Sustainable Fashion · Dec 01, 2021

Clean Out And Consign Your Closet For The New Year

by Carmen Lopez

Clean Out and Consign Craving Current

Did you make a New Year’s resolution to clean up your life? No matter what you’re planning to achieve this year, starting with a clean, mess-free, de-cluttered life will help you get there. The less disorder and chaos, the more room you make for growth and expansion. It’s time to clean out and consign your closet for the New Year.

And that starts in your closet! You go to your closet at least once a day, and it’s usually in the morning right as you wake up before you’ve even had your first cup of coffee. Your closet is how you start your day. An untidy or cluttered closet can lead to a cluttered mind. But a clean, fresh, cared for closet will instantly revive your entire physical space (and headspace) so you’re ready to take on the day every single day.

What are the benefits of a clean closet?

Cuts down the time it takes you to get ready (so you can sleep later or get to work earlier)
Ensures you can always find your favorite outfits in a snap
Gets rid of clothes that don’t make you feel incredible and positive
Clears out those clothes that could be better used by someone else (giving clothes away can seriously improve someone else’s life)
Helps you meet your style goals and take your wardrobe to the next level
Frees up space for new, higher-quality clothing pieces and accessories
Minimizes stress and decision fatigue
Gives you cash back (if you sell on consignment)
Helps you play your role in minimizing the textile waste problem in America

How can you cleanout your closet to make space for the best year you’ve ever had? Below, we make a closet detox super easy.

Clean closet and make four piles

Start by making four “piles” of clothes.

Keep in closet
Store away
Sell on consignment
Donate/recycle

So how do you decide which pile to put your clothes in?

Start with two piles: a “mine” and a “gone” pile. Then ask yourself the following questions.

(Any items that have sentimental value, you don’t have to get rid of. But you might want to store them if they don’t fit.)

Does it fit? If yes, continue to the following questions. If no, put in the “gone” pile. Only keep clothes that don’t fit if they are motivators to help you lose or gain weight to live a healthier lifestyle. In most cases, though, you want clothes that feel good right now.
When was the last time I wore this item? If you’ve worn it in the last four seasons, continue to the following questions. If you can’t remember the last time you’ve worn it, put it in the “gone” pile now.
Will you wear it in the next six months? If you know you would wear this outfit tomorrow (weather permitting), then it’s worth keeping in your closet. If you can’t think of a time you’d wear this article except for really rare occasions, like attending the Queen’s coronation, then put it in the “gone” pile now.
How much do you like this item? If you don’t feel incredibly gorgeous and wildly confident in this outfit, put it in the gone pile.

Note: Get rid of those old “hang out” clothes. They’re not making you feel like your most beautiful, poised self. You should feel your best in your clothes 24/7—even when hanging out around the house.

Now you’re going to go through the mine and gone piles individually.

For mine, you’ll have the option to keep it or store it.

You’ll want to keep those items that you wear frequently, that fit well, and that are in season. You can store away any items that you don’t wear but have sentimental value or items that are out of season. Your storage pile should be the smallest, because you don’t want to keep clothes that aren’t wearable or important to you.

As you’re going through the mine pile, try to rethink all of the pieces and see if any more articles can go in the “gone” pile. If you don’t 100% love this piece of clothing, it doesn’t belong in your closet.

For gone, you’ll have the option to sell, donate, or recycle.

If the item is high quality, designer, and gently worn, you will likely want to sell it. You’ll be able to get some cash back for cleaning out your closet, so you have some extra dough to help you hit your other new years resolutions!

If the item is a bit worn or it’s not from a known brand (like your high school basketball team T-shirt), it will likely do best as a donation to a local cause. Charities can use these to help clothe local families or even use the textiles for other purposes, like blankets for dogs in shelters!

If the item is really worn out, you’ll want to recycle the fabric. Don’t throw out old fabrics if possible. The average American throws away about 81 pounds of clothing every year—even though 95% of used textiles can be recycled. Don’t be part of the fast-fashion waste. Not only does this fill up our landfills and waste precious resources, but also synthetic clothing can take hundredsof years to breakdown! And the longer items sit in landfills, the more carbon they let out into the air, which can contribute to climate change and environmental concerns.

