Now that is May, and though it doesn’t quite feel like the middle of
spring given the continuous cold temperatures and intermittent blizzard
conditions, it is time to think about cleaning out your wardrobe, and
purge it of those clothes clinging to the recesses of your closets, as
they whisper, “I’ll be back.”

If you are anything like me, I’m always afraid that a few months after
giving away that vintage Anne Klein suit, Ralph Lauren skirt or
whatever, I’m going to bolt up in the middle of the night in a hot
sweat (no, not menopause), and whimper, “Say it isn’t so! Don’t tell me
I really gave away that classic camel hair coat dress now that it is in
perfect style!”

I recall recently giving away a beautiful pair of flowing, black wool
crepe pants that were part of a four-piece suit, thinking, “Oh, they’re
out of style, it’s all about narrow slacks now.” Oops! Not six months
later, wider, more relaxed pant silhouettes were in vogue, literally.
My only calming factor was that my waist was nowhere in sight of that
darned button, and the thought of causing permanent internal damage
somehow assuaged my angst at giving them away. But, there are those
days that I miss them.

I may have a solution. Whenever you’re not sure about dispensing with
an item near and dear to your heart, put it in the ‘just in case’ pile.
Sometimes,  in the heat of the moment, we all get carried away
with the joy of simplifying. Sure, it does feel good and, in theory,
it’s a good thing. But, it may be a wise idea to have what I call a
holding area, before the point of no return. Just to give you an
example: I actually went to the Thrift Store, on a reconnaissance
mission, in a moment of remorse, hoping to retrieve my beloved,
aforementioned, tight wool crepe Anne Klein pants to no avail. God
bless the woman who could fit into those babies. Anyway, you get my
point.

My mother actually had a good idea. She would make a bundle of things
to bring to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, and put it in the trunk of
her car. Then, she would sleep on it for a couple of days, driving
around town, doing her errands with her plastic bag of castaways in
limbo — not in but not quite out. This way, there’s no impulse
giveaway.  Usually, this tactic would usually result in her
raiding the bag to retrieve an item or two before it was too late.

In my attempt to buy a little more time and space for those ‘just in
case’ fashion classics, I hired closet specialist Bruce Bell, owner of
Mountain Closets, to renovate my shallow, inefficient one-rack
enclosures. Bruce was like a plastic surgeon, nipping and tucking all
the corners of my little condo into a tight, well-toned storage
machine.  He made my closets roomy enough so that I could fit all
my clothes into my tiny place and give up my storage unit, where I
switched my clothes seasonally and spent way too much money for years.
Finally, a place for everything! No greater joy does a fashionista feel
than room to indulge those moments of doubt: “Should I really give this
away?”

I know the philosophy of “Buy one, give one away.”  It’s a fine
theory. I like it, and if you can live by it you’re a better woman than
I. Next time, since, hopefully, we have made a bit of room for some new
things (I’ll try, I promise), and we’ll talk spring fashion now that
it’s finally time to unwrap ourselves from those winter cocoons.