If you haven't worn it for a year, throw it out - that's good advice when you're faced with a bit of New Year decluttering. In theory, anyway.

Haven't we all got something at the back of the wardrobe that we never wear but can't quite bring ourselves to discard? There's that skirt I don't want to admit was an expensive mistake. Or the garment beloved by my 20-year-old, size ten self - there's no way the middle-aged size 14 that I am now is ever going to wear it again. High time to stop being sentimental.

But - hang on a minute. What about that Indian cotton tiered skirt I bought back in the seventies and hadn't worn since? It had an elasticated waist, so I could still get into it. And last summer, with the shops full of tiered skirts, I hauled it out of the drawer and wore it all over again. "I'd forgotten that skirt," said my daughter approvingly. "I always liked it."

So, no, it isn't always a good idea to throw out the things you've not worn during the past year. Sometimes, just now and then, they come back into fashion, if you wait long enough.

But that's an awful lot of clutter on the off-chance, and it's only worth it if you really like the garment. As for the rest, well, someone else might as well have use of them. So every now and then I have a clear-out and take bags of clothes along to the nearest charity shop - or, more often, one of the further ones, so I won't meet people in the street or supermarket in my old clothes.

Mind, there was that time, a couple of years back, when I had a particularly ruthless clear-out. I found a red top that had been so long in the bottom of a drawer that I'd forgotten about it. Well, it was obvious wasn't it? If I hadn't even given it a thought, let alone worn it, then it had to go. So I shoved it into the discard bag and duly took it to the Red Cross shop.

Later that day, I began to have doubts. If I'd remembered it was there, wouldn't I have worn it after all? It was a good colour and really quite a useful garment, casual but smart enough to wear out shopping or walking. But it had gone. That was that. Or so I tried to tell myself. Only that red top niggled at me, all evening, through the night, the next morning.

That's when I went back to the Red Cross shop and - pink with embarrassment - confessed what had happened and asked if they still had it. To my relief they'd not got as far as putting it on display; it was still in the back of the shop. They brought it out - and I paid rather more than I guess they'd have got for it otherwise, just to get it back with a clear conscience.

I've worn it a great deal since then, so much so that its next stop will be the bag of old rags we keep for messy jobs around the car or the garden.

So, though I still think it's good to clear out those unworn clothes from time to time, I'm a bit more careful about it now than I used to be.

Published: 05/01/2006