In addition to the other suggestions, here's another system I came across recently from Be More With Less for sorting thru clothes:

Start making piles of clothes and be ruthless.

• Pile One: I love these items. They fit me well and I wear them frequently: Keep
• Pile Two: I want to keep this but I don’t know why
• Pile Three: These items don’t fit me or my style: donate.
• Pile Four: These items aren’t in good condition: trash.

Next:

• Take Pile Four to the trash.
• Box up Pile Three and put in your car before you have time to re-think.
• Put the items from Pile One back in your closet.
• Box up all items from Pile Two and put the box in the back of your closet for 30 days.
• If you didn’t miss the box after 30 days, DO NOT OPEN IT, donate it.

I love that; DO NOT OPEN IT.

One thing that is helpful is to always have a Goodwill-on-the-go box. We keep one and I would say a week never goes by without something ending up in it (with 5 of us). That makes it more manageable -- to do it as you go. It also helps that my cleaning person takes it (she is welcome to whatever is in it but for some things she does indeed drop them at GW for us).

for bac717's method, remember that goodwill will take any textiles, even things you might put in the trash, for recycling. So I keep a "rag" bag and label it thus for when I go to goodwill. I put all those old towels, sheets, worn out or torn clothing, etc. Keeps stuff out of the landfill.

Oly, I have found that can vary by local Goodwill chapter.

I've never taken anything there, but I've heard that animal hospitals will accept old towels and sheets.

BAc; yes, we have done that.

Our Goodwill only takes clothing not other textiles. However, generally there are other places I prefer to donate to than Goodwill. We do, however, take towels (not rags) and sheets to our vet and/or our dog's groomer. Great idea that someone shared above about taking clothing to the ER. I never thought of that!!

Thank you all for your kind suggestions. And esp mtnrd for your kind offer of helping me. But I hope to be done by September! DH is already going crazy seeing piles of clothing around as the process is well under way. The goodwill pile is getting higher for both winter and summer stuff and I have a few drawers already that look MUCH better with stuff in it I know will fit me and I will wear. One thing I'm finding is my older tops are much shorter than how they're wearing them now. So the too short ones are going.

I really liked bac's 4 pile route as I hadn't seen that before. But the 30 day rule would never work for me as I don't get dressed for casual outings anywhere near that often to be able to decide.

Anyway, this culling, tossing and donating is really just the preliminary step. Once I get it down to stuff I like, fits me and I will wear, then comes the fun part of pulling pieces together to make outfits for the season and then stowing the rest so I have a closet that works!

This is sort of like Project 333 if you've ever seen that -- only I don't think a gal with 30 cardigans could possibly limit herself to 33 items of clothing!

BTW, I LIKE my purple cardigan!

:)

The do not look really works. When we redid our kitchen in our last house I ha 3 boxes of kitchen items that went to the basement. Several months later, without opening the boxes went. I have never missed a thing. Now time to do my closet- maybe.

Annie, congrats on the weight loss! I am having a hard time losing weight and would love to know how you did it. I just turned 59, and what used to work just doesn't anymore.

I struggled for a long time with the desire to lose weight yet the inability. So I joined Weight Watchers. It's been working great. I found a leader I really like and the attendees are wonderful! All very open and friendly and caring. So in addition to the support I get at the meetings, I'm really enjoying them as well.

The new program is so flexible that it can accommodate whatever needs you have: diabetic, lactose free, gluten free, vegetarian or other dietary concerns. So you can eat what you are comfortable with and still lose weight. I'm so glad I re-joined!

Thumbs up. Lifetime WW member here!

ETA: All diets will work if you do them! But it's the emotional support you get when you go to meetings is what makes WW successful for me. You learn other people's strategies.

Just the idea that I have to weigh in once a month, keeps me honest.

When I joined, over 20 years ago, I made a promise to myself that I would never have to pay for a weigh in. And, I kept that promise except for one time when I weighed in wearing heavy jeans!

It certainly isn't about paying for the weigh in. It represents the challenge that you have kept your weight steady.

2Pups, so true. We need to work harder and be more diligent. For me, this means getting on the scale every. single. morning. I will give myself a break if I have dined out and know the meal was particularly salty.

I remember when I was single and went to a Lucille Roberts gym after work. I weighed in and if my weight was fine, I would pick up Chinese take-out on my way home. If not, I would get something else. But, the point is, in a few days, my weight would be stabilized just by making different choices.

Now it takes forever to lose one pound.

I did WW years ago and was successful, so maybe it's time to revisit that strategy. Thank you!

eld, I'm a lifetime member too, but have lapsed multiple times. However, I'm super hopeful with this new program as it is so easy to follow. I think I can do this for a lifetime!

Oh, I'm sorry, now I need to see the purple cardigan! Aren't you glad now I am not around to "help"!

