wash day. photo by me. taken last week.
Lorna recently asked me how many items of clothing I own now. She saw my tiny house closet shot and felt compelled to ask.
I don’t like to get number-bound, but I’ll share my clothing number with you (but I won’t count my undies). First things first, I have to go count, because I haven’t been keeping track.
All right I’m back. My count? 28. Currently. And I love it.
Yes my entire clothing collection is smaller than some women’s jeans counts.
So why am I living with such a scant wardrobe?
1. I love to experiment and challenge myself. Living with less clothing started as a personal challenge a few years ago. I downsized from somewhere around 200-300 pieces (not an exact count) down to under 50. It’s been fun so I’ve kept the experiment going.
2. I love being limited. Being limited makes getting dressed a non-decision every day. Everything goes with everything else. I can grab any two items of clothing and I’m dressed.
3. I love the simplicity. Before I never had anything to wear. This didn’t go with anything else in my closet, or that would be perfect if I stitched the little rip, or I could wear the other dress if I just found my vintage cardigan and the matching… Chaos. Dressing used to cause stress. Now it is simpler than I ever imagined possible.
4. I love loving everything in my closet. I have very little, so I can love each item fully. I only allow things I love into my closet and now I love everything I wear.
5. I love being free of image. I used to dress for other people. I was portraying an image of myself through my wardrobe choices. Now I dress based on what makes sense in my life. It’s utilitarian, functional and liberating.
6. I love having a clear closet. By having just a few clothing items, it’s easier to keep things in neat little stacks, or hung up on their hangers. And if I let things get out of control one day, it only takes a few minutes to tidy up my closet. The energy in my closet feels peaceful and pure, and that’s a hell of a lot different than my packrat days.
7. I love not needing a dresser. I got rid of so many clothes I no longer needed a dresser. Every large furniture item I kick out of my life makes me feel like I’ve won a victory. And little decisions affect bigger decisions. By getting rid of some extra clothes, I removed the need for a dresser. By getting rid of a dresser (and other items too) I created the ability to live in a tiny house.
Each little decision we make has a ripple effect. Minimalism is a ripple effect. Embracing less opens up our worlds to new things, new experiences, and new people.
So what’s in your wardrobe? And why?
* More Reading: 6 Steps to a Decluttered Closet, A Clothing Clutter Reality Check Test, and Courtney’s Project 333
p.s. Contest results! Do you remember the special contest I ran in August? It was to celebrate the launch of my newsletter. Well, the numbers have been tallied and five winners have been chosen. Cheryl, Kay, Sara, Heidi and Chris have each won a copy of 30 Day Clutter Bootcamp. (I’ve emailed the winners and sent them a copy.) And the newsletter? I’m working on getting the very first edition out today. Sign up to the right if you feel like it (and find out why I’ve decided to feature my neighbor John and his pet raccoon in the first edition. :)
My wardrobe gets smaller each month as I continue to break my attachment to clothes. I grew up with easy access to clothes – my grandfather owned a clothing store – and each year (season) I would spend hours trying clothes on and purchasing them. Shopping became part of what our family did and valued. Slowly, I’ve been able to break the habit and look at my wardrobe differently.
After going through your bootcamp earlier this year, I was right around 100 and my goal has been to keep it there, or lighten up even more. A couple weeks ago I pulled 18 items from my wardrobe as a trial and they are still out of sight. I still have way more than I need and I plan to pull a few more items soon. Maybe I’ll do that today while this post is fresh in my mind!
One of the best things I did this past year was create a family closet. It’s really helped me keep all of our clothes under control. We only have one small dresser – I forget it’s actually a dresser because to me it represents an antique I inherited from my grandparents. I do store some off season clothes in there, but it’s not stuffed anymore.
Jill Foley recently posted..Consignment Shop Success
Hi Jill,
That’s so awesome! I know you’ve been working on downsizing your clothes for a while now and you’re doing incredible with it. In my mind any number of a hundred or less is minimalistish for sure. It’s less than the national average by far. :)
Your dresser sounds special too. I think it’s cool that you’re still doing a family dresser and that it’s a meaningful antique!
