Waged War on My Closet and Won-The Sequel

[Gathina]

Congrats on the weight loss! I did the same and it was about that time I started my "war"on the closet (and my weight) just before I got married a couple years ago. I was able to take some of my "fat clothes" that I liked and had them altered by a lovely Vietnamese seamstress-very quality work the old school way-my wedding dress had to be taken in 6 inches and it was too late to buy a new one!

 

I am debating what to do still, about my fur coats and my vintage ski wear. I also have a foo-foo heirloom couch that is beautiful but not me-something I inherited-am hoping to get $500 for it.

 

I just found this thread and it has been an inspiration. I am working on decluttering my home as well. We just had a garage sale yesterday and what didn't sell was loaded into my van and taken to thrift. I did keep some higher value items out as I can sell them on my local facebook buy/sell pages.

 

I have lost 60 pounds in the past year, still have about 40 to go, and did a major closet purge. It has left me with very few items to wear. I am slowly buying some transitional items to get me through, but once I get to my goal weight I plan to buy some higher quality items. My dad has always taught me to go for quality over quantity and I am passing that on to my daughter. One of my goal items is a cute Lilly Pulitzer dress. I can only wear higher end shoes since I have wide feet with bunions. I bought a darling pair of Ecco sandals that cost me $130 but they are leather and super comfy.

 

I am now getting close to getting the clutter out, but now need to start with organizing what I have left and also get real with myself and purge even more. ;)

[Gathina]

Don't worry-I started my dreaded "junk room" on 12/26 and even though I tried to do 5 minutes a day (some days an hour)I am finally going to finish it today it looks like. The closet in that room was filled with a cornucopia of crap that was office related. Finally turning it into a"woman cave".

 

Just start small-make a commitment to do 10 minutes a day-think of all the ways we waste 10 minutes a day! You've got this!

 

Congratulations on your weight loss!

 

I still haven't gotten around to cleaning out my closets. I've got to do this soon! Ugh! It's going to be a huge undertaking and I'm not up for it yet!:eek:

[Lois R]

I waged war on all my shoes this morning and Goodwill got 2 garbage

bags of them. I had soooooo many pairs and looked at some of them

and could not remember the last time I wore them:eek:.......literally,

2 years, 3 years? longer?......decided to clean out and maybe someone

else can use them and will be happy with them.

 

(Oh, I still have more than enough left and don't feel like I am missing

anything).

Edited June 7, 2014 by Lois R

[geocruiser]

I waged war on all my shoes this morning and Goodwill got 2 garbage

bags of them. I had soooooo many pairs and looked at some of them

and could not remember the last time I wore them:eek:.......literally,

2 years, 3 years? longer?......decided to clean out and maybe someone

else can use them and will be happy with them.

 

(Oh, I still have more than enough left and don't feel like I am missing

anything).

 

Good for you. It is a great feeling knowing that you cleared shoes out of your closet. The best part is that you helped out Goodwill.

[Sailor_Sally]

I lost 27 pounds about four years ago . A lot of my clothes went to Goodwill but some barely worn more expensive brands I sold on ebay to finance my new clothes purchases .Lately I have been tacking our closets and purging like crazy .

[geocruiser]

I lost 27 pounds about four years ago . A lot of my clothes went to Goodwill but some barely worn more expensive brands I sold on ebay to finance my new clothes purchases .Lately I have been tacking our closets and purging like crazy .

 

27 pound weight lose is wonderful. I bet Good will was happy to see you come with your clothes.

[mousey]

I've been put to shame:eek:...27lbs! That's just awesome! I just lost 3 pounds and am deliriously happy about it. Okay, so it's because I had oral surgery and couldn't eat anything but mushy stuff.:D But still, I'm only 5'3" so even a 3 pound loss made a visible difference. It's motivated me to not only keep it off but as soon as I can eat like a normal person...I'm off to Weight Watchers!;)

[Gathina]

Woah-everybody still waging on!

 

For those who lost the weight-during my closet purging I found I had a whole brand new wardrobe once I got rid of my "fat clothes"-stuff I'd had tags on for years that went out of style and have since come back into style. There were some clothes that were too large I actually loved and couldn't bear to part with so those ended up at a seamstress and she salvaged what she could.

 

I finished the shoe purge and got it whittled down to about 10 pairs-neatly stored in boxes, cleaning stuff organized, and also purses. My newest closet purge-kinda related-is the storage shed outside. My husband is not an organized dude and I've tried to do a little at at a time when he's not around. I hadn't looked in there for months and about had a heart attack when over the stuff I found. Like why do we have 9 hose extenders when we only have two garden hoses in two different places?Why is there half a can of red spray paint from 2006 when we have not one piece of red anything in the house? Ugh...

