It was quite a wrenching experience when I gave away all of my beautiful suits, shoes and scarves, but I don't miss them now. I love having a somewhat minimalist wardrobe. I did keep a black jacket that I can use to put together an outfit for funerals if I have to do so.

Now, if I could convince myself to give away my holiday decor, I would be able to complete the next stage of clearing away stuff.

I try not to become attached to clothing. When things no longer suit me and they taking up valuable space, I give them away.

I still have a few memorable things. Like the blouse I wore when I met DH! Still have the cowboy boots stored that he used to wear when we were dating!

All in all.I like to update my wardrobe.

I have brought things down to my Florida house and get use out of them there.

Take photos of the items that have special memories.

If I could convince myself I won't come looking for said item purging would be easy. I don't need to keep things for the sake of having them. The issue is will I have need of them again.

I purged quite a bit when we were downsizing (and I was retiring). I didn't toss everything because even though I am still in pandemic leggings and casual clothing every day, occasionally I do need to wear a skirt or dress or non leggings/jeans. Even for DH who had so many suits and dress shirts- I think he kept like 3 suits or so. (wedding and funeral attire).

For what it's worth, I rarely (like possibly never) regret having given something away.

I noticed yesterday that my closet has gotten out of hand. A purge is due! I usually have to involve my sister, though. She’s very good at judging what needs to go and what isn’t horrifically dated.

We donated a lot of clothing before our last move. I don't think DH donated enough because one of our four long storage closets (the only one with clothes rods) is mostly his jackets, coats and suits he insisted on keeping.

Fun, I also downsized some Christmas things before moving. Too much stuff weighs on me, and recently have that urge to purge again. But the last time I had the urge, I hardly got rid of anything.

I'm in the same boat with Eld. I don't get attached to clothing and I tend to get rid/up-date often. I do have a couple of special items I have held on to. We donate clothing. When my mom passed away, we donated her items to a women's shelter that had a program to help women interview/secure jobs.

Fun and Allison, I'm another who recently purged Christmas items. I seem to use more greenery, ribbon, etc. so got rid of alot of decorations.

Call any of your local colleges, like the Business department or education department and see if they have a clothes closet for students. We have one in our College of Business where I take DH’s clothing and then College of Education for students doing internship, student teaching or other internships where they might need business casual clothing. Dh gets things from MIL like sweater vests he will never wear, so I take them to our College of Business.

College and HS theater departments also will take clothing and accessories that might fit their needs.

I get attached to clothing that isn’t mine! I agonized over what to do with my father’s custom-made suits. Finally my brother took them to donation, meaning he stuffed them into the St Vincent de Paul clothing bin. I broke my heart for a minute, then I realized their weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

Several years ago, DH was away for several days, so I ”Mari Kondo’d” my closet. I set up folding tables in our gedroom and out everything from my closet on them, and everything went into a donation box, textile recycling bag, or trash bag, or back in the closet. Of course, for some reason it is almost as full. And I don’t buy much. And I certainly wear only 10% of what I have! Time for another purge.

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I was so happy to kiss my suits and career clothes goodbye. I donated nearly all of it to Career Wardrobe within months of retiring. I also saved some black clothes for funerals although the last time I tried on my black suit it looked ridiculously out of style, so it went.

Im also one of those people who purges clothes regularly.

You have my sympathy, 3katz. Im going through something similar at my mother’s house. I beg anyone reading this to get rid of your stuff and don’t leave your mess for someone else.

@Ded tired - that's the line I use with DH. We don't want to leave all this stuff for someone to have to go through after we croak. And it's foolish to hoard things in our closets when someone else could use and enjoy them. That hasn't really worked so far.

3katz, we just went through it, you have my empathy.

Purging and downsizing are mentally and physically exhausting. If you expect you'll do it ... later, it's not going to get any easier.

I have never had that many suits or formal work clothes, as I was always able to dress business casual (or even more casual) for my work, since I worked at a warehouse. I did have a couple of suits to wear for job interviews when I first moved to L.A. in 1989, but once I was hired, I never wore them again. In 1989 when I was chosen to be a contestant on Hollywood Squares, I was told to bring five different suit coats (plus accompanying shirts and ties) to wear for the tapings, but I only could come up with three coats. I had plenty of shirts and ties, even though they forbade stripes shirts. At the taping, they told me that I could borrow coats from other contestants and that it was unusual for anyone to be on for five shows anyway.

Since I've pretty much always worn casual clothes for work, it has been difficult for me to get rid of excess clothing, and I don't care whether it is dated or not. If I like it, I will keep it. I have shirts dating back to 1970, and these are now vintage and collectible, but since they no longer fit, I plan to try to sell some of them. One shirt is made from fabric that has the Woodstock audience crowd silk screened onto it, and I should sell that while there is still a demand for it. I bought it as Neiman-Marcus in Houston in 1970.

