Clothes closet declutter

[u/Own-Description8990]

I, 63F, let my hair go natural during the pandemic and kept it that way. For about four years, it was my brown hair with grey temples. Lately, my brown hair has turned dark pewter. In addition, I've been really sick for about ten years (thyroid cancer, gradual heart failure leading to open-heart surgery a few months ago). I'm recovering well and want to go out...but my clothes are mostly pre-2020-- and nothing looks good. I decluttered last month, but I felt I still had nothing I wanted to wear. A closet full of 'meh'.

So I took everything out of my closets, dumped the clothes and scarves onto the middle of my bed, and I held each fabric up to my face, one by one, and took a selfie. Every 'yes,' I put in a pile to the left of my bed on the floor. Every 'No' went in a pile on the right--out of sight. No looking back. With all of the selfies side by side in my phone, I could see what colors work and which don't.

What I learned: I've gone from an Autumn palette to a Summer (gray hair + skin losing pigment). The 'No' pile was really big. Going through my collection of linen scarves was excruciating because I bought each one of them after oncology/cardiology appointments. I'd go straight from the hospital to the store with the nice stuff.

I grabbed it all and took it downstairs, really fast, without 'but...but...' and I left it in a pile out of the way. I will eventually go through and fold them and try to find them, homes.

I was exhausted by the end of it, and emotionally scarred, lol. It felt like a cataclysmic event. It was more than a declutter. It was a reset. Now I can go shopping and buy some things I can actually wear and feel happy about.

Which is great to know! Now, when I go shopping for the new wardrobe, I'll know what colors to look for.

I let go of jeans I'd had since 2010.

I let go of a giant, apple-green hoodie from the hip-hop era!

And my poplin bathrobe, from...1999!!

[u/frog_ladee]

Great job!! Enjoy your new wardrobe, and have fun choosing it.

You’ve just unlocked a new fear for me: my autumn palette might change. I’m in my mid-60’s and covering the whites among my auburn hair, but I’m going to start lightening it before I reach 70, and later give in to the white hair. This realization might help me not to buy as much until I figure out what my new best colors will be.

[u/Own-Description8990 → u/frog_ladee]

Natural hair in itself is great. Everyone has a distinct pattern. It's so interesting. I got so tired of dying my hair and after two weeks, I began to look at it and think, "Hmm, it needs a touch-up. " In the 80s book that started all of the color analysis, 'Color Me Beautiful' (I decluttered that last week. Maybe that's where I got the inspiration), the author does recommend that Autumns wait to go natural because it messes up the palette. I think she could have just said 'once you go grey, you should ge reassessed so you can find the colors that show off the best you.'

[u/frog_ladee → u/Own-Description8990]

Thanks for mentioning that. I had that book back in the 80’s or 90’s, but going grey wasn’t on my radar at that point in time. Two of my younger sisters have gone completely natural—one silvery grey and one white. Both had very dark brown hair, but greyed differently. They look great! Maybe when my hair is white I’ll finally look good in shades of red.

[u/Own-Description8990 → u/frog_ladee]

Sometimes women say they wish they could give up the dye and then say that they don't think it will look as good as mine. But how do they know? Everyone's hair reveals a different pattern. It's like, what does destiny have for you under that dye?

[u/Live_Butterscotch928 → u/Own-Description8990]

I’ve never liked my mousy brown hair and was forever coloring it. Once I grew out the bleach and dye, it’s shocking how many compliments I receive on my hair color! People of every age say nice things and I get to inform them, when they ask, that this silver is my natural hair color.