say goodbye to the old, and hello to the new

[alexander wang freja | originally $695 | purchased $80 at barney's new york outlet]

I spent new years' cleaning out my closet.  Even though it's still kind of a big organized mess, I did get rid of a considerable amount of stuff.  I have a really hard time of letting go - sometimes because the item has sentimental value, sometimes because i convince myself it can be worn a certain way, and sometimes because i tell myself i spent too much on it to give it up.  So for the pack rat like me, these are the steps I took to clean out my closet:

1) Is this an eyesore?  Eyesore is defined as not my style, has ruching, looks like it's from the Forever 21 clearance, has a black elastic band for a waist, etc.

• If yes, throw into a pile to sell or donate.  If the item is still in good condition and is objectively stylish, sell.  If the item has stains, rips, or is plain ugly, donate.
• If no, ask the following questions.

2) Do you have too many of these? or Do you need to wear it a couple more times before tossing it to justify buying it? or Is this decently worn but is still well-loved?

• If yes, set the item aside.  For the "too many of these" question, I took the least loved one or two of the item.  I then put these items in a separate closet, reminding myself to wear these before the next donation/reselling cycle.
• If no, the item has successfully passed the test and is staying until next cycle.

I had about a couple of shoes, oversized bags (totally a little bag girl), and some dresses that fell into the first category.  Made a good $58.25 from Plato's Closet for about $150 worth of items.  For anyone that has ever considered reselling things to Plato's, I honestly almost shied out of going down that path.  I read a lot of online reviews that complained about the chump change they were getting for their items, and a lot of things they will pass on.  Out of the three bags I took, they took everything but a pair of sneakers and a dress because of minor stains.  I consider that a pretty successful exchange.  As long as your items are in good condition and are still objectively in style for the teen - mid-20s market, they will most likely offer you a decent trade for it.  I prefer this to ebay, since I don't like dealing with postage and checking on listings and what not. 

And as for the hundreds of things still lying around in my closet this year, I made several resolutions:

• Wear things before you don't love them anymore.  I can't count the number of things I gave away that were only worn once or twice because they were too "of the moment" purchases.
• Buy only 1-2 quality items per month.  For January, this was the Kate Spade Essex Small Scout in spring red and those Alexander Wang Frejas above.  I have enough cheap shit.
• Do clothing evaluations every 1-2 months.  Part of the reason I have so much stuff is because I hoard and keep and never delete.  While I'll probably never have a curated closet, I definitely need to be a bit more ruthless with what stays and what goes.  Choosing what to wear in the morning is a lot easier when you don't have the entire Goodwill store staring you in the face.  
• Learn how to walk in the Constance's I bought last month.  I have never had this much of an issue standing in a shoe, let alone walk in it.  The angle of the shoe is crafted in a way that the entire weight of your body is 95% on the balls of your feet and 5% on your heels.  Yeah...not very good.  But I love them a bit too much to return/resell them.  So practice it is.

And there we go.  Cheers to a more stylish 2012.