How to Declutter Your Clothing

I’ve been busy working on cleaning and organizing the master bedroom for this month’s Household Organization Diet and I must say, most of my time was spent on the master closet.  I have a lot to share on this topic so I’m going to break it down into two posts.  Today’s post is going to focus specifically on how to declutter your clothing and the next post will be more on the actual organization process once the decluttering is done.

I wanted to do a whole post on the decluttering aspect because I really think that it’s the most important factor when it comes to organizing your closet.  There is no point spending time, energy, and money on organizing items that you do not wear, use and love.  While I typically just refer to clothing in this post, I’m talking about shoes, purses, and all other clothing accessories too.  And don’t forget all of those bras, underwear, and socks! Please, please, please take some time to toss and donate all of those items that don’t make you feel awesome when you wear them.  I know it can be hard, but hopefully these tips and tricks will help you out!

Why Do You Need to Declutter Your Clothing?

Having an organized closet will allow you to dress and feel better about yourself.  You will know that the clothes you have will all look great on you, and you don’t have to feel bad trying on things that are too small or ill fitting every day.  Knowing where everything is will allow you to create new outfits that you may have missed before and will make getting dressed in the morning so much quicker and easier.  I promise that it will be totally worth it!  Getting dressed is so much more fun when your closet isn’t a mess.

Why Do We Keep Clothing We Don’t Wear?

I think that it’s safe to say that most of us have multiple items in our closets that we rarely, or even never, wear.  Many organization articles estimate that, in general, we wear about 20% of our clothing 80% of the time, while a whopping 80% of our clothing only gets worn 20% of the time.  Having a better understanding of why you are holding on to all of that unworn clothing, can really help you when it comes to learning to let go and truly decluttering your closet.  While there are many reasons why you may be keeping all of those items, here are a few of the most common ones…

Guilt. Holding on to items out of guilt is a huge no-no.  It just makes you feel bad and 99% of the time you never get around to doing anything about it.  These can be items that you spent a lot of money on and never wore, items that were given to you that just weren’t your style, or items that you think you should use/wear but never do {like work out gear!}.  Let it go!  You definitely don’t need the extra guilt.

A desire to look different. Let’s face it – body shapes change over the years.  We have babies, we get stressed, we don’t always have time to work out.  Keeping clothes that are too small for you or that just don’t fit your body type is not helpful!  Embrace where your body is at now {even if you still want to lose weight at some point!} and invest in some good fitting clothes that make you feel good!  If you lose some weight, you’ll deserve some new clothes anyways.

A desire to be someone different.  I think that clothing reflects a lot about our personality.  Some of us are more sporty or casual, some of us are super trendy and cutting-edge, while others wear more business attire.  Stick with clothing that says who you really are now and makes your feel confident and stylish.  Maybe you used to only wear business wear but now you’re home with your kids.  Buy some cute jeans and shirts that make you feel good about what you’re doing and donate those suits that you no longer need. Even if you do plan on going back to work in 5 years, chances are your old clothing will either not fit you the same or will be out of style.

I’ll need it someday. If you haven’t worn it in the past year {or two years if you have been pregnant}, you likely will never wear it again.  Honestly.  You also need to remember that clothing styles {and your own preferences!} change over the years, so there really is no point holding on to clothing items long-term if you’re not wearing them.  Live in the present and do not hold on to somedays.

You don’t hate it.  I think we all have those items sitting in our closet that are”okay”.  We don’t hate it, it fits okay, but there’s always something that we like better so we never get around to wearing it.  These are sometimes harder to get rid of because you always think that you’ll get around to wearing it. Keep only those items that you love – the “okay” items will never be better than that.

How to Declutter Your Clothing

Get prepared. As you go through your closet, you will be sorting your items into four piles – keep, mend/repair, donate, and toss.  Get some bags or boxes ready so you can place your items into the appropriate place as you go.  This not only makes the process quicker, but also helps to minimize any second guessing that you may do.  Once you’ve made your decision, you don’t have to see it again!

