How to Feel Fine about Tossing Your Old Clothes

Sometimes we have a hard time separating from old clothes. The reasons can be manifold reaching from a gift, a memory, price, to not wanting to waste something that is still in pristine order. Is just “it isn’t me anymore reason enough?” Read what you can do to feel fine about tossing your old clothes.

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post.

Why It’s Hard to Toss Clothes

When it’s cold outside, everyone looks forward to spring. Winter coats are heavy on our shoulders. Wool sweater may be itchy or you may even be allergic to wool. Tall boots are heavy and schlepping your pumps back and forth to the office is annoying. By the end of winter, the space under my desk typically looks like a shoe closet. What don’t we do to avoid cold feet at frigid temperatures?!

Spring, however, means makeover of your wardrobe for fit, trend and style. The easy part is to pull out the pieces you put into storage after last spring. However, the hard part is to toss clothes that are still perfectly fine. We feel guilty as we think of them in terms of the money we spent on them.

We may feel guilty because all clothes have an environmental food print. Wool, for instance, needs sheep who need to graze. Overgrazing may lead to desertification and loss of fertile soils. Sure musk ox wool collected from wild Alaskan muskoxen doesn’t bear this risk. However, there are other reasons why muskox wool is so expensive, and the processing also needs a lot of water. You can go on and on about the environmental impacts of our passion. Think air pollution from transport. The more middlemen are involved the higher the impacts on air quality become. And of course, also the price. Read more on the role of middlemen in retail.

How to Overcome Your Resentments of Tossing Clothes?

But intuitively we know that clothing we didn’t wear last time when the season was around, we will not wear this season either. These pieces just take up space in your closet. Consequently, it may become so full that you even fail to wear clothes you like because you can’t see them.

Be Rational

Don’t think of your clothes in terms of their price that you paid, but in cost-per-wear. When you go to the movies you pay a price in exchange for fun. That’s the same with the cost-per-wear – a price for having fun with fashion.

Think of your closet as real estate. You know that a junk yard is less valuable than cleared land or a beautiful yard with flowers and lawn. Thus, get out all pieces that are not-functioning any more for your lifestyle, trend-wise, your menopausal body changes and those that you never wore.

Repeat after me, you deserve to look your best.

Accept that Trendy Pieces Are like Plastic Forks at Fast-food Chains

You don’t have a problem tossing that fork or the cup that hold your coffee drink, right?

There is a reason why fast fashion is called fast. It is fast out of fashion. Trendy items are typically made of inexpensive material and not well made. Thus, they have a (seemingly) low price. When you wore the piece often the last time when the season was around, the cost-per-wear is likely under one dollar. Good for you! That’s cheaper than a latte and didn’t end up on your scale.

Most likely the piece is about to fall apart anyhow due to its low quality. If not, cut your losses. Wearing an outdated trend makes you look Old Lady and isn’t good for your mental health. Who needs to feel that way? You want to feel great about your look. Dressing is all about self-confidence, babe.

Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak. — Rachel Zoe

Tip: Use the old out-of-trend pieces for dusting or other cleaning purposes in the house.

Everyone Deserves a Second Chance

It’s not your or your clothes fault that your body changed. It’s menopause, i.e. nature. Thus, your high quality investment piece – if it can’t be changed to fit – may be somebody else’s treasure. Consider consigning or selling it. See my list of designer brands to look for at thrift stores as a guideline what items you could sell.

Reuse, Repurpose, Donate

Before you donate a high quality classic piece that can’t be consigned or sold, think about whether you could repurpose it. For instance, a silk shirt, skirt or dress could be reworked into a scarf. For instance, you can revive an old unwanted shirt into a beautiful skirt, turn an old cashmere sweater into a cozy chic infinity scarf or a silk shirt into a great scarf. See the posts at the links for a how-to in case you missed them.

If all that doesn’t work, feel good about donating. The piece will make someone else happy. And remember

Fashion is like eating, you shouldn’t stick to the same menu. — Kenzo Takada

Conclusion on How to Feel Fine about Tossing Your Old Clothes

There is only so much you can do to slow fashion down. Your self-confidence, career and the need to dress require buying clothes. Nature and the daily tear-and-wear cause that you need new clothes. And who wants to be described as that person only dresses to not freeze from hypothermia in winter, and to not get into trouble with the police in summer. Or like we say in Alaska that person dressed in the dark.

Photos of me: G. Kramm

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