Reader SOS! To Toss or Not To Toss?

A faithful reader and blogger, Plummy (from Style on the Cheap), recently wrote in inquiring about cleaning out her closet. She said: "After we've tossed the obvious rejects from our closet, how do we differentiate from the maybes?" What a great question! She has some items that are in perfectly good condition but are not making it in her monthly (or even yearly) wardrobe rotation.

My "new" purchases from my trade-in at Crossroads. Zara dress and Elizabeth and James shoes. (Oh, and that is P's Hugo Boss bag! We did a swap when we were in NYC!)

Plummy's situation involves a pair of perfectly good pink Aerosole pumps (worn once in 4 years) and a dress (only bought last year) with a pattern that she says is both hard to wear and doesn't mesh well with her current accessory collection. My advice? Ditch the dress immediately. You already know the dress has faults, so do it a favor and pass it on. If the dress seems like it could be a great fit for someone else, why not take it to a consignment or vintage store that does trade-ins? No money is exchanged, but you can pick out something that will suit your lifestyle better. I recently dragged a bag of what I would call my "good unworn stuff" to Crossroads Trading Co. (they have stores across the states) and replaced my barely worn ill-fitting items for the above Zara dress and Elizabeth and James shoes. What a score! I have worn the dress once and the shoes twice, and it has only been a few weeks. (The only caveat is that they may not like everything you bring in. I had to come to terms with the fact that some of my stuff just was not stylish anymore. Ouch! Do not forget about Goodwill though, they will happily accept your prairie skirt any day.)

So what about those pink pumps of Plummy's? Well here is the deal. Force yourself to wear them one more time before you toss them. If you can't even bring yourself to do that, then you already have your answer! Say bye bye to those pumps. If you do end up wearing them, note at the end of the day how you feel. Are your feet sore? Did your outfit look great against the shoes? Did you receive any compliments? Would you wear them again tomorrow? If you can honestly say that you felt great, then hold onto them and start the rebirth of the pink pump. But what if 6 months goes by and they haven't seen any more action? Then it is is time to kiss those babies goodbye. It is much better to have a smaller wardrobe filled with things you love rather than having a giant closet filled with a bunch of pieces that you sort of like, right?

Love, A

P.S. Hey Fashion Rehab followers! Do you have any fashion conundrums that you are facing? Email us at 365fashionrehab@gmail.com and we will do our best to solve your problems. We gave up shopping for one whole year so you wouldn't have to! Learn from our experience about what constitutes a killer wardrobe, and how to work with what you already have. TTFN!