Why you should make a list of everything in your wardrobe

Why you should make a list of all the clothing you own

Most people think hoarders are just people who never throw anything away, from empty yogurt containers to old newspapers and magazines.  Coming from a family of hoarders, I've noticed hoarders also tend to buy more than they need. They're the ones who walk into a store, discover a new favorite piece of clothing and then buy multiples of it.  They stock up on stockings in the event that they discover every pair they own has runs and can no longer be worn.  They buy socks in bulk, stocking up whenever there's a sale, and they never think they have enough underwear, t shirts, or socks.  Their cabinets are fillet with extra rolls of paper, extra q tips, extra toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste, and cosmetics like shampoo bottles or mouthwash.  

Some know they have multiples and buy anyway, and others stock up out of an innate fear of not enough.  The fear that they will run out, be caught unprepared, and not have what they need, when they need it.  

Am I hoarder, too?

I am also a victim of his fear. The fear of not having enough is fueled by the memory of standing in front of my closet, clothes strewn about, sweating against a time limit as I struggle to find anything to wear. As a result, I'm always wanting to go shopping, always browsing my favorite online stores, and always looking out for sales events.  When I'm at the store, I like trying on blazers and jackets and purchasing collar shirts and black tees even though I already own more of those pieces than I need.  That's why I am doing the capsule wardrobe. 

The same fear is magnified when I'm planning for others. In my mind, my husband never has enough t shirts or wife beaters.  I would keep an eye out for cool t shirts, black t shirts, and anything with a witty quote or catchphrase.  Then, one day I took out all his t shirts and counted close to sixty pieces.  Since then, we've purged his tees several times and finally got down to a more reasonable number (for his capsule wardrobe), but I find that he's still looking for more t shirts when we go out.  Even after reminding him of the exact number of shirts he already owns, he still believes he could do with a couple more!

How much is enough?

Recently, I've encountered the same anxiety with my kids' wardrobes. For months, I've been feeling that my seven-month-old daughter does not have enough clothing.  As the weather grew colder, I worried she didn't have enough sweaters, that her jackets were getting snug, and that she'd eventually freeze or catch a cold.  It sounds crazy, but it was this nagging feeling I had at the back of my mind that popped up whenever there was a chance to shop for more kids' clothing.  I even chastised my husband for how little money we spent on her and how few pieces of clothing we bought for her. Clearly, I said, she does not have enough to wear as she outgrows her old clothes. 

So, I dragged us to carters and we bought her new clothes. I breathed a sigh of relief and was momentarily satisfied. Few days later, I discovered that I did have extra clothing put away that were a size bigger, but definitely wearable.  I regretted the purchases, but noted that they were put into good use and were much cuter than my sons handmedowns.  

Why do I need a list?

After this experience, I have, once again, felt anxious about her growth spurts and feel as if she won't have anything to wear soon.  I was cleaning out old stuff from the storage and discovered my Muji planner from 2014 where I clearly listed every piece of clothing we had purchased my son.  Inspired, I made a simplified version for his sister.

The list was simple: long sleeve tops, short sleeve tops, bottoms, sweaters, socks, hats

Then, I chose an arbitrary number: 6, as the minimum number of pieces She needs, based on an article I remember reading on thebump.com when I was expecting my first. According to the article, you only needed to buy six onesies in each size, like 3 months, 6 months, 9 months...I definitely had more than that, but I guess six is enough.  

Soon, as I filled up my list, I discovered that she definitely had the minimum number of pieces, often exceeding six pieces. I also noted with a little star pieces that were getting small, and was happy to find that I had enough to replace them.  From the list I could also clearly see that while I had been stressed about winter clothes to fill an immediate need, once the weather warms up in a month or so, my daughter will not have enough spring/summer clothing. I had discovered the real need.

Now I can go out and buy the pieces I know for a fact she'll need soon, rather than feed my anxieties by buying what I think she needs now.  

And that is what I would ideally do with my capsule wardrobe list as well, and why you should make a list of all the clothes you own.

A GREEN Passion for VINTAGE?

I'm not much of a vintage junkie, but I've been an avid Ebayer (on and off) for past three years because I like the price of buying preowned and because I don't see the point in paying full price for something I might only want for a season. Back in Finland I used to go to thrift stores where everyone rents their own stall and prices their own items so it was easy to find good deals. Here in Cali I find that Goodwill in certain nice neighborhoods is...alright (I liked the one in Menlo Park more than the one in Pasadena), and then there are stores like Buffalo Exchange which buy from you for a really cheap price (I've still sold there though, for the convenience) and then sell Forever 21-$5 prices. I think that if you're going to sell preowned the prices should be lower and quite honestly I don't know if those stores clean the clothes they receive but there's always a weird smell wafting out of their doors (which is why yobu has pretty much forbidden me to enter one except to donate or sell). I noticed at Buffalo Exchange they just price the items and throw them into a basket, which I'm assuming they just hang up on racks later on...?


...I lost my point, right, so I think Ebay has wider access, more members, and thus more options.  Ebay has also recently begun a Green Campaign to educate the masses on the environmental benefits of buying preowned. If you check out the Green Team website you'll find that they've gathered nice logical examples of why you should buy/sell on Ebay, which include saving more energy than participating in Earth Hour btw.  As Janie Van Roe pointed out in her post, this could open the doors to another group of people (namely people who want to be part of the trendy green movement but do not necessarily want to buy the overpriced eco-friendly fashion pieces) to become vintage-buyers as well. She raises the question of whether this new advertising tactic will affect consumer consciousness...?

Another blogger, Sapphire Whisperer is a fashion stylist and vintage lover, who believes that buying preowned only interests a certain group of people and the rest of us can only "dapple" in it. She states in her post that while she hearts the campaign, she finds it unlikely that anyone will become a vintage shopper for the sake of being green. Now I think that she has a point, that perhaps loving vintage is like loving antiques, where some of us enjoy revisiting classic styles and others see dead people sitting on antique chairs (from the movie "I Hate Valentine's Day").  Yobu is one of those people who (annoyingly enough) asks me funny questions like what if the clothes belong to dead people? or sick people? or the diseased? or dirty people? and if I want to buy him something thrifty from Ebay it has to be new with tag or he will gag. I find this terribly amusing, especially when you can obviously just wash/steam the piece yourself if you think others haven't done a good-enough job. However, given that I live with such a paranoid vintage-hater I can understand that the green movement is not going to attract hoards of people into the vintage scene.

However, this is what I also think; that "green people" (people who really want to make a difference and aren't just passively following a trend) already buy preowned and vintage, because they are "that kind of people".  Those trend followers might buy a used cappuccino maker or a used car, but they likely not adorn themselves with vintage.  It's sort of like I've managed to convince yobu that if I see an amazing vintage blazer he can totally wear it as long as he gets it dry cleaned first (he agreed that as long as it doesn't directly touch his skin it's not "gross" XD).  Since ebay sells a lot other than clothing (i.e. jewelry, books) their mass campaign still makes sense. To get ordinary fashion buyers to purchase preowned would (I think) require a different tactic of advertising, where consumers would have to be informed of how these vintage pieces are cleaned (no bed bugs!) and they should probably feature some white-jacket scientists proving that vintage pieces are not "dirtier" than new pieces. For my opinion is that without removing the stigma of ew! someone used that already? now it has their germs! vintage shopping is not going to soar merely on the basis of saving money or being environmentally conscious.

What do you think? Which group do you belong to? Are you a What do you think? Which group do you belong to? Are you a vintage shopper?