There is something uniquely attractive about open space in a closet.
When was the last time you saw a staged photo of a closet stuffed to overflowing with clothes? Rarely, if ever. Instead, clothes hang neatly and are organized tidily–with room for air and energy and open spaces. This is attractive to most of us but many of us don’t bother with learning how to get rid of clothes for a minimalist closet.
Instead, our closets are stuffed full of shirts and pants and shoes and belts and jackets. We run out of hangers or shelf space, and then we shop for storage solutions so we can store even more clothes. Our closets become cluttered all too quickly.
Still, we are drawn to the idea of a thinned-out, minimalist closet.
Of course, they offer more benefits than simple beauty. It saves time in the morning (and sometimes, the evening). It reduces stress and frustration. It saves money. There is a special pleasure reserved for those who look in their closet and love everything they see.
If you are looking for help on how to get rid of clothes and form a more minimalist closet, here are nine simple tips to get you started:
1. Start easy. Begin by removing the clothes that are stained, ripped, or faded beyond recognition. Items that are no longer in wearable condition can still be donated.
2. Remove seasonal items. Remove off-season clothing from your closet to free up some needed space. If you didn’t wear an item at all last year, get rid of it. Then, store the remaining pieces in a separate closet where they will not be in your way cluttering up your closet.
3. Get rid of clothes that don’t fit once and for all. If you’re in-between sizes, certainly keep some clothing from both. But if you haven’t cleaned out your closet for quite some time, there are likely a number of ill-fitting items that can be removed entirely—whether you changed sizes, the item shrunk or stretched, or it never did fit quite right. Those ill-fitting items are weighing you down physically, mentally, and emotionally. Pass them on to someone who can use them.
4. Reduce your need for additional accessories. If you’re holding on to something until you find the “perfect accessory,” let it go. Clothes often multiply in our closets because of the Diderot effect (one purchase leads to another, which leads to another). In the future, look for pieces that compliment your existing accessory pile. After all, if you’re constantly adding things to your closet, you’ll never get ahead (not in your closet and not in your checkbook).
5. Consider the idea of one. If one can be enough, embrace it. Rather than owning an entire assortment, try owning just your favorite black dress, belt, handbag, or jacket (just to name a few ideas). A closet filled with only things you love and use will be a closet that you love to use.
6. Reassess current trend purchases. The fashion industry gets rich on one principle: constantly changing fashion trends. You see, the fashion industry cannot survive on people buying only the clothes they need. So the industry invents false need by boldly declaring new fashion trends and colors for every changing season. But you don’t to have fall for their tricks. Find your favorite timeless fashion and start playing by your own rules.
7. Physically handle every item. If you want to make significant progress thinning out your closet, remove every item entirely from the closet. Return only the pieces you truly love. If that task seems too overwhelming, complete the process in sections (i.e. shoes today, shirts tomorrow). However you seek to accomplish this project, it is important that you physically handle each item at some point. The physical touch forces decisions.
8. If all else fails, pick a number. To start, choose 10. Thumb through the clothes in your closet and remove 10 items—any 10 you want. Put them in a bag and drop off at your nearest donation center. Likely, you will find the task was not that difficult. In fact, once you get started, you may find 15 or 20 things to remove without even breaking a sweat.
9. Experiment with less. Test your assumptions about the optimal amount of clothing with a few, simple experiments. Try placing half of your clothing in a different room for two weeks. You will be surprised how much easier is to function and get ready with fewer clothes in your closet. Most of us wear 20% of our clothing 80% of the time and would live much happier with fewer wardrobe choices than we have now. But you’ll never realize that until you test it out.
There are many reasons the capsule wardrobe movement is growing so rapidly. A thinned out minimalist wardrobe is less stressful, less time-consuming, and more convenient. You’ll love it once you experience it yourself.
And there’s no time like the present to get started.
About Joshua Becker
Wow, some of these comments/stories are sad. Lots of addiction. If your son or husband are bothered by it, you should be as well. They don’t care about the volume of stuff, they’re concerned about you, and responding with “sorry, it’s who I am, deal with it” is just plain selfish. Enabling this behavior with extra closet-rooms, garages, etc. is def. not normal…its hoarding, gluttony and it is enslaving you. The article discusses logical steps to minimize any trauma associated with change of these behaviors and it does ‘snowball’ in a very productive way for once you take the first step. We started 1-bin of baby/toddler clothes at a time.,,,our only child is 28 so we’ve been storing 7-8 bins of that stuff a long time! Finally, (we) realize, clothes are NOT keepsakes! We have progressed to other closets and realize how foolish accumulation is.
I found several local community groups we prefer donating wearable clothing , as well as household items. One is the family relief centers for families in crisis and the other is the high school. The crisis center business office is where I deliver mine after calling to make sure they need the items. The high school is always looking for items for students that are in need. Amazing what the staff do for that larger than you want to believe group of kids. Just a few ideas that work well for us and the recipients. This is not for everyone, but wanted to mention it. Last, please be kind before you submit a comment to good people giving heartfelt input. Be Kind and Generous in what you give including your words.
I tried it and it is no help.
did you really try it? or did you juust rush
same for me.
I recently retired as a pr professional. I have a room with a window that is outfitted with the California concept closet system. As a child I didn’t have many clothes. At 16 I had my first job after school,and that’s where it started. At 58, there are stacks of clothes everywhere in the bedroom, even in the whirl pool tub. Like a previous poster, I dressed as a costume or mood. Before children would buy only designer fashion. I have also enjoyed shopping at thrift. I’ve gained weight since covid and teleworking… my goal, to free myself. The past two weeks, I have gifted friends and donated to charity 47 xtra large lawn bags full of purses, shoes and clothing. It’s certainly overwhelming. My goal is to have our master bedroom and slower room floors clear. There is no way I will wear all these clothes. All the Talbots jackets, suits etc are gone. I kept a few of the more expensive ones. Coach bags, dooney, lv given to a friend.. there is still so much. I will have to do a second purge. I also have a problem with buying vintage dishes, linens.. and a garage full of furniture and other home decor. I’ve given myself 6 months to get this done! Please cheer me on. I want to be able to travel, paint, renovate etc with my free time and space! We have a 4 bedroom, 4 bath home and empty nest.
Good for you! Keep going! I recently got my travel trailer back with all my stuff in it and instead of being excited, I dreaded putting everything away. It’s fun to pick the favorites, the things you teach for over and over, instead of finding room for so much you won’t use.
Brave! 🥳 congratulations
Just thought of something ironic. One of the comments was that there is incredible poverty in South Africa, and some of the people only have the clothes on their back. And here we are trying to get rid of as many things as possible. In a way, the articles ultimate goal would be to have very few items, ie, only the clothes on our back. So in some weird way, the people that don’t have anything are already in the position we’re trying to get to. Difference is one is by choice and one is by circumstance, but either way, it’s the same… in a way…
Are you an author?
I love your site, and on a personal note, fell in love with the Mari Kondo ideas.
I have simplified my wardrobe and the more I give away, the better I feel. 1 new item in then 2 out works very well and then you only buy what is needed eg new white shirts. Sort your clothes and you find old favorites hiding under other shirts.
We have incredible poverty in South Africa and the churches collect for the homeless so it’s very easy to part with clothes one doesn’t need. Some of them only own what they are wearing!!
