Abandon the Ugly and Useless without remorse!

"When a woman says, 'I have nothing to wear! what she really means is, 'There's nothing here for who I'm supposed to be today' ". - Caitlin Moran

And oh gosh, did I discover the many personalities and fantasy selves that existed in my wardrobe over the weekend!  Deciding to tackle my wardrobe once and for all, I promised myself that only the beautiful and confident  clothes would be returned to the wonder wardrobe . Only those items that made me feel amazing every time I wore them.

On a day that was as hot as hell, I completely emptied my wardrobe and started to sort clothes into two groups, items to give away or donate and items to keep.

I was more than a little surprised at some of my 'finds'; a black-beaded bag that I must have carried to someone's wedding in a moment of Dynasty meets Hippie revival; a plethora of scarves, how many scarves does one need in a climate that rarely drops below 12 degrees celsius?; some curious belts, obviously from a much 'thinner' time in my life, or a time when I thought I'd be starring in an Indiana Jones movie; a woollen, orange and tan cape, probably from a welsh relative, but which on hauling it out from the back of the robe, startled the cat from the bed; and a shiny, shiny sateen purple shirt that would trigger a satellite inspection.

I had thought that I would like to wallpaper the back of my wardrobe but decided to use the artistic talents of my daughter to paint some sort of floral design.

The results are amazing and I'm now feeling very smug with my much smaller collection of clothes. I love everything that hangs amongst the cherry blossom and I'm much clearer about what I need to buy in the future.

I'm keen to keep this minimal approach, not only will it be kind to my purse, but will mean I choose carefully in the future and pick only items of quality and what is needed. This mindset is also great for the environment.

What I did find challenging was what to do with my wedding dress. Having been married for 26 years it has been moved from house to house, hung first as the pride and joy of my wardrobe, then folded into a plastic protector bag, then shoved to the back along with unused sportswear (another misguided phase). I say with great confidence that my daughter would never choose to wear my wedding dress, unless she was posing as Princess Diana at some fancy dress function, so what to do? I've decided to donate it to a thrift shop, but not local, I'll wait until the next time I go to the city.

So, the wardrobe project was easier than I thought, now to see how I cope with less clothes and if I'll miss anything.......... like the those lovely bottle green stirrup pants!