I gave what my ex gave me away to a local used clothing store as it was all pretty nice stuff! I just didn't want reminders - for me it's really helpful in moving on.

I've never seen that as something bad myself. I know some people do look down on it, but like. Why does it matter ? Just because you got it from and ex doesn't mean that once you're broken up you can't use it anymore. My sister has a few pieces of jewelry from some of her ex's and she still wears them all the time. Her current boyfriend doesn't care because he knows that she's only wearing it because she likes the piece, not the man who gave it to her.

I don't have any exes, so I don't really know if I'd keep things I'd gotten from them. XD But why not, if I liked the things. The only reason I'd throw them away would be that I'd be too heartbroken (or angry, depending on why we'd broken up) to keep them.

My boyfriend has lots of things he got from his ex (scarves, some clothes her mom made for him, household objects, etc), but I don't think it's a big deal. Maybe I'd be a little weirded out if he kept the things because of emotional attachment to her, but he treats them as just... objects. So why not keep and use them. o.o

Everyone has a past. If you feel comfortable keeping the jewelry, do it. Your past can be a positive thing if you let it.

I still wear the jewelry of exs because I like pretty jewelry. I think the only piece I don't wear anymore is a necklace that says "Te Amo" since that would be weird to me. Other than that, it doesn't bother me. If anyone asks I just say it was a gift, as mentioned above. Do whatever is most comfortable for you. It's your stuff, do what you want with it.

I keep the stuff my ex gave me. We parted on good terms and it's been a while, but I think I just like keeping parts of my life with me - it's like a memento that it happened, you know? Romantic feelings don't really come into it. That being said, there's a promise ring that he gave me which I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing simply because of the emotion behind it. Also, I've just left it lying around my home before and I've seen my current boyfriend giving it the eyeball a couple of times. He's the kind of person who would throw everything out from a previous relationship. So I wound up just storing all my ex's stuff away to make him less uncomfortable.

I think that is a personal decision. As long as you are comfortable wearing it, just wear it. I, for example, started wearing the bracelet again that my ex gave me only when I got over him. When I still had strong feelings for him, it made me think of him too much, so I didn't wear it.

I may be biased here but I don't see anything wrong with wearing something your ex gave you, unless it was a bad breakup. But even then, I don't understand the stigma people usually associate with it. I still have my ex's hoodie and he kept all the gifts I gave him. I'm not sure if he still uses them but I wouldn't think it odd if he did. If you feel like doing something, then do it.

It depends on the situation really. There was a girl in my high school who got a lovely silver necklace on her birthday from her boyfriend. He saved up a bit from his part time job, and thought a $50 gift necklace was a good idea... haha. Later that night, the girl broke up with him saying things were moving too fast, and that the gift was too much. The following day, and for the next month, she would walk around wearing the necklace, crying about how unlucky she was about the break up. In that case, no. That is totally not ok what she did, since she broke up BECAUSE of the jewelry but never returned it. Even though the guy did want it back since it was quite expensive. We were in high school, and the guy eventually agreed to let her keep the necklace since it was a gift. So there were a lot of factors involved in this crazy, but it was still very rude. More so since she stopped wearing it once he gave her the ok to keep it since she seemed to really like it.

But if the person who gave the gift never wanted it back, especially if the break up was a while ago, there should be no reason to feel bad for wearing the jewelry.

My rule with things like that is to keep them, I still wear pieces given to me. I keep everything in a box and pull them out as needed, though most of the jewelry given to me by exes is long gone.

I think if you don't have a mental connection between the items and him, it shouldn't matter. Like if you see those and wear them and all you can think of is him, I wouldn't just for piece of mind. But if you don't even think about it, whatever! Do what you want.

The only gift I kept from my ex was a Build-a-Bear Wolf named Carl. Cute little bugger, but he's at my moms tucked away in storage containers.

My boyfriend however still kept gifts he gave to past girlfriends, that they returned.. and would pass them onto the next girlfriend. I don't know how anyone would feel about this but it weirded me out too much.. Like a necklace he gave me was his exs and it just feels wrong because it was meant for her(maybe?) and then each time I wear it he will most likely think of her.. so..

Depends on the ex, I suppose? Like Archaic said, it doesn't matter what people think; if you like it, wear it! Tell them it was a gift if you think they'll judge you. I had a really horrible breakup with a very abusive ex-girlfriend and slowly weeded out every gift, every little thing they ever left in my house (apart from some N64 games sitting on my window... /shrug). But I have a wonderful pair of very soft bunny rabbit slippers given to me by my first boyfriend that I still wear in the winter :) We broke up when he joined the Navy; it was a mutual thing, and we were really young, so there wasn't much heartbreak or hardship behind it.

Like Tali said, it depends on the relationship and your preference. Not all relationships are bad! Not all relationships are good. At the end of the day, the material goods are yours, and the meaning can be malleable after a breakup. As long as you're emotionally healthy and happy, I don't think it matters. I'm sure the jewelry is gorgeous.

Yeah, I think it depends on the relationship and each person really. There's some stuff I have that I don't even remember as being given to me by an ex or even ex-friend, so hey, if I can't associate it right off the bat and I like it, why toss it out, right? Jewelry is trickier if only because people might assume there's a story behind it and they'll ask where it was from / who gave it to you, and a white lie wouldn't hurt if you knew the person asking would ask more or judge you for it. I always start off vague and say oh it was a birthday gift so idk where it was bought from. c:

Oh, I would find that weird too. I mean gifts are supposed to be bought with the person in mind, not just oh this item looks pretty, let's just give it to all my significant others across spans of time. I'd be creeped out. ;x

Oh man this board was made almost a year ago but thanks for all the new feedback to those who have posted!

i think it depends on the context behind the gift and your ex. its situational!! if you dont feel weird wearing it, go for it. if it makes you uncomfortable at some point, toss it.

eta - i threw away everything my abusive ex gave me, bc i couldnt stand any of it being near me. my other ex gave me floral docs for my birthday one yr. our breakup wasnt messy and i dont consider us on bad terms, not that we even talk. you bet your ass i still wear those shoes lmao

next time someone judges you, look at them and simply say, "life aint that deep"

It's a gift, it's yours. That's all there really is to it. Someone gave it to you in a time in your life for reasons. It's in the past, and it's not the present anymore, but it still occurred. I find nothing wrong with it. You can do what you want with your gifts as you please. Such as continue to wear/use it, throw it out, give it back, give it away. It's an object that carries obvious meanings, meanings that were valid at one point, but also just an object.

I would wear it.. but I haven't had an ex in 5 years. I'm more than over my exes, lol.