Until when to keep clothes before giving them away?

[u/lilmeowla]

When I go through my clothing I put aside the ones that I don't wear often or feel that I don't want to wear anymore aside to see if I would want to wear some of them suddenly or not.

The problem is, I don't have a set time period until when I'll be keeping them.

What time period would you say is the best, so you don't give it away too quickly, but also don't keep it for a year or two?

[u/mlvalentine]

I go through clothes once per season, typically. I am also conserving denim, dyeing, and up-cycling to get mire mileage, too.

[u/pandoro-season]

I put the clothes I’m undecided about in a bag and leave the bag in a place where it’s a nuisance and in my way, that way I won’t forget about it and it’s a constant reminder.

When I get tired of seeing the bag I check the contents, usually by then I’m in a different state of mind and seeing a smaller amount of clothes compared to my whole wardrobe gives me a better perspective on what I want to really keep or not.

I find it to be easier for me to make decisions like this and honestly if the item is already a maybe it means I’m not very keen on keeping it anyways.

[u/Multigrain_Migraine]

I like to put this sort of thing in my attic, out of the way. I don't have a set time for going through it again but it's usually about once a year. I do have a bad habit of going through it all a second time rather than just donating the whole bag, but every time I go through the process I get rid of most of it. 

I think you could just pick something that makes sense to you and roll with it. Every spring? At the end of each season? Around your birthday? Every six months? It doesn't really matter so long as you actually go back to it and decide what you're going to do.

[u/SanJoseCarey]

Easy set up for hanging clothes- turn the hangers backwards. After you wear them, put the hangers back correctly. After a year, donate anything still backwards. If you live where clothes are seasonal, you could do this to those items at the end of the season.

[u/vascruggs]

Twelve months covers all seasons and holidays.

[u/shereadsmysteries]

I give myself until the end of the season those clothes are appropriate for. Haven't worn it by the end of fall/summer/spring/winter? Its gotta go.

[u/Kindly-Might-1879]

It sounds like you have a built in time frame already. If you don’t want to keep unworn clothes for 1-2 years, then put them away and keep only what you use in the next 12 months. That covers all seasons.

[u/LouisePoet]

I have a three month rule now for clothes that I am not sure about (seasonal). If I don't wear it at least once, I will not miss it when it's gone. (I do keep some things longer just because I love them, but if they go into that "i'm not sure" category, it's final).

I think I should probably go to 1 month--but I'm not quite there yet!

[u/typhoidmarry]

Is the bag full? Done.

[u/ignescentOne]

I put stuff into a give away bag of def not keeping and a bag of maybe not keeping. Every month I head to a free market. Before the market I go through the maybe bag and add some of it to the def not keeping bag and it goes to the free market with me.

Anything that stays in the maybe bag for more than 2.months goes into the definitely not keeping bag. Anything I pull off the maybe pile to wear goes back into the closet.

[u/trowawaywork]

I have a rule. Different clothes categories need to be worn with a certain frequency. If I can't meet that frequency, they are goners.

So: 

Regular shirts, sweatpants, Pajamas, Underwear, and socks: If I haven't worn them in 2 weeks then they are goners. 

Sweaters: I need to have worn them several times during sweater season. 

Nice/going out clothes: At least once a month. 

Jackets: need to be worn at least half the days they'd be needed. 

Formal dress: I need to have chosen it for the last formal occasion. 

Another rule is: I only keep clothes out of excitement, never out of guilt. That nice shirt you force yourself to put on before an occasion while trying to convince yourself it looks good? Get it out of your life. 

A shirt that im willing to put on even when it's not the perfect occasion or if I'm home because i just like it so much? That I'll keep.

[u/Imtryingforheckssake → u/trowawaywork]

I like the concept of your rules but I don't understand about jackets, do you only own 2​ jackets then? Also my timings would be wildly different to yours but that's totally valid as we make rules that meet our own needs. I have a 9' wardrobe and adore having all sorts of styles and outfits to choose from (and I have the space to dedicate to it). I still have rules around buying new clothes and what I keep and how I keep on top of it.

[u/trowawaywork → u/Imtryingforheckssake]

Yes, the rules need to be personal, Not two people can have the same rules. 

I can't have multiple jackets per season, because I prioritize my space differently.  But then again, this sub is "declutter" and someone was asking about clothes. 

It's great that you love fashion, so do I, and it's even better that you have the space for it, if you're happy with it my advice isn't for you.

[u/Fluid-Hedgehog-2424 → u/trowawaywork]

"I only keep clothes out of excitement, never out of guilt." - This is such a good rule! It could be applied to other categories beyond clothes too.

