7 Surprising Reasons We Hold Onto Clothes We Never Wear

Have you ever looked into your closet and seen so many clothes but still felt like you had nothing to wear? It’s a common frustration that many of us feel, and yet few of us have managed to solve.

The root of the problem is that most of us are holding onto clothes that we never wear. For some reason, we can’t bring ourselves to get rid of them, even though they aren’t adding any value to our lives. And that clutter, combined with a bunch of decisions we apparently don’t want to make, is weighing us down with a background layer of stress we don’t need.

The first step to solving this challenge is to understand it. And the best way to do that, in my experience, is simply to ask “why” a bunch of times. It doesn’t take long before you start uncovering the emotional reasons we cling to our clothes. Once you see the problem clearly, you’ll finally be in a position to make some progress.

Here are some of the reasons I’ve identified in my own life about why I hold onto clothes I never wear:

Nostalgia for past memories

I’m embarrassed to say that I still have clothes from high school and college. Some of these aren’t even in a condition to be worn, but for some reason I hold onto them because they remind me of good times and friends I won’t see again. My reluctance to get rid of these reminds me of how hard it is to accept change. But, I wonder if releasing these clothes would help me to more fully embrace today rather than looking back at what was.

Aspirations for a different lifestyle

For many years I bought clothes because I had this vague idea that they would be useful for an idealized version of myself. For example, there was a period in my life when I bought clothes that I thought I’d need for a fancy job I might have someday, but ended up not even pursuing. The result is a closet full of clothes that I saw as symbols for my dreams, but in reality were just taking up space.

Hopefulness about returning to a different size

I’m in the best shape of my life in terms of fitness, but I’ve never fully lost the weight I gained in young adulthood. And so, I have this whole range of clothes that I bought when I was skinnier that I can still picture myself wearing when I lose just a bit more weight. This hopefulness has prevented me from donating my old clothes. But I wonder if it’s just another example of not fully embracing myself for who I am today.

An attempt to avoid regret

Just this past week I lost a piece of clothing that I actually liked wearing. I was traveling at the time and it must have fallen out of my suitcase. I can’t help but think that I saved that shirt by holding onto so many others that I don’t even wear. I know that’s not exactly how it works, but it makes sense to my brain. I have this vague fear that if I get rid of clothes I don’t wear, I might regret it, and so I hold onto them just in case.

Resistance to change

I don’t think of myself as a lazy person, but one of my character flaws is that I tend to procrastinate on making decisions. I’m afraid that I’ll make the wrong choice, or that I’ll feel the sting of regret—not just about my clothes, but all sorts of decisions—so I delay as long as possible. Don’t get me wrong, I know this isn’t healthy, but it helps me to see my own thought process in action.

To have an option available

Even though I’m married and a father of 5, I still have a lot of personal growing up to do. And one of those ways that I’m trying to grow is to stop overthinking things so much. One example is the amount of time and energy I put into trying to optimize my clothing choices for every conceivable future. All this really does is leave me with a bunch of clothes I never wear, because I’m saving for some imagined future event which might not ever happen.

Hopes of a future use

This is very similar to the previous idea of holding onto clothing to have an option available, but with the subtle difference that I actually imagine a future context for those clothes. The odd thing is that if I ever really did need clothes for a very specific occasion, I could probably just go buy something—that purchase wouldn’t break the bank. But I’m clinging to the idea that a future use will come along. I think it makes me feel good to imagine that I’m prepared for anything.

Conclusion

It’s amazing how much your sense of wellbeing can improve by clearing up the clutter in your life. It’s not just a matter of some physical object being out of the way, but of making decisions—and clearing out mental clutter, and emotional baggage as well.

My challenge to you, and to myself, is to identify one area of your life that you can declutter today. Are clothes a source of frustration for you? Or perhaps books that go unread, or some other thing you’ve been holding onto without a good reason. It might feel hard to do this at first, but I promise, you’ll feel so much better when you’re done!