Closet Content Analysis: Too Much Stuff
Choices: Buy 1, Give Away 1
Choices: Buy 1, Give Away 1
Nice Need Necessary
Nice: I have this system where if I buy 3 or 4 new things, I give away 3 or 4 things. Sometimes, it's a very painful system, but shopping is even better when you know that someone else who needs it will be getting. Keep the clothing karma going, I say.
- Sara Blakely
I haven't learned how to do this yet but I have reached the first step and that is acknowledging it's validity. While I was working in a 9 to 5 job, I often took my clothing to consignment shops and that worked for awhile. Then I began to question some of their practices - valid or not, I stopped doing that. I then began donating them to the Canadian Diabetic Association but was informed that they were selling clothing by the kilo to Value Village and I believed there was something inherently wrong with the profit made by Value Village in that process. Whoever I give my clothing to, I want them to benefit directly and to appreciate wearing them as much as I appreciated wearing those particular items. In addition to consignment and second hand shops there are clothing swaps among friends, simply giving them away, donating to organizations that help men and women, who are struggling, get back into the work force with appropriate clothing, and other organizations that help young women get the prom dress or wedding dress they can't afford and so the list goes.
NECESSARY in a limited way: In other words, there are plenty of places to dispose of your clothing. So why is it that some of us hang on and find this process "painful"? As mentioned I have gone through a variety of phases and methods of getting rid of my clothing. I now am in a transition phase because I no longer need the "suits" on a regular basis; but I do need them occasionally. Still, not enough to warrant buying new suits every season. Therefore giving them up is "painful" because I know I will be able to "get by" if I need business wear. However, I don't want to look "so last year" and some of my suits do have dated features. My point is that presently it is more painful to pay for new suits which I have deemed only NECESSARY in a limited way.
NEED: to bridge back to my sales posts, follow my own advice and buy those suits or shoes or whatever when on sale; then come back to this post and give away. But then those clothes too would be dated because they are purchased at end-of-season sales. Hence, I NEED to stick to the classics, which I do already have in my closet. So why do I NEED a new suit?
And so I shall stop here because . . .
The mere attempt to examine my own confusion would consume volumes.
NECESSARY in a limited way: In other words, there are plenty of places to dispose of your clothing. So why is it that some of us hang on and find this process "painful"? As mentioned I have gone through a variety of phases and methods of getting rid of my clothing. I now am in a transition phase because I no longer need the "suits" on a regular basis; but I do need them occasionally. Still, not enough to warrant buying new suits every season. Therefore giving them up is "painful" because I know I will be able to "get by" if I need business wear. However, I don't want to look "so last year" and some of my suits do have dated features. My point is that presently it is more painful to pay for new suits which I have deemed only NECESSARY in a limited way.
NEED: to bridge back to my sales posts, follow my own advice and buy those suits or shoes or whatever when on sale; then come back to this post and give away. But then those clothes too would be dated because they are purchased at end-of-season sales. Hence, I NEED to stick to the classics, which I do already have in my closet. So why do I NEED a new suit?
And so I shall stop here because . . .
The mere attempt to examine my own confusion would consume volumes.
- James Agee
I have a better idea, buy one, give three away.
ReplyDeleteI need to start slowly but you have given me a goal to strive for!
Delete