Dept. 02 — Alterations & Fit · ITEM No. 007
The Three-Pile Method: Keep, Tailor, or Sell
Sold the outgoing size the week it stopped fitting; rebuilt the next size secondhand. The transition paid her $23.
Every garment you own gets one of three verdicts at every size you pass through. Do the triage in one 40-minute session per size — not piece-by-piece over weeks, which is how “just in case” wins and your closet becomes a museum of former bodies.
The setup
Set a timer. Take everything out — everything — and try nothing on. You already know. If a piece makes you say “maybe when…”, it’s Pile 3. The timer matters because judgment degrades after 40 minutes and sentiment takes over.
Pile 1 — Keep
Anything that fits today or flexes across sizes: wrap styles, knits, adjustable waists, oversize-by-design. Stretch denim buys you one size of grace. Blazers drape rather than cling, so they survive longer than you’d think.
Pile 2 — Tailor
One-size-too-big pieces you genuinely love, where the alteration costs less than half the replacement. Jeans you’d re-buy anyway. Structured dresses with seams to spare. The coat — always the coat, because a good coat is the most alterable garment you own and the most expensive to replace.
The house rule: tailor when the alteration is under half the cost of replacing the garment at your next size. Otherwise it’s Pile 3. The full price sheet lives in Dept. 02.
Pile 3 — Sell
Two or more sizes behind you, or anything you kept “just in case.” List it this week — value drops every season. Labels go piece-by-piece on Poshmark; everything else goes in a thredUP clean-out bag. “Just in case” is not a size.
The money from Pile 3 funds the next size secondhand. One reader sold her size-18 wardrobe for $412 and rebuilt size 14 for $389. The transition paid her $23.