I am curious. If purple works well on you, do you like all of those cardigans, then? I think it would be really unusual for someone to like the way they look in such a wide range of colors. But then I am a colorphobe so , eh, maybe?

I have two pair of light khakis that really fit me very well right now, and I am really liking pairing them with ivory, wheat and white knit tops. Totally into the monochromatic. Especially w a little tan. It occurs to me I am turning into my sofas.

Actually I have 2 purple cardigans...one is more plum which is heavier and cabled...the other lighter weight with sparkly buttons and is royal purple.

No, I know, that's why I'm doing a serious culling process. Not sure how many I will end up with, but it will be less than 30! (Some I got from Ann Taylor buy one, get one free, so how could I resist?)

Next time we meet, I'll wear my purple sweater if you wear a non-white shirt! :)

Annie, I might not know the real meaning of Lifetime. Lifetime member status means you have reached your goal, stuck with it for a specified period of time, then you receive Lifetime. If you are no longer within your goal range, I'm thinking the Lifetime no longer applies to you, I might clarify this at my next meeting.

But, that might explain why at my last meeting, an overweight woman said she was a Lifetime.

Mtn, if I were to choose a uniform for myself, it would be beige pants and a white top.

I just sorted out my sleeveless drawer because it has become overstuffed. I separated out the white and ivories to put in their own drawer. I didn't realize just how many until I separated and now see that I have more of them then I do colors.

I've been a Lifetime WW for at least 30 years. What it means is that I reached my goal weight, went through WW Maintenance without going over goal weight (plus 3 lbs, I think). As long As I attend at least one meeting a month, keep at goal weight, there is no cost for attending meetings.

There have been many times that I went off program and gained weight back, sometimes a whole lot of weight. When I kick myself in the rear and get back in the program I have to pay for weekly meetings until I reach goal again. Once you are Lifetime status, you always keep it. Even if you are over goal.

This year I have lost over 50 pounds, am currently at WW goal. What got me motivated this time was knee pain. I'd do anything to not have surgery so I got back on the program. And buying our lake house. I wanted to actually be able to enjoy the lake with my grandkids, and I do! Yeah me! I am 67, so even old people can do it!

Thanks, Maddie.

Thank you all for inspiring me to do my own mini-purge of suits, dresses and pants last night. I wanted to make sure I have something to wear if I have an interview. (I am not currently looking to change jobs but, well, it is good to be ready.)

I had been meaning to try on my two suits to see if they still fit (they do not.) One suit I will try to consign because it is JNY and very classically tailored. I decided that instead of looking for a new suit I could just look for a nice classic jacket because I have so many pairs of black pants for all seasons.

I also tried on my 2 black "dressy" dresses and decided they will still do for such an occasion (general cocktail party -- cruise, etc) and are worth keeping. If my nieces/nephews get married, I will treat myself to a new dress for such an event.

Then I turned to my dress pants. I probably have 25 pairs, including about 10 pair of black pants. I used to group them by color (black, brown, grey, olive, mini-pattern). But then realized I was spending a lot of time in summer looking for my lighter weight pants and always encountering/ passing by the 3 or so pair I have for winter that are a heavier weave. So I decided to split them in to summer/ winter and then group by color within those halves. I also moved 5 pairs that are a bit tight on me and thus would never select when picking out what to wear -- moved those to the spare closet (where the dresses/ suits live) for now, and will make a decision on those later.

I felt it was good progress! Thank you again for the motivation.

Good for you, Maddie!

LOL, Annie, ok, but can it be wheat?

Yes, lifetime is you've reached goal, maintained it for a certain length of time. Once you are lifetime, as long as you are no more than 2 lbs over goal, you do not pay for meetings. It's the first weigh-in of the month that counts. If you stop going and are more than 2 lbs over goal, you never pay a registration fee again but you do pay for meetings until you are again within 2 lbs of goal.

Now they have an added incentive. To get all the on line tools including the scanner where you can scan an item's bar code and it will tell you how many points it is, if you are not within goal, they charge you $15 a month. If you are within goal, you get it for free.

wow, that scanning this is smart. Tracking is proven to work, but few people are willing to do it forever because it can really become a PITA. (although when i did ww i found i had memorized points of most on my typical meals and foods)

How else has the pgm changed, Annie?

My own wardrobe is severely limited these days, so I can't comment on that part, but this:

When I do try to enjoy it, I destroy it, so better to stow and be a good custodian than to ruin it.

So? What are you planning to do? Keep passing down and preserving it in attics from generation to generation in the hope that in 3114 there will finally be someone who actually wants it? I'd look in the younger generation for someone who would use it or use it myself, and so what if it breaks? .

