How do you decide when to say goodbye?

I've been thinking about parting with some of my lesser-used bags. Adrien and Marianne of Looks Good from the Back call this recycling, since the old often funds the new. As much as I enjoy them, they mostly sit in my closet. Let's face it: I just don't have the Kardashian-caliber closet/lifestyle/income to justify collecting for the sake of a collection.

 One such aforementioned Kardashian closet. (from Elle)

But that leaves me with the decisions. I don't mean to sound dramatic or so crass as to liken this privileged process of material weeding to Sophie's Choice. I fully recognize that this is among the first-world-iest of a developed world/global north problem. But even so, how do you decide what stays and what goes when it is in a genre you happen to (kind of) hoard?

 All of these MBMJ bags have been rehomed except the Pan Am and the Softy.

When I am weeding out fast fashion, the process is easy. I don't feel a lot of commitment to that stuff. I didn't buy it with longevity in mind. No one expects to keep some necklace from Target for decades.  That's part of why I've begun avoiding fast fashion. No matter how cute the item, I often view the stuff as temporary or even (more guiltily) disposable.

 As much as I love the Stam, it didn't suit my lifestyle.

With nicer clothing the process is a little more simple and less intimidating. If I haven't worn it that must mean it 1. doesn't fit my lifestyle 2. doesn't make me feel confident and/or 3. just plain doesn't fit. I don't typically feel that pang of sentimental "what if someday I will want this again" anxiety with clothes.  

 I thought I was ready to say goodbye when I sold this Balenciaga City. 

A month or so later I bought it back from its new owner.

Bags have long been my vice. They were my high-end gateway drug. I hold onto them with irrational fervor. Quite a few were purchased with great care and effort, to (for lack of better and less pretentious word) curate a fine accessories arsenal that could enhance any range of outfits. Parting with the ones I have kept to this point would mean parting with the ones I really like. Even if I don't use them now, I see their value in remaining a part of my collection. If they've made this many closet edits then I obviously feel kind of attached. And all of these irrational material musings add up to my becoming emotional (and therefore unrealistic) about pricing. When I feel confident about selling a bag, I price it to move. When I feel mixed, I end up being less realistic in my evaluation of resale market value.

I hope I don't sound too materially dependent. I am curious about the thoughts of others on this subject. What about you? How do you decide what stays and what goes? Do you consign, use ebay/bonanza, or a shop blog? Is weeding and re-selling a simple or emotional process? How do you determine a price for something you might have coveted desperately at one point but realize you just rarely use?  Do you feel more attached to specific types of items (like shoes, watches, tote bags, etc.) over others?

Quick and inexpensive jewelry storage

Since Consume or Consumed is approaching its fourth blogiversary, I've been revisiting some past posts and flickr outfit sets to see how my style has/hasn't changed. I noticed that one of the things I did with more regularity in the past was rotate from a wider swath of jewelry. After contemplating why I was so set in the ways of my recent accessories rotation, I determined that if I can't easily access or see it, I forget about it.

Roxy from Effortless Anthropologie inspired me to correct the matter with some transparent/translucent and stacking/vertical storage options. We have no Container Stores in Pittsburgh so I went to Michael's. While there, I found divided tackle box type bins for beads on sale for just $1. I bought a few along with the stackable twist offs and started organizing. Above are my favorite vintage brooches. Hopefully it will help to have them organized this way instead of tucked underneath necklaces and bracelets in my jewelry boxes!

When I haven't been working...

I've been reorganizing. Chris and I are in the middle of some major pre-Spring cleaning. Now that he's back from South America, the holidays are over, and our trip to New York is behind us, we are being super productive. In October when Chris left for his field work, I haphazardly stored and fit a lot of our wedding-related gifts, intending to revisit them with his input. I also just had a lot of papers and miscellany to sort through at the end of the semester. I normally do a huge end-of-semester cleaning right away, but this year I flew to Brazil instead. I had a lot of catching up to do.

I went through my armoire and have a big bag of clothes for consignment. I also will be listing additional items on my Shop Jesspgh blog in the coming days. Right after I took this photo, the armoire's bar collapsed. The piece functions as my closet overflow space.

The thing about old houses is that what they lack in closet space they make up for (ideally) in charm. Frankly, I don't know if there's enough charm in the world to make up for the woefully inadequate closets of this house. But Chris and I have done our best to compensate with attractive storage-solving antiques. What southwestern PA lacks in urbanism and coastlines, it makes up for in affordable antiques.

Earth Shattering PSA: Polish your boots! (duh!)

I was gradually reorganizing my closets (and weeding things into keep, donate, and sell piles), when I came upon unopened Kiwi shoe polish I bought on clearance from Target last year.

I forgot that I bought it with the intention of polishing my black Steven Intyce boots (that fit my calves) before I put them away for the summer. When I pulled out the boots, they were dusty (even though I stored them in a dustbag) and showed significant signs of last year's wear. Pittsburgh weather is hard on shoes and I am especially hard on boots. My clumsiness resulted in more than a few scratches.

I put down some newspaper, wiped off dirt and dust with a babywipe, and started polishing away! Here's a photo with one tip done (on the bottom):

Although the single use polish was for a regular, non-boot pair of shoes, it was ample polish for two coats on the entire pair of boots.

The polish restored their shine and hopefully I will remember to do this regularly, to protect the leather and extend the life of my favorite relatively-affordable, leather, wider-calf circumference boots! It's such an easy fix, I can't believe I forgot to do it last year!