How I Escaped Decision Fatigue and Doubled my Wardrobe

Each season brings its own version of renewal and refresh. It is cathartic to purge and clarify your spaces with the changing of the seasons. With the shift from warm to colder weather, the Summer/Fall transition is especially important.

Clearing out the old and purging things that no longer serve you is going to do some amazing for your peace of mind, productivity, and efficiency. When I was starting every day with a growing pile of garment rejects on the bed and “nothing to wear,” I knew I had to make a change. I had to do something and that something was a massive purge. I realized that the growing mountain on my bed was things I didn’t want to wear or couldn’t wear. Some had imperfections, stains, or a loose hem, but overall the items were either pieces that were not apart of a coordinated ensemble leaving me with…

decision fatigue

as to how to style it…

“I can wear my green sweater with that!...

Oh, wait, no… that’s in the laundry… drat… back to square one…”

or…

echos of the past

…in other words, I had items that I loved once but that I’ve grown out from a personal style perspective. Having items around from the past might be nostalgic and bring back great memories, but it can also bring back negative and painful memories, too. Every time I saw a piece I was holding onto just because it was still in good condition, I was doing a few things to myself:

1. I was forcing myself to revisit and dredge up moments that held psychological discomfort or somehow brought about unresolved feelings and
2. I was bringing on the spirit-dampening feeling of guilt. Guilt that I was being wasteful (getting rid of a perfectly good clothing item that I’d spent money on) and guilt that I changed and evolved as a person. I wasn’t the person that’d purchased that navy slim leg trouser in Shetland wool. I had lived more, experienced much, hugged and laughed and cried more, read more books, and had a lot more coffee. But instead of celebrating my growth as an individual, I just felt guilty about never wearing those pants.

Well, I think you’ve guessed where this is headed. Yep, enough was enough. I decided to take control of my own life, my own morning routine struggle, my own insecurities and do something about it. I got three large kitchen trash bags and laid them on my pillow and pulled  E V E R Y T H I N G  out of my closet and dresser and laid it on the bed. Ruthlessly, I went through with a first pass…

• things I love to wear
  
  and
  
  
• things I didn’t
  

My second pass was a pinch more strategic. I needed to make sure I’d covered some basics in my wardrobe until I could replace or upgrade them. But at the end of an hour, I had several bags and one pile of Donate, Keep, and Trash (items that couldn’t be salvaged or repaired.) Before I could overthink it and pull things back out of the Donate bag, I got a one-way mailer, the kind with a security sticky tab, and dumped the lot in and sealed it shut. Then I promptly drove it to the Post Office and said bye-bye.

When I got home I put the rest back in the closet with great care and arranged it all with my personal wardrobing and merchandising touch. I had purged 50% of my closet. No joke. You read that right. Half my stuff. Gone. And, girl, did it feel freeing.

It was like I’d doubled my wardrobe because everything in it,

I love and will truly wear.

I’m ending this one with a challenge. 

Where in your world where you could implement a cleansing edit? Maybe your closet, maybe your hallway closet, maybe your desk? I am so excited to know which little corner you choose and how it changes your life!

Just DECIDE and post a pic on your Instagram Stories then TAG ME @starnerstyles! I want to see what you decide is worthy of a good edit.