The Great Closet Cleanout - two dandelions

Fall is coming! Time for sweaters, boots, jeans. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any of those things in my closet, as they were smashed in between the swimsuit coverups and sundresses. Time for the great closet cleanout.

I’m pretty good about going through my closet. Twice a year, as the weather changes, I go through and pull out some things I don’t need and haven’t worn in a long time. But I hadn’t done a really thorough complete closet cleanout in many years.

I decided to try the strategy where you pull every single item out of the closet, try every item on, decide to keep or discard, and then put everything back into an empty (clean) closet. I’ll admit — I had never done that. It just seemed too much trouble, and really not necessary. But my closet was really full, and really messy. (Plus, it has an old sweet dog living in it.)

It was time to get serious.

I pulled out every stinkin’ item in that closet, even the dog.

Every shoe, handbag, shirt, sweater, sweatshirt, dress and pair of pants came out of that closet.

As each item came out, I put it on my body if I hadn’t worn it in the last 6 months. I really did. It was a lot of work. After I finished, I had put 8000 steps on my Fitbit. Not fun, but it was a very productive exercise. By actually putting it on, I could see that it didn’t fit, wasn’t flattering, or was hopelessly out of style. Or maybe it was just never me, or isn’t me in my current stage.

The result was that I got rid of:

6 pairs of pants
26 dresses (!)
4 tote bags
8 sweaters
2 sweatshirts
1 jacket
1 skirt
8 shirts
4 pairs of shoes
3 handbags

It was a good day for St. Vincent De Paul!

Lessons from the great closet cleanout:

1. I do not need any more black leggings or yoga pants.

I admit an addiction to these stretchy comfy pants. I’m not going to say how many I have, but it’s too many.

2. If my daughter discards it, it does not belong in my closet.

My 20-year-old daughter routinely cleans out her closet, and it kills me that she gets rid of so many cute clothes. So I retrieve them and put them in my closet. She’s a smart girl, and there’s a reason she was throwing them out. I don’t need her discarded kimonos, t-shirts, fringed cardigans, or oversized sweaters, no matter how much I spent on them originally.

3. No more buying dresses without a purpose or event.

Did you see that I got rid of twenty-six dresses? Some still had tags on them. These were purchases where I didn’t need the dress, but thought someday I might. For example, “Someday I’ll be invited to a cocktail party where I need a shiny leopard skin dress.” Nope.

4. I’m too old for that.

I don’t believe there should be rules about what we wear, nor limitations based on age. I really don’t. But trying things on my body, in my stage of life, there were some items that just look too young. They might look fantastic on other women my age. But on me, they look silly.

Too tight? I’m too old. Lots of ruffles? I’m too old. Shapeless boho dresses? I’m too old. Really high hemlines? I’m too old. Ridiculously high heels? I’m too old.

Maybe I’m not “too old.” Maybe these items were always a bad idea.

5. Very few items actually come back into fashion.

I was hanging on to some old favorites thinking that some day they’d be back “in,” and I’d be set. It just doesn’t happen. Even if big shoulder pads come back, I’m probably not going to wear that darling Ann Taylor suit from 1991.

6. Worn out shoes need to go.

Worn out, cheap, uncomfortable, or out of style shoes need to go. Remember what Hannibal Lecter says to Clarice? “You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube.”

Don’t be a rube. Get ride of the bad shoes.

7. Don’t keep your fat clothes. Or your skinny clothes.

I actually had five different sizes of clothing in my closet. None of us should own any clothing more than one size away from what we currently wear. If it’s clothes we wore when we were heavier, then it’s depressing to see that we’re holding on to them in case we get heavier again. And if it’s clothes we wore when we were skinnier, that’s depressing too.

Need a fresh start? Clean out your closet.

My project was a lot of work, but was very gratifying. I now have more room in my closet, and all items are hung neatly and carefully. I can actually find what I’m looking for.

And I loved taking those 3 huge bags to St. Vincent De Paul.

For more posts about loving your “nest,” please see: