always look ok and apparently I don’t dress like a gran (my grandchildren tell me!). I often get mistaken for being younger and love clothes. Just not formal going out clothes!! I hate being uncomfortable and can’t wait to shrug off anything that is more structured. I love little short skirts over leggings and ankle boots.

I spend a lot of time in Greece and wear lots of pretty tops and floaty skirts there in the evenings but somehow they don’t translate to England. Here I just want to be comfy and warm!!

Next week I am doing a skinny dip in aid of Mental Health in Northumberland, so that won’t require a lot of thought as to what to wear!!!!

Lancslass. Glorified thick tights! Mostly black and go under everything. Comfy and warm. Don’t tell me you have never worn them? Tuck into ankle boots, big jumper over the top and off you go. No draughts either!!

FarNorth
Rag is recycled into all sorts of things. Carpet, underlay (our own is recycled wool) mattress linings, industrial cleaning cloths.
A huge amount goes to African counties, which creates another problem because these clothes are decimating the local clothing companies.

megs. sorry, if my comment sounded like a put down. it wasn't meant to be. But, I am not sure lots of clothes does mean lots of money, clothes are so cheap these days, lots of people shop in charity shops, including those who can afford to buy clothes elsewhere and many more people just seem incapable of throwing clothes away, even when they are unwearable.

When DD left uni, she sorted her clothes through; a couple of bags went to a charity shop. More sacks went to the tip full of worn out or damaged clothes that she knew neither she nor anyone else could ever wear again, but had simply left in her wardrobe until a move forced her to sort everything out.

Oh, Tillybelle, you have my sympathy living with all that upheaval. I do hope it gets sorted out soon. Definitely keep that man away from you!

I like your thinking, Chewy.?