I feel your pain, 3katz. Purging most of my work wardrobe was one of the first things I did when I retired for good. I was lucky that there was still an organization that trained women for the workplace that took clothing and handbags so they got everything. DH has had a harder time but is finally getting into purging as he has realized many of his things needed to be gone or replaced.

I still keep a few dressier things like a couple of skirts, a few dress pants and dresses, but almost all my daily wear is very casual.

I still do a seasonal clearout and took a backseat full of clothing to the thrift store last week. More to come.

I’m still slowly purging my holiday decor. We hardly ever use much anymore, and especially at Christmas, I am becoming more and more minimal and concentrating on easy decor. I could do a much better job at getting rid of stuff in our attic.

The change of seasons is always a time of purging for me! I am determined to pare down significantly as I switch my closet from winter to spring. I have so many sweaters that I don’t wear (see: menopause/hot flash) and about 12 pairs of jeans, of which I wear about 2 (see: menopause/weight gain). Don’t even get me started on shoes.

Omg, @Lars! I want to hear about Hollywood Squares, too! I remember watching it with my mom when i was little. The guy in the center was always the same. Did you win anything?

My feet somehow grew a 1/2 size in the past five years but I didn't gain weight. The shoes I hung onto because perhaps someday they might work with some outfit combination were put in the donation bag. Some were expensive and barely worn but I don't know anyone with the same shoe size.

DH is so good about regularly removing things from his closet and dresser. Usually they go to the textile recycling bin because he is hard on even his dress clothes. So he rarely does a big purge, unless he’s tired of looking for matching socks so he will go through them all and toss the singles.

Lars, video links or it didn’t happen! I remember Paul Lynde and, was it Cliff Weaver? I’m sure that if I saw names it would all come back to me (the benefit of staying home sick from school was to watch game shows!)

Yes Lars, tell is about Squares.

Paul Lynde, My favorite! Charlie Weaver’s real name was Cliff Arquette, all those other Arquettes are related.

edited to… @Lars

Good job!

That's great 3katz! It's not easy and on my list to do again, especially since winter is winding down. No problem with what to do with clothes - it's the household items that are worth enough to consider selling. I've donated in the past. Not sure I want to get into the whole selling process this time either.

I have a minidress with horizontal orange, green and brown strips I'll never part with it, both to remind me of my bad taste and to use it as a very scary Halloween costume.

I am really overdue for a wardrobe purge. I have the hardest time letting go of clothing and I have no idea why. Maybe it's genetic or learned because I think my mother is the same way. I do tend to wear clothing for a long time, longer than most of my peers it seems. I generally am not especially trendy, though I do pay attention to current fashion. And I usually opt to buy higher quality items and take good care of them. Maybe I'll find some time this year to do a good closet purge.

I am in the process of culling my closet again now that Spring has arrived. My criteria for keeping an item is how much use it gets vs how much I’ve paid for it. Perfect example are the gray leather Dansko clogs that I bought back in Sept. ’22 and have yet to be worn.

3 Katz - Good for you! I'm really impressed. It's a tough job and you've made a great start.

I need to go through my own closet. DH is really good at discarding old things. My problem is that as long as I have room in my closet I tend to hold on to things, But it's time to get get going again.

Good for you. I love to pair fancy tops & blazers with jeans. I also sell a fair number of blazers, probably to like-minded gals. There is nothing wrong with keeping a few special things, just don't let it get out of hand like some people I know -------> aka 1929Span....oh well, no need to finish THAT sentence! heeheehee.

In my defense, I'm really only buying collectable items now, except for the occasional replacement lady-things, white t's or jeans.

Good for you. I am another clothing collector, My clothes are stored in 3 rooms and 3 closets. I used to be a shopaholic. Lol I’d like to go through them someday. We lost some of clothes a few years ago at our weekend place. DD and I moved some of our extra clothes to there, but a contractor’s girlfriend showed up helped herself “shopped” in our closets.

All of the offices I worked in were "business casual", and I really didn't love the stuff I had to wear. I thought those clothes were boring so I was more than happy to get rid of them when I let the corporate office grind and started my own business.

these days I try really hard to keep a minimal-ish wardrobe, but it is a struggle! I have a one in / one out policy so it doesn't get too out of control.

You can also check with your state corrections department, which often maintains a clothes closet for people who are being released. It's often been years since they've had a proper wardrobe, and anything in good condition is helpful.

@summersrhythm_z6a one of the things on my to-do list is a specific insurance policy.

1929Spanish, that’s a good idea for your clothing business. i

Ha! For my business and my personal collection!😂

I used to put insurance on pianos, violins and cellos, but I don't do that anymore.