[Lois R]

Hi,:) you whittled your shoe collection down to 10 pairs?.....I own 10

pair of sandals:D.......I think I counted 35 total, shoes and sandals.:eek:

[Sandy Sails]

Gosh, I've lost 40 lbs now since 12/30/13 (10 more to go) and have been cleaning out closets for a few months now (lucky Goodwill). I'm finally going shopping at the outlet mall on June 21st to buy a new wardrobe, but I'm concerned the new pants won't fit after I lose 10 more. But right now I'm down to 2 pair of pants to wear to work and even those are baggy. I'm getting desperate. And I'm still wearing baggy blouses, just because they're in my closet and I don't mind wearing baggy tops (actually prefer it). Thanks for your inspiration to clean out the closets.

SO excited to go shopping!!!

[Gathina]

I feel your pain-I had lost nearly 60 before I got married and there wasn't enough time to buy a new dress-plus I loved my dress-it cost over $200 to take 6 inches in. So find a good seamstress. One shocker to me was how the quality of new clothes had deteriorated-Kohl's was a real eye opener-I hadn't bought new clothes in like 4 years and sizes, quality, it had all gone down hill so I ended up buying more things at thrift stores that I found to be better made-plus it forced me to really examine the quality, care, etc whereas it would be easier to buy something pretty off the rack and not take the time to really inspect it.

 

What fun to go shopping! Here was another shocker- I STILL couldn't find any new clothes that were my size even though I was 8-10 range. Everything new was now "bigger" sizes!

 

Gosh, I've lost 40 lbs now since 12/30/13 (10 more to go) and have been cleaning out closets for a few months now (lucky Goodwill). I'm finally going shopping at the outlet mall on June 21st to buy a new wardrobe, but I'm concerned the new pants won't fit after I lose 10 more. But right now I'm down to 2 pair of pants to wear to work and even those are baggy. I'm getting desperate. And I'm still wearing baggy blouses, just because they're in my closet and I don't mind wearing baggy tops (actually prefer it). Thanks for your inspiration to clean out the closets.

 

SO excited to go shopping!!!

[Gathina]

Yep-and the Russell Bromley's I bought that I was too scared to wear have finally broken in just right .Those shoes I'm planning on keeping until I die!

 

Hi,:) you whittled your shoe collection down to 10 pairs?.....I own 10

pair of sandals:D.......I think I counted 35 total, shoes and sandals.:eek:

[CowPrincess]

yep-and the russell bromley's i bought that i was too scared to wear have finally broken in just right .those shoes i'm planning on keeping until i die!

 

yay! :D :D :D

Edited June 12, 2014 by CowPrincess

[CowPrincess]

I need some encouragement, here, folks. I'm moving on to my cashmere sweater armoire. Literally dozens of cashmere sweaters, most haven't been worn in two or more years. There are MANY that need to go, yet I am so very reluctant to part with them. Any and all encouraging words would be appreciated!

[Lois R]

I need some encouragement, here, folks. I'm moving on to my cashmere sweater armoire. Literally dozens of cashmere sweaters, most haven't been worn in two or more years. There are MANY that need to go, yet I am so very reluctant to part with them. Any and all encouraging words would be appreciated!

 

Encourgement to keep them? Or to donate? I don't own anything

cashmere.

As for encourgement.....(I don't mean to sound like I am being preachy)

but if you know you haven't worn them in over 2 years? I am betting

there are many gals out there who are way less fortunate and would

be thankful and greatful and to have them.:)

[Gathina]

Lois is a mind reader-I was thinking the same thing! If Lois doesn't want to be preachy I will-think of it is as "sowing and reaping"-like you sow seed you reap a harvest. So if you "sow" a sweater into a gal's life sooner or later you'll reap a harvest of some sort! :)

 

You could take a sweater, a skirt you don't want, a blouse and assemble an "outfit". Make it nice and on a pretty hanger and present it to what ever organization works with women and tell them specifically you want it to be a gift for a woman going for a job, etc..someone who will really appreciate it. They'll know who!

 

Keep five of them, donate 5, then consign 5. or whatever amount..

 

Encourgement to keep them? Or to donate? I don't own anything

cashmere.

As for encourgement.....(I don't mean to sound like I am being preachy)

but if you know you haven't worn them in over 2 years? I am betting

there are many gals out there who are way less fortunate and would

be thankful and greatful and to have them.:)

[mousey]

Lois is a mind reader-I was thinking the same thing! If Lois doesn't want to be preachy I will-think of it is as "sowing and reaping"-like you sow seed you reap a harvest. So if you "sow" a sweater into a gal's life sooner or later you'll reap a harvest of some sort! :)

 

You could take a sweater, a skirt you don't want, a blouse and assemble an "outfit". Make it nice and on a pretty hanger and present it to what ever organization works with women and tell them specifically you want it to be a gift for a woman going for a job, etc..someone who will really appreciate it. They'll know who!

