I don’t know about you, but this month’s 30 in 30 Closet Minimalism Game has been an eye-opener. NO, it’s no surprise that I have a large wardrobe – if you’ve been following along on my thrifting adventures, you already know I don’t spend a lot compared to regular retail, but I get a lot and more importantly I have A LOT of fun thrifting and trying out “new” pieces. The surprising part was just how much of my wardrobe isn’t as awesome as I thought it was. I have many GREAT pieces, but I figured most of my wardrobe was great and it turns out it’s not. Or, it wasn’t. This month, I purged 5 bags worth of clothes with the goal of leaving behind only the GREAT pieces that I love wearing over and over!
I do think of my wardrobe as a collection, meaning that I have no intention of wearing it all regularly just as someone who collects teapots can’t use them all, all the time. I enjoy seeing my collection each morning when I get dressed and putting together outfits with a mix of old and “new.” The last #purgeprompt for the Closet Minimalism Game was aimed at making sure our “collections” have curated GREAT pieces!
Here are my “good” pieces…
Surprised? I was! I thought I would have just a couple “good” items to pull from my closet. Turns out there is a lot of room for improvement in my wardrobe, so I can go forth and make better thrifting decisions – replacing the good with great or buying pieces to try knowing they might end up falling into the former category. At least with thrifting, I’m only out a small amount of money with these style life lessons! In any case, I hope this month you found, like I did, that editing your closet day by day, bit by bit, prompt by prompt was a whole lot gentler than the Konmari method or any other closet edit I’ve ever done. For me, the Closet Minimalism Game was a GREAT experience! I’m planning to bundle up all the Purge Prompts and make them available for anyone who might have fallen behind or want to go through them at their own pace or maybe even repeat them! Thank YOU to everyone who played along! I loved reading your posts and feeling the sense of international camaraderie as we all tackled our closet together! Have a wonderful December everyone, perhaps a bit lighter in spirit!
I wish I had that skill!! As it is, I rarely find time to even take my high end pieces for tailoring, so I usually just pass the ones that fit poorly along! I consider it spreading the love! Good suggestion though if you have the resources!
I do exactly the same thing – pieces that are “good enough” are “placeholders” and when I find something better to replace them I do a “thrift upgrade.” I never thought of it as a shopping list per se but that’s what it is!
I’d gladly take that grey sleeveless dress off your hands – I’d do long sleeve shirts underneath, or cardigans/blazers over, plus any medium or long necklace over that high neckline and/or all the scarves…. mmm!
PS the purge prompts were great – I loved following along even if I didn’t have something to donate in that particular category. I think bundling them is a good idea but even moreso I hope you do it again next year – with closet creep and wear and tear we will all surely have additional pieces to purge, and part of the fun is doing it as a community. Thanks for all the hard work that went into it!
Thanks for the positive comments about the purge prompts-it was fun!! I actually keep a Pinterest board for items on my thrift hunting list, and ❤️ The term “thrift upgrade”!! Love the styling ideas and have worn as suggested! It is pretty versatile! Not bad for $11 (which was relatively pricey!!)
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I could use some of the”good” to refashion sew extra fabric to scythe lengths, or add fabric to side seams to make not so tight. just saying
I wish I had that skill!! As it is, I rarely find time to even take my high end pieces for tailoring, so I usually just pass the ones that fit poorly along! I consider it spreading the love! Good suggestion though if you have the resources!
I do exactly the same thing – pieces that are “good enough” are “placeholders” and when I find something better to replace them I do a “thrift upgrade.” I never thought of it as a shopping list per se but that’s what it is!
I’d gladly take that grey sleeveless dress off your hands – I’d do long sleeve shirts underneath, or cardigans/blazers over, plus any medium or long necklace over that high neckline and/or all the scarves…. mmm!
PS the purge prompts were great – I loved following along even if I didn’t have something to donate in that particular category. I think bundling them is a good idea but even moreso I hope you do it again next year – with closet creep and wear and tear we will all surely have additional pieces to purge, and part of the fun is doing it as a community. Thanks for all the hard work that went into it!
Thanks for the positive comments about the purge prompts-it was fun!! I actually keep a Pinterest board for items on my thrift hunting list, and ❤️ The term “thrift upgrade”!! Love the styling ideas and have worn as suggested! It is pretty versatile! Not bad for $11 (which was relatively pricey!!)