For a long time, new clothes were something I couldn’t afford so I’d take whatever stuff didn’t fit my sister anymore or that my mom would pick up in consignment shops. Thankfully, they both have excellent taste.
Now, however, that I have a little more discretionary income, I’ve been buying things I want and like and been getting rid of the things I’d been hanging onto because:[ul]
It was something to wear and it fit; and
I felt guilty for getting rid of it because “So-n-So got it for me for Xmas”[/ul]
If I haven’t worn it in a year and don’t really have any special feelings about it, in the Goodwill pile it goes. I only keep things I really like or wear frequently.
I still have a lot of clothes, but my closet is leaner than most and I like it that way. I also try to do the “buy one new thing, get rid of one old thing” procedure too.
Anyone else shop at consignment shops? I get the most outrageous deals there on clothes I could never hope to afford at a regular store (Calvin Klein, Jones New York, BCBG).
Also, I never pay full price for anything. Actually, I just bought a plaid skirt for the OhDope and that’s the first time in my recent memory that I can remember paying full price.
As a new mom, I used to get most of my daughter’s clothes from the Round Robin - saved me a fortune. I’d look for stuff for me, but I could rarely find anything that would fit. I haven’t been in one in eons but there are 3 or 4 within 5 miles of home. I need to go again, I think. I’m about to do a shirt purge, and some newer cool-weather tops might be nice…
I weed out the closets twice a year; June and December. Generally anything the kids have outgrown is put aside, kids clothes that aren’t worn anymore are put aside as well. Really shabby stuff that no one in their right mind would wear get thrown out in the trash. The rest I give to Goodwill. Now the avarice part: I give to Goodwill up to the value that I can write off my taxes as gifts in kind. Don’t know what the limit is this year so I guess I should check.
As for my old clothes, I tend to be an ecelectic dresser with my own style. I have clothes that I had made in the 80s which I save for sentimental reasons. I think of them as art… there aren’t many people who would wear westernized African outfits and many were “designed” by me and my tailors. I still have my “me” clothes made in Africa [via family and friends], but I also have my “here” clothes [pants, blouses, suits] for when I need to look more like everyone else.
Should I start a new thread about your dress style? Nah.
I usually keep my clothes until they develop holes, or wear thin enough to see through.
The pair of shorts I’m wearing now, for example, is almost ten years old, getting threadbare, and beginning to fray at the hems. And there’s some clothes in my drawers that I’ve had since junior high, though I haven’t worn them in years.
Just yesterday, I got around to throwing away a pair of underpants that had the elastic waistband beginning to separate.
being a funny sort of shape and size, i keep things as long as i can.
my wardrobe is made up of clothes i’ve bought, made or “borrowed” from my mother/sisters/grandmother and have forgotten to return. my mother still owns and wears clothes she bought in africa as a student…about 30 years ags.
i buy clothes when i need them, and give them to Oxfam if i haven’ worn them in over 12 months.
the only exception is jeans. i’m very hard on my jeans, and ALWAYS wear out the left knee (only the left one, don’t know why) within weeks.
so, i buy about 4 pairs of jeans at a time (always Gap stretch bootcut indigo, because they fit well and look nice) and rotate them. i need to do this every 3 to 4 months. costs a bomb.
I’m male, and have no fashion sense. Some of my underwear is old enough to vote. (And if it ever starts agitating for better working conditions, I am soooo screwed…)
When I was gaining weight in my mid/late twenties, at one point I got rid of all my “skinny” clothes except for one pair of jeans. When I lost weight a few years ago and could wear the “skinny” jeans again, I got rid of most of my “fat” clothes, except for things like sweatshirts. Other than that, things tend to stay in my closet forever, which is pretty ridiculous considering there are some things that I haven’t worn in years.
“Skinny” and “fat” are relative terms here - I am not now, nor have I ever been, a delicate waif.