clothes or items bought but never used; unused things taking up space
Idiomatic expression literally meaning 'fertilizer for the chest of drawers'. Used humorously or self-deprecatingly for things, especially clothing, that are bought but never worn or used, just sitting in storage.
I bought this dress but have never worn it. It's completely just taking up space in my closet.
The clothes I bought on sale have become unused items in my dresser.
Refers to wasteful spending in general, not specifically to items left unused in storage.
Most common spelling; タンス is usually written in katakana.
Kanji spelling for タンス; less common but still seen.
All-kana spelling; sometimes used for clarity or in casual writing.
From タンス (chest of drawers) + の + 肥やし (fertilizer). The idea is that unused clothes stored in a dresser are as useless as fertilizer, humorously implying they just sit there and 'rot'.