Confessions of a Clothes Addict

I am an aspiring minimalist. I do not mean that I live in an empty house with only a few floor cushions as furniture. Nor do I believe that I will ever be able to “minimize” both my home and my life the way I wish I could – I share my life with too many other people and my relationships with them are more important than that living a completely minimalistic life. But over the past couple of years I have been working hard to eliminate the unnecessary burdens of “stuff”, both literally and emotionally. This blog was originally supposed to be about my foray into the world of simpler living, but I’ve discovered that I love to think and write about more than just living with less; I find joy in being vulnerable, confessing my mistakes and sharing what I’ve learned. Personally and professionally.

One of the ways that I have been able to embrace a more minimalist life is through my wardrobe or “closet”, as they call it here in America. I’ve always loved to shop, especially clothes shopping, and I used to have a hard time saying no to a bargain. I’d hug myself with glee if I found a way to double-dip my savings with a 40% off deal, plus a coupon for an extra 10%. I’d try on tons of clothes, but probably only bought an item or two. But when you love shopping, love purchasing perceived bargains and considered no Sunday complete without a trip to Target, your wardrobe can quickly be bursting with cheap and cheerful clothes, many of which you never wear.

When I began reading more about minimalism, Courtney Carver’s Project 333 drew my attention. Courtney challenges her followers to try living with only 33 items of clothing and accessories for 3 months. Sleepwear, underwear and workout attire are not included, but everything else: clothes, shoes, jewelry, even coats/jackets/scarves. I decided that I would really struggle with only 33 items, mainly because I have to wear professional attire to work each day, but have a much more casual style at the weekends. So I picked another arbitrary number, 40, and decided to wear only 40 items for 3 whole months, January 1-March 31. I live in South Carolina, and January, February and March are typically the coldest months of the years with temperatures in the 30s-50s, but it is certainly not unheard of for us to have random winter days when the mercury hits 80F. I knew I would need to be creative with my clothing choices and think strategically so I had items for any occasion: work, casual evening out, date night, even an outfit for a last-minute cookout on an unusually spring-like day. I also had to pick out a color scheme that was very mix-and-match: where everything can be worn with everything else to create an abundance of outfits with just a few keys pieces.

My goal was to only wear 40 of My Chosen Few items – and to not miss the others languishing in the wardrobe in the guest bedroom, where I had placed the ones not chosen for this experiment. I selected:

• 2 coats – casual turquoise jacket and charcoal grey wool coat
• 2 solid-colored scarves: hot pink and turquoise
• 5 dresses/tunics – 2 patterned, grey, black, maroon,
• 3 pairs of leggings – black and 2 pairs of patterned
• 2 pairs of jeans – skinny and boot cut, both dark wash
• 2 pairs of pants – navy and black
• 4 work jackets – grey, red, turquoise, black
• 2 long wool cardigans – navy/cream striped, dark pink
• 4 short-sleeved tops/t-shirts – 2 black, navy, cream
• 4 long sleeved tops/blouses – various patterns
• 2 pairs of boots – black heeled booties and brown flat knee highs
• 2 pairs of ballet flats – charcoal grey and black
• 3 pairs of earrings
• 3 necklaces

I did cheat slightly – I also wore my running shoes and a fleece vest at the weekends, but since I also wore them to work out in, I didn’t include them in the count of 40. Don’t tell anyone!

So what did I learn?

• I can easily live with only 40 items, but ideally I’d like about another 20 – mainly for more options of jewelry, scarves, shoes and tops/blouses.
• Although I typically dress more casually at the weekend, all my “work” tops/cardigans/jackets can be paired with jeans for a more casual look. I don’t need separate “work” and “home” wardrobes.
• I didn’t get bored or fed up with any of my clothes – because I had to choose only a small selection of what I own, of course I’d picked my most beloved items: my favorite clothes because of how they make me look and feel.
• It’s so much more important to have a small amount of things you that are comfortable and make you feel fabulous than a massive closet stuffed full of things that don’t fit, you don’t like and you never wear!
• It is possible to have an almost entirely mix-and-match wardrobe, as long as you stick to a few base colors (in my case, black, navy and grey) and add a handful of other accent colors that can be worn with any/all of the base colors (red, turquoise, hot pink, cream).
• I did this during the winter months. During the hot SC summer, coats, scarves, jeans and leggings aren’t needed. And I could probably make do with only 3 light jackets or cardigans, so I’d have a lot more room for tops and jewelry amongst my 40 items!
• I don’t think anyone noticed that I was wearing the same clothes over and over again, I really don’t. I was worried about it – but why? I need to get over this fear of judgment!

Lots of people have asked me how I selected my 40 Chosen Few items – and how I was able to let go of so many items. We all have a tendency to hang onto things we do not use and do not need; perhaps our stuff gives us feelings of security or perhaps we are reluctant to get rid of things we spent good money on.

I’m here to help: look out for my next posts – choosing and using three simple words to define your personal style and explicit instructions on how to declutter your entire wardrobe.