Today was the slaughter.

I had a ton of stuff in the closet, and my two large dressers were stuffed as well. Everything was crowded and disorganized and wrinkled because they could not hang straight, there was so much stuff it was all smooshed together.
I first went through the two dressers. There was stuff there that could go into the garage- some curtains, a drawer full of rolling balls and cat toys. etc.
Then, I went through the clothes in the dressers.

I had a considerable number of old fleece tops that were worn out. I live in Houston and I don't need a huge amount of casual cold weather clothes. So all but around 5 got slaughtered.

Paint clothes. I save clothes where I have painted and got paint on the clothes for the next time I paint. These all got thrown out. I only paint occasionally and I decided I would just sacrifice an old pair of jeans next time I paint.

There was a ton of 'when I lose weight I'm going to wear that again' clothes. I looked at them with a critical eye. Some were worn out. Others were things I used to like but my tastes have changed. So all but the nicest items got slaughtered.

Then I went through my closet and threw out about half the stuff in there. Old worn out items. Items I didn't wear.
I took all the jeans and folded them and put them in the dresser which now had space.

Everything looks better, is organized better, and I can actually find things I'm looking for.
I think the key is to really go in with a critical eye and be realistic about those items that one cannot wear now and want to save for the future, and to not start backsliding and granting pardons to things like the vintage tiny jeans, the catalogue items that didn't fit but weren't returned (don't save stuff just because it cost you money, if you can't wear it and it is nice, donate it to charity) and the lime green pants that you would now not be caught dead in.

The article said if you keep your "when I loose the weight" clothes, it means you haven't accepted yourself as you are now so you will never loose the weight.

Since that time I have purged ALL the "skinny" clothes from the house.

Now I'm still waiting for the weight to melt right off...

80??!!!

Since the shoes were the catalyst for all this, how do they look?

I'm new here. Lucille, I can relate - Dallas-born and raised, I had 150 prs of shoes. I am now down to about 80 since we moved from Tx & our house now doesn't have walk-in closets. At some point, you have to say goodbye to stuff. I got rid of a lot of clothes recently and feel better. Now I have to tackle that garage! I think I'm a candidate for "Clean House"!

Also, comforters purchased at Salvation Army make excellent drop cloths.