Hmmm… I will have to go count too. Ok 46 items which includes dresses, lounge clothes, bathing suit, winter clothes, and everyday wear. However, I didn’t include underwear, bras, or lingerie. I’d say that’s pretty good. Everyday Minimalist just posted about having a wardrobe you love. My problem is that the clothes I love get worn out very quickly thanks to kids. Plus, about 90% of my clothes don’t fit properly because I need to gain weight. I keep it all hoping to fit into it well soon. If I had to shop for clothes that actually fit, I’d find myself in the little girl’s section, so I keep more junior/adult clothes for now. For me, the hardest part is to find my style. I think once I can get that ironed out, I can tame my closet a bit more. In end, I still feel ok about what I own…The Hubs even has more clothes than me :)
Megyn @ Minimalist Mommi recently posted..The Upper Poor Class
Hey Megyn,
I went and checked out Serena’s post since you mentioned her. Wow. She wrote a ton on clothes! It was like a mini-ebook. Here’s a link for everyone so you can all go enjoy it if you’ve got a moment: 10 Steps to Get Your Wardrobe Where You Want it to Be by Serena the Everday Minimalist. It’s funny we both decided to write about clothes on the same day. :)
And Megyn, if you feel good about where your closet is, that’s all that matters! It sounds like you’re going through a lot of changes right now anyways with trying to gain weight. (Good luck with that.) Once you get more settled with your size I know it will be a lot easier to tailor your closet the way you want. :)
I know this is an old post, but I went clothes shopping today and it got me thinking about minimalist wardrobes which led me to this post. None of my jeans really fit and then finally I reached the end of my patience, tried on kids’ jeans as a last resort, and they were perfect. I would like to gain weight, but that hasn’t happened since 7th or 8th grade. I just stopped growing. So rather than trying to fit the clothes, I figured out what I’ve been telling my (curvy) mother this whole time – the clothes should fit YOU. It’s not that you need to gain weight before you can have clothes you enjoy, it’s that you need to find clothes that fit you. These kids’ jeans are more flattering than the ill-fitting women’s jeans ever were. I just had to get past thinking that I “should” be shaped a certain way and realize I deserved clothing that fit MY body – not someone else’s.
If I don’t count my scarves and shawls (hey, I’m a knitter and I hate being cold in the winter, what can I say?), I probably have about 40 items. Like you, I don’t count very often and since I have a sprained ankle, I’m not going to jump up and go check. Last year when I participated in Project 333, I found that other than jewelry, I didn’t really change anything in my wardrobe. In fact, I didn’t even use 33 items, more like 29 or 30. I know it’s time for a clean out again because I’m feeling a little dis-easi-ness when I look in the closet and dresser. Because of my teaching, I do have to keep ‘teacher clothes’ to wear instead of my usual daily t-shirt and pants. Those teacher clothes usually consist of just throwing a sweater or another shirt on over the t-shirt. And skirts–I own 3 skirts (plan to cull at least one of those), and one dress cuz sometimes I have to dress up and act like a grown up at official parties.
I love love love your list! #6 is my hubby. I still have a dresser–those scarves :) But I’m thinking now that I need to go through those drawers again…
Willow, No fair even talking about jewelry. Errrr, my count is out of control if I have to include jewelry. (I’d whittled down to 17 items, then later discovered a slew of pieces I still owned from when I used to make jewelry. Somehow “my jewelry” and “jewelry I made” were in two different categories in my head.)
Anyways, that was a tangent. I bet your scarves and shawls are delightful! I do have a serious weakness for anything knitted. Living in Florida has helped that particular addiction out. My question is do you wear all of the scarves or are there favorites you choose again and again?
Your question got me thinking about what scarves I wear– I have a bright turquoise cotton that my dd gave me last year–wear it a lot. Then there’s the turquoise and orange hand spun by me wool that I wear most often even in spring and fall. I’d made one like it and my friend admired it so I gave it to her and had enough left over yarn to make a second one for me. Two cowls knitted from bamboo, one light turquoise (there’s a theme here), one lavender, which I wear to teach in winter-warm and soft. A hat, fingerless mitts, scarf set in blue variegated handspun by me wool–haven’t worn it much yet, just finished them this summer–we’ll see. I had handspun silk and llama together and knitted a skinny scarf and hated it–it’s back in the yarn pile to be pulled apart and reknitted.
Shawls: one large oatmeal wool wrap I won 1st place at the fair for knitting–wear it occasionally when it’s cold enough here in SoCal. A pashmina (turquoise!) wrap I love love love to wear on car, train and plane trips. Two crocheted shawls waiting to be gifted to my niece as I’ll never wear them, wrong color (beige) for me.
