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?

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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.)

Let’s take a step back, first:

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.

blogger-closet-tour

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?

lo-&-sons-the-OMG

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.

cute office desk space

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.]

j.crew-t-shirt

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.

nyc studio, manhattan apartment tour, blogger closet tour

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.

///

24 comments

  1. I want to try this! I have a few things that haven’t been worn in toooo long. Also, YES to your saved items - I’d save those, too!!

  2. Well, this post just cost me! I checked out Twice and then was lured into the 50% off promo code on EVERYTHING I purchased! So, I picked up a Talbots jacket (for my stuffy legal job) and a couple purses (for me and a friend). Thanks for the info!

  3. I used Twice last year, unfortunately I was getting rid of LOTS of things from college and probably more than half were labels they wouldn’t take :/ I think I ended up taking the large majority of it to Buffalo Exchange + selling some on Poshmark. In need of another purge in the coming weeks, NYC actually makes me edit a little too much sometimes, though…gotta get more space, ha!

    Also, when Racked interviewed our office one of the questions was what would you save if your closet was on fire? I couldn’t even think about it, too hard of a question to answer!! Those boots though, no brainer 😉

  4. I actually just got the AG distressed denim pencil skirt that was close to $200 everywhere for $40 from Twice a couple weeks ago. Hellzzzzzz yessssssss! But yeah, I have so much crap in my closet that I need to sell but I’m so lazy. I feel like we should have a “shop the blogger’s closet” thing one of these days with a bunch of NYC bloggers! Ha!

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  6. I recently did a major closet purge, and it felt so cleansing. I gave almost everything that was in good condition to my mom (who steals from my closet anyway) and a friend. Everything else went to good will or the garbage. Sounds like I am going to have to check out Twice now! And if you ever want to pass along your discarded pieces, you can totally send them my way!

    Nikki
    thefashionablewife.com

  7. I love cleaning out my closet! Feels so refreshing! I hear you on lugging back the stuff consignment shops won’t take, though. It’s so hit or miss. I’ll have to check out Twice.

    Your apartment looks lovely! Would love to see a virtual tour some time :)

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  9. Love this post! I recently tried selling clothes on Twice as well and had mixed feelings about it. Check out my post here: http://twentysomethinginthecity.com/2014/10/30/twice-out-with-your-clothes-and-in-with-the/

    Definitely agree with you that you’re not going to make a lot but it’s definitely worth a shot and cleaning out your closet always feels amazing!

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