Suits you sir

[L Austin France]

Mme's having one of her clear outs & going through our wardrobes.
So far she's earmarked lots of my 'gear' including 7 almost new suits & umpteen smart dress jackets all destined for the local bénévole.
Must be near a couple of thousand quids worth when originally purchased & she reckons they'll go for €10 a pop.
Do I care? do I heck as like?
I've never worn any of 'em in the 23 years we've lived here & can't see me starting now although I tried on a couple for fun & they actually still fit......Well almost
She's been through the pockets & found 2 combs & a decent pen so not all bad
It'll be fun to see if the locals appear wearing any of them.

[exile]

[exile]

I, too, have "special" clothing that will never see the light of day on my body.

[Polly]

We’ve only just decided to move to a smaller house after 40+ years here and although we’ve been taking bags and boxes to the Cancer Research charity shop every few weeks for a couple of years we’re going to have to move up a gear.

Loads of my husband’s suit will definitely be going, with only one ever worn for weddings and funerals and my wedding dress will finally have to go - it's almost 59 years since it was worn on a bitterly cold day - velvet was a great choice!


We’re moving from our roomy house with four bedrooms to a bungalow with 3 much smaller bedrooms and no loft or understairs cupboards, of course! We warned the charity shop on Saturday when we popped in with a couple of bags that we’ll be stocking their shop to the rafters!

[Blaze]

Someone once said "Dress for the life you lead today, not for the life you left behind or the life you aspire to".
It's absolutely right - our life here in France has been very different from the one we led in the UK. We don't "dress up" like we used to though we've kept a few things for the odd occasion when we want to look presentable.

Well done, LAF ! Just before reading your post, we'd been discussing how and where we would dispose of all the things we haven't looked at since we moved from Maine et Loire (49) 10½ years ago. We've got to make a real effort. I remember my parents saying that they didn't envy us having to sort out their house and contents when they'd gone ....
Places like Emmaus are inundated with clothes, as are places that sell clothes on for charities. I will advertise some things on a local FB recycling group - we've been successful in shifting a few things in the past.

[demi]

When I moved to France, five years ago, I was utterly ruthless. I got rid of about 80% of all my possessions and apart from one chair & a small chest of drawers I don't miss any of them. It's very liberating (and makes for easy cleaning) to have a minimalist home.

[Loup-garou]

I admire you LAF. I'm a hoarder of everything I'm afraid.

Herself asked me the other day if I could sort out some clothes for charity. Now, we have wardrobes in every bedroom, in a hallway, and in the dressing room - we even have two of those zippy-upy things in the loft ............ I don't recall when I last opened any of them. Eventually, I came up with a few pairs of socks that I have taken a dislike to but she was not grateful.

I have work clothes that I have had for aeons which I occasionally ask her to repair at which she explodes. However, these are my friends who have been with me through several renovations, stood up to copper pipe, electric cable and every type of brick and stone imaginable. Much to her embarrassment, they have visited every brico shed in the sector but, happily, no charity shop would have them.

[MAD87]

I'm glad I'm not the only hoarder here!

[Hotrodder]

My life has been subject to many house moves, even continent moves, so it has always a case of having to reduce the stuff I hung on to. Clothes were never an issue. I spend too much time renovating, repairing cars, or gardening to need anything fancy. Thinking about it, I used to wear bell bottom jeans, long after they went out of fashion and back in again.

[Sparkle]

Our friends get rid of theirs, ours and others 'stuff' at the vide greniers - always plenty around the communes here and they do really well.