Empty it all out.  You really do need to get everything out of your closet to really know what’s in there, so the first step is to empty it all out.  Be sure to include items that may be in the laundry as well and don’t forget about all of your accessories.  If you don’t have the time {or just feel too overwhelmed} to do everything at once, you can work on the closet in sections, but this can sometimes make it more difficult to get the whole picture.

Try everything on. So this is the part where you really need to be honest with yourself.  Try each item of clothing on, take a good look in a full length mirror, and evaluate everything!  If you’re not good at this, see if a friend will come over to give you their honest opinion.  All items that you keep should not only fit, but have some purpose and function in your life.  You want to feel confident in your clothing, so make sure you’re only keeping what you love and will truly wear. {See the 6 questions below!}

Sort. As you try on clothes, you will be sorting all of your items into piles – keep, mend, trash, and donate.  You may also wish to have another pile for items that you want to take a second look at but try to keep this small.  Generally if you don’t love or know when you will need it as soon as you put it on, it’s not something you should be keeping.

• KEEP is for the clothes that you use, need, and love.
• MEND is for any clothing that needs hemming, mending, buttons added, altering, etc.  These should NOT go back into your closet until they are repaired.  Give yourself a set timeline to get this done and donate them if they are not completed.
• TRASH is for items that are severely worn, have holes, or are just way out of style.  Place items directly into your trash bag as you go.
• DONATE is for all items that are lightly used or in newer condition.  You could choose to sell or consign these items as well but remember that this will take additional time and energy and, unless you are selling really high end items, the rate of return is generally pretty low.  Again, try to place these items directly into your donation bag or bin so you don’t look at them again.

 6 Questions to Ask Yourself

1. Does it fit me right now?  This is sometimes a hard one to come to terms with, but there’s no point having a closet filled with clothing that does not fit you!  If you’re dealing with a short term weight change such as with a pregnancy or temporary health issue, you can be a little more lenient here, but, for the most part, items that do not fit you need to go! If you really love the item but it’s just not fitting quite right, you may be able to get it altered so consider placing it in the mend pile.  Just make sure it doesn’t go back into your closet until it fits!
2. Does this item make me feel good?  Sometimes an item can technically fit you, but just doesn’t make you feel good about yourself.  Maybe you don’t like the color or feel of the material.  Or maybe you feel like the item highlights trouble areas instead of accentuating your positive features.  If you don’t feel good wearing it and you don’t love it, chances are it will sit unworn in your closet forever.  Let it go!
3. Can I move freely in it?  It’s one thing for something to look good when you’re standing tall and posing in front of a mirror, but things can look totally different once you start to move around.  Reach your arms overhead and squat down to the floor. Do things stay in place like they should or does everything get all bunched up or appear to short?  Does it look good from the back too?
4. Do I have multiples of this item that I do not need?  While it’s okay to have multiples of some items that you wear frequently, you really don’t need 20 pairs of jeans. We’re all creatures of habit and we tend to have our favorites that we like to wear while again and again while the others just sit there.  Donate those extras that you never get around to wearing while they’re still in fashion and other people can get some use out of them!
5. Would I buy this item today?  Pretend that you’re in a store right now and trying on the article for the first time.  Would you still buy it?  If not, it should really go.
6. Do I have something to wear with it?  A great shirt is wonderful, but if you don’t have anything to wear with it, it’s not going to do you much good.  Ideally, you should be able to mix and match most of your outfits so you can create multiple looks with less clothing.  Explore different outfit options as you’re trying things on to get a good idea of what looks good with what.  If you have an item that doesn’t really work with anything else you own, it’s time to donate it or give yourself a designated amount of time to find something that does go with it.  Again, do not put it back  in your closet until you have something to wear with it.  Keep it in a bag in your car, so you’ll have it with you next time you go to the mall.

Hopefully, at the end of this process, you will have paired down your clothing and accessories to only items that you need and love and have a good understanding of what items go together well.  Take those donation items down to Goodwill, mend anything that needs repairs or altering, and take your trash bag out to the garbage.  You’re then ready to move on to getting things organized!