Five reasons for clinging onto clothing clutter

It's important to clear your wardrobe, but sometimes its difficult to part with a dress that you haven't even looked at in a few years.

From keeping it as a prized possession to cherishing it, there are many excuses that we give to hoard specific outfits for a long time.

Stylist Lucy Turner has come up with the most common reasons for clinging onto clothing clutter.

* It might come back into fashion: Let's face it, there is very little chance those lamê harem pants you've been hanging onto are ever going to come back into vogue. Even if they did, the chances are you'd rather have a brand spanking new pair! Cluttering up valuable wardrobe space with 'just in case' clothes leaves you less space for the things you really love.

* I'll slim into it: Wardrobes up and down the land are heaving with jeans so tight they cut off your blood supply and dresses that haven't done up since the millennium. Opening your wardrobe to be confronted by a rail of clothes that constantly reminds you that carrot cake doesn't actually count as one of your 5 a day is just depressing. Get shot and buy stuff that fits.

* It was a bargain: We've all been tempted by those pesky sale rails. However, 50 percent off something you wouldn't have bought at full price, is just 50 percent more than you should have spent in the first place. If it's been in your wardrobe for six months or more, and you haven't worn it more than once - it's time to pass it on to someone who will.

* It reminds me of that time: Ah, the T-shirt you were wearing when you met your other half, the dress you wore on your first day at work, the coat you bought on that weekend in? We could go on, but you get the point. Clothes can hold wonderful memories, but at the expense of your storage space. Try photographing the things that have memories attached, and then pass them on.

* It was a gift: Wrong size? A brand you hate? Makes you look like your mother? It may have been lovingly chosen, but that doesn't mean that you have to hang onto a horribly misjudged gift. Get rid of it and if the gift giver questions you, pretend it's in the wash/at the cleaners/too special to wear!