Purging & Consigning Your Closet

If my building was burning down and I could only bring a handful of items in my closet with me, I know exactly which three they’d be.

… Do you ever think about that?

Thought we’d kick it off on a really lighthearted note today.

Just kidding. And actually, Mercury is in retrograde and I’m slightly superstitious, so I’m going to rescind the comment about my building burning down. (Do you hear me, Universe? I keed, I keed.)

QUICK TIPS FOR CLOSET CLEANSING

As I mentioned, I’ve spent a lot of time cleaning out my closet this past weekend. The purge was partially because (1) I’m selectively packing for Paris, (2) it’s an in-between-season thing, and (3) I barely left my apartment on Sunday.

While it’s been hard, I’ve become a rather ruthless Editor of my closet and storage space.

I try and adopt a “one out, one in” frame-of-mind to keep my wardrobe current and create room in my closet. (I live in a little New York City studio, so there are no other options.) If I haven’t worn it in a year and there’s no sentimental value, into the donation or consignment box it goes… (Takes big sip of wine.)

One of the Ten Shopaholic Commandments is, “Know thy consignment shops.” And in New York, we have plenty of ‘em — but I am really freakin’ lazy. It’s a lot of work to lug your stuff to-and-from, no?

In an ironic twist of fate, I sprawled out on my couch a few weeks ago when I got an e-mail from Twice, an online concierge that sells your clothing, shoes and bags – and lets you to shop popular brands at 50-90% off retail. I’ve used and am familiar with similar services (Poshmark and ThredUP), but Twice sounded too easy not to look into.

So, I tried it.

I researched the site, mailed them a few of my gently used items, and am overall really pleased with the experience. (And as a result, I happily agreed to include a summary of my experience in today’s post.) Before I forget, here’s a 50% off coupon to shop the site.

Here’s how it works:

CONSIGNING YOUR CLOSET USING THE INTERNET

Twice takes virtually all effort out of selling your items. Simply clean out your closet, mail in your stuff (they pay for shipping) and accept their payment in the form of your preference (Venmo, check, PayPal, store credit).

They even have a user-friendly brand calculator on the site that estimates how much you’ll receive for each item, so you can be strategic about what you’re letting go of. (Again, more wine.)

Now, don’t go expecting to make big bucks (unless you’re selling “premium designers”), but I think we can agree that it is nice to effortlessly turn your lesser-loved clothes into cash.

IT’S KIND OF LIKE THE STOCK MARKET

More often than not, that cash is funneled right back into my closet. (It’s kind of like re-investing your dividends, right? Anyone?)

Perhaps it’s the lack of space, but I’ve been learning to regard my wardrobe as an investment rather than an expense.

And to clarify, an investment purchase doesn’t have to be a hugely expensive one — think in terms of its versatility and value when it comes to making you look and feel your best on more than one occasion. In fact, today’s post is peppered with my favorite investment buys — many of them thrifted/consigned.

This theory is simple: Shop less, save up and buy the best you can afford, gradually curating a wardrobe of “investments.”

That said, here’s a few items that I’ve got my eye on this fall:

… and to answer that first hypothetical question (you know, about the building), it’d be the Chanel necklace, 3.1 Phillip Lim metallic boots and Gucci clutch.

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