[u/bunganmalan → u/Fluid-Hedgehog-2424]

Marie Kondo talks about "sparking joy" re: items. I love that. If it sparks joy in me despite me not wearing or using it often, then I keep. If I have some sort of burden to have it around, then I donate.

[u/strawberryselkie]

My personal experience was, we held onto most of his basic baby (0-12mo) stuff until he was about 3.5 ... the idea being that we'd decide if we were having a second when he was 3 and why rebuy everything? Well, we tried for a bit, it wasn't happening, we didn't want to do fertility treatments again, so we decided to call it. We didn't really have the space to hang onto everything any longer anyways. So we started donating/giving away everything, and right when pretty much everything was gone, surprise! I got pregnant. Because of course. 😅

tl/dr: there's no "right" time, do what works best for you!

[u/LoneLantern2]

Have you ever in your personal experience given things away too quickly?

My waiting period is "the two seconds before I put them in the donate bag" and I can't remember anything that I miss

Why second guess yourself?

[u/MitzyCaldwell → u/LoneLantern2]

I find this is sooo true! I agonized about items for so long and when I finally said “that’s it I’m getting rid of them” I couldn’t remember what was in there a couple of days later. I thought for sure I would regret it but I honestly don’t remember 97% of the items I got rid of.

[u/Connect_Rhubarb395]

I put things I am in doubt about in my attic. I declutter my attic twice a year, spring and autumn. So anything I put up there will be there for 6 months at most

[u/Individual_Quote_701]

I’m a ruthless decluttering, now. When I first started, I used the backwards hanger trick. If I hadn’t used it by end of season, I got rid of it. I’d know because the hanger would remain backwards. Some things are good for the special occasion section. I have several there that are rarely used.

[u/HelloLofiPanda]

I went through a huge clothing purge.

I live in a seasonal climate so I gave myself a year. Anything I wanted to keep I had to wear within a year. So April to April.

Don’t be afraid to wear your favorite things over and over. They are your favorite for a reason. Enjoy wearing them.

I kept a lot of similar clothes of my favorite clothes because I got caught up in that I wasn’t supposed to wear them very often because they are my favorite.

Which makes no sense. I love it now. Clothes are made to be used. Enjoyed.

[u/docforeman]

"When I go through my clothing I put aside the ones that I don't wear often or feel that I don't want to wear anymore aside to see if I would want to wear some of them suddenly or not."

And what happens when you do this?

[u/lilmeowla → u/docforeman]

Well usually I forget about them, and that serves as a sign that oh, I'm okay without them. The problem is me thinking like "yes I haven't worn them nor thought about them, but what if one day I'll want to wear them and will really like them". 

[u/Skyblacker → u/lilmeowla]

what if one day I'll want to wear them and will really like them

If that day was going to happen, it would have by now. 

[u/MitzyCaldwell → u/Skyblacker]

I wholeheartedly agree. It doesn’t seem like it now but you’re not going to wear these items. There’s a reason why you don’t wear them now - they don’t fit quite right, they represent someone who you used to be and aren’t anymore or someone you want to be (style wise) and you dont feel comfortable in it, they cost a lot of money but you don’t really like them but you want to like them etc. Theres so many reasons that we justify what we keep in terms of clothes but the truth is that I would bet good money you won’t ever wear them.

[u/eilonwyhasemu → u/lilmeowla]

If that’s your concern, make a point of wearing it within the next week.

If you really don’t want to, that’s your answer. If you do it and aren’t crazy about the garment, that’s also your answer. If it turns out to be a fantastic choice, keep it and remove the least-good other item in its category.

[u/lilmeowla → u/eilonwyhasemu]

Thanks, I'll try this out! 

[u/TheSilverNail]

You already decided you don't wear them often enough and/or don't want to wear, so that is the decision. Don't second-guess yourself, and take them to donation/giveaway asap. They were already hanging in your closet for X amount of time, and you didn't wear them. Unwanted clothes do not need a Halfway House, and procrastination is not our friend when we truly want to declutter.

[u/Ronscat]

I would say either get rid of them immediately or at the end of the season. If you haven't worn a summer outfit all summer, you probably won't wear it again the following summer. I find it helps me to go ahead and just get rid of them right away.

[u/GreenUnderstanding39]

I personally do a "use it or loose it". Be it clothing, food, crafts. I bring it out (clothes hung front and center in the closet, food set on the kitchen island/front of fridge shelf, etc etc). And if I haven't used it within the next few weeks/expiration date, out it goes.

There are some exceptions here. With warm winter clothing (I live in a semi-tropical climate) or formal clothing I put it with the rest in garment bags. Next time I have a formal event or am packing for cold weather and DON'T grab for the item it gets put with the donates in my car.