I'm Not A Hoarder, But...

I'm a pretty savage declutterer - every 6 months or so I go through the house and throw out a bunch of things. Every few years I think, "Gee, I wish I hadn't thrown out that 1960s tartan mini that belonged to my mum when she was young", or "Gee, I wish I'd put all my nice shabby chic stuff into storage instead of getting rid of it before moving interstate", but that's the consequence of being a declutterer - sometimes there are regrets. Generally speaking, though, I think of it as "just stuff". It's replacable.

However, there are a few things I've held on to for many years for reasons that baffle me, and a couple of weeks ago I decided to go through and throw out everything in the house that I didn't either really love or really need. I thought it might be fun to show you some of the weird things I have been clinging to. I apologise in advance for the blurry pics - Ben has "his" camera (the one that I like to think of as "my" camera) for a family wedding, so I had to use my phone, and it's pants. But you know, it's not swatches or anything where it needs to be clear, so you'll get the gist.

Probably the most recent of the "why do I have this" items, I bought this in a Myer Fat Chick sale a couple of  years ago for about $20. I've never worn it - it still has the price tag on it. I hate the print, and I hate cowl necks. So yeah...

Six weeks after Noodle Arms was born I had to go a wedding. None of my pre-pregnancy clothes would fit me, and I felt like a huge, frumpy blob. So I spent a ton of money on a huge, frumpy blob dress. Again, it is everything I hate - shapeless, layered and with an asymetrical hem. I think the only reason I have been hanging on to it is because it was expensive. I've never worn it other than to that wedding, and I really, really hate it.

$5 on the Crossroads throwout rack. I don't know... maybe I was drunk.

I think this might be from about 2000/2001. I have to admit, I still have a bit of a fondness for it, but I'm never going to walk out in public carrying this bag again, so it has to go.

This goes right back to the very early 1990s - a mohair cardigan that I paid about $3 for in an op shop. I wore it with hand-dyed petticoats and Doc Martens. Only every time I wore it I had to take it off after a while because it was so damned itchy.

When did we get the RuddBucks? 2009? That's when I bought this - I went to a DFO with Harriet Archer and spent a few hundred on frivolous things. Including this shiny Olga Berg monstrosity, which I LOVED in the shop. I kept going back and looking at it and then finally I bought it. I was so pleased with it, then got it home, looked at it again and decided I hated it. I've used it a couple of times, but felt really embarrassed.

I don't know where this came from - I didn't buy it, and I think it's hideous. But for some reason I've held on to it for well over 10 years.

A Catherine Manuell laptop carrier back from about 10 years ago. It was expensive and I loved it at the time, but it's really dated and of course, huge compared to laptop bags of today. It serves no purpose other than to store my old, huge, no-longer-working laptop, but I can't bring myself to part with it.

This is the oldest item I have - a pencil skirt I wore to work in my first proper job 26 years ago when I was a secretary in the Ministry of Education. The waist is TINY. I would have to lose 30cm off my waist to be able to fit back into that. It's from Myer Miss Shop and has buttons all the way up the back. I love it, and regardless of the fact that I will probably never get into again, it's the one thing I will never, ever throw out.