Clothing declutter: why is it so hard to part with those jeans?

I’ll hold my hands up, I own jeans in every size from a size 6 to a size 20. And at some point in my life, all of these jean have fit me. At the moment, I’m around the 16 mark (verging on a 14 – hopefully soon!).

If I’m honest, I haven’t been anywhere near the 6-12s in the last 10 years. I hit my target weight with Scottish Slimmers on 31 August 2004 (in my size 6s). I’ve eaten my way steadily back up through all the sizes and well beyond my original ‘fat weight’.

You’d think, at some point in those 10 years, especially when I did some major decluttering in 2014, that the skinny jeans should have been thrown out.

More than just jeans

But, at some level, they represent me when I was last really happy. I was in a relationship. I had these cool Miss Sixty jeans. I had worked hard to lose the weight and I felt fantastic. If I throw them out that’s me saying: “I’ll never have that again”.

Lost my minimalist mojo

If I was being truly minimalist, they’d have been long gone. Looking at it the other way, they are a reminder of failing. I broke up with the guy, I undid all my hard work, they no longer bring me joy, put simply, they just don’t fit!

When I last posted here on 13 June 2016, I had made some inroads into further decluttering. I’d been harsher with my wardrobe. I was throwing out things that had tags on them (I had never done that before as it felt so wasteful).

Can I be honest again? *whispers* those skinny jeans still weren’t in the ‘to go’ pile. They actually aren’t even in my wardrobe. They are hidden in a case with a  bunch of other clothes from that same era. Out of sight, out of mind.

Getting my minimalism back and throwing out fat clothes

Back in June, I’d started a new weight loss journey, with Weight Watchers this time. And this had scuppered my plan to throw out the clothes I’d been so brutal with.

I’m back to reassure you all that my minimalist ways are still in place. Only this time I’m throwing out clothes that are too big. I have about six charity bags waiting to go. I’m trying to keep on top of this. If something starts to feel baggy, I’m not keeping it.

After all, I have plenty of unworn, smaller clothes to start wearing!

PS: the jeans and bag of smaller clothes are still here. I’m 2 stone down and there’s a way to go yet. My plan is that this time next year I will be wearing them!

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If you’re interested in following my weight loss journey, you can find me on Instagram @lindy_loops_ww