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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at MSU chapter.

I always feel bad for the clothes that I don’t wear. I think about the money that I wasted on them and the lost potential of a piece that doesn’t fit right. However, I’ve been able to preserve or reuse clothes that I hate so I don’t have to spend more money or contribute to the wastefulness of the fashion industry.

  1. Crafting

Even rudimentary crafting skills can transform a garment you hate. My favorite piece of clothing, worn so often I could be a cartoon character, is a denim jacket with sewn-on patches from the craft store. Once I thrifted a skirt that was an awkward length, but I was able to hem it so that I could actually wear it. I’m not particularly good at sewing, but being somewhat competent with simple things like hemming can go a long way. Being decent at sewing is helpful for functional reasons as well; your clothes can keep longer if you’re able to fix a busted seam or lost button. I’ve also recently gotten into bedazzling, which is surprisingly simple, and I remade a pair of white sneakers that I hated, and live out my dream of perpetually dressing like a toddler. 

  1. Halloween Costumes

This can be another use for those rudimentary craft skills we talked about earlier, or much simpler. There are so many low-effort costume ideas that can be pulled from a regular closet. If your favorite movie or television character happens to live in the real world, everyday clothes could be the costume. A white outfit could be angelic, a red outfit demonic. A nice dress with a cheap tiara could be a princess. Anything pink could be Barbie. If we learned anything from Mean Girls’ Karen Smith, anything can be a costume with animal ears. (Duh!) 

  1. “Why Is This In My Closet” Party

Last semester, one of our general chapter meetings was themed to “Why is this in my closet?” It was really fun to see the bizarre things that had made their way into people’s wardrobes, and I wore a skirt I rarely ever wear. It’s a great way to bond with your friends or your fellow Her Campus chapter members. 

  1. Clothing Swap 

Personally, I’ve never had the opportunity to do this. It is a popular way to reduce waste and find new clothes. Your friend or a stranger (depending on who is organizing the event) can take those clothes you hate off your hands, meanwhile you can replace them with new and unique pieces that better reflect your fashion sense and personality. 

  1. Reduce Impulse Purchases And Avoid Microtrends

You’ve probably heard that the most sustainable option is using what you already have. A great way to prevent having clothes you hate in the first place is to be serious and thoughtful about the purchases you make. With the trend cycle growing ever shorter, refine your personal style and buy what makes you feel and look good, not what the algorithm says. For example, if the current hot item that is listed as a “need” on Ti​kTok is a pastel pink mini-skirt, and you mostly wear black and prefer pants to skirts, you know better than what your For You Page is pushing. You may have FOMO, a fear of missing out, now, but in the end that money will go to a piece that you actually enjoy and will be worn for a long time. 

  1. Research Local Donation Sites

There’s probably a chance that after reading all this, and trying out some of these ideas, there is still nothing you can do to make you like these clothes. Clothing donation is always a good idea! The easiest option may be to just bag it all up and throw it at a big-box thrift store like Goodwill or Salvation Army, but just a little bit of research will provide you with local organizations that provide more direct service to your community than large corporations. In the Greater Lansing area, there are plenty of places to bring your clothes, and plenty of people who need them desperately. Cristo Rey Community Center and City Rescue Mission accept donations for men, women and children. Unaffiliated with religion, Eastside Community Action Center provides clothes for men, women and children, also. The Women’s Center of Greater Lansing’s Career Boutique accepts donations for women’s workwear that is interview-ready. By researching local organizations, your donation can have a direct and tangible impact on your community. 

There are so many things to do with those clothes you hate instead of sending them to the landfill. A little research, time, and creativity can change a piece from something that is taking up closet space, to something that is the star of yours or someone else’s wardrobe. 

Madison Reinhold is Marketing Director, Events Assistant and Staff Writer for Her Campus at MSU. She leads the Design Team which produces content for social media as well as merch and recruitment, in addition to planning team events and contributing articles to Her Campus. Madison is a senior studying journalism with a concentration in writing, reporting, and editing, with minors in women's and gender studies and history. She also interns for MSU's Center for Gender in Global Context, creating social media content, contributing to their newsletter, and editing their department magazine. She previously interned for local non-profit The Women's Center of Greater Lansing. Additionally, she works for MSU's College of Social Science Office of Student Success, providing supplemental instruction to students. In her precious free time, Madison is attempting to write her first novel, playing fetch with her dog, Hazel, or finding a new niche history book to obsess over.