... or sell it and donate the proceeds to a good cause (the stuff DH will let you sell)

The on line stuff allows you to track activities, your weight and your food. You can save meals, individual foods you create from recipes or you can plug in the nutritional info and it will calculate for you. It allows you to adjust the portions too. It keeps track of the daily points and weekly points used.

The smart points ding you for carbs and for saturated fats. Fruits are 0 points as are nonstarchy vegetables, so you can always find something to snack on if you get hungry.

I did WWonline about 15 yrs ago, and it had all of what you mention above in the first paragraph. It did not have scanning barcodes. But come to think of it, if you eat healthy, there are not a lot of barcodes involved.

I think maybe fruits being zero is new. Not sure.

I agree with whoever said almost any regime can work. But WW does a very balanced job, I think. And it's quite reasonable.

Just poking my head in from Lurkerville regarding the WW app that allows you to scan barcodes. I've recently migrated from WW to My Fitness Pal, which is a free app that allows you to log your food and exercise (and offers forums similar to this one). It calculates calories for food and cardio exercise (but not strength exercises -- unless I'm missing something) and has a barcode scanner. The best part -- it's a free app! There's a paid premium version offering other tools, but this one works well for me, keeping me on track and, since early April, helping me lose 18 pounds. Fair credit to WW, over 4 years I lost about 40 pounds and kept it off, but at $40 a month, it got expensive!

I use MFP now, home. I like it because I like more detail about nutrition than points. I don't like that it won't let you eat less than 1200 calories a day. I don't lose weight on 1200 calories.

I love lurking this thread - recently retired, I have the same issues as some of you. Too too many black tank tops!

And I want to report that this thread was uppermost in my mind an hour ago as I perused my favorite dress shop's 50% off summer merchandise sale. (I bought nothing. Yet.)

What a timely thread. When I retired 6 years ago when I was 70 years old, my daughter helped me "purge" my clothes. The problem was that I wanted to keep most, be cause my plan was to perform a consulted or two every month for the entity retired from. Well, after about four cases of consultation, I decided I was through with work entirely. However, there was no more purging of my wardrobe. I was thinking earlier this week that I truly, truly need to purge. The closets are getting full and crowded. So that is a big job ahead of me. There have been some very interested tips on this thread that I have copied and pasted into a Word document for future reference. Will have to start taking all of my vitamins again to work up enough stamina to do the job. Or maybe I will follow FlyLady's 15 minutes at a time; that would be much easier for me. Will take longer to complete, but that will be okay. Thanks to all of you for the nudge.

Re less than 1200 calories a day, WW requires you to eat 30 points a day...in fact it's about the only requirement in the program. I find I do lose weight faster when I eat the 30 points than when I eat less. In the old days, when they went by calories, I also lost weight faster at 1200/day vs. 1000/day.

One of the other changes is how they calculate the points. Smart points is different from points plus in terms of how much they ding you for what. For example:

• Tuna: 3 PointsPlus, 1 SmartPoint
• Fat-free yogurt: 6 PointsPlus, 11 SmartPoints
• Oatmeal: 4 PointsPlus, 5 SmartPoints
• McDonalds McCafe Shake: 23 PointsPlus, 42 SmartPoints

They have said that more people have lost weight faster on SmartPoints than their prior program. IAC, it's a lot about the discipline of tracking and the accountability of the weekly weigh in. I'm also a big believer in the meetings...not only for the weigh-in but the tips, support, encouragement you get from hearing others face challenges too. Besides, I've met some really wonderful people.

Walnutcreek, I started out doing the 15 min at a time thing, but found it was not consistent or thorough enough, plus it didn't give me time to dig into the old stashes of clothing I had. But, for me, it was a great way to enter the process which I think, if I went whole hog right off the bat (is that enough mixed metaphors?) it would've seemed too daunting to even start.

Now that my room is a mess with piles everywhere, getting rid of them is incentive enough to keep it going.

I have to report some success! Yeah! We went out to dinner last night and I was able to put together an outfit very easily...pants -- not jeans -- that fit and were comfortable, a black t-shirt with embellishments (neatly folded easily selected in my nice neat drawer) and my pretty red cardigan...black earrings, sandals, done! Wahoo!

Great, Annie. I know that must have felt very, very good. Also, leading you to see what great accomplishments you have already made.

I did do my 15 minutes this morning. Don't think I could have done anymore, because as you said Annie, it is just too daunting. May try another 15 minutes this afternoon.

Good for you, walnut! There's only one way from here to there, but it doesn't matter how fast or slow you go.

"I have no advice regarding shoes. Buy as many of them as you can. They always fit and will love you forever." Made me LOL.

Have lost a bit of wt. as well and now fit in some things I had "grown" out of. I will be purging just to get rid of things I no longer wear.

I like solids and usually dress one color because I'm short and think it makes a cleaner/leaner line. I do like sparkly/interesting earrings and rings.

