If I haven't worn an item in a year, trash it???

amother

White

Mon, May 28 2018, 12:43 am

Aaahhhh, but I'm scared!

What if I lose/gain weight and it fits me well again? What if it comes back in style? What if I get a top/skirt that would be a perfect match? What if I'm going stream hiking and want a comfortable, lightweight, old outfit? What if I one day do winter sports and want a comfortable, warm, old outfit?

Tomorrow I am organizing my closets (Since I took over a hallway closet that contains stuff I haven't worn in ages), and I know that I feel some kind of fear, fear of a loss, when I get ride of stuff.

I'll be donating the clothing to my kind cleaning lady who is always very thankful for my cast offs.

Help me! Encourage me! I really want to become a minimalist!!!!

jewish613

Mon, May 28 2018, 1:01 am

You can do it! I can very much relate to your way of thinking. Some of the things I find helpful to remember are:

1) If I lose weight, I deserve some new clothes to celebrate my accomplishment Smile

2) if I gain weight, having a very limited wardrobe in the bigger size will motivate me to lose weight to fit into my clothing
3) if something comes back in style, it's probably 20 years later, and I can buy something new that better fits my style at that time
4) Its ok to keep 1 or 2 outfits for the types of activities you mentioned, but I really don't need more than that given my current lifestyle
5) The regret that I may feel at some point in the future when I miss that "perfect" item that I had given away, is greatly outweighed by the feelings of lightness, cleanliness, and accomplishment of more minimalist living.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!!!

seeker

Mon, May 28 2018, 1:13 am

Go for it! But consider the year thing a guideline, not a rule. When it comes to clothes, which can be difficult to shop for (at least for me. I hate shopping and that's part of the reason I have such a hard time letting go of something I already own) I would say more that if you haven't worn it in a year, then it gets spotlighted as something to consider getting rid of - maybe to put it on trial by moving it to the front of your wardrobe and seeing if you want to wear it or if it still doesn't talk to you.

Regarding weight gain or loss, I think you can judge how likely that is. Are you in middle of a diet and consistently losing? Has your weight been consistently higher since you started having kids and yet you're holding onto pre-motherhood clothes?

Comes back in style - depends how much you love it. If it's so "you" and you're just waiting for "you" to be fashionable, maybe. But keep it to one or two favorites. Even if the style comes back it's bound to be with a different twist and your old clothes will still look dated. And stale from decades in the closet.

Outfits for specific activities (skiing/hiking?) - keep one of each that fits currently and put them somewhere separate from things you need to reach all the time (if storage space is an issue.)
I actually have real regrets that I threw away my old camp skirts - the ones that are comfy from years of breaking-in but look, well, like they've been through a few years of camp. I thought I was past that after I got married and took on a more staid lifestyle. Well guess what - I'm back to summering in camps and I'm sad that I no longer have my pre-broken-in comfy sturdy denim skirts! They don't make em like they used to and if they did, they wouldn't be so comfort-worn. Oh well, no turning back time, I'll have to find a new way.

Balabroomstick

Mon, May 28 2018, 9:14 am

A professional organizer once taught me to hang all my clothing on hangers backwards and after wearing the item return it to the hanger the correct way. After 6 months you can really tell what you are getting use out of and what’s just sitting and collecting dust. I think being minimalist might be going extreme if you are having trouble making these decisions so maybe remove that idea from your head and just clear out SOME of the clothing. Sometimes doing a little at a time is easier than purging the whole closet at once. Also I find once the item is gone I never think about it again!

southernbubby

Mon, May 28 2018, 9:28 am

If you have any storage space elsewhere in your home or apartment, put the items that you are not currently using due to weight gain or loss or other circumstances in a box and store them for another year in the box but not in the closet. If you don't find yourself digging into the box for those items, then chances are, you are never going to wear them again and you can confidently dispose of them or give them away.

In our day and age, clothing is or can be a cheap commodity and it never ceases to amaze me how clothing designers always invent a new look every season, making last year's favorite look outdated and passe. Sometimes an accessory can revive the look but in the world today, last year's look stands out like a sore thumb. Personally, my stuff is not the type of stuff that goes out of style that quickly because it was never in style to begin with! But clothing does wear out and worn out clothing will never look good again so start by tossing that stuff.

I think that people have an even bigger issue with expensive family photos that adorn the wall until another updated photo is taken but then what should be done with the old photo?

zaq

Mon, May 28 2018, 9:53 am

1. It will never come back again n style exactly the same way. It will still look dated.
2. Having fat clothes gives you “permission” to gain weight.
3. If you lose weight, reward yourself with new clothes, not old ones.
4. Unworn cLothes in your closet are like cash sitting in a pushke for thirty years: not doing anyone any good. Give them to a gmach so someone needy can use them and have faith that the KBH will see to it that you will not suffer from their absence.

I would give seasonal clothing two years, not one, simply because if last winter
was unusually mild, you may not have had occasion to wear your foul weather gear, but sooner or later you will. .Also ultra-formal wear: if you haven’t attended any ultra-formal occasions in the past year, you own just one such outfit, and you can reasonably anticipate a need (close family in shidduchim, e.g,.) If you have half a dozen, by all means downsize.

If your lifestyle has changed drastically, say you moved from CEO to SAHM , MO to Yeshivish, kibbutz to Chicago, then clearly you ought to change out your wardrobe to reflect your new status.And if you’re recently married straight out of seminary, your old BY girl duds have got to go.

Ruchel

Mon, May 28 2018, 9:56 am

I'm not a Rothschild. I'm happy to find a wardrobe for myself if I lose or gain or get pregnant or simply change my mind. I didn't wear a certain item for long years and now I'm all over it again.

Oh and no. My fattest clothes haven't been worn in a very long time. You won't allow yourself to gain weight just because you have the clothes LOL

But it will be less devastating, and you know what, that's GOOD.

seeker

Mon, May 28 2018, 12:22 pm

zaq wrote:

And if you’re recently married straight out of seminary, your old BY girl duds have got to go.

I beg to differ. For the first year or so I never wore them, but sometime after I had kids my old button-down shirts and long skirts became perfect for those times when you're just hanging around. I wore more mature clothes to work/out but you don't want to wreck those on days off. Unless maybe we're thinking of different types of "BY girl duds?" I'm not sure exactly what you mean but I definitely didn't go through a whole style change when I got married.

southernbubby

Mon, May 28 2018, 12:30 pm

Then you see those kallahs with a week's worth of expensive sheva bracha dresses and then within a few months they are in maternity and by the time they lose the weight, those lovely dresses are two years old and were barely worn but are now really out of style.

At my age, we don't really care as much about current fashion anymore and I see many older women whose clothing is old enough to vote but young women don't look "normal" in out of date clothing. (I know, everyone is going to throw rotten tomatoes now.)

And women who are retired, or married to men who are retired, and are on a fixed income, are not replacing whole wardrobes due to style, unless they are wealthy. Look at the women in shul who are in their 70's and up and see how many of them are still fashionable; I see very few.

But if you are young, enjoy the fashions while you can!