Advice from non-clutterbugs please...

[Madfish]

I expecting the laydees will have more empathy - however, bi-sexual advice is welcome

In the process of organising The Cutterhams' Year of Adventure*, I am clearing out my wardrobe, before Friday, so that Rob can paint it (while I am off playing).. In this wardrobe lives my personality, my alter ego, the woman I used to be and the woman who made a lot of expensive mistakes.

Dicovered in the museum of fashion and folly I have Maharashi trousers, Cocinelle shoes, Coach handbags (from City days) Lewin & Pinks shirts, my wedding dress etc etc

Also, I have tatty Lobbs boots, knackered Uggs, faded GAP t-shirts and I am finding that I am dithering more about these old favourites than any amount of 'designer' tat. How many pairs of jeans is 'reasonable' and how many favourite scarves can I keep? My gear will be divvied up between a couple of locations and we have arranged additional storage too.

Another problem is that I am shrinking slightly, due to the post-chrimbos diet and I am now very close to fitting into some of the stuff that I bought as bargains when I was too fat to get into them. But now they are no longer a la mode or I don't like them anymore.

So, ignoring the old rule of anything you haven't worn for a year, chuck away, is there any simple way of getting rid of a large amount of this stuff? How do I decide what to keep and what to chuck? How do I harden myself to a grand chuck out? Time is of the essence.

Please help

Di

* Rob & I are letting the house at the end of May and will be wandering about Europe for a year. Well, he will be - I have a lot of diving planned

[Mal Bridgeman]

HTH
Mal

[nickb]

If you need to clear a bit of space, I'll take that Halcyon Eclipse off your hands.

[Madfish]

Originally Posted by nickb

If you need to clear a bit of space, I'll take that Halcyon Eclipse off your hands.

You know, as soon as I saw you had replied, I had this feeling.........

Di

[Buoyant Babe]

Originally Posted by Madfish

In this wardrobe lives my personality, my alter ego, the woman I used to be and the woman who made a lot of expensive mistakes.

Dicovered in the museum of fashion and folly I have Maharashi trousers, Cocinelle shoes, Coach handbags (from City days) Lewin & Pinks shirts, my wedding dress etc etc

Surely Mr Madfish wasn't one of your expensive mistakes Di?

I did this a few years back and it was actually very cathartic to get rid of my clutter after being a hoarder for so many years. I had to try hard not to be too sentimental and although I have missed a few things, I have lived with the fact that I gave them away. However, old habits die hard and it's fast approaching the time to do it again

I wasn't able to part with all of my sentimental tat however. In the loft lives my leopard skin coat, my tail coat and the sixties lurex dresses from my punk days. I still have a hat that belonged to my Grandfather and a jumper that belonged to my Father, as well as the cardigan I wore as I hugged my Dad on the day that he died. Some of my old toys are up there too.

Good luck with it Di, and here's to an exciting year ahead

Love Hxxx

[Keith Whittaker]

If you are going wandering for a year, judge each item by the following criteria.

Can I wash it in a pension sink?
Will it dry overnight through the heat generated by a single 25W bulb ?
Can I get away without ironing it?
Can I squash it into the bottom of a rucksack, take it out 3 weeks later and wear it immediately?
Will it do at least 2 jobs?
Does it hide stains?


If any of the answers are "NO", then sell it in a carboot sale.
1st rule of travelling: Take half the clothes and twice the money!

[JasonP]

Originally Posted by Keith Whittaker

If you are going wandering for a year, judge each item by the following criteria.

Can I wash it in a pension sink?
Will it dry overnight through the heat generated by a single 25W bulb ?
Can I get away without ironing it?
Can I squash it into the bottom of a rucksack, take it out 3 weeks later and wear it immediately?
Will it do at least 2 jobs?
Does it hide stains?


If any of the answers are "NO", then sell it in a carboot sale.
1st rule of travelling: Take half the clothes and twice the money!

