I'm cleanin' out my closet

I'm not really sure what possessed me to clean out my cupboard right before christmas. Perhaps it is that inner obsessive compulsive that rears its head every now and then. Or perhaps that desire to have everything done, and the peace of mind that comes with that, to relax during those days after christmas.

It's not like I never clean out my clothing cupboard. It's had many a cull and clean out over the years, but I find every few months it needs attention to keep it functional and not looking like a tip.

It's a fairly small cupboard and I've tried to keep it that way. A cluttered cupboard I find goes hand in hand with that age old problem of having a closet full of clothes but nothing to wear. It all just gets a bit overwhelming finding something to wear.

And mine had cluttered. My pre-Violet clothes which had survived the last few culls, but which were not being worn because they had never quite fitted the same way again, were certainly taking up quite a lot of space. There were old shorts there, pretty little dresses and my old favourite jeans. I realised that I'd actually become quite emotionally attached to these items. They were the outfits of the last part of my 20's. I guess I'd hung onto them hoping to recapture that same (younger) person. And when I looked over them with a more critical eye I realized not only that I may never be quite that skinny again, but that I had changed. I am now approaching my mid thirties with three children, and I no longer had any desire to wear that cute, but impractical miniskirt.

But it wasn't without a little sadness that I packed them away and sent them to the op shop. My cupboard feels lighter and surprisingly a little more optimistic. There's not a lot in there now, and once grouped together I discovered there were more than a few sewn by me clothes. They seem to be the ones I turn to these days, which tells me that there will be more to come. It's a good thing to see at a glance exactly what is in there. And not many shoes, but all ones that I do regularly wear.

So while my days of wearing hipster skinny jeans, denim hot pants and buttoned pocket miniskirts may be over for now, I look forward to slowly adding some fun vintage inspired dresses, some skirts, comfy light tunics and a few pretty blouses. It's kind of liberating to know that I can now make these myself. Clothes that feel like me. Now.



Have you ever found it hard to get rid of certain items of clothing?
Do you become emotionally attached?
Have you grown out of some of your clothes too?