 

Keep five of them, donate 5, then consign 5. or whatever amount..[/QUOTE]

 

That's a great suggestion. Keep, donate, sell! Sounds good to me.;)

[Gathina]

It might be "less traumatic" for her LOL

 

When she gets the "feel good" feeling from donating it hopefully that'll reinforce her to keep doing it-but I would donate it to where you specifically know who is going to receive it versus Goodwill where someone would buy it (like me!)

 

Lois is a mind reader-I was thinking the same thing! If Lois doesn't want to be preachy I will-think of it is as "sowing and reaping"-like you sow seed you reap a harvest. So if you "sow" a sweater into a gal's life sooner or later you'll reap a harvest of some sort! :)

 

You could take a sweater, a skirt you don't want, a blouse and assemble an "outfit". Make it nice and on a pretty hanger and present it to what ever organization works with women and tell them specifically you want it to be a gift for a woman going for a job, etc..someone who will really appreciate it. They'll know who!

 

Keep five of them, donate 5, then consign 5. or whatever amount..[/QUOTE]

 

That's a great suggestion. Keep, donate, sell! Sounds good to me.;)

[CowPrincess]

LoisR and Gathina, thanks! Feel free to preach if you want, I probably could use it ;)

 

I like the idea of intentionally keeping some of them, even though I may not wear them. It just might ease the twinges.

 

Oh yes, I am all about "releasing to the universe" or as you put it, sowing and reaping. Will identify 5 tonight to donate. (Unfortunately we have no place around here where I could put together an outfit and offer it ..... it has to be donation to a resale/thrift)

[Gathina]

You could go by a church and try that if you want to donate it-usually someone there "knows" of a woman in need, etc.

 

I'd donate the ones that don't overly "wow" you.

 

If they are very high quality you could sell them on EBAY- a friend of mine in Europe sole a lot of her finer clothes that way and did quite well.

 

Or have a swap party-find 5 friends, everyone brings 5 items to swap-specify what, must be on hangers, clean, pressed, etc.. Break out a bottle of wine. I have always wanted to do that and thought that'd be a cheap and fun girls night.

 

LoisR and Gathina, thanks! Feel free to preach if you want, I probably could use it ;)

 

I like the idea of intentionally keeping some of them, even though I may not wear them. It just might ease the twinges.

 

Oh yes, I am all about "releasing to the universe" or as you put it, sowing and reaping. Will identify 5 tonight to donate. (Unfortunately we have no place around here where I could put together an outfit and offer it ..... it has to be donation to a resale/thrift)

[ducklite]

You could go by a church and try that if you want to donate it-usually someone there "knows" of a woman in need, etc.

 

I'd donate the ones that don't overly "wow" you.

 

If they are very high quality you could sell them on EBAY- a friend of mine in Europe sole a lot of her finer clothes that way and did quite well.

 

Or have a swap party-find 5 friends, everyone brings 5 items to swap-specify what, must be on hangers, clean, pressed, etc.. Break out a bottle of wine. I have always wanted to do that and thought that'd be a cheap and fun girls night.

 

 

The only problem with swap parties is that everyone needs to be roughly the same size. If you have sizes 0, 4, 10, 16, and 22, it's not going to work, unless you are in,y swapping accessories.

[LindaM]

You guys motivated me to clean out my closet, starting with shoes. I got rid of around 20 pair. I don't know why I was keeping them, because they are not current and I won't wear them anyway. Talking about crops, I had some 6 year old wide legs----gone! Next, jackets from my teaching days when I was a size 6.

[CowPrincess]

You guys motivated me to clean out my closet, starting with shoes. I got rid of around 20 pair. I don't know why I was keeping them, because they are not current and I won't wear them anyway. Talking about crops, I had some 6 year old wide legs----gone! Next, jackets from my teaching days when I was a size 6.

 

Congratulations! I hate to part with shoes, but am getting better, with the encouragement of everyone on this thread!

 

I got 3 sweaters GONE. Step by step, little by little.... :D

[Gathina]

Wow! Good for you! I have to say that for me the shoe purge, though the hardest, has been the most rewarding. And I feel "lavish" (haha) looking at my 10 or so clear shoe boxes, and that motivates me to even clean the shoes before I put them back in the boxes so I know the quality shoes are going to last because I'm taking care of them instead of letting them get beat up on the floor of the closet.

 

You guys motivated me to clean out my closet, starting with shoes. I got rid of around 20 pair. I don't know why I was keeping them, because they are not current and I won't wear them anyway. Talking about crops, I had some 6 year old wide legs----gone! Next, jackets from my teaching days when I was a size 6.

[Gathina]

Congratulations! You can do this-breathe deep-in and out.one day at a time (one sweater at a time?? )..LOL

 

PURGE ON, ladies! Love hearing all the progress stories.. :)

 

Congratulations! I hate to part with shoes, but am getting better, with the encouragement of everyone on this thread!

 

I got 3 sweaters GONE. Step by step, little by little.... :D