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Purging Your Wardrobe

September 17, 2010 By Paul | Heads up: Buying via our links may result in us getting a commission. Also, we take your privacy rights seriously. Head here to learn more.

4 questions to ask when purging your wardrobe.

By Tech Correspondent Paul Olson
Photo:  You wish your closet looked like that.  Shot via GQ of the new J. Crew Men’s shop on the Upper East Side of New York City.  Click here to read their entire GQ Eye Post.

I’ve been trying to downsize things – books, possessions, clothing. This guy, from the Cult of Less blog, is kind of my new hero. There’s a certain stress level that clutter provides, so today I attacked my closet. I looked at everything, and I asked myself four questions:

1. Have I worn this … ever?

The first things to go where the items I had never worn. For whatever reason, I didn’t return the purchase, but I’ve held on to a number of things I’ve simply NEVER worn. Makes no sense. A couple pairs of pants, a sweater, a blazer – gone.

2. Do I wear this every month (when it’s in season)?

Other things I own I simply do not utilize enough. The polo with the stripes I’m not thrilled about, the pants that are a little long … I only wear some items when the laundry pile is at capacity. I could do one more load of laundry a year and only wear my favorite clothes.

3. Do I need two (or three) __?

Three navy blue polos? Wow, didn’t realize that. Two are in the out pile. Four pairs of khaki pants? The two baggy pairs are out. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought all these nearly identical items. Socks are the exception here. A boatload of blue and brown socks is necessary.

4. For special occasion clothing … do I wear it every year?

We all have a wedding suit, interview suit, funeral suit. Do I need backups? I don’t think I do. Hell, I could get by with nothing but a blue blazer, I bet. I just don’t have a suit-dependent lifestyle. Same with Hawaiian shirts. If I wear them nearly never (occasional Jimmy Buffett concerts, a special occasion), do I need three? Nope.

My closet now has a little breathing room. Enough room for proper storage tools without resorting to vacu-bags and as-seen-on-TV solutions. Give it a try and let us know what you purge.

Question:  When do you know it’s time to send something off to the thrift store?  Leave your feedback in the comments section below.

Filed Under: Accessories, Clothing, Etc., Shoes Tagged With: how to downsize your wardrobe, how to purge your wardrobe, organize your closet

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Comments

  1. Tyler says

    September 17, 2010 at 7:28 AM

    I do this about twice a year. Every time I get more and more picky with what I keep.

  2. Bar None says

    September 17, 2010 at 8:51 AM

    I’m in the middle of doing this but with every thing I own. I am going through storage and tossing or donating things like old answering machines and printers, old textbooks from college and grad school. It is a pain in the butt, but it feels so good. I didn’t realize how much junk mail was piled up around my computer until I threw it in the recycling bin.

  3. John says

    September 17, 2010 at 8:59 AM

    Did this about a month ago. Shortly after beginning to receive better style advice from Dappered and a few others.

    Embarrassing moment: I had six pairs of pleated Hagar pants. I think I probably wore two pairs a total of 10 times. All gone, and replaced with new chinos, dark denim, and cords.

    Ditched anything that didn’t fit well. No more wearing baggy clothes to hide my small gut. Don’t think I had ever even tried on slim fit anything until recently. Never realized the difference it could make. I have had no less than ten “did you loose weight/you’re looking good lately” comments in the last three weeks. While I have lost a bit of weight (started running two months ago), most if not all of it is from the style changes.

    Moved about 3/4 of my white sock collection to the rag bag, and replaced with bright sexy argyle and stripes.

    Held onto all three “island” shirts. Couldn’t part with them. 😉

  4. Bryan says

    September 17, 2010 at 10:28 AM

    Haha, I can related to #1

    Unless something costs a lot of money I can sometimes be a bit lax/scatter brained about returning it. I have so much other important things on my mind with work and such that i just forget to ever return/exchange it, but avoid wearing it at all costs.

    I can also relate to the oversizing issue. 1-2 years ago I was wearing size large sadly, and now most of my shorts are size small. Admittedly I did lose 25 pounds since then, but was never a large. For pants I always did 30/32, but now I’m working with 30/30 which is my true size I believe and allows me to show a little of that “sexy” sock John mentioned when I sit and such.

    I do need to go through and get rid of some of or attempt to tailor some of the mediums I have though, but I always give to those clothes donation receptacles when I purge.. I can just imagine someone getting one of my brand new Gap (or even 1 or 2 jcrew/BR :/) and thinking they hit the jack pot.

  5. Chris says

    September 17, 2010 at 12:05 PM

    If you have yet to discard those suits you don’t want, I’ll gladly take donations. 8)

  6. Steven says

    September 21, 2010 at 12:45 PM

    I found some advice recently I plan to implement. It’s so simple it’s crazy:

    Once a year, hang up everything in your closet with the hangar hooked over from the backside. When you remove the item, put the hangar on regular. At the end of the year, take everything out of the closet still hung from the backside and take it to Goodwill.

    Of course this doesn’t apply to funeral/wedding/special occasion items, because we don’t always have one every year, but for everything else – if you don’t wear it in a year, you’ll never wear it.

  7. Barron says

    October 2, 2010 at 2:57 PM

    Funny, I wrote about this recently and I think it’s so important to do this regularly. I know after a while my closet looks like it’s ready to explode, yet ironically i only wear 1/3rd of the stuff in there.

    After a while, I end up buying new items, so I try and make it a point to give away / sell a handful of things that I no longer use as much, just to keep that balance. At the same time, I’m more specific and deliberate with what I buy, otherwise, I will end up in the same situation pre-closet-purge. I’ve been enjoying some of the minimalist blogs I’ve been reading as well, though I haven’t read about Kelly until now… very cool.

  8. Drew says

    January 4, 2011 at 3:10 PM

    Another great idea i love is applying the ‘one-in-one-out’ rule.

    When you feel that your wardrobe is filled with the right level of stuff, whether it be space restrictions or just the fact you are happy with what you have, and when you purchase that new pair of chinos, take a look in the wardrobe and get rid of your existing least worn/least favourite pair to charity.

    Using this alongside the annual (or better yet twice annual) wardrobe clean out, keeps the levels in check!

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