As for shoes/boots/sandals I buy colors and what I find to be statement making....like beautiful suede ankle boots with a rose design. People always compliment my shoes/boots/sandals.

Doing solid basics lets you change them up with different accessories. A shawl, wrap, jacket and shoes/jewelry will make them stand out.

Funny about shoes -- since I've quit working and wear flats, sandals, hikers, or go barefoot, I find my heeled work shoes to be tight now...I think my feet have spread even wider.

Yes, I've been paring down select portions of my wardrobe as I begin to move. I had tons of tops (short sleeves, t's and even enough long sleeved things). I have gone through all of those, and sorted them into: Good condition but don't want (they don't fit or I didn't really like) - these get donated. Poor condition and don't want (a few are in a kitchen trash bag for use as wood staining rags and the like, the rest went out with the trash). Good condition and I like and fit into (yay! Keepers!), and sort of useful condition and I fit into (reserved for work clothing: wearing while painting, gardening, setting up the homestead, thus kept at least for now). In the new place both categories are being placed in separate closets.

I only own two dresses, and about 10 skirts; I did have to get rid of a couple of the latter due to the fact my waist has outgrown theirs... ;) I have hardly any shoes as I can't fit into anything feminine. (I own a pair of boots, two pairs of running shoes and one pair of hiking shoes, as well as a couple pairs of men's indoor slippers. A set of beach flip flops.) I need a couple more pairs of slacks/jeans... I just over-dried one pair of fairly new jeans which are now uncomfortable. (Usually, I hang dry jeans, but didn't think I had the time... and regret that now!)

Tops have just been much easier to find than good comfortable slacks or jeans! And usually I never had to try them on prior to purchase... (I hate trying things on in stores. And I have a bad habit of not getting back to the post office in time to return things I order online that end up not fitting...)

Incidentally, earlier in this thread someone mentioned donating clothes to goodwill. Donate them for sure, but it's better to find some other charity for clothes. Goodwill is so overburdened with clothes that most of them wind up being baled and sold as rags. Better to find a local charity that can place them with folks who can use them or put them straight into their thrifts, especially the higher-end stuff that many people here generally buy.

artemis, I am like you when you stated: "I have a bad habit of not getting back to the post office in time to return things I order online that end up not fitting." Wish I could work through that issue. It is like throwing money in the trash.

I worked another few minutes this morning, not quite 15. One of my granddaughters said she might have time to help me tomorrow. I have a bad back and that hampers the length of time I can work at the purging. I know that I want to get rid of nearly everything in my closets. A few I will try to sell, but most will try to find a charitable institution to donate to. Will look for a local Dress for Success or try to find an address for a women's shelter. I know we have several shelters in our metroplex; however, their addresses are very well guarded for a very good reason.

Annie, I love this thread! It's motivating me to purge and revamp. I've been working in navy scrubs for so long that I've lost confidence in my ability to choose clothes. I am so happy that you mentioned the Vivienne Files. It's exactly what I needed to move forward with keeping some good classics and filling in with logical pieces that work together.

I used to adore clothes and my wardrobe was effortless. But since I went back to the hospital I've aged and even though I weigh about the same, my shape has changed. I hate that. But I'm going to recommit myself to getting my closet and wardrobe back in order. Thank you for the inspiration.

So glad it's helping you cattyles!

I had a family picnic to attend today and sure enough, I found just the shorts, a printed embellished sleeveless top to go with it, sandals and my navy cardigan. Worked perfectly and so quickly done.

I think there're good things to come from all this unburdening!

My son and family recently visited and idecided to go thru my closet. Fortunately, DIL and GD are close to my size and was able to get rid of a trash bag of stuff, literally stuffed to the gills! Thank goodness they were driving and had room in their huge suburban, even with 4 kids, blankets and pillows! I'm doin' the happy dance. ;)

Good job, Patty_Cakes. I am doing just a bit every day. It does feel good.

I'm nowhere near finished but did decide to get rid of some of what I've got to donate already...over 30 tops plus a whole lot more. And that's just the summer-weight stuff. I have an even larger pile of warm weather stuff to inventory until the fall. The business-quality clothes I will take to Dress for Success.

And what didn't go back to NC is being picked up by the Paralyzed Vets......tomorrow! Boxes/bags are in the DR waiting to be put out later tonight. They usually come about 7am, and needless to say, i'm not an early riser.

I have to admit, my wardrobe project is really paying off. I went out to dinner and a show, got dressed in a few minutes. Met with friends for lunch, no problem, got an outfit right away. Even at WW, had a gal tell me how nicely I dress! I still have more work to do, but every step is in the right direction. Can't tell you how wonderful it is to go into the closet, grab a top, a skirt, a cardigan and know they all look nice, fit well, and go together. What a time saver!

Great update!