Want to improve your mental health and self-esteem? Cull "one-day" clothes from your wardrobe.
I was having a conversation with my neighbour in the street last night. She told me about how she’d spent the afternoon cleaning out her sock drawer. And I thought, yep aside from baking banana bread (the go-to activity during Melbourne’s lockdown 2), cleaning out your sock drawer is one of those domestic duties that doesn’t require a lot of effort, is a short enough task that you can complete and feel that sense of achievement.
But for my neighbour, cleaning out her sock drawer was far more of a mental challenge than she anticipated. She knew that inside that drawer were remnants of a past life – a time when she was 30kgs lighter and wore those sexy pull up stockings you attach a garter belt to on special nights. Each pair was carefully wrapped in tissue, paper that had faded so much, a further indication of how long it had been since she’d put them on. With the door closed so her partner couldn’t see, she threw out every single pair, straight into the black garbage bag full of rubbish.
She, like so many of my clients hold onto pieces in their wardrobes and drawers coined “conditional” clothing. Items we hang onto that are only wearable once we change something about ourselves. You know those pieces we say we’ll wear "one-day" when we lose 10 kilos or put on some booty from endless squats and home workouts. While some may argue conditional clothing is motivation to change whatever it is stopping them from wearing the item, I’ve never in 12 years of working in client’s wardrobes seen this to be the case.
The problem with hanging on to conditional clothing is two-fold. Firstly, leaving those unwearable items in your wardrobe adds to the clutter and takes space away from pieces you could be wearing right now that actually fit and make you feel great. If you are hanging onto a piece that you don’t fit into but it holds significance like your wedding dress or a piece someone deceased has given you, package it up carefully and store it somewhere out of your main wardrobe space.
The second and more significant reason to let go of conditional clothing is because of its affect on your mental health. Daily reminders of what you are not physically anymore is only negatively reinforcing your self-worth, body image and confidence.
Its common thanks to COVID, working from home, snacking more (the fridge is so close!) and less incidental exercise that you may have put on some kilos. What I would say here is if there are items that are a little snug and they are good quality and you love them, hang onto them. But if you have pieces you’ve hung onto for more than 5 years that you honestly won’t wear again, let them go.
Speaking of letting go here are my conditional clothing mantras to remember:
The clothes should fit you, not you fit the clothes.
If you don’t love it and it doesn’t bring you joy, loose it.
If its sentimental and worth keeping, treat it with care. Wrap it up and store it.
You can cull clothing and still hold on to memories.
Your style, size and shape will evolve throughout your lifetime just as you grow as a person. Your wardrobe should reflect those changes.
Back to my neighbour. I told her I was proud of her, for letting go of the things that were holding her back. Hanging on to conditional clothing blocks you from stepping into the person you are today and the person you want to be in the future.
Lisa Stockman.