Inside: Eight clothing items you need to toss right now – plus how to plan for a full closet organization journey.
Oh. My. Goodness. Peeps. Have you ever felt so embarrassed by your closet that you just have to take action immediately and not look back?
I needed to take drastic action and so today, I’m talking about the 8 clothing items you need to toss right now. And when I say ‘you’, I actually mean ‘me’. 🙂
Assessing the closet situation
Does your closet look like this? We had just moved into this house and I had no idea how to use the space. We have since done A LOT of work in this room, including a complete renovation on this closet. We ended up taking space from the upstairs hall to make this closet larger.
We decided to try to get everything into one closet. That was a bad idea. In theory, it should have been a good idea. But we weren’t ready for the transition. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
How do you start dealing with a terrible, horrible, uninspiring master bedroom and master closet? With a full-blown, I’m being so honest it’s making me cry, closet purge.
Posts on how to ‘purge your closet’ are a dime a dozen in blog land. But friends, I found one that is SO HONEST, I had to share it with you. This post from The Style List is what I’m going to follow as I come to terms with what I truly need in order to exist in this world, not be naked and be sort of cute most of the time. Heck, maybe I’ll come away with this needing to go on a little shopping trip? 😉 A girl can dream right?
Clothing Items you need to get rid of RIGHT NOW
These are things that are weighing you down emotionally and taking up valuable space in your closet. If you’re just finding this post, yeah! You’re here! But please know that after a couple years of just purging my closet season after season, I did eventually commit to the Konmari method and it has helped me immensely. You can read about how I use Konmari in my closet here.
A blouse that is TRULY STAINED.
I really liked this blouse. Some of you may know that I am on tv each night. It may come as a surprise, but finding ‘tv appropriate’ attire can be excruciatingly difficult. There are so many weird rules and this blouse fit them all.
BUT – it’s got something on it… I’ve washed it, stain treated it with my best arsenal two or three times. The stain has faded but I just can’t get it out and honestly, I have NO IDEA what the stain is.
Good-bye adorable striped front, collared blouse. I hardly knew you. And I don’t know your stain at all.
If you have a blouse that is stained – get rid of it and don’t feel guilty. 
(Wondering about the polka dots? Those were my transition DIY project when I was still designing our master bedroom. I created that motif for $5 with supplies from the dollar store. You can see how I did that here – it’s an amazingly simple project.)
A blazer that you KEEP TRYING ON BUT NEVER WEAR.
There is nothing wrong with a blazer. Maybe it’s a pretty colour. But is it really you? Do you really feel AMAZING when you wear it? I had this Ann Taylor blazer that was nice in theory, but I always felt dowdy in it. I think I’ve maybe worn it once or twice. It just doesn’t jive with my style. I’m sure it’ll be great for someone else.
Good-bye ill-considered blazer purchase. I wish you all the best in your new life in someone else’s closet.
That pair of pants THAT JUST DON’T FIT
I have this HORRIBLE habit of buying things too big. One of my co-workers (who I love) consistently laughs at my saggy bottom pants. I am a petite person, but for whatever reason, when faced with buying pants, I always end up either one or two sizes above where I should be. As is the case with these pants.
Good-bye too big pants. You will round out someone else’s bum nicely, I’m sure.
Do you do that? Buy clothing in the wrong size hoping that one day they will fit? Stop. Donate them. Buy clothes that fit.
Above? That’s how my closet turned out after years. So also, as you go through this process, don’t feel badly if you don’t get immediate results. Give yourself a break. This is a journey. Not a quick fix. You can read all about my bedroom makeover in the One Room Challenge Posts I did in the spring of 2017.
Any blouse (or item) that you WOULDN’T re-BUY RIGHT THIS SECOND
My aforementioned petite status doesn’t mean there aren’t parts of me that I want to minimize. Take my shoulders for example. They are on the broader side. So why did I buy this blouse that has shoulder ruffles? I don’t know. I definitely wouldn’t buy this blouse today.
Good-bye ruffly black and white blouse. May you broaden the shoulders of someone who needs that.
That one shirt that is TOTALLY STRETCHED OUT AND PILLED
Need I say more?
Dear shirt, I guess you were good before you’d been washed a few times?
A shrug that is NO LONGER TRENDY
I bought this shrug years ago to wear over a strapless dress to a party. When I say years ago, I mean when the first digit of my age was a one instead of a three. (Do people even wear shrugs anymore?! Is that SO 90s??)
Bu-bye sequined sheer shrug. I don’t have any feelings for you whatsoever.
A skirt that DOESN’T CONVEY THE MESSAGE I WANT TO SEND
Too short. Too tight. Not nice fabric.
Good-bye grey skirt. You are sort of hoochie and I don’t know why I ever bought you. I’m sorry if you feel like I lead you on.
A blouse that is COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY EMOTIONALLY CHARGED
I’m not going to go into detail on this. But let’s say for the past bunch of months this blouse has been boring a hole in my life. I didn’t even want to put it on a hanger, so I threw it into the back corner of the closet on the floor. I was wearing it when something awful happened.
Good riddens. I hope the karma of this shirt does not carry on beyond this point.
I am missing one of the ‘style’ tips in that I couldn’t find anything that SMELLED WEIRD? EW. I guess if you have furs or leathers or things that are completely polyester that might be the case. I also didn’t have anything that was DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR. Though, Dan does have some seriously holey shirts – but that’ll be his job.
I went through my entire closet using these rules – EVEN MY HUMUNGOUS ASSORTMENT OF PYJAMAS. (Guys, I had almost 12 pairs of pjs… who needs that many?!?)
