Is it your closet? You may ask. No… I wish. But I am getting there.
It is possible for me to have such a closet. I only wear black, white, blue and grey, I wear two pairs of shoes for the whole year, and I work in academic so nothing is too causal.
It is also great for me to have such a closet. I do not take pleasure from anything appearance-related (including cosmetic), I do not want to spend more than 5 minutes in the morning to get ready, and I only allow a small budget for clothes.
So there we go, when I heard the concept about minimalist wardrobe like this “50 item wardrobe“, I am like “Woohoo! Now I finally have an excuse to do this!”. it is like that being part of a movement made it more legit to dress simply. And this feeling is wrong wrong wrong in many levels: First, when do I ever feel guilty about not dressing up? I is true that I was told that wearing only black is “depressing” and “uninteresting” but who cares right? People should wear what makes THEMSELVES feel good and look good, not for anyone else’s opinion. Second, why do I worry that underdressed will make me “uninteresting”? If you are a fond of me, either as a friends or as a romantic partner, you probably see pass my worn-out grey T-shirt and are more interested what beneath (my heart and soul of course). So why bother to worry how other people think of something they do not even care?
But I still felt guilty enough to keep lots of unworn, colorful, and “interesting” clothes that I might never wear in my closet. So for a change, I am gonna ONLY keep the clothes that brings me joy and I cannot wait to wear. I am part of the movement now and this makes me feel like a bad-ass feminist more than ever.
Anyway, I am here, inspired by Hej Doll. She had this wardrobe which is greeeeat. You can tell that she really does “buy less, choose well, pay more“, She owns only 50 items that are in good quality and can last many washes. They also go with each other whichever way you pair them, which makes travel very easy. She has this amazing series called Travel Light which teaches how to pack light and travel for 10 days with just a carry-on.
I probably will never get to as few as 50 items, because I will live somewhere with four seasons and I have lots of stuff for skiing. I made a list of the cloth I am atively wearing and there are about 60 items if we do not count sport clothes. 🙂
And here is what I have done:
1. Donate everything I have the opportunity to wear but rather not, regardless for what reason;
2. For the ones does fit and I do not hate, box and store everything I have not worn in the past two years and I will donate them by the end of this year if I still have not worn them;
3. Only buy a piece of clothing if I cannot wait to wear. It is OK I have something really similar in my closet;
4. Only buy shoes to replace the current ones. So that means one in, one out.
5. Buy quality, not quantity. And only go to the mall/online when I need something.
I actually did my purge in September and have lived by these rules for the last three months. The result is great. I did added a couple more exercise clothing, aka yoga pants, but in general my closet has been getting smaller and it has been much easier to get ready in the mornings. On weekdays, since I only have two jeans – blue and black. So which jeans I wear automatically decided which shoes I wear. The only decision I make is which grey T-shirt I wear with the black jeans or which white T-shirt I wear with the blue jeans. I wear black tops if I feel fancy. Most my jackets and coats are hanging by the door so I just take the one on my way out depending on the weather. On weekend I wear leggings with Tunic and boots. It. Is. That. Simple.
Maybe one day I will have Seth Brundle’s closet – Well I am still afraid people around me will think that I am a freak. But maybe 5 years later I will be “who cares”, right?
Sp how do you organize your closet? Do you purge?
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