The current book I'm reading is about Swedish Death Cleaning, or removing things from your house and life as you get older, so that your children don't have the weight of all your belongings to deal with when you die. It's a book that's been on my want list for a while and I was given it for Xmas by OH.
It's a small book, very easy to pick up and put down, with short chapters about different aspects of clearing your stuff, who to pass it on to, how to downsize/simplify your life, etc. It's written by a Swedish lady, a widow, who describes herself as being between the ages of 80 and 100. It's quite thought provoking.
Lately, I've been trying to wear things that I don't really reach for in my wardrobe, to give them a chance and see if I still want to keep them. It's helping me to decide whether to donate certain items.
I no longer have the patience to keep items that are synthetic (unless I really like and wear them often), uncomfortable, or just look unflattering when I put them on. I'm less bothered about how long I've had them or how much they cost me, as most of my clothes have been thrifted, I'm more bothered about whether they are worth giving wardrobe space too, as the more things I have in there, the longer it takes and the more difficult it is to see exactly what I have and make a decision about what to wear.
This week, for example, when we went out to an exhibition, I wore a top that I've not reached for in a long time. It was one that LB was throwing out, but I decided to keep as it's leopard print. It's just a long sleeved, crew necked top, but it is made from a sythetic mesh fabric, which is all the rage amongst youngsters, but not so comfortable as you get older and less tolerant of synthetic fabrics. This particular top is cute, but it chafed my armpits and made them sore, this could be because it was a touch small, but I think it was also because it was synthetic, so when I've washed it, it will definitely be leaving the house. Hopefully, it will find a new home.
Various other things have been donated too. I'm slowly working my way through and only keeping those items I actually enjoy wearing. Life is to be enjoyed, it's too short to wear things that make your skin chafe or feel at all uncomfortable.
Talking of the exhibition we saw at the Barbican, it was also very thought provoking, especially a film about how western fabric waste is being shipped out to Africa to be recycled, flooding the market there and then much of it being dumped in landfill and rivers. It's criminal how we are happy to send our waste to another country to be disposed of. Shameful. I know it's common knowledge, but how many people actually change their shopping habits as a consequence. I'm glad that I rarely buy any new clothing, as it would weigh on my conscience. There is so much second hand clothing available in this country to buy.
Some of the clothing in the exhibition was made from recycled textiles and other recycled materials. These were the bits of the exhibition that resonated with me the most. Some of the exhibits were quite humorous or challenged your perceptions about stains, bodily fluids, etc.
Thankfully, my charity shop purchasing of clothing has ground to a halt this month and I'm glad. Unless I see anything that I really like or need, I don't really want to buy anything else for a while and to be honest, I can't really afford to buy much in any case. I think I'll concentrate on whittling down my wardrobe to only my trusted favourites, making my own clothes from fabric in my stash or adjusting things I already have to make them more wearable. It will keep me out of the shops too.
Another area that I need to attend to is definitely my (costume) jewellery. I did donate some necklaces the other week, when the hook they were hanging from fell of the door of my wardrobe. To be honest, I hardly ever reach for costume necklaces any more, but there are a few old favourites that I'm not yet ready to part with or have sentimental value, so I kept them. Earrings, however, and brooches are a whole other area I need to focus on. I do occasionally wear brooches on jackets and I do like them, but I think there may be some in my collection that I can part with now.
I also have way too many earrings and only tend to reach for a favoured few that more often than not are sterling silver, so there is probably a whole raft of earrings that I could donate if I put my mind to it. Obviously, I will clean any I do donate with surgical spirit, as I do when I buy them second hand.
These are just a few tasks to be getting on with, especially whilst I'm not working. I just need to get started. I'll keep you posted with progress.
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