De-Clutter

A McCall Homemaking magazine cover 1942

Everybody used to call it spring cleaning. Now the hip word is de-clutter. 

Twice a year, when I have to change all the ingredients of my wardrobe, pack up the wintry clothes or the summery clothes and replace with the summery clothes or the wintry clothes, it's my time to take stock of what I have accumulated over the past season.

I find that more often than not I have loads of items which I need to keep but also quite a handful of items which need to be removed as they are either 'mistakes' that never got used, things which are simply not being used for a variety of reasons, and others which are simply obsolete - soiled, torn, mis-shapen, completely boring according to my current frame of mind.

Does it happen to you also that one thing which seemed to be so very special when you bought it, is something you wouldn't look twice at today?

Over the years, I've learnt to gauge better what I buy and very rarely make impulse buys.

Then again, since I love to add a dash of vintage to my stock of clothes, the vintage must be just so because it's not something that can be found easily and neither is it something that can be used easily, unless you plan for it properly or unless it just happens to fall on your lap as a blessing.

Every time I go through this exercise I remind myself of how much I would really desire to have a walk-in wardrobe.

It's been the dream of my home for years on end but never materialised so far. It's not like we havent' got the space....

It would be the perfect place to have an all-round dressing experience without having to go to another room to get my larger coats or jackets, without having to ferret in trunks and drawers to get at my bags and without having to hop downstairs to try on the shoes with the outfit.

Sigh.....!

Wardrobes, Giveaways & Bags



courtesy of peagreengirl

I just received an email from CSN Stores which I strongly advice you to visit because CSN Stores has amazing online stores where you can find everything from beautiful wardrobes to cookware to chic lighting pieces!
The email arrived just in the nick of time since it's that time of year when we're all going through the change of seasons, and trying to make heads or tails of our wardrobes. I am constantly going through a tug of war with SPACE. I hoard. That is my problem. I love beautiful things, buy them, hoard them and sometimes don't ever wear them. My wardrobe contents have been accumulated in piecemeal fashion and this means sometimes I have the odd item which is just plain lovely to look at but which I cannot match with anything else in my wardrobe.
Sooo, come Autumn, I am yearning for a whole day of wardrobe surveying. I do this at every change of season. Take out everything and I mean everything, from my summer wardrobe, empty all the closets & drawers and take stock.
What I have worn endlessly is scrutinised carefully for flaws. If there are none, it stays. What I have not worn at least twice this past summer is scrutinsed for wearability, fit, practicality. If it has none and even lacks good old sentimental value, then it goes. There are things that I haven't even worn all summer and taking stock of the reason for this, I soon find it's because they are boring, lack great fit, have nothing to match with, and probably will have to go to.
What goes, usually goes to charity unless it's completely unretrievably unwearable. Then it gets thrown out. I have very few of the latter category.
The benefit of buying clothes from charity shops, thrift stores, vintage sellers and the like is that sometimes they have been bought for literally a few pennies. Meaning that letting them go back to charity is not breaking my bank, is not making me feel guilty and is allowing me to have a liquid wardrobe that can be changed, moved around and shaped up each and every season.
This year, my favourite charity is going to get a largish bag of summer clothes because some of my favourites I've now possessed for some 4 or 5 years and that's way too long to cling on to a garment unless it's incomparable vintage.
So ladies, it's time to change.... have you made any changes?

Giveaway News
Going back to CSN Stores, this online catalogue company has kindly offered a giveaway to FairyFiligree followers residing in the US, Canada, the UK or Germany.This is a one-time-use gift voucher for you to use as they wish on their websites.  If the winner happens to be from the US/Canada she/he will get a $45 gift certificate, if they are from the UK it will be £30, and if they are from Germany it will be €35.

To be eligible to enter this giveaway you have to:

1.  Be a FairyFiligree follower from the US, Canada, the UK or Germany. 
2. Leave a comment on this post sometime between now and October 18. And you must comment on the topic of wardrobes, possibly leaving some feedback of value to the rest of all FairyFiligree followers.
3. Include your contact email address or a link leading to it.

Now... for some questions in the bag.....


I need advice - where on earth do you store all your bags, handbags, clutches, purses, holdalls etc? I have mine stowed away in a large drawer and some more in a trunk. But they are not easily displayed that way and so some get overlooked easily. Short of having to buy a new piece of furniture to keept my bags, I need innovative ideas on how to store them easily and practically without squashing them, without letting them gather dust and without taking over all our bedroom space..... What comments on this?
By the way... cute little vintage bag above can be better viewed here.

Vintage Wardrobes

Kimono

One of the most fascinating experiences I had was an interview with a Japanese girl who was preparing for a very special event. She invited to her house and when I asked what she was wearing, she said it would be a kimono of course. And she invited me to her bedroom where, with ceremony and pomp, she opened her wardrobe and retrieved this huge cardboard box, opened that and from amongst sheaves of tissue paper, this marvellous silk kimono emerged. She treated it and touched it and folded it as if it were the most precious thing on earth and explained that the packing is not just because the kimono is a special one.... all kimonos are treated likewise.
Which set me thinking of the way we store our clothing here in the West. The way we cram and crumple and squash and stash things, just so long as they're stuffed in a drawer or in a wardrobe.

I remember watching Jennifer Lopez as The Wedding Planner with a very slight obsessive compulsive disorder, actually finding time in her busy life to fold sweaters and tees with the help of a sweater folder so the folds would be just so.... Do you use that gadget?
And then I look at all those pretty hat boxes, and wonder if there are people who actually use them.

Hats on book shelves

And what about scarves? Mine, I roll up neatly and store in a drawer box.

I mean, how do you store your shoes? Do you still keep them in their boxes and perhaps stick a polaroid picture of what's in the box so you find what you want easily?
Do you have a walk-in wardrobe with everything sorted out around you for easy finding?
Are you a careful storer or do you just slap-dash your storage and clothes?
Which brings about another question - how do you store delicate vintage clothes? We're not supposed to hang them on the kind of hangers which will mess up the fabric and tear into it. We're not supposed to fold things to save the fabric from ruining itself. Do you cover vintage dresses in plastic? Do you have a special place where you keep your vintage bags?
I keep my old stockings in a hat box.
I keep my shoes in their boxes but always forget which box is which.
I keep my small handbags in a large drawer beneath my wardrobe and the big ones in a trunk.
I have a drawer for panties & bras; another for socks & tights; another for undervests, slips and petticoats.
I could go on.....