2.18.2020

A Crazy Idea... My Closet Challenge


Maybe this won't be "crazy" to most, but it's something I've been toying around with for the past couple weeks. I think it could be fun, different, and (hopefully) helpful... but I would love to hear your thoughts!!


^my closet over the years

I feel like everyone has this problem where they have a ton of clothes in their closet but always seem to wear the same 5 items again and again. But when it comes time to clean out, you always promise yourself you'll wear X top or Y pants at some point, and so you'll keep them, but never actually wear it again. Does this sound familiar at all, or is it just me??

Living in New York City and having the closet that comes with it, has definitely helped me cut back on a lot of clothes. Plus, with the addition of Andrew, I learned to cut back even more. I'm down, right now to half a dresser and two racks of hanging space. It's the smallest amount of space I've ever had!!

I do a good job of purging every so often, and, for being a blogger, I'd say I have a pretty limited amount of clothes (at least compared to some friends and family!). But why do I still feel weighed down by it all? I find myself constantly thinking of clothes to get rid of to help clean out my life, but when it actually comes time to do it, I look through my closet and only seem to get rid of one or two things at a time. The idea is there, but I never really end up making any big changes.

So here is where this crazy idea comes into play...

I'm going to try and cycle through my entire closet ONCE until I am done. This means I want to wear every single thing in my closet at least once before re-wearing something again. Like no stone left unturned -- we're going to go through every item, piece by piece, and re-wear it all again. Basically bringing my closet back to life, finding the items that I don't truly love, and hopefully cleaning out in the process!

Why I am doing this:

-You'll find things in the mirror are better than they appear -- Anyone ever look at items and have wonderful memories in them or just general thoughts/ideas that make you go "aww"? But then you put them on, and you're like wtf is this??? Because same. The memory is sometimes better than the action, and I think this will help weed the bad pieces out!

-Physically putting it on will help you decide it's fate -- Whenever I am cleaning out my closet, I find that I'll just hold it up, think about it in the way above, and hold on to it. When you actually put your "favorite sweater" on, you remember how itchy it is, or how short it can be when you're sitting, and you'll then remember truly why you stopped wearing it. It'll help us get rid of the not so great things.

-I will feel better about using my clothes -- And I'll stop with the guilt of keeping all these items without ever wearing them. Plus, if I get rid of the things I don't truly love, then I'll be able to look at my closet and only be filled with happy thoughts (if that makes any sense).

-You'll re-find old favorites -- Re-wearing older items will help (I believe) me fall back in love with some old favorites! It also gives some greater appreciation to the clothes, and just like getting rid of what you don't like, it'll bring back to life the things you do!

-There is little room for excuses -- I'm always saying, "well, I need to keep this because I'll wear it out, or for XYZ reason..." but now there is no "next time" and more "now." So I'll either wear it and love it or get rid of it and make new space!

The Rules: (preliminary and subject to change):

1. I must wear it for at least half a day -- I need to get a full day's wear out of it. If I put it on just for a photo and then take it off because it's "uncomfortable," then we are really missing the mark here. So I'm committing myself to half a day of wear time. I say half only because I work out and walk dogs in the AM and don't want to wear it there, and then when it's time for dinner around 7, I also want to change into comfy clothes. So during normal working hours, I must keep it on and...

2. If I change out of it, I must get rid of it -- If I change out of it for one reason or another: not fun to wear, not comfortable, don't like, pulling at it... etc. -- I need to get rid of it. No sense in keeping it if it's not wearable!

3. I cannot skip items, and I get three strikes per item -- I can't be like, "oh, I'll pick that one later..." and never get around to doing it. If I keep skipping it, that means it's time to go. The same thing with my three-strikes rule... if I try to make it work more than three times without success, it's going out!

4. I cannot re-wear things before I've gone through everything -- there are obvious exceptions to this rule, but the general idea is that if I've already worn a pair of jeans, I shouldn't wear them again until I've cycled through the rest. Same thing for workout clothes, but obviously if I need to re-wear a bra again, I can!

5. New clothes are welcome but apply to the rules above -- I can still shop (it's still me, duh), but the new items are subject to the new closet rules!



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