What happens to our clothes when they’re no longer new | Fashion advice from The Closet Coach

For today’s Fashion Beauty Friend Friday, we’re talking about what happens “After the wearing.”

I was lucky enough to find these white linen Giorgio Armani pants on consignment

Armani pants, bought on consignment. Score!

1. How often do you go through your closet to purge the things you no longer wear?

A well-edited closet is my eternal dream, but it’s always a work in progress and progress requires a process. There are two main times when I remove things from my wardrobe:

When I buy something new. Since I have a fixed amount of space in my actual closet, adding something new frequently requires removing something old. If I’ve bought a replacement item–like an updated version of something I already own–this process is much simpler. For other garments, I stop and look at what’s hanging there, then ask myself: Am I still wearing this item? Do I feel fabulous every time I wear it? (When *is* the last time I wore it, anyway?) If it’s a “no,” out it comes.
When I rotate my seasonal clothing. Speaking of having finite space, I can’t even have all of my clothes out at one time; in the summer, for example, I put the bulky winter things in storage in the basement. When I go to swap one season for another, I examine everything as I remove it from storage and ask the same questions as above.

If I’m ever in doubt about something, I pull it out and set it aside. Chances are, I’ll forget about it completely, making it that much easier to purge when I find it again.

2. What do you do with the things you are through with?

The vast majority of them are donated to charity. If I have anything of good quality or value, then I’ll try to consign it.

3. Have you ever sold on consignment or through online boutiques? What has your experience been like?

Yes. I consign through Secondi here in DC. They are long-time pros who know what they’re doing so the experience is always efficient and professional. I’ve been lucky enough to sell several items this way and it’s always nice to make a little profit off of that closet edit!

4. More and more people are concerned about the fast rotation of fashion and how that is filling our landfills. What are you doing to decrease your clothing trash pile?

I never throw any clothing away. Perhaps I’m naiive about what happens to the clothes I donate, but I always hope they’re purchased from the thrift store.

5. What’s been your favorite/best score from a thrift store or consignment shop?

Either my white linen Giorgio Armani pants or my Diane Von Furstenburg wrap dress, both purchased from the aforementioned Secondi.

[This post is part of Modly Chic’s Fashion Beauty Friend Fridays.]

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