For me, the thrill of knitting the things far outweighs the wearing of them, so if I make a new one, I just give away another. Hmmm, I feel a blog spot coming on…
On the subject of jewelry, my ears itch terribly if I wear costume jewelry. So, I just wear the ones for sensitive ears. The alternative would be gold earrings and I always lose those. I only have eight pairs of earrings. I would like to only have one or two pairs that I really love wearing.
I used to have a lot of clothes, or at least a lot of clothes for even me. I had to have a professional wardrobe and look the part every day. When I left that job, I have been slowly releasing those clothes (which reminds me, I have a whole bag of fall/winter professional clothes I need to put up on craigslist!) Now I am down to a more realistic wardrobe for me. I will still continue to pair down, as I like being able to wear whatever is in my closet and that most everything can go together.
I have a problem in that I am always cold, so I have a selection of jackets and sweaters to top off my outfits. I guess I could pare down to just one or 2…
Another thing that may help me with this is losing weight! I have already lost 10 pounds and if I lose the other 20 that I hope to, I won’t fit in much of what I have!
One day I will actually count the # of items!
Bernice
Living the Balanced Life recently posted..10 steps to a happier mama
Hey Bernice,
If you keep going with your weight loss (which you will) you’re going to be getting rid of a whole closet of clothes!
I’m like you in that I was also able to release all of my work clothes when I started my own business. My work clothes weren’t super dressy because my work was casual, but I still had things in my closet that I didn’t need (like closed toed shoes). Good luck with the Craigslist sale. :)
I suppose I’m the ultimate minimalist when it comes to clothing, Tanja, but occasionally I have to venture out into the “real” world. A couple pairs of shorts and a half-dozen or so t-shirts are sufficient. I can pretty much wash my entire wardrobe in one load. If we’re including footwear, add a pair of sandals and a couple pairs of Vibram FiveFingers.
Mike | Homeless On Wheels recently posted..Internet Grocery Shopping Experiment – Groceries Express Fail
You do get the ultimate minimalist award for clothing Mike. :) I imagine someone out there could match you but no one could surpass you. Does your wardrobe change for winters?
I had a friend in arkansas who wore the same pair of pants every day. She washed them by hand once a week and had five t-shirts to go with the jeans. The only other thing was a winter coat and the required hat, scarf, gloves.
She was just back from the peace corps and had gotten used to living very simple. I think 5 whole shirts was her really meeting society in the middle. :)
I always think of Jane as someone I’m aspiring to become.
Heya,
guess it’s really easier for us boys than for the girls… I’ve started on my clothes early last year, with the goal of ultimate minimalism in mind, when it comes to clothing. What had helped me a lot to see through it all was drawing a matrix on a sheet of paper: On the left side wrote the temperature ranges that are common here – it forms the lines. The columns are formed by “occasions” – all the situations I’m coming in from attending a friend’s wedding to working on the house. Then I allowed me no more than 2 alternatives for each top or bottom in every box, trying to use the same clothes as often as possible.
As I’m outdoors a lot, I’m used to onion layering, which can be pretty comfortable, when you use the right garments. Most of mine come from Icebreaker – they are pure merino, incredibly warm in different weights and don’t take on any odor. They are drying fast and easy to care for. But the most important thing is, that you don’t feel uncomfortable when wearing a 260 t-shirt over a 150 (and nobody will see that from outside, either). And they are enourmously durable, you can wear a t-shirt for 2-5 years even if you wear it almost daily.
And there’s the list: one pair of Jeans, one pair of rugged canvas trousers that don’t take on stains and are non-tearable, a buttoned shirt and altogether five t-shirts in different merino weight and two long johns. For dressing “formally” I have a buttoned shirt and a jacket that’s wrinkle-free and for three of four seasons I’m using Merrell Barefoot shoes, they also blend into my “formal” outfit quite well. I am dressing not for anybody else, so for me that’s really sufficient. As I am able to layer underneath, I do not have to wear a jacket (apart from an ultralight windbreaker when biking or hiking or travelling) for most of the year, only in winter I use a parka, a scarf and a knitted cap as well as gloves.
I’ve donated (for lack of use) my washing machine as well last year – for the few items I have, its enough to perform a ten-minutes-handwash every evening, two hours later my clothes are completely dry and okay. It’s become part of my bedtime-routine, so it does not disturb me at all: shower, dump your clothes, clean your teeth, go to bed.
