ANOTHER closet declutter...why not!

I have a lot to unpack in this one!

Without the constant influx of clothes, the outliers of my wardrobe reveal themselves to be the traitors to my personal style that they really are.

And without the constant whisperings of social media, I am able to see which items I actually need in my wardrobe, not the items that I’m told that I need.

Decluttering another 12 items!

I know what you’re thinking…

Didn’t you just post about a closet declutter?!? Why are you doing another one? Are you getting rid of too much, especially considering that you’re doing a low buy year?

To be honest, it almost feels silly to post about another closet declutter right on the heels of the last one, but I feel like I’m becoming someone who knows exactly what I want when it comes to the things that I truly want to wear, which feels like a REVELATION - one that I have been waiting years decades to get to!

And I never know when the decluttering bug is going to strike but I try to go with it when it does.

Decluttering my clothes usually happens in one of 2 ways:

1. If I haven’t removed items in a while, I like to block out a few hours to remove everything from my wardrobe and go through it category by category, looking for items that fall into 5 major areas to declutter, as I did in this post…

   My Last Major Closet Declutter - How Many Items Did I Get Rid Of?

2. OR, I decide to get rid of one item that I was on the fence about in a recent declutter, which then snowballs into getting rid of more items that I was on the fence about, which happened a few mornings ago…

This past Saturday (2.1.25), upon waking at 630am, I had this overwhelming urge to remove a black quilted vest from my wardrobe.

According to my outfit diaries, I’ve worn it 1 time in the past 10 weeks!

I’ve thought about decluttering this item quite a few times since buying it during the great no buy rebound of ‘24 (catchy title, or no?) as it was never what I really wanted, which was a quilted black vest that was similar in shape to my beloved navy vest.

It was on a circular rack with other vests close to the consignment shop checkout. I already had an armful of clothes but I had a few minutes to spare so I had a quick look. I pulled the vest off the rack and scurried back to the dressing room. I did have a moment where I thought that it might be navy instead of black as I tried it on and after conferring with the dressing room attendant, we concluded that it was black. It was also quilted. And apparently that was enough.

But every time I see it, I feel like it doesn’t belong. I’d bought it as a placeholder for the perfect black vest and I don’t want placeholders. I want the real item and I’m learning to be okay with waiting for it, or accepting that I may never even find it. I just wish I had saved that money to put toward the future purchase.

As often happens, closely examining one item turned into a closer examination of other items that I’ve been on the fence about. Which turned into a pile of clothes in the corner, which joined a pile of clothes that were already in the corner waiting for their appointment at the consignment shop.

And as I stare at the ever-growing pile of clothes that no longer feels like me, clothes that I’ve declared my love for in the past, I feel as if I’m a snake, shedding it’s skin for the 100th time, leaving behind a version of myself that no longer serves me and knowing that while this won’t be the last of the shedding, it will become less frequent as I grow into the type of consumer that I want to be - one who makes purchases slowly and with great consideration.

None of these items were bad purchases, per se; more like rash purchases. All, except 2 items were made during the thrill of a treasure hunt at a thrift store, where the need to leave with at least 1 item was omnipresent.

None of them were needed - there were no real gaps filled, I was not in danger of being arrested for public indecency, nobody cared if I had something red in my wardrobe. The reasons that I bought them - that “hunt” for the perfect item to deliver me my dream wardrobe - is something that I’m continuously unraveling the further into my no/low buy challenges that I go. And I’m discovering that removing the excess and truly considering the clothes that I own (and buy) is getting me closer to that ideal, which may or may not even exist.

Maybe the real thing that I’m chasing is an end to decluttering. I don’t want to continue to buy things just to declutter them 2 months, or even 2 years, later. And while I know that personal tastes can change and I may tire of an item, I don’t think they change that quickly. What really happens is that there’s a new trend that comes to town that turns us off that old trend that nobody’s wearing anymore.

How nice would it be if we could all just turn off the noise about which items we should have in our wardrobes and instead, really think about the items that we actually wear and love to wear; to curate a wardrobe around the clothing categories, colors and materials that make us feel our best, not the new trend item (like the blazer in 2019 or anything red in 2023).

