Keeping things for best, I’ve turned into my mother! ?

You never know, once you start actually using these things, you might discover they're not all that great after all.

When I cleared my mums home I found similar things, still in bags with labels on, boxes of shoes never worn and 'best' clothes, yet she would sit in old track suit bottoms and an old cardigan with the elbows darned which was my Dads and he had died some 15 years before.(sentimental I know) She had some lovely thick woollen cardigans in her wardrobe. I am the same though. I have things for 'best' and save gifts as I like them and do not want to use them. I have a Jo Malone candle which is lovely but I do not burn it, its too nice. I have a L'Occitane gift set - too nice to use and so it goes on. I really must get a grip and start using the nice things.

I have a lovely bed cover which was a Wedding present for my parents eighty years ago ,it is a heavy silk embroidered huge bedspread,it is now a bedspread on our bed in Cumbria which we have as a holiday home, it certainly saves dust on the bed, when not in use and looks decorative, but because its so heavy I couldnt use it every day, but I am glad it is useful now. My parents would be proud of me.

threexnanny

I don't have too much of a problem wearing / using something new straight away, but I do have a problem parting with the old items which the new were meant to replace!

I've decided to have a ruthless clearout.

What's the point of keeping things when you put them on, think 'No' and put them back in the wardrobe?

You'll feel like a star.

What a fantastic post! You have given me food for thought! We are moving so have been sorting stuff. I am going to wear this beautiful mohair long black cardigan I have worn twice in over 40years as I loved it sooo much! It’s coming out - I promise I will enjoy every moment of it now. Thank you x

Unwanted soaps, handcreams etc make brilliant "top of the wardrobe" presents. Ready wrapped but obviously unlabelled, they are great for when you receive presents from unexpected sources, you can smile and say " I will just get yours, it's upstairs"!

My mum wasn't too bad but both my in laws were dreadful. And I think my DH is turning into them. Today I have washed his very scruffy jeans and he is not getting them back as he has two pairs of brand new jeans in his wardrobe. He loves checked shirts, but only wears the same two or three. His waxed Barbour jacket is a disgrace. Last year I bought him a brand new one for his birthday (in December). It still has its tags on. He plays the ukulele and has always wanted a banjolele so guess what he got for Christmas last year? Cost me days and days of research and a fortune to buy. Has he ever played it? Has he thump!!! I despair???‍♀️?‍♀️

My Mum always kept a few clothes for best, and a black coat for funerals which she never wore at any other time. I do keep a couple of outfits and jackets for 'smart' occasions, mainly because I'm a very casual dresser (scruffy even?) and my everyday jeans & t-shirts just wouldn't cut the mustard at a wedding or evening out. But in general I love wearing new stuff I've bought straight away. Having said that I do have an Eternal Beau teaset (a new home gift 40 years ago) which we've never used but it's too pretty to part with.

I don't have too much of a problem wearing / using something new straight away, but I do have a problem parting with the old items which the new were meant to replace!

Never keep things for best.We have some lovely crystal glasses and use them every day.

Having been inspired by this thread, I am wearing a favourite winter dress with thick tights today as opposed to my normal attire of skinny jeans and sweater.......thank you Marydoll

There is absolutely no point keeping all my sweater dresses for when I go out as there is no possibility of that in the near future.....

I expect we will be the last generation to do this won’t we?

My motivation for keeping things ‘for best’ is more to do with not wanting favourite clothes to wear out.

I’ve realised that all my favourites were bought years ago. There was a time when I would always find something I loved on a clothes shopping trip but for the past few years I have invariably come back empty handed.

I have bought things recently that I like, but the favourite, really loved items are, in some cases over 20 years old!

Never mind getting like your mother: I have turned into a friend, when younger I was amazed by the bags of unused clothes she had at the bottom of her wardrobe - I couldn't afford to buy excess clothes then. Now move on a few years and I am finding lots clothes in my over stuffed wardrobes with tags still on ( all bargains) while wearing old favourites! Another new friend has helped me get rid of stuff but two bags later cupboards are still stuffed - I think I she needs to come back! I hate waste but really need to get a grip at least while we are in lockdown we cannot buy so much "stuff"!

Deciding it was time to remind my children that we would 'not be around forever', I casually told DS1 that I was interested in döstädning (the Swedish idea of organising and decluttering your belongings before you die, as propounded by Margareta Magnusson).
His cheerful response - "I thought that came with meatballs in IKEA'.....

I do have a set of towels and a dinner set ‘for best’, however that’s all. My own Mum died at 38 so as I’m getting older I realise that nobody knows when we are called so I do make sure that I use the best of everything that I’ve got. Apart for the dinner set and towels. ?

I have started to wear my decent clothes, every day now, especially since lock down just to cheer things up a bit. But I still haven’t gone so far as best frocks, as they would be impractical and I’d look plain stupid?.

I also have black tie dresses all in their boxes. I live in hope that they will be worn again, but I can’t see it somehow.

What a lot of stuff we collect on the way of our lives!

Embarrassing when you look at those folk with nothing. I should be ashamed really.

This thread is just what I needed - I thought something was wrong with me for keeping lovely clothes in a now bulging wardrobe, many unworn & kept for best. ( maybe something IS wrong with me ). Now, having turned 80 & lost a lot of weight, most of them no longer fit. How stupid is that - & how sad.

What a great thread! Thank you. I would like to say I am going to wear/use all my best things for every day now, but it’s going to be a hard habit to break !

A friend gave me a denby container.Mum kindly saw this and continued by buying some more,every birthday,Christmas and so on.We have used it occasionally.
Going to use it every day but out it off - until now.
Thanks for thread.

I have a bit of a shoe fetish [well that is shoes, sandals and lots of boots!] So many, quite a lot have never/hardly been worn. I have now, at 61,got lots of problems with my feet and all those lovely high heels are going to the charity shop.
Sadly I will never be able to wear heels again, So wear those heels ladies while you can!

My expensive wedding china is used every day. Goes in dishwasher (much to a friend’s horror!). Plates have been broken along the way, but they are just things designed for a purpose. They need to be used, not gathering dust!

My DH inherited his parents bone China dinner service. It has been sitting a box in our garage(s) for 32 years. It is ghastly and we bought our own in drips and drabs over a couple years which we do use from time to time.

Some years ago, a rather forgetful elderly friend who was downsizing sorted out a collection of bits and pieces which she decided she would no longer need and thought she would give them away to any of her friends who would like them. We were all invited round to her house to choose what we would like. Imagine my chagrin when I noticed in the collection a present I had given her one Christmas - some very nice Yardley's Old English Lavender hand cream, unopened. I took it home with me and used it!!

Well that’s settled it, reading all the above I have opened a box of toiletries my DD gave me a few years ago. I don’t want her to think I didn’t want her thoughtful gift.