It is that time of year that one season's clothing needs be stored and another season's clothing brought into use. This message is cross posted between consumers. frugal-living and sewing with good reason. You will need your sewing skills for this task and a frugal state of mind. ;^)
First in this task is finding correct containers for the job at hand. I divide clothing into three categories. Donations/ Keepers/ Rags. I use a clean cardboard box or large plastic bag or several small grocery store bags for the Donations. I have a lockable steamer trunk purchased years ago at a yard sale to store the Keepers. A laundry bin or any convenient short term use container for the Rags. Now do an honest sort of the clothing.
Garments not really liked, no longer fit, no longer have a use and are in good condition go into the Donations container.
Garments that have use, are comfortable to wear and fit well, and are in at least amendable good condition are stacked near the storage for the Keepers.
The garments that do not belong in one of the first two categories go into the Rags container.
Step two. Get rid of the Donations! Give them to a friend or family member that can use them. Give them to a charity for a tax donation off on next year's income tax, store the receipt carefully. Drop them in a charity bin at the gasoline station. Do something progressive with them. Do not let them clutter up your home or vehicle.
Clean, mend, patch the Keepers before storage. If there is one loose button on a garment, sew all the buttons on. You already have hunted down the thread, needle and buttons. Do all buttons/ fasteners while mending a garment. This will save time next year. Make sure that the container in use is damp proof and insect/ rodent proof. A few moth balls inside with the clothing will help reach this goal. If using cardboard boxes, line the box with a large plastic trash bag before filling. Mark the container so it is easy to find when needed. My private rule is I can only keep what will fit into the steamer trunk I use. This keeps me from having more than two weeks worth of outfits in use. I greatly dislike overcrowded closets. But I make a lot of my own clothing and that makes it easy to overcrowd a closet.
Now for the Rag bin. You will need scissors and possibly a seam ripper for this task. Remove all buttons, thread them together and store in the button box. Remove all good zippers and store in the button box. Remove all fasteners of any kind. Ones in good shape can be stored in a button box for later use in mending other garments. Damaged fasteners, zippers, broken buttons go into the trash. Now cut or tear the garments into useful size rags, fold and store. If you end up with too many rags to fit into the storage area, give them away to the local school, garage, charity or family that can use them. Sell them in bundles of ten or twenty at your next yard sale. Using a sewing machine with zig-zag stitch around the edges slows down raveling and fraying.
Now the job is done for this season and it is time to enjoy the 'new' clothing just out of storage after washing it to remove the mothball odor. ;^)