Clothing

[kibba]

I wear casual day to day (I'm a stay at home mom) I have a closet full of clothing and I keep things just "in case" I might wear them. I have 3-5 nicer tops/outfits and I think that is the perfect amount, but I'm wondering what the perfect amount of casual tops is... I hate keeping stuff just incase I might decide to wear it. But they are all "good" clothing and I hate to get rid of them too... The closet looks a bit busy with so much in it. I live in the south so everything I have can be worn year round..not sure if that matters. I do have a few tops that are brighter that I only wear in the summer.

How do you handle clothing? Do you have a set amount?

[OkiMom]

If I don't wear it in 6 months I give it away/get rid of it. Only exception is formal gowns (1 maternity 1 non-maternity) that Ive made for Marine Corps balls. They are expensive so I reuse them.

Honestly, regular clothing if I haven't worn it in 6 months its not worth it.. Also, I like a uncluttered feel to my closet because its easier and quicker for me to sort through and pair up an outfit.

[Oliver's Mama]

Originally Posted by kibba 

 I hate keeping stuff just incase I might decide to wear it. But they are all "good" clothing and I hate to get rid of them too... The closet looks a bit busy with so much in it

Even though the clothes may be good, if you're not wearing them, think of it as wasting good clothes.  Someone else out there could really use them and wear them regularly, instead of them wasting away and fading out of style in your closet, and obviously taking up space and cluttering your environment. I have gotten rid of perfectly good and nice clothes, ones that fit me as well, but I just wasn't getting around to wearing them.  While I felt bad about getting rid of them, the money I spent on them was already lost since I wasn't using them, so they're donated.

Try going a while without doing laundry, and if you get to a point where you'd rather do laundry to get your fave shirts back rather than wear what's left in your closet, then those should go.  Or there's the old trick of flipping the hangers after you wear something, and whatever hasn't been flipped in say, 6 weeks, should go.

For me, I wear all my clothes year round too (layer it up for winter)

I have"

6  t's of varying casualness

6 tank tops

6 long sleeved shirts

3 cardigans

1 sweater

2 jeans

2 dress pants

1 skirt

1 casual dress

1 formal dress

8 shoes

and just one drawer for all socks, undies, etc.

I don't keep separate "dress outfits"...  I just dress up a regular tank with a cardigan and use the dress pants, going for things that can look casual with jeans but dressy with slacks.  Also, nearly everything in my closet matches with eachother, so there's no guessing game to picking an outfit. Keeping the number of colors down helps.  I have mostly black, grey, purple, and green.  All tanks can be paired with all the cardigans.  I only need a few shoes, which are mostly black, so everything matches, and I only have 1 belt.

[clutterwarrior]

One thing I would recommend though, is to declutter your clothes at the end of the season, not at the beginning!  I have made that mistake before and regretted tossing things I wanted to wear.  It is better to see if you haven't worn the clothes by the end of the season and then do a big cull.