It’s a reality that people spend the most of their free income on fashion – and even when we value the power of those purchases that much, there’s still a universal, lingering feeling that there’s not enough clothes in one’s closet.
The common belief in any circle, no matter your social background, is that the more clothes we have, the better we dress – and that just isn’t true. Decision making is more difficult when we are swamped with useless options. Have you ever notice that the more clothes a person has the harder it is for that person to find the bulk of it enough?
People create the biggest resistance to living a Minimalistic life when it comes to the point of pairing down their wardrobes - and that is because there’s still the misconception that Minimalists are people with martyr complexes that only wear black or white and have 5 pieces of clothing hanging from a rack.
The truth is that it’s not about cutting down and wearing uniforms every day of the week. It’s not even about not having much – it’s about owning enough, it’s about quality over quantity and about not putting the value of your self-image in clothes.
I will admit when I started cutting down on my purchases I was more an idealist than a practitioner of the art of minimalism. I wanted to make my life easier and I wanted to be able to, in the first place, not want to desire buying clothes as deeply as I did – and instead invest that money in something of higher value.
What I eventually learned was that I was not only throwing money into purchases... but I was also letting go of the beauty of a simple, well-curated life – one with less decisions and more freedom.
Instead of owning 14 white shirts we could own 2 really quality ones... but that's easier said than done.
The truth is that minimalism looks different for everybody. Your life is not the same as mine. I not only work at home but I get ready for my afternoon gym session in the morning because it conditions me to actually work out instead of losing myself in my work, meaning: I live in gym clothes 5 days a week (which I love by the way).
Your situation might look very different, yet there are some principles than can help everyone when it comes to curating a minimalist wardrobe:
01. Clarify what’s most important for you. Is it quality or is it quantity?
02. Start easy by removing all eyesores from your closet. If there's anything there that resembles a rag (been there, done that) it's got to go!
03. Do not break the bank when shopping by getting four kind-of-good pieces when you can get one quality piece and take good care of it.
04. Divide your closet into two sections: Clothes you wear often and clothes you wear rarely. This exercise is very telling of our habits. We usually wear only 20% of the clothes we own... which makes it easier to let go.
05. Get comfortable with waiting. Instead of pulling the trigger on a purchase, sit on it for a while. It’s not your life’s mission to take advantage of a sale nor is it crucial for your image to buy something that you don’t absolutely need.
The beauty of knowing what to acquire when is that it makes us understand that we are the ones who wear our clothes, not them who wear us.
How do you curate your wardrobe?
