The Candid Closet

My Clean Closet Challenge

Dear Reader,

Yesterday in our mailbox there was a letter for me from a good friend in Louisiana. We’ve exchanged letters for 27 years, often sending the same card that goes back and forth in the mail. She writes that she is cleaning out her closet. I’ve thought about doing this for years, but Sheryl’s words are a call to action:

I am slowly purging my closet of things that no longer fit or are not in style anymore. Goodwill can sell them as ‘vintage’. My kids give me nice items which last a long time and my closet is not that big.

This is tremendously inspiring. So today I’m announcing my personal Clean Closet Challenge. By personal, I mean that I’m not challenging you, I’m just sharing.

My closet “Before”: no room here except for improvement

To begin. I can’t speak for a man, but a woman’s closet is symbolic and sacred. It’s her private container (symbolic!) for past choices (what I acquired), present perplexity (the useful vs. the sentimental) and hopes for the future (one perfect day I will wear this).

When you approach your closet with an empty box, beware. No one is standing there to answer your plea, “Do I look ok in this? Do you like that?”

I hate to say it, but the first thing you have to throw in the giveaway box is your reason for keeping everything. For example, I’ve brought home a few skirts from the thrift shop because I liked the fabric pattern. Because they’re skirts they wound up in my closet, but they should have gone to my sewing room. I can take them there now.

Done. But obviously I need more guidelines for today’s task. Sheryl’s letter! For the first time ever, I’m happy something doesn’t fit; it’s a clear choice!

And the goal to donate a winter coat that was once given to me, is a strong motivation, the strongest. I’m going to go with this.

The black silky evening pants with what I think they call a lettuce edge at the bottom, it’s my past (“vintage”) we’re talking about. Out with it!

Here are more Before Photos.

I think the person should keep the NC Democrats shirt, top right

Time passes.

It’s 4:00 p.m. and I have filled 2 boxes and 1 bag with clothing, shoes and sundries, 1 box with hangers, and 1½ hours with the business of shedding old quandaries. I hope it shows in my After Pictures.

Now I can find something to wear

It was a good day

My advice to you, should you ever wish it:

1. This is a renovation, not a demolition project, so first you want to look over what you have to work with. What will fit your project vision and should be kept? Maintain objectivity, for the best results.

2. Focus on your present reality. Be grateful.

3. When stressed mid-task, remember this. I once read that you can always store your box of discards in the garage (or on the carport) for a week in case you change your mind about something. If you skip this step — well, I wonder how many of us have gone to the thrift shop and bought back our donation?

4. Liberate some creative energy!

Love, Deda

P.S. You’ll be relieved to know I’m now centered again. As a query, I read to Sam the fourth paragraph of this post, about my not being able to speak for a man. He immediately said, “For a man, the closet is not symbolic and certainly not sacred. It’s a place where we throw our stuff.”

PLEASE NOTE: Whenever I quote or use the name of someone I know, it is always with their permission.