Remove unwearable clothing
In the previous posts, we reviewed how to find your personal uniform, how to assess your space and determine how much clothing you should have.
In this post, we’ll begin decluttering your wardrobe by starting with pieces that are no longer wearable for you.
What does ‘unwearable’ mean?
For this post, unwearable means pieces that can’t or shouldn’t be worn anymore such as those that are:
Damaged beyond reasonable repair
Incorrect size or fit
Step 1: Determine how many pieces you need to retire to be within your target wardrobe size.
Take the current size of your wardrobe and subtract the number of pieces needed for your personal uniforms and/or the storage space available. If you don’t have these numbers handy, be sure to complete the steps in the “How much clothing should you have?” post to figure this out.
For example:
My wardrobe is currently 179 pieces, including accessories.
I need at least 70 pieces for my personal uniforms.
I have storage for up to 120 pieces.
[Current wardrobe size] - [Storage space available] = Upper limit of target wardrobe size
179 pieces - 120 pieces = 59 pieces to retire at least
[Current wardrobe size] - [What’s needed for personal uniforms] = Lower limit of target wardrobe size
179 pieces - 70 pieces = 109 pieces to retire at most
Step 2: Identify pieces in your wardrobe today that are damaged beyond reasonable repair.
Clothing damaged beyond reasonable repair
Clothing and shoes are consumable items meaning that if you’re wearing them, it’s inevitable that they’ll experience wear and tear and won’t last forever. The extent of that wear and tear that is reasonable to repair is subjective. Consider the below questions when assessing whether to keep or retire pieces that are damaged or need repair.
Does this piece align to your personal uniforms?
Do you have a similar piece that is in good condition?
Does this piece hold significant sentimental value?
Does this piece hold potential monetary value?
Do you have the skills to repair this piece?
Do you have the money to repair this piece?
If the answer is ‘No’ for most of these questions, the piece should be set aside to be retired. We’ll cover how to retire pieces in a future post.
If the answer is ‘Yes’ for most of the questions, the piece should be set aside to be repaired with a deadline. Without a deadline to be repaired, the piece will likely sit in your closet for months or years unwearable instead of being worn and enjoyed by you!
Step 3: Identify pieces in your wardrobe today that are the incorrect size or fit.
Incorrect size or fit
Our bodies change throughout life and therefore it’s not reasonable to expect all the clothing you wore in your younger years to fit or be appropriate for you today. Additionally, one of the easiest ways to improve your appearance is to wear clothing that fits you and is in good condition. Consider the below questions when assessing whether to keep or retire pieces that do not fit you.
Does this piece align to your personal uniforms?
Does this piece hold significant sentimental value?
Do you have a similar piece that does fit?
Is it reasonable for you to return to the weight you were when this piece fit?
Is it possible to alter the piece and can you afford to do so?
If the answer is ‘No’ for most of these questions, the piece should be set aside to be retired. We’ll cover how to retire pieces in a future post.
If the answer is ‘yes’ for most of the questions, the piece should be set aside with a deadline of when it will fit again. For example, if you’re pregnant and currently can’t fit into a pair of pants that align to your personal uniforms and hold sentimental value, you may decide to set it aside with a deadline of 1 year postpartum when you believe it will fit again.
Step 4: Count the pieces you’ve set aside and compare to the range you need to retire to reach your target wardrobe size.
See my results as an example.
# of pieces to retire, target: 59-109 pieces
# of unwearable pieces: 20
# of pieces damaged beyond reasonable repair: 14
# of pieces in incorrect size or fit: 6
# of pieces outstanding to retire to reach target wardrobe size: 39-89
Coming up next:
Remove non-personal uniform clothing