Purging, Part 2 (clothing)

Yesterday I tackled a task I kept putting off: Getting rid of my clothes.

Our new wardrobe space will be decent by RV standards, but nowhere near as large as our already overflowing residential closet. Given space and weight concerns (even clothes get heavy when you have enough of them), we need to downsize greatly.

I'm not sure why I had been putting off this task. I'm no fashionista. My wardrobe consists mostly of Old Navy t-shirts and jeans, so it's not like I'm shedding pricey designer duds. I guess I mostly dreaded the task of clearing out the closet because cleaning is never really fun.

Rather than choose what to get rid of, I decided to choose what I'm keeping. (Same result, slightly different psychology.) I decided to allow myself five pieces of each type of clothing (long sleeve shirts, short sleeve shirts, etc.), and 10 pairs of socks and underwear. Shirts can be re-worn in a pinch. Underwear...not so much.

I emptied everything from the closet onto the bathroom floor and started sorting. (This is a great experiment to do with a curious 15-month-old.) (Note sarcasm.)

I found a few things I had forgotten about and decided to keep. I easily threw a ton of stuff--including some items I thought I really liked--onto the "donate" pile.

Within an hour, I had packed up six bags of clothes for the Salvation Army, and had significantly pared down my wardrobe. Here's what remains:

The final result:

• 5 long-sleeved shirts
• 6 short-sleeved shirts
• 4 tank tops
• 4 nursing tanks
• 3 pairs of jeans
• 2 pairs of shorts
• 2 pairs of capris
• 1 sweatshirt
• 1 blouse (just in case)
• 1 dress (just in case)
• (I still have to go through my pajamas, but that should only take a few minutes.)

Looking at that list, it still seems like a lot, or perhaps my sense of reality is skewed. If it turns out I don't need that many things, I can pare down more later.

At some point I'll reduce Elias's clothes, although I'll allot him more since he gets dirtier.

Anna will be allowed as many clothes as I want because they're small, and because I waited my whole life to dress a girl and I'm not going to let small closets ruin my dream. Plus we opted for the larger wardrobe in the kids' room in lieu of the outdoor kitchen, so I might as well take advantage.