The Purge

The above clothing is pilled, ugly, ill-fitting, and frumpy, & I distinctly remember wearing the beige Banana Republic sweater while on an otherwise forgettable random Match.com date.  My husband and I have been together for over ten years now.  We did not meet on Match.com. 
 
That darn sweater’s been taunting me for several winters now.  I never felt really pulled together in it, but it’s really hard to let go of a sweater I know cost good money, and it still fit… but its best days were behind it.
 
I think I was in the right mood the day I did this.  I’d actually done a major pants purge last winter because, while I’m the same size I was pre-kids, not everything goes back to the same spot after you have kids.   Some of those pants were quite uncomfortable.  That made it easier to let go.  So I let go. 
 
Besides being motivated with the next phase of the project (buying new clothes!), I also found it easier to make the piles bigger because I had a plan for where everything was going.  NOTHING went in the trash. 
 
The “Tier One” clothing that I had just tired of went to an awesome consignment shop.   An awesome consignment shop is one that doesn’t smell like grandma’s house.  This one smells lovely, and it’s focused on a Reduce, Reuse, Recycle mission, which means I can also buy my favorite earth-friendly body products there (for free!) with store credit.   [Desert Essence is awesome and I've used it for the kids since they were babies.  If you're interested, I linked it at the bottom.]  Anything the shop didn’t want went straight to Tier Two (do not pass go, do not come back in my house).
 
“Tier Two” clothing (not in amazing shape, but still useful) went to the local food pantry.  They have a room where families can get clothing for free, so it stays right in the community and helps people out.
 
“Tier Three” clothing, for me, anyway, wasn’t stained or ripped.  I don’t have much trouble parting with those things.  Tier Three was mostly free tee shirts.  When you work in a school and do volunteer work, you find yourself swimming in free tee shirts.  So hard to part with them, but not enough days in the month to wear them all… and I’m pretty sure I’ll feel frumpy looking at myself in the mirror in a “Thanks for Volunteering in 2008!" shirt.  I let go of the thicker ones (they’re never as comfy), the repeats, & the awkwardly long, hugs-my-hips-‘til-it-restricts-movement tees.  All of those can go to a cloth recycling bin I found.  They’ll take old towels and blankets, too.  Nothing goes in a landfill!
 
Anything to help the environment and relieve the guilt of getting rid of a Banana Republic sweater.