It’s been two weeks since I started a series on becoming a minimalist. I’m truly excited about this journey my partner and I are on and I hope that I can help anyone who is considering starting their own journey towards becoming a minimalist.
Last week I discussed How to Become a Minimalist in the Kitchen. Today I’m going to discuss how I minimized my wardrobe. It can be a process to do a closet declutter.
I underestimated how hard it is to let go. It’s easy to answer the questions, “Does this add value to my life?” and “Does this bring a sense of satisfaction?” with a yes, even if it’s not true because, speaking for myself, I don’t like to let things go. I can make up a lot of reasons to keep something even if it’s not being used and is therefore taking up space, collecting dust.
I’m this way with most everything, but now I’m learning to take the time to actually think through whether or not ‘yes’ is really the answer to the questions above.
I read numerous articles recently about people who have what is called a “capsule wardrobe”. They are wardrobes that consist of only a few outfits that fit their lifestyle. They consist of a couple outfits for work, for going out, and for fancier outings. Something like that anyways. Again, everyone is different. The idea is to only have enough to fill a suitcase. Any more than that is too much.
I love this idea, so I’m working towards creating my own capsule wardrobe.
Here’s where I’m at so far.
These are the dressy shirts and dress I wear to work and sometimes church.
Because I live in Florida, most of the bottoms I own are shorts. The three pairs of outdoorsy, workout shorts I have are actually in the wash, but aside from those I have two pairs of pants, a couple pairs of shorts I wear in my every day life, when work is out, my hippy pants, yoga shorts, and a few dressy skirts and pants.
These are my t-shirts and dressier shirts for going out. My every day wear.
Here are a few other shirts I keep in the closet that are also a part of my every day wear. They are my Columbia shirts that I love to wear when I go out to enjoy the great outdoors, hiking, biking, SCUBA diving, and enjoying the beach over the hotter part of the long Summer days.
These are my pajamas. I love wearing comfy boxer shorts as pajama shorts. I had about maybe 6 other pairs that I parted with. Of course there are my long sleeve pajama pants and my “But baby it’s cold outside,” shirt that I got for Christmas a couple years ago. I love this set but I don’t know if I’ll get to wear them again in the future because we don’t get a Winter in Florida anymore. I’ve noticed over the years that the Winter season is shorter and shorter. This past “Winter” we only had two cold days. It’s to the point where Summer is basically year round. Climate change is real.
These are the only shoes I own. The most simplified part of my entire wardrobe.
Let’s not forget the soccer cleats. I haven’t wore these in a year because I haven’t been able to join the soccer club at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, where I’m attending, or the soccer meetup in my city. Now that I have adjusted to my university and I’m doing well in my courses as I’ve learned what learning techniques work for me, I have decided to go back out and play soccer for fun as part of my weekly exercise routine.
Here are three more clothing items I left out, and they are my sweaters which can be seen on the left of this picture. I have two others that aren’t seen here because they are in the wash.
Finally, my accessories and my make-up can be seen in the last three photos below.
This is it. This is my wardrobe, my make-up, and my accessories. Over the last couple weeks of this series I let go of different items, further minimizing the things that I own, even in the rooms I already shared about. I share this to say that I didn’t perfect this the first time I went through the areas of my house. It takes time.
What should be known, that I realize today is that we won’t ever hit perfection and just stay there. We will always be letting go as minimalists because that’s how it works. To be a minimalist isn’t to be anti-consumerism. Minimalism is the art of living with only those things that bring value to one’s life and a sense of satisfaction. It is the art of letting go. We will continue to buy as we feel we need to, and let go of those things that can be replaced or no longer bring that value or satisfaction. The difference is that the shopping will never be excessive again.
This is the end of this part of my minimalism series where I discuss my house and how my partner and I got to where we are today. Stay tuned as I will be working on a new minimalism series on the benefits of minimalism, how we can be environmentally friendly minimalists specifically, and what I’m learning from other minimalists.
I can be reached at hlfizell@gmail.com if there are any questions or comments.
