Wardrobe Editing - part 1

In my Second Hand September Journal I asked if you might be interested to hear about the process of editing down my wardrobe… and you (well - a couple of you) said yes!

So first of all it’s worth noting that I didn’t just edit down my wardrobe - I edited down my whole house. I didn’t go to the extremes that some people go to, but I did want to live in a house where everything I own is either used/worn or loved and cherished.

When Beardie moved in to my small two bed terrace back in 2014, we both thought we would stay here for a while and then get somewhere bigger. I certainly didn’t think we’d be living here as a family of three (with two cats) seven years later! But after watching the Minimalism documentary we started to accept that our house wasn’t too small, but rather we (mostly I) just had too much stuff.

Editing down my ‘stuff’ was a really long process. I’ve always had regular clear-outs, but this was completely different. I systematically worked my way through absolutely everything in the house (including wires, pens and all those bits that drift to the back of drawers!) and got rid of about three quarters of my possessions. It took about three years and has completely changed my attitude towards buying things, holding on to things and (most dramatically) fast fashion.

You might not want to commit lots of your spare time over the course of three years to editing down your whole house… but even if you’re just tackling your wardrobe, it’s an enormous commitment to do the initial editing as well as changing shopping habits long term. A good starting point is to be clear about why you want to make the change.

I’m going to split this Journal into three parts and todays will focus on why I wanted to edit down my ‘stuff’. I found it helpful to write these things down so that when it got difficult I could motivate myself!

1: Stress

They say ‘tidy house, tidy mind’ and I didn’t realise how true that was until I started stuff-editing. Being surrounded by clutter is stressful! I find it a lot easier to relax knowing that everything in my house is either used or loved - it gives me a feeling of contentment.

2: Guilt

I had clothes in my wardrobe that I felt guilty about not wearing - some items I’d spent a lot of money on and some I had spent a long time making. Beardie had five guitars and only ever played one of them, so every time he opened his wardrobe he would see them and feel guilty about not playing them. We had things we’d received as gifts that we felt guilty for not using/liking.

Over time this guilt just becomes background noise and you stop noticing how much ‘stuff’ is weighing you down. I wanted to be free of those guilty feelings.

3: Sustainability

I had become completely disillusioned with ‘fashion’ and wanted to be less wasteful and buy less overall. When I did buy, I wanted to buy from more sustainable and ethical sources. The most sustainable thing we can all do is to wear and use what we already have… but when you have a full wardrobe and you only wear a small percentage of what’s in it - it can be difficult to know where to start.

I’ll talk more about where to start in part 2 & 3, but if you’re unsure about why we need to move away from the current system of ‘fast fashion’ I would recommend watching The True Cost and/or reading Consumed by Aja Barber (I haven’t read it yet, but I can’t wait to get my copy!).

4: Space

This one was a big motivator for me and also feeds into sustainability and money. When Beardie moved in we automatically assumed we would need a bigger house, but instead we have created more space by clearing out everything we didn’t either need or love.

Buying a bigger house would have allowed us to store all the ‘stuff’, but it would’ve taken more energy to heat and light, it would’ve cost more and our lifestyles would be very different as we would both need to work full-time to cover a bigger mortgage etc.

Instead we created enough space to fit in a whole extra human without increasing our living costs (beyond increases that would’ve happened anyway) and I’m able to take time off from earning to be a full-time mum.

I’m very aware of what a huge privilege this is and that it’s all down to the fact that my parents could help me onto the property ladder when I was in my twenties.

There is an element of lifestyle choice as well. In a society where we’re expected to constantly strive for bigger/better/newer and productivity is valued over wellbeing… it takes a conscious effort to slow down and feel content with smaller/older/less.

We’ll probably want more space at some point and I still get jealous when I visit friends with bigger houses! But creating more space here has really allowed us to make the most of and appreciate what we have. And when we do move - I know we’ll be more realistic about what space we actually need and it won’t be for storing stuff!

What about you?

Have you edited down your wardrobe? Or maybe your whole house? Or are you planning to or in the process of doing now? If so - what were/are your reasons for doing it?

Now that I’ve talked about why I wanted to make changes, next time I’ll talk about how I did it!