Cleaning out your closet

Most of us don’t have the advantage of a giant walk-in closet to call our own. We often have to share space with roommates, siblings, husbands, or wives and rarely have enough room to accommodate the clothes we have acquired over the years. This is why every closet needs a periodic cleaning out, when those outmoded or infrequently worn items are jettisoned and given a new life elsewhere. You can free up space in your closet and also have the satisfaction of donating your clothes to a charity organization, a relative, or another needy party.

When starting this project, it helps to have a nonpartisan advisor to aid you in your cleaning quest. Recruit a brutally honest friend to help you make those tough decisions about that pair of trousers you swear you’ll be able to fit into again one day or that beautiful jacket you haven’t worn for five years. We become sentimentally attached to some clothing items even if they never leave the closet so having someone on hand who is unbiased is a supreme advantage. It can be hard to pull something off your clothing rack for good, so it’s often better to begin with an empty closet. Pull out all of your clothes and lay them on the bed or on the floor. This way you can pick up each item one by one and contemplate whether or not it is really worthy of a lengthier stay in your closet. Pretend that you are building your wardrobe from scratch. You are shopping for clothes that you will get a lot of use out of. Have a full length mirror nearby so you can try on those items you haven’t modeled for a while.

When going through your dresser, you should be even bolder in your decisions to discard. Any t-shirts with stains or holes should be closely assessed. They are rarely worth keeping. Trousers that are too tight for you should be discarded. If you keep them around they will simply be reminders that you are not as thin as you used to be. If you lose the weight again then you can reward yourself by purchasing a new pair of trousers. Many women neglect to clean out their lingerie drawer sporadically. Throw out the underwear with rips or loose elastic or stains. Toss the underwire bras with the wires poking through or whatever unflattering styles you rarely wear except on laundry day. With all the space you have made you have an excuse to go shopping again.