You have too many yoga pants.
It’s true, you have too many yoga pants. But, so does every other woman in America. I’ve been in a lot of closets and I know.
What do you find too many of in every house?
When it comes to women’s clothing and closets that is hard to answer. I mean, if you love, love LOVE cashmere sweaters, how many are too many? Most of us really enjoy shoes. So a lot of us have many, many pairs. But not everyone. Some ladies are more into lingerie.
Still, it’s always a safe bet that when we come over to organize a lady’s clothes we will come across too many yoga pants!
Yoga pants?
Why do you think this is? Why do we continue to buy more stretchy black leggings?
Stress.
Stress and pressure.
We run around all day doing things for everyone else and so we have this deep, intense longing for some time to be comfortable and relax. It is this deficit of relaxation in our modern lives that fuels our addiction to stretchy pants and chardonnay.
Well, if you want more room in your drawers, it’s time to think about getting rid of some of these. Are you down for that? I know. I know. You do yoga! Just go with me here for a minute. I don’t have a magic number of yoga pants that is universally enough. There is no such thing.
What is more important is to understand why you have so many. Is it because you want to do more yoga? Is it because you hate wearing your work clothes? Is it because you never get to relax? Is it because you shop when you are stressed? Those are more important questions than how many yoga pants to keep.
Once you are aware of the why’s and can hopefully make small adjustments in your life — add an exercise class, get rid of uncomfortable work clothes, whatever sounds good — you’ll stop hoarding activewear.
Another harsh observation
You will never wear your wedding dress/prom dress/bridesmaid dress again Click To Tweet
…nor will anyone you know.
Do you know anyone who has re-used a loved one’s wedding dress?
Anyone?
Sell that puppy and let a stranger wear it now, before it turns yellow.
Don’t get me started on how much space these big poofy dresses take up in your closet.*
Worn out clothes are clutter
Another observation from my years of closet organizing: we save our holey, old, worn out clothes to wear around the house.
What is the deal with this? In the age of fast fashion — when a new outfit costs less than a nice dinner — why do we sport the homeless look around our family?
My wonderful friend, Pam ♥, bought me some nice loungewear for my birthday this summer and let me tell you something, I’m never wearing my old, ratty sweatpants again! I threw them away. I didn’t know there could BE anything so comfortable as this outfit she got me.
Even when you are in your house, you deserve to wear nice things (from Anthropologie) — nice, comfortable, soft things.
Get rid of your old underwear, holey socks, stained PJs and worn out slippers. Wear the nice ones you have instead.
Skinny clothes
Everyone has skinny clothes, even skinny people. (true!) Here’s the litmus test for when to let them go:
Hold up something from your wardrobe that’s too small. How do you feel looking at this outfit?
If you said hopeful, excited, or happy, keep it.
If you said like a failure, guilty, lazy, ashamed, sad or depressed, DROP THAT OUTFIT LIKE THE PLAGUE!
All women could stand to thin out their wardrobe.
Even the most organized of us have to do it regularly. How many pair of yoga pants do you own? What do you think your collection is trying to tell you about your life?
*If you have plenty of space and are getting upset about this idea of selling your wedding dress, keep it.
Originally published at professional organizer Pasadena and Long Beach, CA.
