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How many of the clothes in your closet do you really wear? Try this trick to find out:
Turn all of the hangers in your closet backwards. As you wear clothes and put them away, put the hangers in the regular way. At the end of the season, it will be clear to you what clothes you actually wear. When winter comes, donate or sell the summer clothes you never wore. You’ll easily know which ones you don’t wear, because the hanger will still be backwards.
You may be tempted to keep unused clothes at the end of the season.
Tempting thought: you may lose weight and be able to wear them again.
My response: when you lose weight, you will want to buy new clothes!
Tempting thought: you may gain weight back and you don’t want to re-buy all of those fat clothes.
My response: keeping around the bigger sizes gives your sub-conscience permission to regain the weight.
Tempting thought: I spent a lot of money on this, I feel guilty that I never really liked wearing it.
My response: do not keep punishing yourself for a past mistake! Let go of the item and let go of the guilt.
Tempting thought: I’ll save this for my children to wear or it would make a great costume.
My response: really? Do you really want to wear your mom’s old clothes?
More tempting thoughts? Go ahead and try me out. Leave a comment below of your favorite excuse not to get rid of unused clothes.
What do you think? Pretty easy, right?
Happy purging!
Mary is a professional organizer and mother of four, dedicated to bringing you organizing and homemaking tips and tricks.
Genius!
Oh my gosh, I’m doing this TODAY! I’m majorly guilty of tempting thought #3… I love the response! Totally gonna own that one from now on…
best. idea. ever.
Mary, a bunch of ladies in my town get together about 2-3 times a year to do a clothing exchange. This is such a great way to know what to bring!
Thanks!!!
Two possible exceptions?
Someday I will not be nursing and can wear long dresses without buttons again. Or…
I really like this one but it’s the only one that fits when I’m pregnant and I can’t wear it so much now that I am tired of it when that comes around again.
…I’m afraid the easiest way for me to thin my closet is to throw away the mending pile as non-salvageable.
Mary, any tips for organizing closets from scratch on a budget? Our built in organizers decided they were done and we have to rebuild the entire thing.
Unless you have scrap wood and can build shelves yourselves, I don’t think there is a free way. I’d suggest scouring Amazon and Walmart and go for some of those inexpensive closet inserts. Search for “closet organization” – I believe there are some budget friendly options you’ll find.
Oh the mending pile! I agree, Hannah. Mine is that I can wear stained/ripped but comfy stuff for yardwork or barn chores – but then I have more barn clothes than work clothes… Time to haul it all out in piles by what I can use it for…
I think I’ll try the hanger trick in my kids’ closets. It will be a great help in the next seasonal switch-over.
My excuse for hanging onto clothing? I love this blouse but don’t have anything to wear with it, yet.
I’ll mend it some day and then I can wear it.
Right. Like that’s gonna happen. Although I did fix a pair of pants for my son three years later…long story there.
How about this: I only have one formal, and though I rarely go anywhere I will dress up, I want to keep it just in case.
And what’s your take on keeping wedding dresses? My friends and I have a difference of opinions.
@Hannah, I am professional organizer and I have helped organize people who are just pre- or post-birth. Yes, you DO keep those clothes that you need while pregnant or nursing – BUT – put them in storage when those phases are over! When you put them up (space bags, boxes, whatever you have), label them with what they are and even date them. If you end up not pregnant again, they are easy to identify and get rid of. Dating them is always a good idea, to tell you vividly how long something has been stored. It it’s too long, it should go.
Sadly, the majority in my closet are things I don’t wear. Most are dresses that I bought to wear but have not gone anywhere to wear them. Some of them are because I have not found the right shoes to wear with them. The stuff I’m wearing is the junk, you really don’t want to be seen wearing but fits over that rolling belly. It’s really not appropriate for work either. I just don’t think I was really taught to dress myself properly and I don’t have a good eye for it because by the time I get it home and put it on, I usually hate it. Even if I tried it on at the store first. I need a cure. Do you have a cure for that?
I love this idea for figuring out what my stepson is wearing and what he’s not. I’ve tried asking him but he just shrugs his shoulders.