Always feel like you have nothing to wear? I know that so many of us have this problem and when I recently moved house I found the perfect opportunity to have a wardrobe sort out. Over the years I have kept hold of so many items that I didn’t want to get rid of just in case… and I know that so many of us do this. But how often have you actually worn that garment you kept hold of? More often than not the answer is never.

THE RULES.

1. If you haven’t worn it in a year then it goes – regardless of condition, price or size. Why a year? Because you will have covered every season in the period of time. If you haven’t worn it for a year, you probably never will.
2. If you have a garment that you wear but feel uncomfortable every time you do, then stop wearing it and get rid of it.
3. If it’s broken and you keep saying you’ll get round to fixing it but you haven’t then get rid.
4. If your keeping hold of it just in case and haven’t worn it, get rid of it.
5. If you absolutely love the item but never wear it because you have nothing to wear it with, and you still have nothing to wear with it – follow the one year rule.
6. Sentimental clothing that you aren’t wearing shouldn’t stay in your closet. Either take a picture of it and preserve the memory or limit yourself to a tote of clothes.
7. Don’t keep hold of something that is “just alright” because you haven’t found anything to replace it with. Let it go now.
8. You don’t have to do it all at once. You can do it in stages, one day tops, the next day bottoms.
9. Try everything on and I cannot stress this point enough. It is so important to do this and not just hold something up as you can’t get a true feel what it actually looks like so how do you know if you want to keep or get rid of it?
10. Your wardrobe space is only what you have, jamming your clothing into this space and fighting with them everyday is not fun. Making space equals an easier time finding the perfect outfit day to day.

REMEMBER – STYLE CHANGES, YOUR TASTES CHANGE and YOUR BODY SHAPE CHANGES.

So you’ve followed the rules and now the question is what do you do with these unwanted clothes. With a variety of way to get rid of items today I took a look at the various options.

The Charity Shop.

On most high streets Charity Shops are alway looking for new items to be passed their way. Before taking your items ensure they take everything you have to offer. Remember items need to be in a saleable condition.

The Clothing Bank.

Find Clothing Banks at many large Supermarkets or the local dump. This is a great option as the items go to Charities, there will always be a variety of Clothing Banks to choose from so you can make sure that the garments go to the Charity of your choice.

eBay

Of-course eBay should always be considered to as a good way to make some money of the items you are getting rid of. eBay give the beginners guide to selling clothes on eBay here. There are 5 pointers that they give to help you make a successful sale.

1. A TRAFFIC GRABBING TITLE
2. GOOD ITEM DETAILS
3. DECENT PHOTOGRAPHY
4. DE-CLUTTER YOUR LISTING
5. HONESTY

Cash for Clothes

Website such as MusicMagpie will take your clothing off you for a small amount of money. However this can be a lengthly process and they won’t accept just anything. There is also the places such as Clothes Xchange that will pay around 60p per a kilo for bags of clothing. Visit their stores or ask for a collection where they will weigh your goods and pay accordingly. Again there are rules, for example the Clothes Xchange website reads, “Clothing should be modern, good quality, clean and dry, smoke & odour free, no tears, stains, rips, missing buttons or broken zips. Other items include belts, handbags, accessories, jewellery, shoes etc.” The Cash for Clothes is a good option for items that you don’t think will do well on eBay.

Hand me Downs

I remember when I was younger my god sisters would bring round bags of clothing they wanted to pass onto me and it was so exciting to go through the clothing and pick out exactly what I wanted. So having a younger sister I can do this and it is a great way for her to refresh her wardrobe too.

Hold a Clothing Swap Party

Finally you could hold a clothing swap party. This is a party where you and each person attending brings an agreed amount of clothing and accessories to the event. All the items are a fair playing field, so you can trade, barter, and donate clothing to your friends while getting some new items for yourself too. Remember the saying that SOMEONE’S TRASH IS ANOTHER PERSON’S TREASURE? This principle applies to a clothing swap.