Clothes say a lot about us without even realizing it. Do you hoard clothes with an odd fear of parting with that shirt you’ve had for years? For me, clothes are a necessary evil. They can be an expression of my personality or a discouraging factor of my morning when it seems like I have nothing to wear.

Most women love clothes. The style exudes our personalities and the outfit we choose for the day expresses how we feel about ourselves. A baggy sweatshirt means comfort or self-doubt and a cute top with heels means we are confident and ready to conquer the day. Or, sometimes, if I’m having a hard day, I force myself to dress up and curl my hair to will the confidence I need.

Clothes can affect our energy level more than we give them credit. Our day can be transformed when we love reaching into our closets.

Studies show we only wear 30% of what’s in our closets. Yet we can still feel like we have nothing to wear and we hoard our clothes with a ‘some-day’ mentality. So are you a clothes hog?

• Reasons we keep clothes we don’t need:

you hope you’ll fit [back] into it someday

they were expensive purchases

you had planned to return it (clothes in the closet with tags still on them!)

you haven’t taken time to purge and always hang things back up you don’t like/wear

you may need it for a special occasion someday (funeral, wedding, etc)
pure laziness

you have the space so it doesn’t matter

‘I’ll get rid of it when I find a replacement shirt’ denial that it’s still in style

it was a gift

guilt of not utilizing what you have so you save it all

Honestly, NONE of these are good reasons for keeping something. That doesn’t mean you have to get rid of everything in your closet. But if you don’t wear something, there is no good excuse for keeping it.

• What do you keep?

Keep what you love to wear

Keep what you feel confident in

Keep what’s practical for your life stage

Keep what you have room for

AND

Only buy things that allow your clothes to stay in line with these reasons

Seems simple enough, but it can be so incredibly hard to downsize and purge. I’d recommend you pull out each piece of clothing and make the hard choice. And if you need baby steps, first categorize into hate, like, love piles, and then purge down from there.

This can be hard for to do on your own, so ask a friend to come help. Pour a glass a wine and get honest with what to keep in your closet. If there is something essential you need but it’s worn out, start a list of items that you can keep an eye out for at the store. [And still get rid of the item.] If you have a hard time parting, remember that the clothes will go to someone in need or be consigned, so know that someone else will value them once again. It’s not like you’re throwing them in the trash.

Also, have a Donate bin in your bedroom so you aren’t tempted to hang back up items you don’t like. I am guilty of trying on this one black and white skirt multiple different times, not liking it, and putting it back in the closet…then letting it hang there for a year before I try again. I think I need to go home and get rid of that skirt!

So how many clothes is too many clothes? I’ll let you answer that for yourself.

Need help getting the closet organized? Here is a past post on Practical ways to organize your closet.