Changing How We Look at Clothes
I realized I could live without the clothes I thought I still liked. Here are some tips to help you let go of items in your closet that could still have a happy, productive life outside your home.
My friend Jazz told me about this book, goodbye, things by Fumio Sasaki and while reading it, the words inspired me to get more clothes out of my closet.
Clothes I thought I still needed, because they were good clothes, really good clothes. I still liked them, they were timeless and to be honest, barely used if not still brand new. I just hadn’t gotten around to wearing them because, well, I had other pieces that I liked better. So they stayed in my closet, unused for over a year, maybe a whole lot more.
I thought I was doing myself a favor keeping them, after all, they still sparked joy. I had decluttered a lot of stuff already, and these pieces made the cut - made from nice, quality fabric, still fits me, good design, all checked out. But I realized, after reading the book, that they weren’t getting the love and attention they deserved, so I put them up for sale on a local buy and sell site, and sold them for a pittance. Cents to the dollar really.
This experience taught me that we really need to contemplate on our clothes consumption seriously. I am not an isolated case. I have many friends in the same predicament, closets bursting with clothes they no longer wear or worse, even like. Multiply this scenario a million times (I am 100% sure there are at least 1 million of us keeping clothes we think we still need) and the world is really just overloaded with preloved goods. There’s far too many clothes out there, estimates put it at 80 to 150 billion new garments a year, that if manufacturers stopped mass producing, we would all still be probably be well supplied for a decade.
I’ve listed 68 items on my Carousell site, sold about half and came to these realizations:
Nobody values your clothes as much you do. You may have paid a lot for them, but the reality is, you won’t get as much value out of them when it’s time to sell them. A barely used APC top you bought for $200 will sell for $20, $25 if you are lucky.
I would start out a bit melancholic taking photos and putting up items on the site, because I still liked these pieces after all, and even wished nobody would buy them. But when an offer pops up and is paid for, and the buyer tells me how much they love the item and appreciate how I packed their purchase with care, I am reminded that I am sending it off to a new loving home where it will be cherished and worn, as it rightfully deserves.
Guess what! Once an item leaves my closet, I don’t even look for it anymore. I really could have lived without it in the first place. Sometimes, the idea of letting go of a pair of pants you bought in New York 15 years ago, or a top you wore a couple of times 5 summers ago is not as painful when it’s actually gone from your closet.
There are things I would rather gift than sell, if I know it will be treasured by its new owner. I bought a $200 tshirt from complexgeometries some years back but never got around to wearing it. It was a multi way shirt that intimidated me, so I decided to give it to a friend who I knew would do it justice. She was happy to accept and immediately wore it. Seeing it look amazing on her gave me immense joy!
When I do buy clothes, I know now I will have to think about my exit strategy. Is this an heirloom piece, or something I will end up keeping and using for decades to come, or is this a passing fancy that’ll end up being decluttered without being worn? Since last year, I have become more mindful of my purchases, but from this experience, and with this knowledge, I will really know how to curb any impulse shopping urges.
Goodbye, things and thank you for the lessons you have taught me!