Decluttering Clothes When You Have Way Too Many

Ten months after starting to work from home, I’m finally taking a look at my wardrobe and realizing that it’s time for decluttering clothes! I have way too many!

That’s right. I haven’t looked at it in all these months. I have a few pairs of pants and shorts that I wear and a handful of shirts.

Give me a comfy outfit – jeans and a t-shirt – and I’m at my best.

So why then, do I have over 60 pairs of pants in my bedroom?

I keep thinking to myself, how to get rid of clothes clutter?

Recently, I came across an article written by Joshua Becker on BecomingMinimalist.com. It’s titled 8 Reasons Successful People Wear the Same Clothes Every Day.

This is my kind of article because dressing up for work has always been very stressful for me! It’s about the benefits of having a capsule wardrobe, or a minimalist wardrobe.

This was enough to get me to start decluttering clothes and getting them out of the house…again!

I’ve been looking for a good list of how many clothes we really need to have but the answer seems to be that it depends on what you’re comfortable with. Flylady.net has a great list of wardrobe foundations but for me, going from 64 pairs of pants and shorts down to 3 pairs seems about as realistic as climbing Mt. Rushmore in bare feet at this point. Maybe in a few months it’ll be do-able.

Here’s my suggestions if you’re just starting out decluttering clothes:

Pants/Jeans – for every 3 pairs you decide to keep, get rid of 1 pair. The ones you keep have to fit you, they have to be comfortable, and they have to make you feel great when you’re wearing them!

If you really have a lot, aim to keep 25-35 pairs on the first go around and then do it again lowering it so for every 2 pairs you keep, get rid of 1 pair. Keep doing this until you are down to a reasonable amount. Try aiming for approximately 12-15 pairs of pants and jeans.

T-Shirts – Start by going through them and getting rid of the ones you know don’t fit right. T-shirts have a tendency to get misshapen from washing and if they don’t fit right, you feel it. They also need the right neckline for you so go ahead and get rid of the awkward fitting ones first.

Next, pick out 10-15 that you know are comfortable and fit you wonderfully. After that, follow the same process as with the pants – for every 2 or 3 shirts you keep, get rid of 1. Keep going through this process until you have dwindled down to 15 or less t-shirts.

Blouses – Decide how many you want to have and then go through the above process until you get to that number. There’s really no reason to have more than 10-15 since that’s 2-3 work weeks worth.

Underwear – Having 14-21 pairs is plenty for the average person.

Socks – 14 pairs is a good amount to aim for.

Shoes – For many years, I had 3 pairs of shoes – dress shoes for work, tennis shoes for at home, and a pair of sandals for the summer. You probably need more if you’re going to work everyday. Also, it’s good to have a spare pair or two but try to keep it under 12-15 pairs.

These are just the basics.

The numbers might seem high to some but when you’re just starting out on the decluttering journey, it will make a huge difference!

Sometimes after you’ve done a lot of decluttering, it’s nice to put the things you know you’re keeping into a new place. I found some really great collapsible storage boxes that I’ve been using. When I’ve gotten rid of enough to empty them out, they can be folded down flat until I need them again.

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