If you are like me (and Barbie) you have a room full of clothes, bags and shoes, the task of deciding what to cull and what to keep can be daunting and time-consuming. Here are my tips on how to downsize your wardrobe, by style director Louise Hilsz.

How many clothes does one woman need? And what do you do with them when you no longer wear them? These are the questions I struggle with every season, not to mention the impact fashion has on our environment. According to the website Sustain your Style an independent platform made by people who like fashion and style, consumers are concerned about how this industry impacts people and our environment. However, I love fashion and have tailored my shopping habits to feel better about waste. Here I share how to up-cycle your wardrobe and adopt circular solutions to help you tackle the daunting task of downsizing your wardrobe.

What to keep, donate to charity, or sell

It all starts with deciding what to keep, donate or sell. It pays to have a try-on of all the things you are unsure of. Check to see if it still fits and if you actually still like the style and shape. You would be surprised how many things you own and have loved wearing that doesn’t work like they once did. I have a mix of designer clothes, vintage and fast fashion, and while some experts say if you haven’t worn something for six months, toss it, I don’t believe in that rule. I’m happy if I wear something once every two years. So with that in mind, that’s how to break down what you will keep, donate or sell or just be done with it and donate to an op shop.

Keep

I have a room dedicated to my wardrobe, so I like to keep it tidy. Before you decide what to keep, check out the previous posts I Battled My Wardrobe And Won and Wardrobe Storage Solutions.

Donate

There are loads of options on where to donate your clothes. Charity bins can be found in most supermarket car parks or outside schools. You can also drop clothes to charity stores - however, they do check the condition, and decide if they will accept them. You can also donate your clothes direct to charities like Dress for Success, they do prefer corporate attire. Make sure when you are donating clothes they are clean and still in good condition, if they’re not, it just becomes a dumping station for someone else to deal with. No one wants your old socks! Clothes that are past their used by date, can be torn up and used as rags.

“There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

Sell

Selling your clothes is a great way to claw back some of that money you’ve spent and gives you some extra cash (perhaps to buy more clothes). There are heaps of ways of selling your clothes. Each has their own pros and cons, however, the more effort you are prepared to put in the greater the reward will be.

Store drop off

This is by far the laziest option, and no surprises, it gets you the least amount of money. In Auckland, you have famous institutions like Tatty’s, Recycle Boutique and for more high-end brands Scotties. Essentially you drop your clothes off, and the items get approved and are in store for a varying amount of time, each store has different policies. If they are sold the store takes their cut (usually 50 per cent). If they don’t sell they get discounted and or then given to charity (that’s if you don’t collect prior). Safe to say no one is going back to pick up their shit. I have used this method in the past and have not made great money at all. But if you can’t be bothered doing anything other than a dropping off, with the hope of getting a little bit of money back then perfect. As a consumer these stores are fantastic and I highly recommend shopping there. One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure and there are certainly treasures to find.

Pop-up sale

Also known as a garage sale. This way of selling your clothes take a lot of time and effort. Firstly, you need a space. Think, do you want people coming to your house or garage? Probably not. Get yourself a crew, both times I have done a pop-up with friends, we have set up at an empty industrial site in the city. It’s far more successful if you have a few of you selling together. Create some hype by promoting it on your socials and it’s way more fun having your friends there. There’s a lot of waiting around, and the pack and in pack out is a drag, but if you’re patient it can be worthwhile. I made $1100 for my first pop-up sale, which for a day’s work was pretty good. In the second sale, I made $600. Yes, I had a few good things to sell, but after the second attempt of the pop-up I was done, and my remaining clothes when to a hospice shop.
My top tips for selling at a pop-up:

Display your clothes nicely and steam them. A shitty rack of clothes no matter how cheap is not appealing.
Be prepared for price hagglers. Think, for the sake of a few dollars, it’s worth dropping your price, after all, you just want it gone - right?
Accept different forms of payment. No one carries cash these days, so offer online bank transfers.
Do lots of social. Get all your crew together and pump it out. I got quite a good flow on effect once the day was over with people wanting things they had seen on our social posts.

Online

This category is a biggie. In my opinion, it’s by far the most successful way to sell your clothes. Yes, this can be time-consuming but the rewards are great. Unlike the other two options you don’t need to pack all your stuff up and take it somewhere, you can sell your clothes from the comfort of your couch.
Popular platforms are Trademe, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Designer Wardrobe and a new one 56Rocket. I personally have had the most success with Trademe and eBay. I use eBay for more expensive things that have international fashion brands, whereas Trademe works well for the rest.

My top tips for selling online:

Take good photos. Hanging your clothes on the back of a door with a clean background is great. Iron or steam your clothes so they look nice. Take front, back, the label, and include any marks/damage.
If you want to take it one step further post a photo of yourself wearing the clothes - I used my Instagram shots. I did this for the first time recently and had huge success. This helps potential buyers see the outfit on your body and decide if it would work for them.
Answer questions. The more you engage with your buyers, giving them detail, the more success you will have.
This leads me to this tip. Keep your clothes somewhere accessible with a tape measure handy. If you’ve already packed them away into bags there is no way you are going to be bothered to bring them out and do measurements if you get queries.
If you’re selling on Trademe start at a dollar reserve. It really gets the price up and you always have the option of pulling the auction, if you’re not happy with the price.
Use Trademe’s courier system. Even if you haven’t sold something on Trademe you can still use their courier service. It’s so good just print or write out the label, package it up and they will pick it up from your doorstep. So easy and so affordable.