January Blues and Closet Cleaning

Yay, it's Friday!  And January's almost over!  I'm once again sporting some blue (the color of the month), but unlike other January blues I've worn, this one is bright and pastel.  So that makes black and blue a little less blah, right?  And although I have a seemingly endless amount of cardigan sweaters that would go with this top, I instead went with a nice open, drapey cardigan, since I like the style so much when Cynthia wears it.  This is Gap Body, so I don't know, maybe I'm supposed to wear this at yoga or something?  But it's soft knit and super cozy, and has nice detailing that makes it look work appropriate, as well as lounge-appropriate.  See?


I had some free time after work yesterday, so I finally started the daunting task of cleaning out my closet.  It's been feeling really cluttered lately, which kind of stresses me out.  I was returning an ill-fitting dress at the mall on Wednesday night, and the clerk and I were wondering why we buy things that we won't wear.  I bought a dress around New Year's, but once I got it home I wasn't sure I liked it.  I waffled for a while, but finally returned it. The clerk told me she does this all the time, but has a rule that if something sits in her closet for a month, she isn't going to wear it, so it gets returned.  I wish I had that kind of rules, but instead, things sit in my closet for a while (years in a lot of cases), only to get worn a couple of times. An interview with Lisa from Archives reminded me of this.  She says "Now that I see how much money I've wasted at fast fashion stores on items worn somewhere between 1-5 times, I definitely regret my reckless spending. If I could go back in time, I wish I had been saving all that money. " 


I've also been reading Shakespeare's Feminine Ending's posts about paring down over at Fashionable Academics.  Today she said she is getting rid of things that are not worn, not liked, or don't fit.  And when I looked in my closet, I had a lot that fits into each of those categories.  In fact, I have at least 2 big boxes full of things that don't fit in my basement.  I guess I've been saving them in hopes that I'll be a size 10 again someday, but even if I am, will I want to dress like it's 2004 again?  Has it been worth it to move these clothes to all 6 of my Chicago apartments in that time?  Hmm.  Having things that don't fit kind of makes sense.  Even having things that aren't worn kind of makes sense, since my cluttered closet has prevented me from seeing things that I'd otherwise wear.  But what about things that I don't like?  Why would I even have such things?  I think some of it is my tastes changing, but in a lot of cases, it was things that I liked, but didn't like on me.  So needless to say, I pulled 2 bags of clothes out of my closet that I'll be donating, and a few things that I might try to sell before donating.

Seeing all of these clothes that I'm getting rid of because I won't wear them again has helped me identify exactly what I had been wasting my money on.  I used to shop a lot, just for the sake of shopping, and I'd buy things that didn't look good or didn't fit right, and just stop wearing them.  I have more than enough clothes, so I think that at this point, I should only be buying things if I really need them, if they're flattering, and if they're so versatile that I can get a lot of wear out of them.

Wow, that's a lot for a Friday post!  Have any of you taken on similar efforts to de-clutter?

Cardigan: Gap Outlet
Tee and Necklace: New York & Company
Jeans: Gap
Shoes: Loft