When I was a kid, I had a four door cupboard in my bedroom. It was enormous and I had it filled with a veritable avalanche of crap, so naturally I became a dirty little hoarder. I never threw anything out. I kept every note that my best mate passed me in class, tickets to every movie I’d ever seen and every school book I ever owned. Every time I’ve moved house since then, my wardrobe space has halved which means I’ve slowly ditched most of my unnecessary crap until my cupboard only holds useful things. I now share a tiny two door cupboard with Mr Smaggle and it’s quite a tight squeeze but I manage because I don’t hold on to dead weight items. If I haven’t worn something for more than a year, I give it away to charity because if I haven’t felt inclined to wear it in the course of a year, it’s obviously not comfortable, flattering or joy-inducing. If your cupboard is full to bursting, here are the 5 things in your wardrobe you really need to chuck out.
1. Those gorgeous high heels that murder your feet
I get it. You bought them to celebrate that big job promotion, they cost an absolute fortune and you simply had to have them. The problem is that they eat your feet and no matter how many times you’ve worn them around the house wearing socks and lined the inside with gel liners, they still feel like blocks of cement tied to your feet. Keeping these shoes in your life isn’t going to get you the money back that you spent on them, nor is it going to make them more comfortable. Get rid of them – give them away, sell them, whatever – but get them out of your house. Once they’re out, you’ll stop thinking about them immediately. If you keep them, you’ll see them everyday and feel sad about how mean they are to your feet. It’s like a toxic friendship… just let it go.
2. Your skinny jeans
Don’t do it to yourself . You might get back into them but then again you probably won’t. Also you may simply have changed shaped in which case you’ll need not only a different size but also a different style. If something doesn’t fit you, you need to ditch it. If you want to keep track of weight fluctuations use a tape measure. Holding to on to skinny jeans and skinny dresses is a body confidence killer. There should only be clothes in your wardrobe that you can wear today, not clothes that you can wear someday.
3. All but one set of gym/bed/gardening clothes
At one stage of my life I had two shelves full of ‘old’ clothes that I intended to wear for dirty tasks like cleaning the house, going to the gym or to wear for lazing around the house or sleeping. That pile of clothes just stayed there untouched for years until I realised how much space it was taking up and I donated them all to charity. To quote Paris Hilton ‘I only want to look cute.‘ – It’s shallow but true. I always want to look cute and that includes when I’m at the gym, in bed or cleaning the house. I’m not about to start scrubbing the toilet in a ball gown but I’m going to want to wear a t-shirt that doesn’t have bleach marks on it and a semi- flattering pair of yoga pants. That means all those old scrungy t-shirts and shorts have to go. Do it, do it, do it!!!
4. That vintage shop score of a life time that you’ve never worn
When I was 18, I bought a thick, heavy vintage Japanese kimono bathrobe and pictured myself wearing it like a regal queen, reclined on a chaise lounge, smoking a cigarette from a long holder and drinking whisky on the rocks. The reality of the situation is that it just wasn’t comfortable, it was really heavy and warm so I could only wear it in the dead of winter and it was a weird shade of mouldy blue that just wasn’t flattering. I never wore it, yet I owned it for ten years. Sometimes we make purchasing mistakes but the sooner we move on, the better so ditch that fabulous yet horribly itchy faux fur jacket you’ve had for ten years. It’s just taking up space for no good reason.
5. Those undies that give you a wedgie
I have been known to remove uncomfortable underwear in a public toilet, chuck it straight in the bathroom bin and walk around commando. I have no time uncomfortable underwear. The best course of action is to throw uncomfortable underwear away immediately. Otherwise you’ll be washing it and accidentally wearing it and the whole vicious cycle starts again. It doesn’t matter if you spent $30 on a tiny scrap of Elle Macpherson butt floss… if it’s uncomfortable, get rid of it.
If you’re struggling you need to ask yourself these questions –
Is it genuinely useful?
Does it bring you proper joy?
If the answer to both is no, you need to ditch it. No exceptions.
Is your cupboard full of crap you don’t use? Are you keen to start ditching those useless space hoggers?
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