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Clothing purge trick I learned for reluctant family members (and yourself!) - Page 2

post #21 of 33
4/29/10 at 4:30pm
Love it!
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post #22 of 33
4/30/10 at 5:14pm
I WISH it were that easy with my husband!! I went through all his clothes with him the summer of 2006 (just before we married) and got rid of a lot (like finally convincing him to part with his too small and way out of style WHITE jeans). A couple years later I managed to convince him to part with 16 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of shorts, and 51 shirts!! (I know the amounts cause I actually blogged about it)! :-P

Last year we moved into our first house. I had him pick out a core wardrobe consisting of about 30 different shirts and most of his pants (those weren't as much of a concern). The rest I hung on different colored hangers and put in the back of the closet...hoping that after a year we could get rid of most of those (since he did pull out a few of them for specific things). After a year we went through them and did get rid of a couple more garbage bags full, so that's good.

However, he still has something like 85 shirts in there, his job situation has changed so that his company provides his work clothes, his best friend is constantly giving him more clothes that he is weeding out, and he brings home more free tees and polos from vendors every other week!! It's insane!!
post #23 of 33
4/30/10 at 11:02pm
I turned all the hangers in my closet around my birthday 2009. I asked DH if I could do the same for him. He agreed. Around my birthday 2010, we're both going to pitch out anything still turned backwards.

Last time I glanced, DH has actually worn almost every shirt he owns -- even some of the fancy ones because he went to a business conference where his standard programming dress code (jeans and polo or other collared shirt) wasn't allowed. He actually had to wear dress slacks and button-up shirts for a week. We were glad he already had them because this conference came up sooner than usual in the year! (The new venue is what prompted the change of dress code. The conference itself is annual.) When we were preparing for our island vacation (first family vacation NOT to visit family), we discovered his casual pants (not jeans and not dress slacks) no longer fit. He willingly gave away two pairs and I got him one pair to replace them.

Last I looked, the only tops I hadn't worn were long-sleeve knit tops. I found it a bit odd since "winter" is mostly over here. I think I layer more than I thought. I have worn all three long-sleeve fleece tops many, many times, so I think I wore a short-sleeve knit top under one of those. We often have warm enough winters that that combination is sufficient during the day and then add a coat in the mornings and evenings. Whereas a long-sleeve knit top wouldn't be warm enough on its own and under a fleece top would be too warm. I wonder if I wear them in the spring, which we are just entering?

In any case, neither of our closets are too full. I just wanted to really see what we wear and don't wear over the course of a year. An experiment of sorts.
post #24 of 33
5/10/10 at 10:59am
I really like that hangar tip. I'm definitely going to do that when we get ready to purge again (after bf and losing weight is done!)

Quote:
Originally Posted by seashells View Post
I have 2 or 3 pairs of pants I don't have a prayer of fitting into but they are super, super cool, and even if I don't drop all this weight like I keep saying I will, my DD will probably love them in 10 years. I mean they are really incredibly cool pants, like you would wear to a club or something. I think those are timeless, doesn't matter if they are 90s, 80s, 70s - probably the older the cooler.
I'm trying to imagine what these pants must look like. I really have no idea. What do they look like? And I totally agree with the keeping of a few awesome, irreplaceable pieces! I once had a peach leisure suit that I bought for a retro 70's party, and man, I wish I still had that thing!!
post #25 of 33
5/10/10 at 2:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hokulele View Post
That's a good one! Thanks for posting.

I have trouble letting go of stuff but right now have excuses that enable me. I would say a good 75% of the stuff in my closet I don't wear but it is because it fits into one of these catagories: clothes that should fit me again once I lose this pg weight, clothes that are great but will work better for me when I am not nursing and don't need access to my chest, clothes that are appropriate for work (I SAHM right now) etc etc. *sigh*

Does anyone else have clothes they hang onto for these reasons? Or am I crazy?
I have clothes that took up space in my closet for the same reason. What i have done is put them in bins in the basement. About once a year I go through the kids clothes and pack up the outgrown ones and then I also go through my bins and weed out what is out of style that I know I wont wear now even if I could. It has made more closet space for what I do wear and cut down the anxiety of just getting rid of things I really like but just don't fit right now.
post #26 of 33
5/11/10 at 7:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hjdmom24 View Post
I have clothes that took up space in my closet for the same reason. What i have done is put them in bins in the basement. About once a year I go through the kids clothes and pack up the outgrown ones and then I also go through my bins and weed out what is out of style that I know I wont wear now even if I could. It has made more closet space for what I do wear and cut down the anxiety of just getting rid of things I really like but just don't fit right now.
I think I might try this...put some clothes in bins in the basement, because I need to free up space and I don't wear 75% of the clothes that are hanging up yet for some reason I can't throw them out...
post #27 of 33
5/11/10 at 7:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by clutterwarrior View Post
I think I might try this...put some clothes in bins in the basement, because I need to free up space and I don't wear 75% of the clothes that are hanging up yet for some reason I can't throw them out...

It really works! When I got pregnant in 2008, I packed away almost all of my clothes and put them in our storage shed (making room for maternity though). Once I was ready to put them back into my closet I got rid of the majority of it. It was like seeing it for the first time and I couldn't believe half of the stuff I kept!
post #28 of 33
5/11/10 at 7:40am
And I still haven't been able to convince DH to go through his clothes There are some things (like some old old boxers) that I just tossed without asking and he hasn't missed them. However, how do you get someone to toss *at least* worn out clothes. He has t-shirts that the collar is barely hanging on, at least one pair of jeans where the crotch is completely ripped out because they just wore out, etc. He keeps insisting they are good "work around the yard and house renovation" clothes. But I keep telling him they aren't even good enough for that. He insists though (he thinks he's going to patch the ripped jeans, I'm all for repairing and such, but there are no patches to cover this stuff and I don't think I could sew it up at all....the fabric is too thin!)
post #29 of 33
5/11/10 at 7:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BJewels79 View Post
He keeps insisting they are good "work around the yard and house renovation" clothes. But I keep telling him they aren't even good enough for that. He insists though (he thinks he's going to patch the ripped jeans, I'm all for repairing and such, but there are no patches to cover this stuff and I don't think I could sew it up at all....the fabric is too thin!)
LOL he sounds exactly like my DH!
post #30 of 33
5/11/10 at 8:34pm
Weeellll......last night I spend some time and effort turning all DH's hangers around.

Then this morning he went to get a shirt and I noticed for the first time, that he just pulls the shirt off the hanger, he doesn't take the hanger off the railing at all!!
post #31 of 33
5/11/10 at 9:46pm
DH does that also....just make sure and turn all the empty hangers back around
post #32 of 33
5/11/10 at 10:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by clutterwarrior View Post
Weeellll......last night I spend some time and effort turning all DH's hangers around.

Then this morning he went to get a shirt and I noticed for the first time, that he just pulls the shirt off the hanger, he doesn't take the hanger off the railing at all!!
But the clothes that go back into the closet (no matter who does it) go in the correct way. It shouldn't matter how he gets them out of the closet. You want to see what's in the normal laundry rotation.

FWIW, I rarely take the hanger off the railing either. :-D
post #33 of 33
5/11/10 at 11:12pm
Oh of course! You girls are obviously on the ball...thanks.
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