Too Old To Have This Much Crap

Wardrobe discipline. I just read about a woman who has it. It sounded intriguing. What is it?

What it isn’t is displayed in my closet as follows: a couple dozen white or black knit blouses. A colorful collection of tank tops I never wear. Three knit shirts I do wear, over and over again. They are the same style, but each has a slightly different color scheme.

I have a lot of nice slacks that are suitable for working in an office. I don’t work in an office. And many pairs of Spandexed pants. Mostly black.

Lots of bags. I love purses and bags. I only use one or two, though. The rest are stuffed with paper and lined up on a shelf, acting like they’re still for sale.

So I don’t think I have wardrobe discipline. A woman with WD goes clothes shopping with laser-focus. Maybe she needs tops to go with the pants she already owns, or shoes for the winter. She goes to the store, buys those items, and drives home. I start out focused, but then I come home with more white tops. Or black pants. Or pretty bags, suitable for stuffing.

We’re at an age where we’re supposed to be shedding, traveling light and getting rid of stuff. Besides, wouldn’t it be great to have in your closet only those items you really wear? and like? There’s a way to figure this out. You’re supposed to hang everything in your closet backwards. Turn the hangers around, the opposite of how you normally hang them. Then when you put something back, hang it the usual way. At the end of a year, you’ll see what you haven’t worn and can get rid of it.

What a great system. It forces me to wear everything at least once a year.

Here’s another problem: what I can’t see, I forget. For example, I have a lot of costume jewelry. There’s a reason they call it that: I feel like a clown when I wear it. One day I chopped up a lot of wire hangers. Holding a pliers in one hand and a wire-snipper in the other, I made S – shaped hooks and hung all my necklaces in my closet.

Now I can see them, but I still wear just the six in the front row, over and over again.

I was looking around for guidance on how to clean out my closet and kept running across the word “edit.” Like it’s a book and you’re just cutting and pasting little phrases and sentences instead of tons of clothing.

I would use a different word, something more forceful, less delicate. Something in keeping with the massive workload. Vomiting? Time to vomit your closets, ladies!

Nah.

But if you’re still wondering, here’s a place you can sign up for a monthly reminder of the weeding and pruning you’re supposed to do on a regular basis.

Ha ha! Me neither.

Remember a couple years ago, Mom broke her leg and had to sell her house and move? While helping her pack, I found an entire dresser jammed full of sweaters. We live in southern California. I asked her “What were you thinking?” Mom said, “When my clothing wears out I don’t have the money to buy new.” She grew up in the Great Depression, so it makes sense. Maybe a closetful of crap makes us feel more secure. But I’d rather be like Bill. He only keeps what he loves. Can you imagine?

One of the cool things about getting older is you know what you like. You’ve seen the fads come and go, and you’re not as susceptible to gathering clothing that will hang in your closet for the next twenty years. They say if you live long enough to see a fad come back around, you should pass on it. Which is totally why I’m not wearing these:

How about you? Are you organized? Has anything changed about your closet now that you’re older? Come on, ladies, spill it. Let’s have a laugh. Tell us your closet stories.