Keep

Take one last look at the keep pile. Answer these questions:

Do I look and feel incredible in this piece of clothing?
Is it holding up well?
Does it match with my other favorite articles of clothing?
Is it high-maintenance? (Dry-clean only items are a lot more work, so you’ll want to take that into consideration.)

If the item meets your criteria, put it back in your closet!

But don’t just throw it all back in there. Your New Year’s resolution is to make your life and closet easier long-term. So you want to organize your space so you’ll create a more streamlined and efficient getting ready process. We recommend organizing your closet into the following sections (but do what feels most comfortable to you):

Everyday blouses
Dress-up blouses
Long-sleeves
Jeans
Pants
Skirts
Dresses
Work attire
T-shirts
Sweaters
Cardigans
Workout clothes
Sleep clothes

Don’t forget to organize your shoes and accessories too! These work well in dresser drawers or bins on shelves.

Treat your closet like it’s straight out of a magazine or a blogger’s Pinterest. Invest in non-slip hangers. Put everything facing in the same direction. Organize by design or color. You deserve to have a social-media worthy closet, because it will make you look as fancy and chic as you feel! Check out these closet organization tips by House Beautiful.

Store.

You want to store away items that have sentimental value or aren’t in season. You can store them in boxes, put them in the attic, or even rent a small storage unit (depending on how much space you have in your home).

Be careful when storing clothing. Pests dust, and moisture can eat away at fabric over time if you don’t properly care for and package articles for storage. Start by learning how to care for your clothing to make them last longer. Then learn how to safely and successfully store your clothes away here.

Sell

This is my favorite option—and for a good reason! Not only do you get to clean out your closet for a minimalistic, stress-free space, but you also get cash back for your hard work! That’s an awesome win-win.

If you have gently worn, high-quality clothing that is looking for a new home, selling it is the best solution.This is where consignment shops like Current Boutique come in. We’re the consignment shop made specifically for fashion lovers looking to buy and sell their favorite designer clothing.

You have three options for selling us your clothing:

In-Store Drop Off: You walk into one of our store locations, and a store member will review your items for you—quick and easy!
Mail In: You can request a pre-paid shipping label, fill out the Listing Form and Consignment Agreement, and ship your package in the mail. We process within 48 hours after receiving the goods, which is significantly faster (by almost 5 days) than other online consigners.
Home Pick Up: If you have more than 50 designer items to consign, you may qualify to have someone pickup the goods directly from your house.

Learn more about selling with us here.

How do you know which items from the “gone” pile are worthy of being sold? Check out this article to learn about those wardrobe pieces that do really well on consignment, so you can understand what we do and don’t accept when purchasing clothing from our top customers.

Donate

If you have good quality clothing that doesn’t meet the standards for selling, donation is another great option. (Plus, you may be able to take the donations as a tax deduction.)

Not sure where to donate clothes in your area? Donation Town can help you find local charities that accept used clothing donations. Also check for any Goodwill stores in your area. These non-profits offer discount clothing and create more jobs for locals in your community.

Recycle.

If your items can’t be donated, then you’ll likely just have to throw them away or recycle them. For example, used underwear or pants with a split seam can’t be donated.

But you don’t want to just throw out all of this good fabric. You can recycle the fabric with some of the following programs:

Terracycle Fabrics and Clothing Zero Waste: clothing and fabric
The Bra Recyclers: bras
Soles4Souls: shoes
Nike Reuse-A-Shoe: athletic shoes

You should also Google clothing recyclers in your area. There are a lot of non-profits who will accept fabric and textiles in any condition—so don’t forget to look locally! Check out Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles to find the nearest recycling outlets near you as well.

Conclusion

What did your closet look like in years past? Was it as beautiful, minimalistic, and clean as you would have liked?

How could your life change if your closet were clean? What could you do with the time saved and money made from cleaning out your closet? How would you be able to upgrade your wardrobe with easy access to your favorite, high-quality items? How would you feel if every single piece of clothing you owned made you look and feel like a confident, gorgeous goddess?

Let’s make this the best year yet—and it starts in our closet!