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 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 maximumwardrobe.

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.

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)

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)

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.

Brown Summer Sandal

Black Sneakers

White Sneakers

Sloggers garden boots & shoes

Work boots (hiking)

Snow boots

Slippers

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…