EDIT: I have eliminated more from my wardrobe now and will continue to donate things I don't wear as time goes on.
I looked at my closet again and decided to finish this project!!
I looked at my closet again and decided to finish this project!!
I took out more clothing that I no longer like, doesn’t fit,
is just old and out of style – or is just too much for one person to possibly
wear…but for the rest of it - I was struggling with a guideline that would be
reasonable and suit me personally.
How much is enough?
Being home affords time to think and sort and resort until I
found something that works!
I have read many different blogs and strategies about paring
down to a manageable wardrobe, and how I am dealing with this – for me – is to
take the clothing downstairs that is still in good condition, sort it by fabric
type and color and call it my fabric pile. I have several projects that I would
like to do with fabric, and I am keeping clothes that are in good enough shape
to work on those projects, crafts, gifts, etc.
Some will be made into scrap for
cleaning / gardening projects and some will be donated. The first round of sorting was primarily thrown away because it was not salvageable.
I have a variety of activities that I need different types
of clothing for.
The main categories:
1. Daily
clothing: other than office attire –
only in excellent condition
2. Gardening
and hiking: durable clothes that can
handle those activities
3. Sales work:
dress clothing and suits
4. Special
Occasions: Dates, Weddings, Parties, etc.
5. Sleep and
exercise
With these categories in mind, I decided that a week of each
type of clothing would be a good place to start for an absolute maximum
wardrobe.
This wardrobe also is not separated
by season – my plan is to keep all of my wardrobe together and use as much of
it as possible year round. This will be easier to keep track of clothes, with
no dragging clothes from storage each season, and returning them when the
season ends. It also prevents the stashes of clothing for "another time". I would estimate, at this point, that I am at about 1/3 of what I had when I started sorting.
I also don’t use a bureau.
Everything that needs to be, is hung in the closet and the rest is folded and
stored in a 9-cube storage.
Some guidelines I have set for
myself:
1. Anything taken out of my wardrobe
cannot be brought back in.
2. If there is something I do not wear
by the end of the year – I will get rid of it.
3. New clothing: I will not be browsing for anything new.
4. If I do legitimately need something, I will be buying local and organic. ( this is something that I am currently researching. )
5. If I receive clothing as a gift - it will replace something in my wardrobe.
This is what I chose for my
wardrobe and with the guidelines I set for myself, each piece of clothing was
truly looked at for value and use.
Tops:
7 Tank tops (layering in any
season)
7 sleeveless tops
7 short sleeved casual shirts
7 Short sleeved dress shirts
7 long sleeved casual shirts
7 long sleeved dress shirts
7 Sweaters (5 pullover / 2 zippered)
Bottoms:
2 Blue Jeans
1 Black jean
7 Summer Pants (4 shorts / 3
Capri)
7 Casual Pants (2 sweat / 2 fleece / 3 exercise)
7 Dress Pants (all similar style –
7 different colors)
4 Dresses
3 Skirts
4 Blazers
2 Four-piece suits
(shell/skirt/pant/jacket)
7 Seasonal jackets:
Rain suit
Wind breaker
Winter coat
Summer coat
2 Fleece
long black sweater
7 PJ’s (Summer: nightgowns / short
sets)
7 PJ’s (Winter: 2 piece sets)
Bathrobe
Bathing Suit & Cap
Winter Gloves & scarf
7 of each sock (nylon, dress, casual
and sport/garden)
2 pairs of tights
3 pairs of fleece slipper socks
Because I don’t want to be
completely vulnerable or specific here, each of the types of undergarments
(shaping, bras, underwear, and assorted lace and silk) were all represented and
at 7 each.
Casual /Functional Shoes:
Brown Summer Sandal
Black Sneakers
White Sneakers
Sloggers garden boots & shoes
Work boots (hiking)
Snow boots
Slippers
Dress Shoes:
Mary Janes
Black heels
Silver Sandal
White Sandal
Black Sandal
Black dress boot
Brown dress boot
The emotional aspect of this paring
down has been an interesting process for me. I found that I had feelings of
attachment to certain things, a little guilt cropped up with the extent of
wastefulness, a certain type of fear appears that there will not “be enough” if
I let go of things, I saw the fruits of impulse shopping, found the hidden
piles of clothing being held for a just in case situation (like fitting again).
I was surprised that all of this emotion was attached to a few extra piles of
clothes…
With the expense of clothing and
fabric, etc., I really want to find a way to use what I have purchased and
recycle it into something useful. So there is a changing in my mind of
habit. Instead of calling the clothes in
storage part of my wardrobe, I am calling them fabric and keeping them
separate. Instead of keeping things that don’t fit, I have purchased clothes
that fit me now. As I continue to lose weight, I can replace them with new
clothing that is in style and current.
I found what is enough for me. In
reality – even with what "little" I have chosen, I would need many weeks to wear
everything that I have in my closet. In this simplifying I am seeing how much
we really have in our lives that is beautiful and useful. Pieces of clothing
become special and have a purpose when they are looked at so specifically. I am so grateful to have had the resources
to do what I want, but part of this process is seeing that this excess isn’t
necessary and the stress for me in the upkeep, storage and disorganized state
that it causes is not worth it. This doesn't even take into consideration the cost of energy wasted to produce and transport all of this.
This is what I wanted from this
process – a change of mind – to change the way I think about things that have
consumed so much time. Time is precious and should be spent in more valuable
ways.
I want to continue paring down in
the house and getting things in order and now I have a direction to go in…To live
simply is the process of changing the entitlement – the having just for the
sake of having – and becoming aware of how purchases and being a consumer are
not separate and singular actions that happen in a void – but are instead part
of the bigger picture of consumerism that I really do not want to participate
in anymore.
When I was thinking of simplicity
before – I hadn’t realized the stark, empty image it was creating in my mind.
The reality is quite different. The empty space is beautiful and now I know
that what I am searching for exists there…
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| All but a couple of things that are in the laundry. I will be moving sweats to a cube so they are put away. |
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| Folded clothing and sweaters in a bin on the side. I will be adding 3 more cubes to keep all of the folded clothes in here. |
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