Closet Inventory part 1

Let me preface this by saying; I have a lot of stuff. More than I originally thought- as I was counting and the numbers started adding up I was pretty shocked, but not really surprised. I decided to focus on my clothing and leave the accessories for later. So lets get down to it.

I created categories based on what I had in my closet to make it easier to divide things up.

OUTERWEAR	#
Leather/PU Jackets	4
Suede/Faux Suede Jackets	2
Winter Jackets	2
Blazers	4
Denim Jackets	5
Other	4
TOTAL #:	21
TOPS
Graphic & Print T-Shirts (Short Sleeve)	48
Graphic & Print T-Shirts (Long or 3/4 Sleeve)	2
Plain Shirts (Short Sleeve)	27
Plain Shirts (Long or 3/4 Sleeve)	14
Button-Down Shirts	16
Blouses	22
Cardigans	25
Ponchos	3
Graphic & Print Sweaters	7
Plain Sweaters	13
Sweatshirts & Hoodies	7
Vests	6
Tank Tops	13
Tank Tops (layering)	24
Crop Tops & Bralets	4
TOTAL #:	231
BOTTOMS
Jeans	13
Pants	4
Capris	2
Cotton/Tube Skirts	9
Denim Skirts	2
Circle/Swing Skirts	7
Pencil Skirts	8
Other Skirts	8
Shorts	3
TOTAL #:	56
DRESSES
Spring/Summer Dresses	11
Fall/Winter Dresses	15
Retro Look Dresses	3
Going Out/Fancy Dress	12
Formal/Special Occasion Dresses	5
TOTAL #:	46

I think the overall problem is that I have been hanging onto things that I've owned for YEARS- some from back in high school. I'm also one of those people who hangs onto things 'just in case' I need them- the thing is, quite often a random event will come up (like a steampunk show I went to recently) and I was able to create an outfit out of stuff in my closet that I typically don't wear. If I had gotten rid of that stuff, I wouldn't be able to do that. So maybe some stuff needs to be transferred to my costume bin for fun times like that.

I have a TON of graphic t-shirts. And I really don't wear them often enough. Over the past few years I have told myself many times not to buy anymore because I already had too many, and generally I have stuck to that except for buying a few concert t-shirts as mementos. In this case I need to purge some shirts, maybe transfer some over to my sleep shirt drawer, as well as just commit to wearing them on a more regular basis.

 

I really only wear a couple of my jackets on a regular basis, so as the whether warms up I'm going to need to make a really big effort to wear all of my spring coats & jackets so I can decided what is going to stay and what is going to go. In terms of skirts, I really want to wear them on a more regular basis but there are so many I really never wear that I just need to get rid of. I might keep one plain black circle skirt and a couple basic pencil skirts but the rest can go.

I think my upcoming strategy might be to box up a large amount of my clothing that I rarely wear, put it away and see what happens. Most likely I will forget about all the clothing I put in there and it will make it easier to get rid of. After looking at this inventory it would be hard to believe that I really need anything more at all, but I seem to always feel that way. I think it just goes to show that I'm not utilizing my wardrobe 100%- I have a lot of items that should be donated and really shouldn't make the cut in my wardrobe. So that is something I'm going to have to work on in the coming weeks and months, to really pare down what I have.