And only take clothes than can all be washed together. Anything pale should be avoided like the plague.

Di, flog the lot and sort yourself out a new "travelling" wardrobe from Primark

Jason

[Kirstie]

Originally Posted by Madfish

I expecting the laydees will have more empathy - however, bi-sexual advice is welcome

In the process of organising The Cutterhams' Year of Adventure*, I am clearing out my wardrobe, before Friday, so that Rob can paint it (while I am off playing).. In this wardrobe lives my personality, my alter ego, the woman I used to be and the woman who made a lot of expensive mistakes.

Dicovered in the museum of fashion and folly I have Maharashi trousers, Cocinelle shoes, Coach handbags (from City days) Lewin & Pinks shirts, my wedding dress etc etc

Also, I have tatty Lobbs boots, knackered Uggs, faded GAP t-shirts and I am finding that I am dithering more about these old favourites than any amount of 'designer' tat. How many pairs of jeans is 'reasonable' and how many favourite scarves can I keep? My gear will be divvied up between a couple of locations and we have arranged additional storage too.

Another problem is that I am shrinking slightly, due to the post-chrimbos diet and I am now very close to fitting into some of the stuff that I bought as bargains when I was too fat to get into them. But now they are no longer a la mode or I don't like them anymore.

So, ignoring the old rule of anything you haven't worn for a year, chuck away, is there any simple way of getting rid of a large amount of this stuff? How do I decide what to keep and what to chuck? How do I harden myself to a grand chuck out? Time is of the essence.

Please help

Di

* Rob & I are letting the house at the end of May and will be wandering about Europe for a year. Well, he will be - I have a lot of diving planned

It's surprisingly easy and very 'purging' to get rid of clothes. Pull everything out that you don't wear regularly. Sort it into two piles - bin and charity shop. Have some black bin liners handy.

Don't be tempted to hang on to things because 'you might wear them one day'. Trust me, you won't. Get rid of it.

Do you wear scarves often? If so, keep them. If not, charity shop. Will you need scarves whilst diving in Europe? Two pairs of jeans, a smarter pair and a comfy tatty-ish pair.

You don't need your wedding dress - some girlie who can't afford a new one would be delighted with it, so give it to the charity shop.

I have three handbags, a work one, a little black evening one and an Animal casual, weekendy type one. Why do you want more? You only have to keep swapping stuff over.

I'm the world's worst hoarder of clothes, but I do love a good chuck-out. Just be ruthless. And have fun

[purple vonny]

Ah, I'm an expert at this clutter clearing malarky. 4 moves in 3 years made me ruthless at throwing things out.

Here are the rules:


Clothes
1. The stuff you really like, you wear all the time. So you know you don't want to chuck that.

2. Anything else... hold it up or try it on and think "do I love this and want to wear it?" If yes, keep it, if "no" chuck it.


Shoes.

They might have cost a fortune. However, that is not a good reason to keep them. Keep them if :

1. They are really comfy and make you feel happy (eg: trainers, Crocs uggs hiking boots, wellies, flip flops
2. They are drop dead sexy and even if you only wear them at weddings and parties, they are gorgeous and you love them. 1 pair of posh shoes is enough. Honestly.

Keep anything that makes you look good and that you have frequent occaision to wear. That means you can bin just about all of your business clothes.

Buy all future clothes in Oxfam or similar. You never feel to bad about giving them back to Oxfam then. It's like a clothes library.

[Vicky Mc]

I find it helpful to have a non-sentimental person close-by for forcing you to harden up and make those difficult judement calls (men, generally, are pretty good for this!!) Try to make a decision as quickly as possible, and move onto the next item without dwelling on it. If your 'keep' pile is much bigger than your 'goodbye' pile then bring in the non-sentimental person to help! If you can sell/give to charity/give away things that you haven't worn/used for ages it usually lessens the blow by making you feel like you have done a good deed!

Sounds like its a great reason to be having a clear out - enjoy!

V