The Sizeable Discard Pile — Mood and Clothes

Along my capsule wardrobe/weight loss “journey,” I’ve decided to part ways with a number of items. Most things simply got too big (17 of them to be exact). Some things got worn out (6 items plus socks and underwear). And then there were a bunch of things that just weren’t working for me (16 items). I feel guilty that I’m getting rid of so many clothes. I still have them all in a pile, occasionally pulling something out to see if I’ve changed my mind about it. But most of the things that I’m discarding for aesthetic reasons are too big now anyway. So it is what it is: I’m getting rid of 39 clothing items, 9 pairs of underwear, and a pile of socks. I’m left with 22 items in my capsule wardrobe. This means I’ve cycled through around 61 items of clothing in the past 8 months. This might seem excessive for a minimalist, but I’ve lost 40 pounds and changed up my style a bit, so allowances must be made. 22 items it is now, though I am still questioning my too-big J. Crew T-shirts, white skirt and blue skinny jeans. I just don’t know if I feel comfortable in those more feminine pieces. But if I get to be too much of a perfectionist about it, I’ll be left with nothing to wear.

Back to the sizable pile. My plan was to sell what I could on Ebay and donate the rest, hoping against hope that the donations don’t go directly to the landfill. But looking at the profit margins for selling the stuff on Ebay is pretty grim- with shipping costs constantly increasing, it’s hard to profit at all on lower-end clothing items. This isn’t necessarily a reason not to do it- my main goal is to give the stuff new homes and not have it end up as garbage. But knowing how much work is involved in making good Ebay listings, I don’t feel up to the task and am thinking I’ll give Thredup a try instead. The payouts would probably be close to nothing (less than a dollar in many cases), but at least I don’t have to take all those photos and measurements, then store and ship the stuff when it sells. And I think the stuff that’s not sellable- the stuff I’d be forced to donate- at least has a shot at being recycled. I don’t know for sure what Thredup does with the clothes that don’t sell, but it’s got to be better than going in the trash compactor at Savers.

I just ordered 3 bags from Thredup for “selling” as opposed to straight-up donating. I decided against having the rejects sent back to me for $10.99 per bag. They claim they will “responsibly recycle unaccepted items.” I may not get as much money for my Sorel boots or my Margot handbag, but at least I don’t have to charge $15 for shipping on Ebay. That’s always a deterrent to Ebay shoppers when buying heavy items, especially shoes, which are bulky too. But Thredup has a standard shipping fee of $5.99 which is waived altogether if you buy $79 worth of stuff, so there’s no deterrent to buying heavy items. As far as selling, some items are paid out to you upon receipt, but most are consigned, so you only get paid if and when they sell. In the past, I would sell thrifted high-end and designer items on Thredup and had very good luck with the whole system. The clothes I’m sending in now are nowhere near as expensive as those designer things, so I’m only expecting some dollar-and-change payouts at best. I’m really in it for how easy it is to give your clothes new homes, and in hopes of the “unaccepted items” actually being recycled (my area doesn’t have textile recycling).

I think 3 bags should be enough for everything including shoes- I mean, I’m not putting my socks and underwear in there or anything gross. But I’m excited to see how this goes. It said it would take 2 weeks for the bags to arrive, and then 2 weeks for the clothes to be processed. I’ll be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, I’ll make sure I steam everything so it looks its best when it arrives. I used to wrap all my items in big sheets of plastic and roll them so they wouldn’t get wrinkled on the way. I’m not sure it’s worth the cost (and wastefulness) of the plastic this time, but it may be. It seems like they don’t steam the clothes once they arrive, so you have a better chance of seeing your stuff sell if you take pains to make it look good beforehand. I know that plus sizes are always good sellers, so I have high hopes my clothes will find homes after all. And hopefully I won’t need to cycle through so many clothes in the future.

Here is the sizeable discard pile:

First, we have the items I just didn’t feel good wearing as I was creating my 25-Item Plus-Size Capsule Wardrobe: