Sunday 1 May 2011

It might come in useful...

Oh, that fateful phrase. In homes everywhere, it has filled lofts and garages and sheds full off stuff that just might, one day...well, you know what I mean.

This morning, with a nice free day (visiting grandchildren, Easter, royal wedding etc all behind me) I decided to rid my wardrobe of old/unwanted/mistakenly-bought clothes. So far so good. The pile on the bed built up nicely. The hangers clattered emptily. I began to feel pleasantly smug.

But hang on a minute...This might still fit (tried it on. It did); this doesn't look too bad after all (back it went); this was so expensive, I can't just get rid of it (ditto). And so on.

I have washed the few thing that I really, really don't want, and will iron them and take them to Oxfam. The rest...well, they might - they just might - come in useful. As for the things still languishing in the washing machine, I've been thinking. They're in good nick, and they're clean now. I might try them on once more. Just to make sure I'm doing the right thing...

7 comments:

  1. I'm the opposite - don't know what the term is for the opposite of hoarder, but I'm one of them.

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  2. I go through my wardrobe once or twice a year and I've learnt to be quite ruthless...although most of my old clothes end up in my daughter's wardrobe ~ I look at that as a sort of compliment!

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  3. I've been tidying the garden of our new (to us at least) house. The same principle applies if it is your own garden (in a previous house I had a dead redcurrent bush that I couldnt dig up because someone had given it to us as a present. I dont even like redcurrents, or as I have just discovered know how to spell their name). In a new garden though, with great satisfaction I can happily shred every last one of the wretched looking plants they passed on to me. I dont suppose the same can ever come of a wardrobe though.

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  4. Patsy, I envy you!

    Akasha, with me, it's the other way round. My daughter passes (very classy) clothes on to me. I'm definitely keeping all of those.

    Barnaby, I know all about your hoarding habits. When are you going to come and collect all your stuff? (in case anyone wonders, Barnaby - usually known as Barney - is my son)? And no. You can't shred a wardrobe.

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  5. We're having to go through our own house and chuck stuff out to make room for the stuff we've brought back from my late mother-in-law's house - and most of it's not staying, we just need room to store it for a while. I'm dreading going through my wardrobe and chucking things out - I'll have nothing left if I do the 'if it's not been worn this year, throw it out' rule. If I was a different woman, I'd be rubbing my hands in glee at the thought of clothes shopping but, sadly, I hate shopping for clothes as I can never find anything that I like that actually fits my gangly frame!
    word verification - argoss - perhaps it's a sign...

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  6. Not gangly, Alis. Statuesque!

    As for the "stuff", I recommend skips. There's something enormously therapeutic about chucking things into a skip (we filled three when we last moved house).

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  7. Frances, you're too kind! And yes, I can definitely see a skip looming somewhere in my future!

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