Is it purging if they just don't fit?

[Bernice]

Years ago, now over a decade (yikes!) I did a regiment with Phentermine, and lost 100 pounds. Got down to where I could wear some size 14s.

During the great depression of 2008-2010, I had 19 months with not much to do, so I modeled and inventoried a lifetime of collecting skirts/dresses/blouses/culottes/and even some pants.

A recent set of disasters has the two of us (me and SO) looking towards seriously getting rid of a lot of stuff, so I went through the database and found 450 skirts/blouses/dresses to give away. The SO is a size 24 on a good day, and I'm now about a size 30. The vast majority of these are size 18 or smaller, and many of the skirts are way too short for my age. Should they go the Goodwill?

Hugs,

Bernice

[Karin]

 Should they go the Goodwill?

No.. they should go to me.

Seriously.. if there's that many I would eBay them? That way you can get some new stuff with them. Its not purging...its upgrading.

[Paulette]

Nah! What Karin said.

And if you're going to give them away, why Goodwill? They have a nasty reputation for paying their employees very little, and their executives a great deal more than a charitable organization should.

My favorite thrifts here are St Vincent du Paul and Value Village.YMMV

[DonnaT]

Purging means getting rid of it all, for reasons other than fit.

Have a yard sale. Or give to a charity like a church or the red cross for tornado relief.

[RebeccaF]

I'm going to say that slowly - four-hundred-and-fifty Give them to goodwill - honey I think you should open your own store!

Purging if they don't fit - I don't think so, purging has negative connotations in my head and, since you're not chucking it all out and 'giving up', then purging it ain't imho. You're just 'creating space to accommodate new investments'!

I would prolly eBay them too, maybe in groups / bundles if you don't want to list them individually.

xx Becca xx

[Anne Bonny]

Nah, only if you know you will eventually work your weight back down, unless that will be a long long time out. I have gotten rid of old or worn out items, and there are dresses and other things that I just do not think are "me" There are some platform strappy sandals that I have not and will not wear, need to donate them. Styles change and like anything else it is best to have some fresh items, and discard old ones - that is not purging.

[Eileen (SO)]

If your mindset is toward donation to avoid Ebay hassles, why not the Salvation Army, or any recent disaster site throughout the world?

Eileen

[Bernice]

Great comments everyone!

Why not the Salvation Army? Well, because they are decidedly homophobic, that's why. Also because they defrocked one of their own leaders for having the audacity to fall in love with a woman who is not of that specific religious sect. http://jonathanturley.org/2008/12/08/ha ... of-church/ Said another way, I just feel as though helping the Salvation Army is supporting intolerance.

Why Goodwill? Yes, they have their problems too, but they did help support my brother after he suffered a traumatic brain injury in a senseless robbery and violent assault back in 2003. Also, where I live, only Salvation Army and Goodwill have outlets anymore.

E-Bay? Yes, I thought about that a long time. But, nowadays I hear it's a real hassle to become a vendor, that used clothing doesn't bring as much as the shipping costs, that you have to go through Paypal, and that Paypal requires that they be able to wipe out your accounts over unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct. Non-paying bidders are now supposedly the rule rather than the exception. Listing all that stuff, and dealing with the nonsense... just doesn't seem to be the way to go.

Karin: I wish you lived closer - you could have your pick of anything that fits - free. I would throw that option out to the entire forum, but in the past, there has been little response to such offers.

Clothing can be turned into home insulation, and I thought about that too, but my attic is already well insulated.

450 items sounds like a lot, I'm sure, and it is. But very little was purchased new, mostly at garage sales and a DAV for under $3 per item, or homemade by yours truly. Many hemlines have been shortened (which I have since come to regret). I've probably already spent more to store them than I invested to initially acquire them.

Honestly, I was mostly kidding when I asked if this is purging. It's less than half of what has become an expensive storage problem.

[Eileen (SO)]

OK, homeless shelter, or some church group that doesn't offend you somehow. A community theatre group. There are retail stores that don't have that much inventory. Some time at the 200+ number, you had to know a problem was brewing. As a donation, this amount would be a hefty tax write off.

Eileen

[SilverLady(SO)]

What about the Red Cross or any other disaster-relief group? There are a lot of people who have become homeless due to the forest fires and floods from rain storms that are now hitting parts of the USA. Yes, I know they usually prefer money as it's easier for them, but they do accept clothing donations.

I agree with you about the Salvation Army . . . for being a religious organization they are exceedingly discriminatory and non-Christian in their actions.


Goodwill, or the GW Boutique as Virginia and I call it, while they do pay low wages to most of their employees they are great for helping those with disabilities by training and/or employing them as you have mentioned. The stores in our area also had a monthly auction of some of the higher-end donations received, and every year they put on a dinner with fashion show/runway style that provides additional funding for training programs. That is why we continue to give donations to and shop their stores no matter where we may be in the USA.


- SL

[Bernice]

I finally began the purge last year. Something like nine or ten carloads to Goodwill last year. We didn't just give away my skirts/dresses that were way too small. We unloaded gosh, I'm not sure, hundreds of pounds of clothing for both genders, things that were my mothers, her mothers, hers, sheets and bedding for mattress sizes we no longer own, things that we have no idea how they got into our possession. Valuation is a challenge (the IRS talks about "fair market value"), but yes, we do plan the tax write off.

Not that you could tell that anything was missing, by looking at the storage units! But it is a start, and it is easier to physically get to what is left.

Now I have this demanding job, and don't have the time to continue the process. This too shall pass.

Hugs,

Bernice

[Martina Hall]

Four hundred fifty?? We could start our own drag army.