My mom had full control of my fashion choices until I was 16 years old. Understandably so, since as a kid, you are financially dependent on your parents.

If your parents are comfortable with the offerings of JCPenney, Target, and Wal-Mart, you oblige…especially since the next unarguable option would be a potato sack (perhaps in my desi girl case, a basmati rice sack 😅).

I have to be fair and say my mom did have good taste in kid’s clothing. Every morning before school, my ritual was as follows: get out of bed, wash up, and grab the clothes mom picked out for me off the staircase railing.

I also didn’t care for fashion in elementary school. Shorts and a tee purchased from the attraction of our last family vacation were comfy to throw on in the summer. Cute character sweaters (such as those with a Powerpuff Girls or Disney princesses applique) paired with velour pants were perfect for chilly NorCal winters. And to think there was a time I could care less about these things? Oh, the innocence of youth…

I became more aware and self-conscious about my fashion once the beautiful (🙄) days of middle school came along. It was when I began to notice big, bold brands plastered across the chests of my enlightened peers.

Hollister. Abercrombie. Aeropostale. American Eagle. Roca Wear. Baby Phat. “Surfer” brands from PacSun. Just to name a few and reveal my age 😅.

I also began to notice the jean pocket trademarks of said brands. Hollister had this waterfall arch-looking design. Abercrombie’s looked like a compressed candy wrapper. And it seemed like every girl except me was wearing something from these brands everyday.

As much as I desired to get my parents to take me to Abercrombie to refresh my wardrobe and save me from my middle school “dweeb” fate, I knew entering the store would be a hurdle in itself. Having half- naked models plastered all over the storefront would definitely deter most parents of middle-school aged children from going inside with their kids 🤷🏽‍♀️

So I waited it out, and by the time I was 16, I had done my research. I signed up for an eBay account, counted up my saved birthday/Christmas money up until that point, and stalked designer jeans forums for good deals on “higher end staple pieces”. I told my mom I wanted to take control of my closet from that point on, and while it was a battle at first, I eventually won.

In my senior year of high school, I only owned jeans from brands I liked—American Eagle, Aeropostale, Hollister, and I successfully added two pairs of True Religion jeans to my closet, one of which I bought for $30 new with tags when they ran at that time from $80-90 retail on most occasions. I was ecstatic.

I slowly incorporated pieces I liked with the money I had, and was able to sell some non-JCPenney pieces (lol) on eBay to keep my “account for clothes” rolling. It was then, at that age, I decided on a golden rule for my clothing purchases I follow to this day:

“One in, one out”

I realized that I didn’t need to have 20 pairs of jeans or 10 Hollister sweatshirts (although back then, I probably would have loved that!). I began to track all the pieces of clothing I had in an Excel sheet, and eBay was always my go-to when I was ready to sell something, or pick up a second-hand Hollister item for cheap, and so as to avoid entering the storefront of half-naked white people with my parents 😬.

When I did get to college though, I was able to rake in some spending money of my own that allowed me to not just rely on profits I made from reselling clothing. I was able to find part-time work during summers, at school, and during my gap year before starting graduate school. My stint at a J. Crew Outlet for a couple months and Kate Spade for the summer before grad school blessed me with some major discounts—like, here are two “free” Kate Spade dresses for onboarding 🙀.

Once I got to grad school, my income was steady enough that I didn’t have to rely on reselling all of my clothes when I was ready to shift my wardrobe around. I was able to donate good-quality clothing and replace it with such, again, keeping in mind of my “one in, one out” rule.

I feel like this “rule” has helped me be mindful of my spending, as well as practice that concept of “sustainability” that major clothing companies are talking about only now 🙄. I guess it’s why I don’t understand the Italian idea of “cambio di stagione”, the idea of switching out one’s entire summer wardrobe for winter and vice versa as the seasons change. My mind would go crazy keeping track of all that clothing, and if you think about it, most of us only really cycle through a small portion of our closet consistently.

Do you really need five winter jackets? Or 20 stilettoes?

During the height of the pandemic, I wasn’t too concerned about my closet since I was moving abroad, working in a lab where fashion was extremely casual (i.e. no one cares), and didn’t really have the desire to change my wardrobe. When I was offered a more “professional” job in late 2021, I realized that I’d need to swap out some leggings for dress pants, and casual tees wouldn’t cut it anymore…and since I had to return to the US for January, I decided it would be the perfect time to put on my “seller’s cap” once more.

I got a head start with taking pictures of clothes I planned to sell as I was packing up in Italy. Once I flew back to the US, I did the following:

1) I listed on my tried and true eBay and a new-to-me platform called Mercari. Surprisingly made some sales for higher than expected on the latter!

2) I sold most of my clothes at consignment stores that buy directly from the customer immediately, like Plato’s Closet, Uptown Cheapskate, Buffalo Exchange, and Style Encore. Lucky for me, Houston and Austin has a lot of franchises of these brands. The pay-out is much lower than you’d think, but it’s a quick way to change out your clothes if that’s the goal.

3) Before I head back to Italy, I plan to send leftover items to ThredUp, an online consigner that allows you to mail in bulk. I don’t expect a high pay-out from them either, but at least I know the clothing I send in will have a second life, either resold or sustainably donated.

In my experience, I’ve found it very difficult to resell clothes in Italy. I’ve tried eBay and their version of Mercari, Vinted, but I never got bites on my listings, at least to the extent I get in the US. It’s either buy high-end Gucci Gucci Gucci, or buy really low at street markets…not a fan of either, since one is overpriced and the other is fast fashion, but in reality, the responsibility to be sustainable is on us.

I look at my closet a lot more differently ever since learning about Chile’s clothing desert, and I think all of us should. Even when it comes to donation, I try to make sure whatever I donate goes to a reputable source where the clothing will be reworn or sent to a facility for textile recycling.

Just because a piece of clothing disappears from your closet, doesn’t mean it’s disappeared into thin air…