By: Kathy Klassen
I love clothes.
I have a lot of clothes but yet I have nothing to wear. I’m guessing you know exactly what I’m talking about, right?
Because I always talk about challenging yourself, whether health & fitness related or not, I decided I would challenge myself in this area right now.
I’m getting rid of a lot of my clothes. Like over half of them….
I’m kinda nervous, kinda excited!
I’ve been reading quite a bit about how when we downsize our closets to only keep what we love and those things we can mix and match, we won’t feel like we don’t have anything to wear anymore. Our mind will feel less cluttered too.
This was the plan
I was going to only keep 5 items of everything. 5 skirts, 5 pairs of pants, 5 dresses…you get the picture! It was tough, but I got through my dresses and skirts. And then I remembered I had a whole drawer full of summer stuff put away. I opened it and what do I pull out first? 4 more dresses and 3 skirts. I decided I would allow myself 7 of each item instead. It seems like a lot still, but once you start eliminating, it gets tough!
I could only keep it if it fits properly and I have to love it (or at least like it a lot). I also have to be able to mix and match with a few other items in the closet.
My first step was to automatically pull stuff out that I knew I didn’t love or that didn’t fit properly. I pulled out quite a bit right off hand! Second step was to start trying stuff on I hadn’t worn in a while or if I just wanted to double check how it fit. Last step, put the old stuff in the spare room closet for a few months to see if I change my mind about it all.
End result?
My closet looks much better. I’m going to look much more stylish then I did before because I was ‘saving’ some of my nicer clothes to wear anywhere but home. I’m excited about some of my outfits I have in there (I was pregnant last summer, so there are some items in here I haven’t worn since 2 summers ago!). Side note, I feel MUCH better about myself when I look nice and put together, even if I’m just going to be at home for the day.
Guess how much I got rid of? This picture has 66 items in it….plus I already had some in the spare room…at least another 40 or 50 items….and I just sent my sister a box of clothes. I have a problem, clearly.
My new strategy when I feel like buying something new is to compare it to my closet and ask myself this. ‘Am I willing to get rid of one item and replace it with this new item?’
I went to Winners today and it worked. I walked out with nothing!! Are you willing to give it a try?
What do you do when you have nothing to wear?
Kathy is a wife and mommy to a 2.5 year old daughter and a 6 month old son and moved to Alberta from Ontario 5 years ago and love it! Kathy works from home as a health & fitness coach and when she’s not focused on family she is pursuing another her other passions of teaching women how to lose weight, get healthy and build confidence. You can find her on Facebook.