3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Ditching Those Questionable Clothes

Dodgerton Skillhause via Morguefile

Yesterday, I was forced to face my closet. Warm spring temperatures had me digging for clothing I hadn't worn in a while, not just because of the season, but because of the outfit I chose to kick off the season in.

Today, I went to work in a shirt I promised myself I was wearing for the last time. It was...okay, but I have better options and, as long as this one is in there, I'm going to end up wearing it again and feeling just as dissatisfied. 

Do you have difficulty weeding out your closet? Not sure if a questionable item should go or stay? Here are three key items to say goodbye to.

• Clothes that are falling apart. No matter how much you love it, if it’s frayed, torn or beyond repair, it’s time to say goodbye. 
• Clothes that no longer flatter. My shirt today was a notable example. It was...okay and since it was under a jacket, I could get away with it. But when we wear clothes that are less than flattering we don't feel as good as we do when we wear things we love. Tonight, the shirt is in the hamper. After it's laundered, it's going into the donation box. 
• Clothes that have seen better days. Black tank tops turned navy/gray. White tee shirts turned gray/yellow. Wardrobe basics -- the things we reach for on a regular basis -- are often the things we hang on to the longest -- even when they're past their prime. When the wardrobe staples start showing their age, it's time to add them to the shopping list. And, when we get home with the new stuff, the old stuff needs to go.

Sounds simple, right? It is. But that doesn't mean there aren't obstacles.

Steve A. Johnson via Pixabay

As for me, I don’t like a feeling of scarcity. I like to feel like I have options. These choices may sound obvious, but if we have an emotional attachment to an article of clothing or to that sense of having a wide variety of choices (some of us just don’t like wearing the same thing over and over again) it can be hard to do even with seems obvious.

So, start where you can, and practice one in/one out (getting rid of something old when you buy something new) as often as possible. Then, even the change of seasons can't throw you for a loop.