British model Daisy Lowe attends a photo call to promote TK Maxx campaign “Give Up Clothes For Good”, in support of Cancer Research UK, in London, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Leafing through my wardrobe I know I probably have more than 112 items in here, and I haven’t seen some of them in years; I suspect this is the case for most of us!
Psychologist, Dr Carolyn Mair said: “We are all aware we buy too many clothes that we don’t wear, our campaign is helping to dispose of clothes in an environmental way and raise money for charity.
“The idea is you can bag up your old clothes and household goods, take them to your local TK Maxx store and they will be passed on to be sold in Cancer Research shops. Anything that can’t be sold will be recycled.
“Right from the age of two children are aware that a particular object becomes part of them, and they will not part with this object and will absolutely not accept an identical replica.
“Our clothing is our second skin, we have our biological skin and then we have our clothes skin. They are a way of communication; they say a lot about us, and they are part of our identity. Clothing allows us to change that identity.”
TK Maxx have been running their scheme for 12 years and have helped raise more than £22 million for Cancer Research UK; 18 million of that which has gone to fund research into child and teenage cancer in the UK.
Studies have shown we are not only defined and identified by our clothing but feel sentimentally attached to it also.
“We do get attached to our clothing, women are understandably attached to their wedding dresses, men to football shirts and even an old pair of jeans that could represent achievements,” Dr Mair explains. “We are reluctant to get rid of our clothes for so many reasons but as soon as we have bagged them up, cleared some space in our wardrobe, we can forget them and get that warm feeling where we have done something good for someone else.”
Are you guilty of clothes hoarding? Could you do with a wardrobe purge? We know we could!
To get involved go to the TK Maxx website for more information www.tkmaxx.com/page/giveupclothes , or tweet @tkmaxx_uk with the hashtag #Igiveupmy with a photo showing what you have donated.
