To keep or not to keep, that is the question

June 9, 2017 9:59 AM

I'm doing my spring cleaning a few months late. I have very limited space in which to live, so I have to do a fair amount of trashing and donating so I'm not completely overrun with stuff. (I get overwhelmed very easily and am at the point of panic because there's just too much here.)

I have a fair amount of really nice clothes that I've only worn a couple of times. They're anywhere from 1-4 sizes too small for me. I've put on about 50 lbs in the last couple years thanks to health crap and medications to treat said crap.

I really don't want to get rid of the clothes. I paid more than I could probably afford at the time so I'd have actual professional looking clothing. On the other hand, I desperately need to clean out my closet, and having clothes that are that much too small just adds another layer of stress.

There is a consignment shop a couple counties over I could possibly take them to, so I could recoup some of what I spent. Or I could donate them to the Goodwill across town. Or I could keep them and pray my health turns around so I can lose the weight and be able to wear them again. What say you, Hive Mind?

posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess to Home & Garden (21 answers total)

Consign them.
posted by Kriesa at 10:06 AM on June 9, 2017

Consignment!
posted by warble at 10:07 AM on June 9, 2017

Best answer: Consign them! But if that doesn't work give them to Goodwill take a tax credit and enjoy the extra space.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 10:08 AM on June 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

Keep the most basic, building block pieces that are only one size small (black trousers, neutral shell tops etc) and store them in a Ziploc Space Saver Wardrobe bag. Consign the rest.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 10:09 AM on June 9, 2017 [16 favorites]

What I did in the days when my weight fluctuated more and I was very broke was: keep casual clothing that was only one size off, and expensive professional clothing that was two sizes off. Everything else consign or donate (Dress for Success is always in need of plus-size women's professional clothing).
posted by praemunire at 10:14 AM on June 9, 2017 [7 favorites]

Don't consign them! You'll regret it when you when you start losing weight and can't find great quality, flattering clothes that you spent a lot of time, money and effort to assemble. Shopping these days is a giant pain in the ass -- between the poor quality clothes on the racks and how expensive it can get to replace even a few nice pieces that you already have, it can be downright depressing and a huge waste of time.

Keep your clothes and put them in those
Ziploc clothing bags that you can vacuum seal and make very flat to save space. I get mine at Costco; that assorted size box that I linked to is about $20.00 there.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 10:16 AM on June 9, 2017 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Here's my feeling about clothes that don't fit, even expensive ones: they are petrified pain. They are lumps that I can't do anything with, that get in my way, that take up space I don't have, and that make me feel bad about myself.

Look at the clothes carefully, especially the ones that are 1 size smaller. Can they be altered to fit? Take them to a tailor and see what they say. Then consign everything that does fit and use the money to buy a couple of good pieces to form the basis of your new wardrobe that you will feel happy about.
posted by OrangeDisk at 10:24 AM on June 9, 2017 [11 favorites]

I think it depends on two things:

1) How fashionable are these clothes? If they're very, very classically cut, simple, etc, then keeping them might make sense. If they're of the moment when you bought them then in a few years, they will look dated and unprofessional, even if they fit.

2) What is the realistic chance that you will lose the weight? Is the medical condition curable? Or will you be on the drugs that caused the weight gain forever?
posted by jacquilynne at 10:27 AM on June 9, 2017 [3 favorites]

As an alternative to a physical consignment shop, you could try an online one like Poshmark or Tradesy (Tradesy skews a little more luxury).
posted by emkelley at 10:36 AM on June 9, 2017

Best answer: As someone who has been holding onto several bins of too-small clothes for literally years, trying to decide what to do with them, I sincerely say consignment and/or Goodwill (the tax deduction can be very generous). Having those clothes around takes up an enormous amount of space and makes me feel bad literally every single time I see them. I understand LuckySeven's point about shopping nowadays being utterly terrible and god knows I don't disagree, but recreating your wardrobe will be a one-time kind of pain if and when you get back to a smaller size, whereas having those bins sitting around is a daily kind of pain, at least for me.

Thank you for asking this question. I think you've shown me what I need to do.
posted by anderjen at 10:46 AM on June 9, 2017 [12 favorites]

Best answer: This is timely because I'm moving to a smaller apartment and literally getting rid of stuff as I write this. I, too have gained more weight than I'd like. I have clothes that are 1-3 sizes too small. I'm getting rid of anything I can't wear today. While I want to lose the weight, holding on to that stuff is not just physical baggage, it's emotional baggage. It doesn't just take up space in your closet, but space in your mind. If it's only a bit small, I'll keep it if it's casual but I've realized today how much I've been holding on to and that a big reason I haven't felt like I have a home in the past years even though I've had comfortable places to live is I've been holding on to the idea that I can return to whoever I was 3 or 4 years ago. Even if you drop the weight, there's no promise the same clothes will look as good. It is amazing how much better I feel knowing I can actually wear everything in my closet.
posted by Aranquis at 10:58 AM on June 9, 2017 [5 favorites]

