I decided to clean out the guest room closet where I for years I have stored clothes I no longer wear. I haven’t even opened the closet door for quite a while so I’m safe getting rid of almost everything. As I went through them, I found myself recalling when I bought or wore each one. Some I still like (but most are several sizes too small). There were huge shoulder pads, a lot of denim (including a denim bustier), ankle length dresses, and tailored business suits. Some of them are 20-30 years! All are in excellent condition.

I am purging so most everything was unceremoniously loaded into bags for the Salvation Army’s resale shop. So far I’ve filled three huge trash bags and there’s a pile that wouldn’t fit.

When I took a break, I went on ebay and I did a search using “1980’s dress.” I was surprised that dresses similar to mine are actually commanding a fairly high price. I don’t want to mess with selling, packing, shipping, so what I’m not throwing away, I’ll just unload at the resale place. A few decent coats will go into our “to be sold at out September garage sale” pile.

Wile looking through the eBay postings, I spotted a top on that reminded me of one of my items I had planned to get rid of. Mine is a hand-crocheted lined skirt which comes to mid-calf and a matching off-the-shoulder lined top. (The top can be worn separately.)

I retrieved it and tried it on, and it is dern cute and it fits! I’m not donating it!! It’s going with me back to Florida to wear to one of our many dances.

There are only a few items I won’t get rid of: my wedding dress, several hand-made German-style drindls from my years living in Frankenmuth, and some historic style dresses for reenactor-type performances. Most everything else is going.

When I finish the guest room closet, I have two rolling closets in the basement to go through. I’ll feel so much better when it’s done. Then I can tackle the loft closet and the basement. So much clutter! It’s time to get rid of most of it. When it’s all cleaned out, maybe John will more favorably consider selling this place. As it is, he says selling would mean cleaning out, and that’s a difficult thought to face.