Wardrobe Experiment

Back at the end of October I started an experiment in my wardrobe.

Excuse the mess, but this is what it looks like on a daily basis, no smartening up for the camera.

I turned all of my clothes hangers the 'wrong' way round (see, backwards facing coat hangers).

Then each time I wore something it was hung back in the wardrobe the 'right' way round.

I gave the experiment three months and at the end of January I checked through all the clothes that were still hanging the 'wrong' way. I wanted to see why I hadn't worn them. The reasons fell into several distinct categories:

1) wrong season - there were short sleeved, summery clothes which obviously weren't going to get worn from Oct-Jan
2) smart clothes - I don't go to many places that require me to dress smartly!
3) clothes that didn't fit - some too large, some too small
4) clothes I no longer liked or which no longer suited me
5) some that I simply haven't got round to wearing even though I like them

What to do? The clothes from categories 1 and 2 were given a pass through to the next round (but they probably still won't get worn for the same reasons that they haven't been worn since last October) and the clothes in categories 3-5 were taken out of the wardrobe and put on the bed. And then I tried them all on. Turns out that some of the clothes that I didn't think fitted, did fit; some of them didn't; some of the clothes I thought didn't suit me did, and some I thought did suit me, didn't. And some of the clothes that I just hadn't got round to wearing fitted/didn't fit/suited me/didn't suit. Confused much?

Some of the fitted/suited clothes went back into the wardrobe, still hung the 'wrong' way round and awaiting their fate in the next round of the Great Wardrobe Experiment as it shall henceforth be known. And the rest (seven in total) were listed on eBay - four were still brand new, with tags (the shame), including these two

And, can I say, eBay came up trumps and the six tops and one dress that I sold made a grand total of £134.55! Yes, I have to pay some fees out of that, but still that's not bad, is it? Two of the tops in particular did really well, with a brand new Cath Kidston one (below) selling for more than twice what I'd paid for it

and a top from East (below) that I'd bought in a charity shop in Edinburgh for about £3 and enjoyed wearing quite a lot (before it slipped into category 4) sold for £27!

The other tops and dress did ok, some I lost money on and some sort of evened out when you take into account that I'd had some wear from them or hadn't paid masses in the first place. So, what do you think? Are you game for the Great Wardrobe Experiment? Let's clear out our closets and make some cash at the same time!