I had to clean out my sock and underwear drawer. Again. Last time I did this, I said that I was not someone who rotated clothing seasonally. I am still not. But this drawer is so frustratingly full, and it’s so hard to find things, but I still like and wear pretty much everything, so I am willing to ATTEMPT seasonal rotation. We will see if I can maintain it. My money is on Perhaps.
Here is the drawer as we begin our journey, too full to close:
And here it is after I took everything out and put it on the bed, except for the back-up bottles of L’Artisan, which have expanded since the last time we peeked:
Here is everything sorted on the bed (it’s a little misleading, because the D pile actually came from a different, smaller drawer, which didn’t seem interesting enough to mention except then I added a list to the end of the post that means the clarification is necessary), with a map key below the picture:
A: Underwear I dislike and wear only one week a month
B: Underwear I like
C: Underwear I like, but it’s a little too big
D: Nylons, dressy socks, shapewear, cartwheel shorts
E. White cotton crew socks, worn year-round
F: Socks without twins
G: Fleecey and wool socks of the kind I wear over other socks for extra warmth
H: Ankle socks, worn only in hot weather
I: Crew/boot socks, worn only in cold weather
J: Wool socks I can wear without another layer underneath
K: Holiday/theme socks
I had more pairs than I needed of Group A underwear, so I got rid of a few, and I put Group C up in storage with my other too-big clothing. I set aside Group F (single socks) in a bag that hangs from my closet door handle and serves as a last-chance area before I throw the socks out. I evaluated Group G (fleece and wool), realized I’d bought too many when we moved to this chilly house, calculated that I could get rid of half and still have plenty, and did so. I looked through Group K (holiday and themed) and got rid of a couple pairs.
But things were still pretty good from the last time I did this, and these minor edits weren’t enough for the kind of significant results I wanted to see. Systemic change needed to occur.
The nylons, dressy socks, shapewear, cartwheel shorts—I wear such things HARDLY EVER. Like, once or twice a year. But when I DO need one or more of them, I don’t want to have to go BUY them. This was the perfect use for a Hello Kitty shoebox I’ve been saving:
I put it up in my closet next to the shoe boxes of dress shoes I wear hardly ever (but don’t want to go out and buy when I DO need them).
Next, finally, a reluctant and tentative commitment to seasonal rotation:
I almost accidentally labeled the box “cold-weather socks” but then realized “out-of-season socks” means I can use the same box for whatever socks I’m not currently wearing. (If I’d accidentally written “cold-weather socks,” I would have written “warm-weather socks” on the other end of the box, and then I could have just put it facing a different way in my closet.)
After:
This is the best it’ll ever look, since the hot-weather socks take up less space than the cold-weather socks.
And the trash can:
And a list of things found in the different, smaller drawer that contained the nylons and shapewear and so forth (which I apparently didn’t go through the last time I did this project):
• An iron-on Jeep logo, apparently torn out of a magazine.
• An old packing list that included “powder.” It’s been so long since I’ve worn powder, I couldn’t even think what the word referred to at first, and only figured it out because it was in the same list as lipstick and under-eye pencil. Matte skin used to be very In, which was difficult because I am naturally rather dewy. Happily, trends change.
• A 2005 packing receipt for nursing bras, which I saved because they were hard to find and I didn’t want to forget which ones they were if I needed to order them again later on.
I had to Google “cartwheel shorts” so now I’ve learned something new today thanks to you!
Me too, Denise :-)
Okay, so I just Googled, but I’m still not 100% clear on what “cartwheel shorts” are in the context of adult women? Is it the same as for younger girls? Just shorts you wear under skirts in case you find yourself upside down? Or, are they what I would call “bike shorts” that I might wear to excersise in?
I’m genuninly curious if this is a regional wording difference or if perhaps I’m missing something that I was supposed to be wearing under skirts! :-)
They’re thin stretchy shorts you wear under a skirt—like leggings, but short. I wear them not in case I do cartwheels (though I think it’s a charming name for them) but to prevent the discomfort of Thigh Rub, and also in case the skirt blows up or it’s tucked into my underwear or I sit wrong or whatever: I’m not comfy in skirts, so to me there is a feeling of insecurity that is relieved by wearing shorts underneath Just In Case.
