A Fun Way to Gradually Streamline Your Wardrobe:

 The Farewell Wearing Ceremony

Spring is what I call my ex-husband season. My ex was always unpredictable and the only thing predictable about him was his unpredictability. Before you unconsciously store the warm sweaters, knits and jackets that are for colder days, to make room in your closet for your spring clothes, remember how ex-husbandy spring’s weather can be and join me in a few Farewell Wearing Ceremonies.

What’s a Farewell Wearing Ceremony? It was coined by my good friend Krista. She’s very organized and she always looks great in her clothes. I used to see her once a week because we sang in a chorus together. She shared with me this fabulous idea she partakes in regularly to keep her wardrobe reflecting just what she loves and therefore wears. I just had to tell you about it, before you unconsciously store your warmer clothes that perhaps have seen better days. 

Krista is always looking for items of clothing she doesn’t wear regularly (those articles in your closet or dresser drawers, you keep passing over for various reasons, ending up picking something you really want to wear). Say she chooses a sweater she hasn’t worn in a couple of months; she puts it on and wears it for the day. (She often wore such garments to our chorus rehearsals and once had a jacket that was being worn for its Farewell Wearing when she told me about this.) During the day of wearing the sweater, she remembered as much about it as she could; where she bought it or who gave it to her. She thought about all the times she had worn it, and if there were special occasions she remembered wearing it and she pulled up specifics about those events in her mind and relished the enjoyment she had. She talked to it and thanked it for its service.  

As part of the ceremony, she informed the garment that she’d wear, it and IF, during the day, someone complimented it, it’d get a temporary reprieve from disposal! At the end of the day, the blouse got put in the Salvation Army bag, because it got no compliments.  (She didn’t tell me how much time the compliment buys, but I suppose that’d be an individual thing.)

So before you pack those sweaters and jackets away to make room for your spring wardrobe, why not try Krista’s idea? As spring gets closer to summer and the weather is more predictable, you’ll have a nice collection of garments that have taken part in a Farewell Wearing Ceremony and you can head to the Salvation Army.  

Mother Nature’s Closet

Don’t you love the change in seasons? I like to think of the trees in my yard as people. I’ve got a flowering cherry tree that’s all decked out in her new dress right now and in another couple of days all the trees will be dressed in a multitude of shades of green. We can learn from Mother Nature. She gets rid of the old, worn out garments of last year, and dons new clothes in the spring. Wouldn’t it be great to get all new clothes every spring? I don’t have Mother Nature’s limitless budget for all new clothes, but for every Farewell Wearing Ceremony victim, I’ve promised myself a new spring garment to replace it.

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