Clutter Lessons from TLC’s What Not To Wear
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Photo by George Lange / Discovery Channel
While watching What Not to Wear reruns this weekend, it occurred to me that in addition to gutting a wardrobe to make room for a snazzy new one, their rules could be applied to clearing out an overflowing closet to make room for, well, the clothes you actually wear!
Two different shows featured two different women; one who had gained some weight since her college days but was still trying to wear her old school clothes, and one who had lost over 50 pounds and was still wearing her clothes from before she lost the weight.
Hosts Stacy and Clinton gave them each the same advice!
Their lesson (paraphrased) was
Clothes that no longer fit (either too large or too small) can cause emotional baggage and keep you from looking and feeling your best. Wear clothes that fit and flatter your body to look and feel better.
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Stacy and Clinton have a point. It’s not just the clothes, not just the clutter in your closet, there’s emotional baggage as well.
Dress your body as it is now, not as it was or as it will be.
It may be tempting to keep your “skinny pants”, or that dress that you love but haven’t fit in 2 years but have been “saving for when you do”, but why torture yourself with them? You’re likely to look at them and think “If only I still fit into that!” or have been saying “If I tried hard enough, maybe I could wear those again” for 2 years, and that’s emotional stress you don’t need in your life.
Toss the stuff that doesn’t fit, and you’ll have more room for the clothes that flatter your body right now. There will always be sales on clothes, so you’ll always be able to find a size-appropriate replacement for items you love.
Conversely, if you’ve lost weight, don’t keep things that fit your old body! Despite how lovely a vest may be, if it’s 3 sizes too large for you now, it’s not an asset to your wardrobe.
Worse, clothes that don’t fit you now (regardless of whether they are too large or too small) can actually bring your mood down by reminding you that you used to be a different size. If you actually wear them, you don’t get a chance to feel good in your new body. Squeezing into too-tight clothes can make you feel sad that you no longer fit them properly, while draping yourself in clothes 3 sizes too large can make you feel as if you haven’t lost the weight at all!
If it doesn’t make you feel good, get rid of it!
You wouldn’t stock your fridge with food you hate to eat, so why stock your closet with clothes you hate to wear? If a shirt makes you feel dumpy - why own it? If a pair of pants is itchy and rough - why put up with them? Out they go! You’ll feel happier once you do, not only because you’ll no longer have to look at clothes that make you gloomy, but because you’ll be freeing up space!
Now, odds are you don’t have $5000 to spend on a whole bunch of new clothes (I wish!), so your closet will be much more empty looking if you follow Stacy and Clinton’s advice. This is a good thing, because it’s far easier to organize that way!
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I my size hasn’t changed a whole lot in the past few years, but I did just recently move into a much nicer, yet much smaller, apartment. We went from his and hers closets and dressers to one closet, one dresser.
I actually–painfully–created 5 huge garbage bags of clothes which I donated, and while it was painful to do, I can’t even remember what was in the those bags anymore! Living in a consumerist society, I think we could all stand to give away a few bags of clothes we probably won’t even miss.
Great post!
What I’d suggest for now is shopping at a place like Value Village. When you’re buying $5 pants, it’s easier to swallow the fact that you’ll only be able to wear them for a limited amount of time! ^_~
@ Amanda - That’s another great reason to downsize a wardrobe! I think that you statement “while it was painful to do, I can’t even remember what was in the those bags anymore!” is so totally true! It happens to me whenever I do a big clean-out!
Stacey and Clinton are so right, but it’s soooo hard to give up a favorite thing, especially when you paid dearly for it. For me, it’s a process I have to get through before I can actually remove the item from the closet!
I like your blog!!
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This advice makes perfect sense, and is relatively painless to implement…for someone who has lost or gained a lot of weight and is now stable. But those of us who are still in the process of losing (or gaining) weight may find it a lot harder to swallow.
For me, I really don’t want to spend lot of money on new clothes that are (hopefully) going to be too big for me in a few months. But at the same time, I can only tighten my belt so many notches before the pants start to bunch up beyond reason. It’s a balancing act.