Round She Goes is run by Emma Morris. Emma loves vintage clothes, designer bargains, op shop treasures and getting crafty. Round She Goes brings all of these favourite things together.
I love my stuff. I LOVE my clothes, jewellery and bags. I love how much joy my vintage things bring me. But even us collectors and hoarders need to occasionally do a cull to make room for more treasures.
I can’t be bothered with that ‘turn the coat hanger around and if you haven’t worn it in 6 months get rid of it’ type advice. Instead, I’ve put together my top 5 tips for decluttering your wardrobe without being too ruthless.
- One-by-One: Consider every single piece of clothing/jewellery/accessories that you have. It’s probably best to set aside at least half a day (or a full day if you have a lot). I like the Konmari idea of considering each item and question whether it sparks joy.
- Keep the things that are special to you: When considering each piece, put back in your wardrobe all the non-negotiables. Your go-to black dress, your favourite shoes, your everyday clothes you wear to work, that sort of things. When it comes to vintage, sometimes you’ll never find that special piece again – I get it!
- Say goodbye to those ill-fitting garments:
Now deal with the leftovers. What to say goodbye to:
Unless it’s a rare or valuable collector’s item, get rid of things that don’t fit you anymore. Often, ill-fitting clothes are unflattering anyway, so let it spark joy for someone else but letting it go and sell these things at the market. The same goes with anything that is uncomfortable to wear, jeans are the worst for me. And Pretty shoes that hurt like hell have to go! - Get rid of the samey-samey surplus:
Now consider if you have items that are really similar to each other as you probably just need to keep one version. For example, I have about five glomesh bags, but really, I have one favourite and that’s my go-to. The others I can sell. Put back your favourite version and say goodbye to your least-favourite. As you do this step, it gets easier with each piece you look at to know ‘yay or ‘nay’. - Sort out the leftovers: Now it’s time to sort out the stuff that’s going into piles.
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- PILE ONE: This is the pile of excellent-items you’ll take to Round She Goes. (Also, when Round She Goes finishes at 3pm, there will be a Red Cross donation bin).
- PILE TWO: Anything that can go to the op shop now. This includes any cheap brands that have zero resale-value. Check brands on ebay and see whether they are selling (or not).
- PILE THREE: The you can’t sell or donate: stuff that has holes, stains or lost it’s shape, the colour has run and so on. Don’t send damaged or stained clothing to the op shop, that’s just shifting the burden to them. Frankie Magazine put together an excellent list of places you can take clothing in Australia, depending on what it is.
Now your wardrobe should be looking a bit thinner – how good does that feel, it’s so much better to look only at things you can wear anytime! I would aim to do this at least once a year.