Ahh! That makes perfect sense and sounds like something I would find useful as well. Thanks for taking time to explain. I should get some!
I have never heard the term cartwheel shorts but it’s perfect! It’s way cuter than my term which is Chub Rub Prevention Shorts.
These things are worth their weight in gold for drawers. I have…a lot of them at this point.
Drawer Dividers Organizer 4 Pack, Adjustable Separators 4″ High Expandable from 11-17″ for Bedroom, Bathroom, Closet,Clothing, Office, Kitchen Storage, Strong Secure Hold, Foam Ends, Locks in Place https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q24SM5F/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_j9AlFb0Y46CK1
I too have way too many socks (I rarely wear socks so why so many?) and underwear (which I do wear on a regular basis – but the majority are never worn – too big, too uncomfortable, etc.). For me, the key to being able to close the drawer is folding them (KonMari method for underwear – just folded for the socks). Still – I need to do this soon, particularly as I’m contemplating a new purpose for one of the dressers.
This post makes me think about how interesting a laundry post would be. How does Swistle currently manage laundry? How many loads per week? Sorting or no sorting? Are all family members garments’ mixed or separated? I’m kind of a freak about laundry since it’s the only household chore I can stand and knowing which clothes and how many to keep out is highly dependent on laundry habits.
A few months ago I used this quarantine to FINALLY do myself a favor and just throw out uncomfortable underwear and socks. For years I’d been grabbing certain underwear or socks and then spending the rest of the day hating it. I don’t regret a single pair of either that I threw away. It’s the little things in life that are making a difference to me these days…
Yes. This is a glorious luxury: being able to replace The Uncomfortable Stuff. I bought more underwear at the beginning of the pandemic (because I always want to run out of something else first before underwear, and this is… well, let’s say “less likely to happen” with a household garbed in Pandemic Casual Attire, aka The Same Thing I Wore Yesterday, Why?).
I am slowly getting through the last-few-wears-before-tossing for the Crummy Underwear, though. It’s almost there… soon…
This is the type of satisfying content I’m here for. Thank you for this inspiring end to my week.
(No sarcasm. Seriously. Thank you. It felt good to look at these pictures.)
PS: My daughter is wearing her Swistle skirt today! It’s so twirly and cute and we love it.
At the start of quarantine I went through my stuff and put aside clothes that can be donated, clothes that can be taken to a shop that does textile recycling (for instance H&M) and clothes that I don’t wear often but want to keep for special occasions. I don’t think places are accepting donations, etc. right now so they’re tucked into storage. I also put all the kids’ summer clothes into one area. I felt very accomplished!
Good Lord I enjoyed this post so much.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who had never heard of cartwheel shorts! Also, why don’t you fold your underwear? I just assumed everyone did!
“Fold” it? Why? HOW?
I fold it because I have a shallow drawer and if I fold it, the underwear can be “filed” and I can grab one specific pair out without having to disentangle anything. I fold sides-towards-the-center (letter fold) and then in half top to bottom. It’s very fast to do.
If it’s loose in a larger drawer, though, this doesn’t help as much – it tends get rumpled and unfolded more.
I have heard about the konmari folding method, but haven’t looked it up/tried it, because the way I’m doing it works *really* well for my specific weird shallow and narrow underwear drawer.
(also, I would like to chime in on Being Here For This Content, as for basically all Swistle content, so there is that.)
This is what I do except I do crotch up and then letter fold. All clothes in all drawers for me and the kids are filed vertically. My husband is more of a stacker. But I can’t stand anything being unfolded. That’s pure anarchy.
This, I think, is basically the KonMari method and is how I fold mine.
I never folded my underwear until my ex and I moved in together, and he would always fold it when he did laundry. And it looked so cute in these neat rainbow piles that I started doing it too.
This year, about ten years later, I realized that I don’t care enough about cute rainbow piles (that no one else sees) to spend even five seconds folding underwear. It has been VERY freeing.
Hold at the waistband, fold each side in, the fold the crotch up. Takes up less room, and is just neater and more organized.
