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julie_mi_z5

Winter Clothes Challenge!

Julie_MI_Z5
18 years ago

This week I realized it's December and there are winter clothes I haven't worn yet.

My challenge: If you're like me, if you haven't worn it by now, you probably won't. Clean out your closets with me!

I started a new give-away box this week and I seem to be adding to it daily. Post your challenge results here!

My noteworthy flings:

1. Two sweaters that are definitely "winter" but too thin to be warm (which defeats the purpose of a sweater)

2. A pair of Dockers pants that make me feel really fat... the funny thing being that Weight Watchers was very successful for me and they're a size 4. Who wants to feel fat in a size 4??? LOL

3. One beautiful red sweater that I thought would fit this year because it has a round "yoke" and no shoulder seams. Looks OK on the shoulders but the width is way too big. As much as I love it, it's gone.

This morning's clothing challenge will be trying on a jacket that I really love... but I think it's going to be too big, too. I've been pushing it around the closet for fear that it won't fit so I'm afraid to try it on. How silly of me!!!

Comments (11)

  • talley_sue_nyc
    18 years ago

    I've been pushing it around the closet for fear that it won't fit so I'm afraid to try it on. How silly of me!!!

    Aw, that's sweet, actually--and vvery understandable.

    But be tough. Think of this--that lovely jacket is lonely just hanging in the closet; if it *does* fit, it can be your friend again. If it doesn't, you can find someone it *will* fit.

    (I'll confess, some items like that, that I just really loved, I search out a recipient for instead of dumping them at the Goodwill)

  • intherain
    18 years ago

    Julie, that is a great challenge, and one that I did last week! I have to say, I am very good about tossing clothes I don't wear. I hate a cluttered closet. I only want my favorites in it! But golly, my closet sure is looking sparce!

    Last week I got rid of:
    -A sweater that I absolutely loved when I bought it, but never wore because I realized the neckline wasn't right. I did keep it for over a year before finally tossing it.
    -Jeans that I don't like.
    -2 skirts that almost touch the floor. I'm realizing it's okay to show some leg! (smile)

    Sheryl

  • bouncingpig
    18 years ago

    I just spent most of yesterday going through my closet and started on DH's. What gave me the motivation was spending way too much money for brand new wood hangers for both of us. I am amazed how nice and neat it all looks with matching hangers. And the clothes hang so much neater and smoother, since all the heights match. It sounds silly, but something like hangers can really be a good motivator. I have to admit though I did keep all my "one size too small" levis. My weight has yo-yoed (Not a word, but it works for me!) back and forth about 15 pounds for the last two years. They fit in the warm weather and are too tight in the winter. Drives me crazy! But if I just keep it because it's "okay" I decided it is't enough. I have to REALLY like it for it to stay. It is amazing how much that cut down on junk. Why I spent so much time keeping things I really didn't like is beyond me. While DH was at work last night, I sorted through his stuff. If I don't like it, it doesn't stay! LOL! He hasn't noticed yet! Still need to sort my shoes though.

    Brenda

  • Plow_In
    18 years ago

    Oh, boy, Brenda. You are really brave going through DH's closet. Maybe I could try that when mine isn't looking (he's always home).
    As to getting rid of clothes: I've made 3 trips so far this fall to the bins in back of the Red Cross building (have more stuff to go). However, before I donated a coat to a local church collection, it was the biggest burden on my mind. It had been so expensive, but I wore it only about 2 times. When I tried it on this winter, the shoulders hung way off mine, the bottom of the coat hung to the bottom of my fanny, the pockets were way too low, and I could wrap the front of the coat all the way under my armpit. Why did I get it in the first place? Hope someone else can use it.

  • Julie_MI_Z5
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Brenda *is* brave! I just do the best I can by NOT returning things from the laundry room. LOL

    Plow In, congratulations on getting rid of that coat AND the guilt!

    Julie

  • bouncingpig
    18 years ago

    I am really not THAT brave. I pretty much knew most of what I was getting rid of weren't his favorites. I did get in BIG trouble last spring when I got rid of an old WSU Rose Bowl sweatshirt. It had 19 holes (I counted!) and the maroon had faded to dusty rose, so I stupidly thought he wouldn't care. Apparently it was "sentimental"! He would hardly speak to me for a week! So I am a bit more careful now!

    Brenda

  • Julie_MI_Z5
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    This morning I was looking in DS's closet because he was coming home from college to work today and I wanted to make sure he had left a pair of khaki pants here. Yes (several).

    WORSE THING: Found a pair shoved in one side (this kid has more clothes than American Eagle) of his closet that were still ripped and bleach-spotted from when he worked at a Boy Scout Ranch 3 or 4 summers ago. NO WAY would he ever wear them, so in the garbage they went.

    But that was WAY different than a Rose Bowl shirt!!!!! LOL

  • intherain
    18 years ago

    Oh, Brenda, that's what would happen if I got rid of DH's beloved racing shirt. It's a ratty tee-shirt with a race car on it. He only wears it when he goes to the car races. When I mention how ratty it is, he reminds me that he no longer gets free racing tee-shirts from Marlboro because when they once called the house for a survey, I adamently told them "Oh, my husband doesn't smoke!" You should've seen my DH's face when I proudly told him that I set this company straight. They immediately took him off their list, and he never got another free racing tee-shirt. He reminds me of this all the time. So I won't dare touch that ratty racing shirt!!!

    As for matching hangers, I do believe they can make a difference. I don't have nice wood ones, but I'm at least trying to have matching plastic ones. I like how all my clothes hang the same. I have even color-coordinated them! Woo hoo!!!

    Sheryl

  • Julie_MI_Z5
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    There was an article recently in the paper about how you can send in your ratty t-shirts to this place and they will make them into a quilt for you. I was actually tempted until I read the price (which was something like $500).

    Sheryl, perhaps you could email Marlboro and tell them your husband has decided to take up smoking? LOL Maybe for Christmas you could get him a new racing shirt?

    We keep having a plastic hanger crisis here. WHERE ARE THEY?? It goes something like this:

    Day 1: All laundry is done, 4 hangers left.
    Day 5: Fill a box of give-away clothes, which provides 10 more extra hangers.
    Day 7: Do laundry again, come up 12 hangers short.

  • sheriz6
    18 years ago

    Julie, thanks for the challenge! I finally parted with two L.L. Bean sweaters (which of course means they were too good to get rid of, lol) that have been in my closet for years. I finally looked at them with a critical eye and, though they are in really good shape, I realized they weren't flattering at all and weren't even that warm. Off to Goodwill they go.

    As for hangers, perhaps yours are migrating to my house. Every time I go into the closet the hangers appear to have reproduced! This used to just happen with the icky wire ones from the drycleaners, but now the plastic ones are doing it too ...

  • Julie_MI_Z5
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Sheri,

    Excellent progress for you! Sometimes the hardest things to get rid of are the ones we know are "good". I'm still working on that. :)

    And please send back my plastic hangers ASAP.

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