Delayed Sparks of Joy

The other Sunday, Chiquita proudly told me about her latest KonMari purge (she's very good at these and declutters her wardrobe frequently). Ironically, I was wearing a belt I bought when I was 17 (!) that day. Does anyone remember when El Charro was da hottest shit, btw?
Now, I have read my Marie Kondo or at least bought it, like the next person (I've had the book in the picture...yes and this is THE belt... for a year or so as I fell in love with the pretty cover of this edition, but so far have only read half of it as I did not find it that earth-shattering) and do believe that you should declutter and purge your home regularly. I am, however, much stricter in other areas of my life that I am with clothes and accessories. My pet hate is hoarding of printed matter and I throw out or give away magazines immediately after I have read them, only very rarely keeping single issues. With clothes, I either give them to my Mum, friends or charity as soon as I realise that I probably won't wear them ever again, or keep them in a bunch in the back of my closet in order to dispose of them on the next long-distance journey in order to create shopping space in my suitcase on the return flight. 

I do give things of particularly good quality or sentimental value a second chance, though, even if they may not "spark (a lot of) joy" the moment when I consider saying goodbye to them. That belt had been sitting around unworn for more than a decade when I suddenly felt like wearing it again, remembering when and where I was when I bought it, immediately. That Sunday, I actually paired my striped top with a red trench coat style jacket that I bought at a GAP outlet in Alexandria, VA 13 years ago. It was a magic girly trip when B2 and I visited B1. All our lives have changed a lot since then and new houses, jobs, men and a total of 5 children (none of these mine, haha) have happened in the meantime. Whenever I wear that jacket that has not been getting a lot of airtime ever since I bought my Burberry Brit short trench coat I think about that carefree trip, experiencing my first ever American halloween and all the fun we had. So, yes to decluttering, but as my Mum - the undisputed Queen of Upcycling- always says: "If you have got the storage space, don't throw out clothes too soon - they might come back in fashion or you get an idea to style them into something else. Amen to that!