I just completed rounds 8 and 9 of purging my stuff. Yesterday I boxed up my dress shoes (bought in 2022 worn twice), 2 pairs of pants (bought 6 months ago, worn few times) and a fleece vest (bought last summer, worn twice) to resell to REI for ~25% of what I paid for them. Today, I gave the thrift store my black blazer (bought in 2022, worn twice with the black dress shoes on dates), a dozen hangers (never used in 4 years) and a nose hair/beard trimmer (used often, but it causes painful bumps).
I held onto all of these items through my previous 7 rounds of purging for what felt like good reasons. The blazer and shoes are in brand new condition. They are high quality, fit well and look nice on me. They take up dry little space in my closet. I had decided I’d hang onto them for another year to see if I wore them. I even moved them to my upstairs closet. And then yesterday it occurred to me – since I hadn’t worn these dressy clothes I bought for dating in 2 years, what makes me think I’ll suddenly have a need for them this year?
The pants I purchased pissed me off. I bought them from Prana just this past summer. Prana has been my go to brand for pants since 2016. Unfortunately, they replaced the styles I liked with a new, recycled fabric that is total shit. It’s shiny, thinner, and gets snags, as opposed to their original fabric which was substantial, nearly indestructible and ideal. I tried these pants and hated them. I thought I could grow to like them, but I don’t. So it was time for them to go.
I made mistakes buying all of these items.
Upgrading my wardrobe for dating made sense at the time. Back them, my wardrobe was described as “desert survivalist” chic by a friend. I wanted to be a little dressier for dates. Plus I figured I could use the same clothes for funerals, interviews, events and business meetings if they ever came up.
Um. Wrong. I quit dating 2 months later. Since then, I haven’t been to anything requiring dress clothes and don’t foresee it happening in the near or far future either.
If I do, I’ll dress the way I do everyday. Or, I’ll buy something at that time if I determine it’s really important.
The real reason I felt a compelling need for rounds 8 and 9 is that these items made me feel bad every time I looked at them or thought of them.
They are evidence of decisions I made, willingly and intentionally, that I now realize were mistakes. And, what’s worse, was hanging onto the mistakes instead of doing something about them.
So I did something about them.
Someone else will get to wear nearly new, high quality clothes and enjoy them for themselves.
As for me, I no longer have to look at my mistakes every day. I’ve rectified them.
