I have a choice to make

[AndreaJay]

Probably in common with most of the lovely ladies and girls on this forum, I am reaching the limit of my storage space for my clothing. I now have to make a decision on if I should purge some of my older stuff, build a bigger wardrobe unit, or a combination of the two.

The thought of doing either leaves me with my head in my hands. Whilst, I do have clothes that I am more than happy to purge to charity, there are so many cute things I want to keep. I could build a new custom, larger wardrobe (my dad taught me carpentry / woodwork when I was a kid), but I have to say the effort involved seems a lot .

I probably will end up building a new wardrobe and doing some purging.

[FairyCrossdresser]

I feel your pain, Andrea. It?s difficult to advise without knowing your specific situation.

From my own perspective, on a practical level, I am a single CD so have the space, but on an emotional level while in ?man mode? I could easily ditch the lot but when Heather takes over she has an emotional attachment to all my skirts, dresses, heels etc so I would come to regret any purge, I think.

[BTWimRobin]

It's only purging when you dump your whole stash. If you're just parting with a few things you don't wear anymore..... well you just making room for more pretty things.

As a woodworker, I would never pass up the opportunity to build something.

[Crissy 107]

AJ, I think start building, if you dump some things you will regret it.

[kimdl93]

Certainly there are items in your wardrobe that you don?t wear because of fit or style. (My rule of thumb is that if I haven?t worn something in a year, I probably won?t wear it) Separate those out for donation. Don?t feel bad too about culling the unworn and unwearable. These are things, after all.

Then put your carpentry skills to work on a new wardrobe anyway. You can fill it with your new things.

[susan54]

I have this problem as I have 1000 skirts, 1100 dresses and 2000 tops, plus all the other stuff like shoes, accessories and underwear. At the moment I have a pile of dresses about three feet high on the bed in the spare room as I have filled al the wardrobes. I have a large loft but there are mice in winter. I have done a cull and identified 86 dresses to donate to charity shops which will relieve things slightly. These are my least interesting dresses so the theory is that I will not miss them. But if you have no room in the house and have no other storage I guess the answer is some sort of cull for you too. Good luck.

[jacques]

hello Andrea,
I would go with both.
Passing on some of the clothes you don't wear to others by donating them to a Charity shop is a way of sharing the joy of cross-dressing!
stay healthy,
luv J

[Sylvia Coco]

I would recommend you to throw away some old clothes. It is very hard, but I think that this is the price of progress in crossdressing.

[Kay J]

It's always fun to donate to charity and start shopping for new things!

[Bea_]

I vote going for both. Even if you cull your less favored items, you're gonna get more. I just transferred a bunch of cool weather items to some storage trunks to get more room in my closet for my summer stuff. And i could still use a couple more feet of closet space.

[Micki_Finn]

Or you could just BUY a wardrobe/armoire. IKEA has some pretty inexpensive ones. Probably Amazon too. Honestly, with the cost of materials, then the time involved, it?s probably cheaper to just buy one.

[Brenda Freeman]

I have regretted some of my early purges so tend to hang on. But like many have said, setting aside some that you have not worn out of site for a time could work. if you do not miss it it provbably should pass on to someone ready for a fresh new look for them.

[sarainpa]

You could try the Marie Kondo process. Hold the items you are thinking of donating and ask them "do you still spark joy?".

[Pixie_94]

The new wardrobe seems like a good idea, it can be really useful soon. Also, you can improvise a bit to make the structure simpler, but functional.

[Helen_Highwater]

Certainly there are items in your wardrobe that you don?t wear because of fit or style. (My rule of thumb is that if I haven?t worn something in a year, I probably won?t wear it) Separate those out for donation. Don?t feel bad too about culling the unworn and unwearable. These are things, after all.

Then put your carpentry skills to work on a new wardrobe anyway. You can fill it with your new things.

Exactly,

Andrea, as others have said there's a huge difference between purging and considered thinning out. We all suffer at sometime from the "I might wear that one day" syndrome when in truth it's highly unlikely and a lot of these things if worn out in polite company would have folks thinking fashion faux par. Once you get past the mind blockage of holding on to something solely on the "Just might" concept getting rid of old things gets to be a bit therapeutic. One old thing out, room for one new and more fashionable thing in, one thing you're far more likely to wear.

Humane culling of some of my old things has enabled me to improve my image. It's allowed and empowered me to be more selective with what I wear. I now work on the principal that a few well chosen things serve far more purpose than a hoard of old outdated items more suited to a sixties revival dance than day to day wear.

[Jenny22]

I culled about a year ago with the help of my sister. I gave her the right to say yea or nay to a garment I'd hold up to me. She said nay to a number of items, and I'd ask her why. She'd tell me what she thought, and after I gave it some thought, I agreed. I had lots more closet space that I began to refill anew.

[Stephanie47]

When the coronavirus lock down is over you may be able to find a wardrobe at a thrift store.

[docrobbysherry]

U say "wardrobe" but I think u mean u need more hanging space, Andrea?

But, if not? I have the answer for unlimited clothing storage! I use garbage bags!

[AndreaJay]

Thank you to everyone for all of your responses. I have made my mind up now, I will give some of the older stuff to charity, that will give me space for newer (as BTwimRobin said) pretty things.

I have been looking at new wardrobes, but I am either not keen on what I have looked at or they don't meet my requirements (I'm probably too fussy), so building one to my own design is my best option...it's just I am being very lazy and need to get off my rear-end and get working on it.

[Krisi]

There is only so much time available to dress. Eventually, you won't have time to wear all your clothes. This is when you should go through them and separate what you like and where from what you don't.

I have a similar problem and have a lot of clothes that I haven't worn in over a year. I, like you, really need to get to it one day and get rid of half of my wardrobe.

[abby054]

There comes a time when we must edit our wardrobe. Like you, I must edit mine soon also. Pulling down his barns and building greater did not turn out well for the first recorded guy who tried it.

1000 skirts, 1100 dresses, and 2000 tops, and etc.? I did some math and the money likely involved took my breath away. Wow! Just wow!

[JennB]

Nothing wrong with pairing down wardrobe/clothing etc. Its not purging when you just get rid of things you don't wear anymore, are wrong sizes, or just don't like anymore. I am just a part time dresser, so that has an effect on how much clothing I need, and as such, don't need a full wardrobe for long periods of time. My personal rule is to keep no more than 7-10 days worth of wardrobe for Jenn. That keeps enough options for some variety, but doesn't let me accumulate so much I am busting out the closet with stuff. Some variety is great. A full clothing store in your closet is too much. That is the middle that works for me and keeps me from buying or hoarding too much stuff.

[susanmichelle]

One thing you might take into thought is places like goodwill I was there making a drop off today and saw a beautiful antique wardrobe for only $69.00 and if your a senior take 30% off on every Wednesday and 50% off the first Saturday of each month. Might be a thought at least until you get yours built. I?m sure it?s cheap considering the price of building supplies nowadays.

[BrendaPDX]

This is a common question for members here. Me I am in denial, I do what Doc said, I use trash bags. I also pick up used luggage at thrift stores from time to time. Good luck and let us know how it works out.

[Stephanie205]

Hi Andrea I had a similar problem which was I went on a spending spree of new clothes and shoes as I have lost weight and getting my girly figure back. It forced me to look at what I had so I went through what I had purged a little as I still like most of my old clothes and went to Ikea and bought a wardrobe. Which was good and bad as now have gone on a second shopping spree and the new wardrobe is getting full. Oh it is wonderful to have so many pretty colorful girly clothes to chose from never been happier.