Simplify Your Accessories
This post is part of the Monday series on simplifying that inspired my book, Your Simple Home Handbook. The series began with 10 Reasons to Start Simplifying Now.
Today’s simplifying mission is to edit your accessories–scarves, belts, hats, gloves, and purses.
Accessories are tricky to pare down. Why? Because the need to simplify them isn’t as obvious.
Too many clothes are obvious–you can’t close your dresser drawers.
Too many shoes are obvious–they’re walking all over your floor.
But accessories don’t take up that much space to begin with. Belts and scarves can be rolled up tightly. Gloves and mittens can be tucked away in corners.
Accessories are also easy to hang on to because they’re usually in great condition. It’s difficult to get rid of things that are still pretty and that still “work.”
For these two reasons, I almost didn’t bother simplifying my accessories. I decided to, anyway, for the sake of thoroughness–and did indeed find several items to purge.
To simplify your accessories, try this:
Pull out all your clothing accessories–scarves, gloves, handbags, hat, belts, etc.–and spread them out on your bed. This alone might help you realise how many “extras” you really do have.
Ignore the fact that many of these items are still in great condition. That will not be a criteria for keeping them!
Instead, evaluate each item by these standards:
- The accessories you own will compliment the outfits you own. If you don’t have any dresses that require a skinny belt, why keep it?
- The accessories you own will not be redundant. If you have two brown purses, pick the more versatile one and donate the other.
- The accessories you own will make sense in your specific context. If you spend most of your year in warm places, you can get rid of most of your woolen mittens and scarves!
My top victories? Purging down to just two belts, and getting rid of a canvas hat I’ve had for almost ten years but never worn!
[question]What accessories do you tend to accumulate the most?[/question]
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I admit that I have lots of scarves. I like them because they can go with many different outfits and are a nice way to dress up something that on it’s own would be rather plain. I do have some that I don’t wear for one reason or another so I could probably still get rid of some of them.
I honestly don’t accessorize much. I definitely have a lot of jewelry that I don’t wear, and am keeping most of it for sentimental reasons. I should probably clean out my jewelry case, though, and take inventory of my winter scarves/gloves/hats. No sense in keeping one glove when its pair is missing!!
Oh, jewelry is going to get its own post(:
My weakness is handbags. My husband calls be a “bag hag” in joking of course. I get so mad at myself!