As someone who essentially buys her underwear in bulk in one of two colors, I am similarly baffled. I don’t how neat my skivvies are, and if I need a particular color, it’s not hard to find.
Life is too short to waste on pointless folding. (I realize for some people, a tidy drawers drawer is the point. Enjoy! I’ll be off alphabetizing my books. Within categories.)
For me, some of it is that if the underwear is folded and “filed” then the drawer is easy to open and close. If it’s in bunches, then the drawer gets stuck in various places (it’s a plastic drawer and there are ridges above the drawer on the inside, so sometimes it gets stuck *closed* which is maddening). The rest is that on some days, I know I am fine with the underwear-I-don’t-like, and thus will wear it (identifying by color, generally) to work on wearing it *out* so I can throw it out – on other days, I do not have the margin to deal with slightly-uncomfortable underwear, and thus, I grab a comfy pair.
If I had found a comfortable-on-me manufacturer and style which also had internal consistency between batches of underwear, I would also buy in bulk! But as it is, I am still playing the Underwear Purchasing Lottery until I find something really reliable, and thus have a mixture of Good Ones and Meh Ones.
(also: if you wear not-thongs, do you have underwear recommendations? I assume that if one buys in bulk and doesn’t care which pair one wears, then one has Won The Underwear Purchasing Lottery and set off on the Happily Ever After land of just buying the same thing and having it keep working and I would really like to also be there…)
I like Pact’s classic fit bikini, which for some reason they have photographed yoinked up on her butt. The bikini covers my entire and sizable ass. I buy them in black and almond (which is like nude on white women like me)
https://wearpact.com/women/underwear/undies/classic%20fit%20bikini/wa1-wbc-pcp
Thank you!!!
Weird question: is the front of the crotch lining piece sewn down, or loose? (the loose ones tend to do unpleasant things on me; I wish all underwear would give interior shots so you can see whether the construction is likely to work for you or not)
Oh, it’s loose. :o(
If you want to give a single pair a shot anyway, Whole Foods sells them (much as I hate lining Jeffy Bezos’s pockets).
1. I love this.
2. Drawer dividers are where it’s at. You can also use topless shoeboxes, small baskets, etc.
3. I don’t know if you meant to me meta here, but ” these minor edits weren’t enough for the kind of significant results I wanted to see. Systemic change needed to occur” is 2020 in a nutshell.
I have been pondering your “2020 as cleaning out the socks and underwear drawer” metaphor ever since you posted it, and have come up with a very long and drawn-out analogy about what we should trash and what we need HALF of and what’s uncomfortable and what we like and what we wear year round and what can be put away for later! Mercifully I will not post it here. But you made me think!
If you post it somewhere else, I would be interested. I have also thought the “systemic change needs to occur” but am not sure how we get there from here and perhaps an underwear drawer analogy is the way? :-)
This is a very satisfying post. And it is gratifying to see that other people’s unders drawers look like mine. I have tried folding/stacking/rolling but a big snarl of underthings is what seems to work best around here.
Ok, bras next plz. I have too many but I am a collector of frilly underwear? I never wear more than twice in a row and only hand wash. These things in my size are very expensive so I loathe to throw them out. Talk organizing sense to me!
I don’t know if your collection would be Way Too Big, but I will tell you my solution anyway. I have a small closet I share with my husband where I hang my pants/Skirts/dressess and my shirts go in an armoir/wardrobe in the bedroom. I hung a hook on the inside of each door and now hang my bras from the hooks. I figure if the straps are strong enough to hold my tatas they won’t get stretched out supporting the weight of an empty bra. I’ve had this system for a few months and it has been awesome for me, ymmv
I have so few bras I haven’t had trouble with needing a system (I have hooks on the inside of my closet door, and I hang them there), but perhaps other commenters will have ideas!
This was such a satisfying post. It’s a useful, simple task to undertake with immediate results. I need to probably do a similar job on each of my dresser drawers. Also, it just occurred to me that I don’t have to adopt the entire Kon Marie method, but can still “file” my shorts to find a specific pair easier.
Unrelated – you have wonderful taste in quilts; I have the same one!