When I was about 16 weeks pregnant with baby S, in a fit of total frustration because nothing fit and I had absolutely nothing to wear, I boxed up all my non-maternity clothing, removed shelves in my tiny closet and stacked five big totes all on one side. I was left with a selection of clothes that fit. It made dressing my weird pregnant body so much easier.

When baby S was three months old and I was feeling rather good about the progress my body was making in its effort to “bounce back,” I dug through the five boxes, hoping to find some transitional pieces until everything fit. It was a dark day. Nothing fit. I couldn’t bring myself to sort through the clothes I didn’t like anymore, so I packed everything up and shoved the boxes back in my closet.

Now we’re days away from baby S’s six month birthday, I’m 10 pounds from where I started our whole TTC journey, and just a few pounds from where I was when I got pregnant with baby S. My clothes are thiiiiiiis close to fitting and I bought a pair of shorts last week in my pre-pregnancy size. It’s just a matter of lacing up my running shoes and I’ll be feeling good and in my old wardrobe in no time.

However, this time away from my wardrobe of way too much clothing and my time living with a little maternity wardrobe has taught me something: I don’t need a huge amount of clothing. I like seeing everything I have to choose to wear each day. I only want to keep what I love! So I’m undertaking the mommy body purge and getting rid of clothes I’ve been holding on to since college… a place I haven’t set foot in 13 years.

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Purging is a lot harder than I thought. I had to psych myself up several times before I could really get down, dirty and totally ruthless. These are some of the criteria I’m using to decide what goes:

  1. Stained – whites don’t really stay white when they’ve been in storage for years
  2. Worn out or pilled – I hang dry all my clothes, so if something is pilled, it’s really worn out!
  3. Cut too short – I wear lower cut pants than I did 15 years ago and anything that shows mommy muffin has got to go
  4. Out of my style – I don’t have much that’s out of style, but there’s plenty that’s out of my style
  5. Doesn’t fit who I see when I envision how I look in my head – I don’t live at the beach anymore; I’m not a halter girl!
  6. Too many of one thing – How many “lounging around” t-shirts does one person need? Not that many
  7. I say, “I might wear that again someday” – Chances are I’ve said that too many times already
  8. Still has tags on it – If I didn’t wear it new, what are the chances I’ll wear it now
  9. Pants are too short – Why are they in my closet in the first place? Don’t know.
  10. I haven’t worn it since law school – For me this is a 5 year rule, which is more realistic than a 1 year rule

In one afternoon, I bagged up 1/3 of my clothing for Goodwill. I just kept repeating to myself a mantra I read on another blog recently: “the money isn’t lost when I donate it, it was lost when I purchased it.”

I took out a few items of clothing that are very close to fitting and left all the clothing that still doesn’t fit in boxes, which I labeled with their contents. I intend to go through it all again at the end of the summer and will be just as ruthless next time.

I also boxed up my maternity clothes, but before doing so, I took out anything that I didn’t wear or only wore once and bagged that up, along with all the infant formula samples we received and will be taking them to the local women’s shelter tomorrow morning.

What are your criteria for purging old clothes? Do you dress differently now that you’re a mom?