I’m definitely not trying to bash trends (I may have never discovered that I liked red without them), but I think we look to outside influences for our buying decisions when it should be a much more personal decision.

Am I doing too much?

Shortly after I was done pulling items from the hangers, some questions popped into my head: am I doing too much by getting rid of all of these items during a low buy year? Will my scarcity brain kick in and send me running to a thrift store to restock some items?

As I have been sitting with these questions, I can honestly say that won’t happen. In the past, I decluttered as a way to get closer to a certain number of clothing items in the quest to have a minimalist wardrobe - I never did have a specific number in mind, I just always knew that it was less than I had at any given time. And sometimes I did regret getting rid of something.

But the difference between then and now is that I’m not chasing a number, I’m dialing in on a vision of what I want for my wardrobe going forward. I’m dialing in on a feeling that I want to have when I think about my shopping behavior.

If this had been a more thoughtful decluttering session, I would have looked for items from the following 5 categories that I’ve talked about before:

1. Clothing that doesn’t fit.

2. Clothing you haven’t worn in the past year.

3. Clothing that you never wear because you have a similar item that you prefer more.

4. Clothing that doesn’t align with your lifestyle.

5. Clothing that is difficult to wear.

But having just decluttered most of these types of items, the ones that I ended up getting rid of primarily applied to category 1 - Clothing that doesn’t fit and 3 - Clothing that you never wear because you have a similar item that you prefer more - and a new category:

6. Clothing that act as placeholders for the item that you really want.

To all the clothes that don’t fit me properly…

You served me well, even if we didn’t spend much time together. And it wasn’t you, it was me. I bought you with an idea in mind, an idea of the person I wanted to be, but that person never really materialized and all I’m left with is a feeling that I raided my husband’s closet.

It’s no secret that I like an oversized fit - it makes me feel cool, but unseen too, perfectly in my comfort zone. And for a long time, I have bought things from the men’s section, or in a few sizes too big to achieve that look. However, while I still like an oversized fit, I’d like for it to be an intentionally oversized item - like an oversized sweater in my usual size where the shoulders aren’t too big or the sleeves too long.

To all the clothes I never wear because I have a similar item that I prefer more…

Look, there’s nothing wrong with you, at all! You are beautiful but there’s only 1 of me and only 7 days in a week and I simply have too many other things that I want to wear a little more than you which means that you’re just left hanging…literally. I think you’ll be better suited to someone else who can give you the life your deserve.

To all the clothes I bought as placeholders…

I had really good intentions when I bought you, I swear. I knew that it would be a while before I found the perfect version of you and I figured we’d get a lot of wears together in the meantime. And as great as you are, I just don’t feel a connection between us. And that’s not fair to either of us. I don’t want to resent you for what you aren’t and I think that there’s someone out there can truly appreciate you simply for you!

This is something that happens to me a lot with secondhand shopping. I’ll think (or see) an item that I’d like to have and I’ll add it to a thrift list. Then I’ll see something that is close enough to what I want to be able to cross it from the list, but it never feels like the perfect thing!

I think this also happens a lot with more expensive items. You see an item that you love but it isn’t in your budget, so you start to look for a dupe or something that’s close enough to the original that you think will be enough to satisfy the craving. Instead of saving for the item that you want, you buy the “good enough” item which you go off of almost immediately because everytime you look at it, you see it for what it isn’t.

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I think these declutters are a natural progression in my journey from being a HUNTER to a CURATOR.

The Hunter vs. The Curator

Continuing to “shop my wardrobe” helps me to appreciate the things that I own, allows me to see the things that are missing, and identifies the things that I don’t wear and eventually, I hope to have a wardrobe full of clothes that I love AND wear.

And I feel pretty damn close!

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I hope that you enjoyed this post! If you did, I’d really appreciate it if you could click the little 🖤 and share your thoughts on closet declutters in the comments - do you routinely do them or do you prefer to put the things you’re not wearing into storage to go through at some later time?

Thanks for reading! xx Gillian