Best answer: I just got rid of three big boxes of too small clothes. For years(!) I kept them, dragged them around, hemmed and hawed over them, and they made me feel absolutely worthless for having spent money on them only to gain back weight. They made me feel like a failure, like I was bad with money, and like I was wasteful, fat, and ugly. They're gone, and so are all those feelings. I stopped thinking about them the second they left my apartment. They're clothes; they're meant to be worn by someone. It's totally fine if that someone isn't you.
posted by missmary6 at 11:02 AM on June 9, 2017 [22 favorites]

I went through this a couple of years ago. First I tried to consign them, but while they were expensive for me, they were not expensive enough for the consignment store - they only took certain labels, AND they only took clothes that were less than a year old.

Then I went to places like Buffalo Exchange to try to sell them, and again those places only took really trendy labels (regardless of price) and again, only up to about a year old.

Then I tried to give them away to friends, with varying success.

Then I tried to take them to Dress for Success, which in my city has a really weird schedule for drop off of clothes that I just could not make work with my own schedule.

Finally, I dropped the remainder of what I had at Goodwill. I'll be honest, it broke my heart to do that because I knew what it represented to me *in the past* financially, but also it was kind of an eye opener that even if the clothes were the right size for me they were horribly out of date and would not represent me well.

Plus letting go of the physical things meant I got to let go of them mentally, which has been freeing in it's own way.

Long story short, call that consignment store to see if they would even be interested before you go driving two counties over. Otherwise try to donate locally (know anyone who's graduating high school or college and needs some interview clothes?) and then to Goodwill.
posted by vignettist at 11:11 AM on June 9, 2017 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Yup - to add to the above. I cleared out my closet due to similar weight-gain issues a few years ago. I tried on EVERYTHING that even remotely fit, and got rid of anything that didn't make look or feel great. I have been able to mostly maintain that standard, and it sure makes getting dressed easier, plus there's no "Oh, I'd love to wear these again, but they just don't fit." anxiety.
It's hard, very hard, to do that - but it was amazingly rewarding. I felt lighter for days.
posted by dbmcd at 11:32 AM on June 9, 2017 [1 favorite]

I work with a Dress For Success here where I live and we would be SO happy for a donation like that. We get a lot of "goodwill" clothes so when we get really nice professional clothes it's really appreciated. YMMV with the Dress For Success near you.
posted by Marinara at 11:56 AM on June 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

Given your name - do you have girls? I kept my too small nice clothes and never grew back into them, but was able to hand them over to Teen MiniCorb, much to her delight.
posted by corb at 12:06 PM on June 9, 2017

BTDT, many t-shirts.

Donate them!!! Focus on your health and future.

Once they are gone, you will feel so much better!

As I said, BTDT.
posted by jgirl at 12:24 PM on June 9, 2017

+1 on corb's suggestion if your kids are girls or your clothes unisex -- kmennie jr is pushing 10 but tall and already sneaking into my size. If it's a thing your kid(s) might eventually wear, store it -- between me tiring of things and thrifting we have several boxes of "too bigs" at the back of a closet that we happily go through with every new season/growth spurt.
posted by kmennie at 2:19 PM on June 9, 2017

I just got rid of a ton of very nice clothes that haven't fit for 4 years, some consigned, some donated. It was so hard because they cost a lot and I could never afford to replace them, but now that they're gone a huge weight's been lifted. They made me feel terrible about myself.
posted by bighappyhairydog at 6:35 PM on June 9, 2017 [2 favorites]

I lost weight, and pulled out the clothes I'd been dutifully storing and... I hated them all. My local consignment store offered to take all the stuff they didn't want, or didn't sell to a women's shelter for me. I feel better, and I bought clothes that look better. I do have some sentimental dresses I kept, though.
posted by Valancy Rachel at 11:00 PM on June 9, 2017

Response by poster: Thank you all for taking the time to respond. As of this second, I have two large garbage bags full of clothes and shoes heading for Goodwill, plus a stack of clothes, a pair of suede knee-high boots, and a pair of Calvin Klein pumps I never wore ready to hit the consignment store in a couple weeks. (I go two counties over to various and sundry doctor's appointments, so I'm not making a special trip just for the consignment store.)

Any clothes the consignment store doesn't take will go to the Dress for Success. (The one two counties over is my local one.)

Baby Goddess is already a couple inches taller than I, and is an absolute beanpole. And we have wildly different styles in which we dress.

Thank y'all again.
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 6:42 AM on June 10, 2017 [3 favorites]