I love clothes. Always have. I remember one of my first solo shopping trips with my mom when I was 9 years old; I insisted that I pick out all my outfits. I instinctively matched pants and sweaters, skirts and tops and we left the store with a handful of personally-styled outfits that could have fooled anyone into thinking a professional had been involved. A clothes horse was born.
My love of clothes and shopping grew as I did until, by my mid-late twenties, it was a full-fledged addiction – a means of escaping a bad day, a messy break-up, a job I didn’t love. I would wait for hours in line at sample sales, time my calendar to get first dibs at online sales each time emerging with more and more to add to my collection. I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on clothes, shoes and accessories until a life unfulfilled became a closet so full it was bursting at the seams (yet I still always felt as if I had nothing to wear).
This isn’t a post about how I overcame my shopping addiction, but as I made changes in my life, a desire to have less, not more, took over. I still love clothes, but I have fewer of them. No, I haven’t quite mastered the capsule wardrobe yet nor am I an expert minimalist, but I’m working on it.
Once a season, I take inventory of my closet and determine what goes and what stays. This post isn’t sponsored (my links in this post will get us both $10 applied to our thredUp accounts), but I’ve been so thrilled with how thredUP has helped me with this process that I had to share. At first, I donated everything, but it pained me to be giving away so many of my brand name clothes in good shape that I knew someone else could still enjoy. I still donate some items to those in need, (I’ll get to that), just not everything.
Then, I started walking my clothes to a nearby consignment store which would sort through my clothes, take what they wanted to sell, hand me cash and donate what they didn’t want. This was a great option, but there was always a line when I went, not to mention the time it took to sort through my clothes while I was there. On top of that, until I could carve out the time in my schedule, the bag of clothes would sit in my apartment like clutter.
When I discovered thredUP I was elated that I had found a convenient way to mail in my clothes. I created an account and ordered a free clean out kit which promptly arrived in my mailbox. The clean out kit is a giant bag folded up into the size of an envelope with a mailing label affixed. I started filling it immediately. Once I had added all the clothes, shoes and accessories I wanted to give away, I sealed the bag, brought it downstairs to my doorman and UPS came to pick it up.
A few days later, thredUP was in touch to let me know they received my bag and a couple weeks after that, they were in touch again to let me know my bag had been processed. I logged into my account to see what they accepted and how much I received for each item (less the $9.99 shipping fee). thredUP will upcycle what they don’t take or you can choose to reclaim it for a fee. You can then cash out or use the money to purchase items from the site. I always cash out because, personally, I’m working toward less, not more.
That’s all. It’s so easy it’s addictive. The lightness I feel from letting go of so much excess plus the extra cash in my pocket is rewarding.
You can use this link to get started with thredUP for yourself.
That sounds like a really cool program! I don’t really shop for myself anymore- I do so many races that I just use the t shirts that I get from running and racing and wear those on my days off! Other than that, I work at a running store so my “uniform” for work is always running clothes!
At least you get some use out of your race t-shirts. Mine just build up and I can’t bring myself to give them away. Currently trying to figure out how to make use of them.
I love thredUP! I love how easy it is to send my clothes in! I like that my clothes don’t ride around in my car for months before I actually take them to the Clothes Mentor. I have gotten a couple of great pieces from thredUP.
I love not having the clutter around. Just pack up the bag and ship it off!
Oh that’s very cool!
I’d need a much bigger bag though, LOL I so need to clean out the closet I can’t even remember the last time I did a really good job of it!
My niece would envy you, my sister won’t let her shop for herself anymore because last year my sister let her pick out her own shoes and the sweet 6 year old picked out Elsa shoes and well that is apparently only cool at home and she was made fun of at school so mom decided better wait a few years, my niece has not been happy about not getting able to pick out all her clothes because even now she fully believes she has a career in fashion, LOL It’s cute though!
You would be surprised how much the bag fits. Give it a try! That’s too bad about your niece. Kids can be so cruel. I say let kids explore their creative side!
I totally need this company in my life! I have 3 heavy duty black trash bags sitting in my room right now because I just cleaned out my closet. Like you, I’m going more minimal and had too many clothes and way too many shoes. Some of the stuff still has tags on it. I never wore it! I’ll be checking thredUP out for sure!
Yes definitely check them out. It’s so rewarding to send in clothes you once loved so someone else can love them and get paid!!