Just a thought nobody needs more than 1 tracksuit, trainers etc. give and you will feel lighter
I recently moved into a home w/fewer closets & space for me to hang & store my clothes. Paring down was necessary. I realize I have a “sickness” when it comes to clothes. I love them! I tend to buy classics & only in pure materials i.e. cotton, wool, silk, linen. I don’t buy trendy pieces. I’ve owned some of them since I was in college & I’m 60! I was a theater major & think perhaps the idea of clothing as costumes is how I view them? I dress depending on weather, mood (how I’d like to feel that day), where I’m going & what I’ll be doing. Putting together an outfit is enjoyable to me. I will admit I have, for instance many white shirts, from casual to very dressy. When I pared down I first tried on each & every item, making sure it fit & that there were no stains or tears, buttons missing & so on, discarding those that didn’t pass the test. I also donated everything I hadn’t worn in the last 2 years. I am not exaggerating when I say that I gave away at least 40 large 42-gallon garbage bags full, making a minimum of 8 trips to thrift stores to donate them, leading up the rear of my SUV. I still have completely filled the 2 closets plus have 3 very large piles of hanging clothes neatly stacked on the bedroom floors. In addition, I have 12 large clear, plastic bins full of t-shirts, sweaters & pants, plus a few laundry baskets-full. It tore my heart out to part with some of the items I did but I forced myself to be brutal & ruthless. I also have 4 dressers, only 1 if which is large. I don’t know what to do now? There’s nowhere to store the clothing in piles or bins. I know it is not normal & unrealistic to have so many clothes. My son says I could change clothes twice a day for the rest of my life, and never wear the same thing twice. While that might be an exaggeration, I know it’s probably close to the truth. My clothes are my personality. They’re like a part of me; they’re like my “friends”. There are quite a few things I wear over & over. In winter, I always wear a camisole w/a turtleneck under everything as I’m always cold. I have 2 bins that are just turtlenecks of every thickness and color. I like having options but it can sometimes take me a long time to choose an outfit for the day. People often comment on what a “fashionista” I am & I admit I enjoy that. I give a lot of clothing to friends. If they admire something, I’ll often just give it to them. I have acquired the majority of my clothing from thrift shops. I am very good at finding quality items, often w/the price tag still on. I’ve spent $25 & gotten 2 large bags full of clothes at a time! It’s like a “high” for me to go into a thrift shop & do my thing! It gives me a great deal of enjoyment. I don’t know why or when this obsession originated? I also realize it probably isn’t considered normal; but I don’t know how to go about changing this part of me or even if I want to? The motivation to change would be to make my family happy, not myself. I’ve been trying but it’s very hard & I just don’t know how to pare down even more than I already have. Ideally, I would like to make 1 bedroom (of 3) a dressing room & store all my clothes neatly in there, purchasing garment racks to hang the clothes that don’t fit in the closet and some sort of cubes or other neat & attractive way to store the clothes currently in bins. I have a friend who’s done this and it works very well for her as I believe it would for me. My problem here is that my son very generously purchased the house for me & basically insists that I continue to get rid of clothes until they all fit in what’s currently available. I’ve done my best to accommodate him by getting rid of so many clothes already. I am very grateful to him but feel that he doesn’t live here and if he truly wants me to be happy, he’d accept my idea of the dressing room. I would promise to stop buying very many additional clothes & for each new item I should purchase, at least one old one would have to go. I think that’s fair but he’s not buying it. I’m at a loss to know what to do? I don’t do this with anything else; I’m not a hoarder; it’s just the clothes that have become a problem. Any insights or suggestions would be appreciated.
Hi Lori, I read through your post, and I can definitely relate to your issue. We moved about 2 years ago to a new home with less closet space, and I still have a garage filled with totes that have clothes in them. I am trying to unpack these totes but it is so frustrating because there is not enough room in my house for the items. I am trying to go through and eliminate as much as possible, but it is very hard because they are very nice pieces that I purchased at Macy’s and Von Maur, or other boutiques. I find it extremely depressing going through the items. My passion is fashion! I love shopping for clothes, purses, and shoes. It truly makes me feel good dressing each morning and coordinate my outfit! My husband tells me that I am not normal, and wants me to get rid of a lot of the things I have. I don’t think that he realizes how sad this makes me. He does not understand that this is who I am and have always been. He tells me that I ‘hoard’ clothes. I am definitely not a hoarder.. I like to keep things organized by type and color so that I can find what I am looking for and so that I can coordinate an outfit. I also have been the same size for many years, so it’s not like the pieces do not fit anymore. Were you able to figure out a way to reduce your wardrobe successfully? I am having a very hard time parting with things without feeling mentally exhausted. Maybe I should get rid of the husband instead?
Lori & Rebecca, I can relate to both of you. I was an immigrant to the US and moved here with my family of 5 with 6 suitcases total. I had to leave behind clothes, toys, books, you name it. I think that developed an insecurity in me that also creates some sort of satisfaction and pleasure at purchasing clothes- plus, I love to dress up!
So… fast forward 40 years. I am currently emptying out my closet because I have to climb on piles of clothes. I know it’s wrong and somewhere the line got crossed. I would like to tell you “THANK YOU” for being so open and honest here. I was feeling very anxious about cleaning out my closet and reading your views helped me to see my own feelings reflected.
I think it’s okay to have a love for clothes – I want to validate that.
I think it’s okay to let some go, especially when they stop making you feel good and start causing anxiety (as in my case!).
I think YOU (not your son, not your husband, not any others who don’t “get it”) need to be the one to say what and when. For me, it was getting out of hand and I know it.
So… wish me luck as I clean out this week! :) I have one trash bag size going to a friend and one to donation so far. I have a ways to go! :)
Dear Lori,
Please turn the bedroom into the walking closet your heart desires. Your son might have bought you the house, but he’s not the boss of you. No one is and you are free to make the choices you wish in your home.
Life is short and as we all are now experiencing we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, so might as well do what makes us happy.
Btw, there is nothing wrong with you. You sound like a creative soul who expresses herself through what she wears.
Susan
Dear Lori,
As Susan said, you can make the bedroom a walk in closet. Its all great to be creative. I downsized several times starting in 2010. I found my style in 2020. Mom passed away May 2019 and I received most of her dress clothes. I was not her size and the style belonged to her. I had three white trash bags to donate. With the pandemic, the Family Outlet took everything first of August. I have two dressers, small type and will go through those and get the types of pants organized. I might have had a sickness too, I had an abusive marriage of 26 years and worked as nurse wearing scrubs for 36 years. Best wishes in these months and years ahead I’ll be 62 in October and I look forward to my creative side too.
As a yoga teacher, my work clothes are yoga pants. To my dismay, discovered, I own 35 yoga pants. Thought I needed more until I actually looked at all I had. Have weeded and donated 10. This was the first pass, want to eliminate more.
Love having ab emptier closet but lately it’s piling up again. This had inspired me to get in there and clean it out again.
“Items that are no longer in wearable condition can still be donated.” ??
For whom to be worn? Some respect, please for the less fortunate.
Heard of fabric recycling?
If you tell Goodwill or Savers that some of the clothes have a stain, or missing a button etc…they will set them aside for their BULK transfers. These are clothing items that get SOLD to a purchaser who CLEANS SHREDS & REUSES MATERIAL IN OTHER PRODUCTS LIKE STUFFED ANIMALS. some of the clothing is also given by these organizations to Truly Impoverished countries orphanages etc. ( ie: the kid in the Nike shirt in the World Relief or Christian Children’s Fundraising ad. etc. really doesn’t mind a small stain. It was free and he’s thankful.)
I agree. If it is of such poor condition that you do not wear it, please do not donate it for the less fortunate to wear.
My local thrift shops lament the amount of money they have to spend for the extra trash that people dump on them.
Many thrift stores bale and donate the clothing for fabric recycling
Most thrift shops have sources where they resell textiles that are stained, too worn, etc. to sell. They get paid a set price per pound. We also recycle worn out small appliances, Cut the ends off the cords and recycle the cords and metal recycling for what we can. People buy cotton towels, etc, that are too shabby for human use for rags and also for one time use – cleaning up oil, etc. When donating please tell the people that it is for the penny a pound or whatever recycling purpose there is.
I agree. I only donate items in “good” condition.
They are sold as rags in bulk. Cotton is used in papermaking.
Yes, it’s a great idea, but where I live there isn’t a place that does that.
There used to be but it closed
I was thinking the same thing, why would you donate scrap clothing ??
The donation place can’t sell it, so now they have to pay to have dumpster of junk trashed. I cut up things that can be used as cleaning rags, and unfortunately add the rest to the landfill 🙁
We recently travelled in a camptrailer for a fortnight and I gave the children a very strict packing list. They did so well! We found a washing machine every third day. Some items they were persuaded to wear multiple times which is different to usual. I could have taken less but was hoping for a warm beach day, which didn’t happen. Our biggest issue was socks. Four pairs each didn’t seem to be enough, and they are easily lost, got wet, etc. And towels that didn’t dry properly. We managed, though.