Collegiettes™ are unfortunately limited to a small amount of closet space. If you are anything like me, your closet is dangerously overfilled with clothes. We stuff and shove until it becomes hazardous. Having an abundance of clothes may seem great. But, if you are stuck with the same clothes from high school you may have a problem. Something must be done. Luckily, there are tricks to keep your clothes without the clutter.
1. Donating
Donating is not necessarily keeping them, but it is an amazing way to give back. Someone less fortunate will get good use of your old clothes. Your donated clothes will be put to better use than you can imagine. There are countless ways to donate, so it is hard making an excuse not to. Some options are to take them to a local Goodwill, church, homeless shelter, etc. There is also an abundant amount of clothing donation boxes around college campuses.
Grab a big trash bag, go through your closet, and be honest with yourself. If you are never going to wear something again, put it in the bag. You have no idea how much those clothes will mean to someone who could not otherwise afford them. Like the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
2. Sharing
Most collegiettes™ typically have similar styles with their roommates. We tend to live with our good friends and people that we trust. So, why not share with them? No matter if you live in a dorm, apartment or house, there is bound to be space open in your place.
Since your roommate(s) may not be a clothing hoarder like yourself, see if you can see if they have extra room in their closet. The trade-off is that you allow them to also wear the clothes. The great part is that you know where your clothes are. They do not even leave the house, unlike sharing with other friends. If you are fine with sharing your clothes this could be a great option for you!
3. Keeping them at Home
Unless your parents have already turned your room into their new gym or sauna, keep some clothes back home. There is no shame in keeping stuff at home. Bring clothes to school seasonally. Now you should have your summer and fall attire with you. Keep big jackets and sweaters at home. You rarely need them in Florida until about November anyhow. When you go home for Thanksgiving do a trade out of your clothes. That way you can feel like you have a new wardrobe every time you come back to school. If you have all that space at home, you may as well use it!
4. Getting Crafty
In college, we collect so many t-shirts. It seems like every event we go ploys us by giving us a free t-shirt, and we absolutely love it. These t-shirts are keepsakes and memories of your college experience, so we don’t want to give them up. A crafty solution is to make quilt of your t-shirts. All you do is cut out the main part of the shirt into an even square. Then lie out the squares and sew the pieces together. That way you have a cozy blanket that captures all the fun you had in college that you can keep adding to.
It is almost as if we have a relationship with our clothes. Every clothing item shares a memory, and we feel like we are tarnishing that memory by giving out clothes away. Check out these solutions to see if they are right for you. That way you can keep all those clothes; you hoarder, you.