Saturday, May 7, 2016

Confession: I am a Fashion Hoarder, and I'm moving to NYC

I have a problem, it's been a problem ever since I got my first job at Burlington Coat Factory 10 years ago...
I. LOVE. SHOPPING.
Not just shopping for anything, I love discounted clothes and shoes. I love a great bargain! So, when I see great clothes at low prices, I have to have it. Working for years in retail (clothes) hasn't helped, and the ease and variety in online shopping has totally been my downfall in the past years.

By the time I moved out on my own it was my dream to have a two bedroom apartment so that one bedroom could be my walk in closet.

I have lived tolerably like this for about 6 years now. But alas, I am finally fully convinced that I must leave the "most liveable city" of Pittsburgh, PA, with its conveniently low cost of living (which means I can have lots of space to myself); and move to the most expensive city in the U.S., New York City (#4 in the world). So I need to come to terms with this decision, stop trying to think of creative ways to cram my stuff into a smaller amount of space, and get rid of things. And I mean A LOT OF THINGS!

Now I admit that I do shop quite a lot (a lot less recently), but much of my huge collection of stuff is more due to the fact that I have kept things from long ago and accumulated more things. Remember that job at bcf I had 10 years ago? Well I still have clothes and shoes that I bought from that time (and even before then)! If it's still wearable then why not keep it? Is how I think of it. I am not one to follow fashion rules and stop liking things just because the trend is no longer in style. And with so many clothes and shoes in rotation, I don't get a chance to wear anything out (which in that case I would throw things out). So I have just accumulated so much clothes and shoes for every occasion imaginable! But again, not only am I moving (which in it of itself is a pain) but I'm moving to New York, where I'm unlikely to have very much space for my fashion hoarding ways. I am unfortunately not able to afford that luxery. So, the time has come for me to purge :'(

I've been researching how other people decluttered and see that the Marie Kondo method is popular at the moment, "does it bring you joy?". YES! MY CLOTHES, AND OH GOD HOW MY SHOES BRING ME JOY!! So, this method alone cannot help me make a drastic dent in the amount of clothes that I have. I need to do some seriously mental de-attaching to my fashion love in order to downsize. So I thought of something. I am a fashion risk taker. I dress nice for the most part but am not afraid of wearing unique or alarmingly bright colors and patterns. But being that my clothes are 10 plus years old, some dating back to my high school years even, it's safe to say that I am too old for certain pieces in my wardrobe. Even worse, I can't fit into some of it anymore (bye bye speedy metabolism). So I will keep age (and fit) appropriateness in mind when I get rid of things. Additionally I have to think about why I'm moving to New York. For more desirable career opportunities! I can use this too, think of how I'd look in the profession that I aspire to attain, wearing the clothes that I have. I have come to the conclusion that in order to maintain my fashion quirkiness while dressing more for my career and age, I will stick to a style that is "Vibrant Artsy 70s Chic" decided based on the following articles:
http://www.herinterest.com/types-of-fashion-styles/
http://www.enkivillage.com/types-of-fashion-styles.html
So for the majority of my clothing, besides certain special pieces (workout gear...) I will aim to stick t this one style instead of having outfits for every style depending on my mood and willingness to find the right outfit.

As of now, I have a month until moving day and I want to declutter/pack within that time to avoid trying to bring everything. So to recap, I will get rid of my Fashion hoarding ways with the following steps in mind:
Marie Kondo "does it bring me joy?"
Is it age appropriate
Does it fit flatteringly
Will it go with my NYC "vibrant artsy 70s chic" style
tbc...