"Breaking up is hard to do"
- Neil Sedaka
- Neil Sedaka
How true. With the looming prospect of a possible flat move, I need to address the very real fact that I am potentially going to end up on Britain's Biggest Hoarders or worse, be found suffocated under a toppled pile of clothes (how embarrassing). There are other solutions but I feel it would be faintly ridiculous to get a storage unit elsewhere to house my attire.
After the initial forced break up with a large portion of my favourite clothes (read about it here) it was quite nice to have the choice this time about what I got rid of. I have sloooowly come to terms with the fact that they have gone and the philosopher in me says that everything happens for a reason. I mean, I got my first heavy breather* because of all those clothes that got nicked...you've got to look at the positives right?!
During the de-cluttering process it becomes apparent that there are once loved clothes that no longer work for me and need to go some place else...mostly eBay or the charity shop so they can live another life far from the confines of my wardrobe and the demands I once placed on them.
There are the oldies but goodies that you should keep. Like trusted friends.
Then there are those items that work for a season when you want to wear them everyday. I have often thought to myself 'THIS DRESS answers every single wardrobe problem and I'll never have to wonder what to wear again!' But one wear or wash too many and the love evaporates and you can't work out why. Maybe I want different things. Maybe it's not me, it's the dress. Maybe the dress and I are at different points in our lives. Maybe I deserve better than the dress. Maybe the dress and I should just be friends. Maybe the dress needs to focus on it's career. Or maybe it's because I'm just not that into the dress anymore. So it goes in the bin before it leads me any further up the garden path without showing me the vegetables.
Then there are the non-recyclables...not to be revisited. You keep clothes because they remind you of fun times but if you turned up to a party in them now, people would point and scream. Anything over washed, over worn or overworked should head for the garbage. It's like when you still have pairs of knickers with your name tape in from school. It just is time to bin them when you're knocking on the door of 30.
During Project Wardrobe I reminisce about the things which I let go of or carelessly lost and feel huge regret that I didn't make a bit more space for them or realise quite how wonderful they were. I often wonder what happened to those things that I loved so very much but in a moment of madness flung them in the charity shop bag. I live in hope of coming across those clothes I dumped and being able to re-buy. I fear it is too late.
But then I am reminded of what Buddha said: 'In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you' - and so it is with my clothes. I am letting go of things that have bought me much happiness and making space for the new.
It's been fun going through the archives... and every time I hear the ch-ching of another dress sold on eBay I head straight over to grASOS to see what I can replace it with.
So for the nicer bits - well, they can be found on eBay and if you like any of the below and aren't too precious you can head over to the bins at the far end of Ladbroke Grove and have a good rifle through!
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| This is what I am dealing with.... |
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| And this.... |
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| And this... |
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| And this...... |
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| And this. This isn't even all of it. Argh! |
THESE WERE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS
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| This coat saw one rave too many and now looks like a dead cat. Heading for the bin. |
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| This was once my favourite jumper. It literally just stopped working around November last year. Bin. |
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| This dress breaks my heart - it holds so many memories. I wore it for my 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th birthdays. It's the only dress my father has ever tried to ban me from wearing. As you can see it's entirely see through and I have slightly lost my guts. I also left it in direct sunlight and it's been faded in strange patches so it looks like I've spilt espresso (Martinis) all down it. Actually, hold on. |
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| This dress.....a Topshop classic. I wore it through some of the best Summers of my life. I climbed the mountain Cader Idris in it. Most inappropriate climbing gear ever. Unfortunately I ironed all the 'lace' and it melted so it's heading for the bin. . |
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| I have worn this dress at our annual Piano Bar event every year for about 5 years. It looks ok in the dark but close up it's in tatters and looking a bit trampy. |
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| An old Betty Jackson dress that has seen too many TAKE THAT concerts. I rediscovered it recently but unfortunately it's not back for good. It's heading for the bin. |
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| Loved this dress very, very much once. But for some reason I don't any more. I wore it to a Heavy Metal concert and it never really recovered. Nor did I for that matter. |
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| My gilet. It's so tattered and torn. Bin. This was me when I had my last clear out in Portobello. I kept pretending to customers that things were on hold so I didn't have to part with them. Look how happy I am. |
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| This skirt was an absolute favourite. Bought it in Greece. But it too is shredded from too many washes and wears. Bye skirt. |
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| Notte by Marchesa dress. It's got snakey bits tailing along the bottom that kept getting caught in car doors or trodden on. I'll be sad to see this go. |
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| My tinselly number. It was wonderful until after a night of quite rigorous dancing the ribbon holding it in place disintegrated - I had to hold it together with safety pins. Which is not a good look unless you are Liz Hurley circa 1994. |
*Truly! I posted in Lost and Found on Gumtree...moments later I was talking with a man who said he had seen my clothes in the back of someone's van and there was lots of wimmins underweaaaaar and laydeeez stockings (definitely not mine) and was it mine? And had I worn it pant pant huff huff and had they been washed? Revolting!
.JPG)