I admit, I had to get used to the consequences of my radical approach for some weeks, but quite soon I forgot to matter about clothing – I feel well and comfortable and clean all the time, and I just don’t think about dressing any more, because there are simply not many choices left, they are only taken in respect of the temperature, and if I’m in the mood to dress formal or leger. My experience is that even in wardrobe-obsessed Germany (so much more than in the US) I’ve never experienced only a single suspect glance from anybody, at any occasion. If you choose carefully what outfits you keep, you can easily blend in, and even make a well-dressed appearance at any occasion though owning much less than 30 pieces. And you feel warm and dry all the time, thanks to functional and high quality outdoor material. I guess thinking and thinking again is the key to a most minimalist, most functional and clever wardrobe. Keep on your track, folks!
Besides my work “uniform” I don’t have much these days. Project 333 helped quite a bit, and my off-duty clothes suit me, finally. I was guilty of your #5 in that I dressed for others, or how I thought I should look. Now, I have an eclectic, mismatched and wrinkled assortment that I love. It may not all go together perfectly, but it’s me.
Tamara recently posted..The Empty Room
Tamara,
I threw out my iron a few years ago. Wrinkle girls unite! :)
Oh yeah!!!
I still have my iron, but cannot remember the last time I used it–probably for napkins that came out wrinkled after going through the dryer. But I got rid of those napkins. Hmmmmmmmm. Iron donation time, maybe? ;D
Meg recently posted..The Rusty Sword of Shopping
I keep a very clean house, but I HATE to iron! LOL My hubby irons anything that gets too wrinkled. I’d rather wear something wrinkled that iron it myself.
Meg, how funny! I got rid of my cloth napkins too, and they really did get super wrinkled. Maybe your iron is making it out the door soon! :)
Lorna, I hate to iron too. When Patrick was working in the public he had to dress up more and I did iron his work clothes, and then towards the end he simplified his wardrobe and scaled it back a notch. Instead of fancy button-ups he switched to distinguished sweaters. :) They didn’t need to be ironed at all and that’s when we donated the iron and the ironing board. Hmmm, I also worked in the “public” a bit, but I still didn’t iron my clothes. Bad Tanja! :0
Wow! Impressive! I don’t know any woman with 28 pairs of jeans but I know many who have more than 28 pairs of shoes! I really like reason #2 “I love being limited”. That’s what I love about my minimalist wardrobe; getting dressed is a no-brainer. Thanks for sharing!
Yan | Towards simplicity recently posted..A simple way to make your own day (and somebody else’s)
Hey Yan,
My shoe count used to be in the 20′s, but never my jeans! I probably had a dozen or so pairs which is still a ton! I like #2 as well. :) I may be lazy but I love the grab any two things and go mentality, especially after years of spending too much time making my statement every day. Tiring!
My basic wardrobe is three pair of cotton slacks that roll up to be capris, nine t-shirts of various styles and colors for summer and six long sleeve polos for winter. Add to that things like a couple sweatshirts, swim suit, pajamas, socks, underwear, and windbreaker and you have my list. Oh, I do have one pants outfit which I wear for dressier occasions. And a winter hat & gloves for desert winter evenings. I don’t own any skirts or dresses anymore because I don’t find them as comfortable as my cotton slacks. I wear my Crocs 99% of the time but do have a pair of sandals to wear with the dress pants and a pair of tie shoes for the walking program I’m planning to start sometime soon. I love how easy it is to get dressed now.
Linda Sand recently posted..Breakfast
Hey Linda,
That sounds awesome! Your list is one of the lightest yet, almost as light as Mike and definitely lighter than me. Did you simplify your wardrobe when you went with RV living or when you moved to a desert climate? Just curious! :)
I simplified when we moved into an RV. Our first motorhome was very small so we didn’t have room or weight capacity for a lot of clothes. That’s when I switched from jeans to cotton slacks. We’ve since moved to a bigger RV so I actually have more clothes now than I did then.
Linda Sand recently posted..Weight loss tip
Cotton takes up so much less space! I have two pairs of jeans and five pairs of thin pants for bottoms. I love how small the thin pants are. They hardly take any space at all. I can see why you switched as well, I bet your closet is pretty tiny on an rv.
Yes, I’m in favor of minimal clothing too – especially in the summer. Oh, that’s not what you meant is it? Oh, well, I’m going to run with it. Fact is that if I were of a mind to, I could traipse around my mountain naked; there is no one here to call the cops. But, there is the pervasive concern that if I did, a Google Earth photo of me would show up on the Internet captioned, “Gray Sasquatch spotted in the Appalachian mountains!”
OK, silliness aside, I use a trickle-down method for controlling my clothing. First though, I don’t clothes shop, I hate shopping for clothes. That helps. Then, as “good clothes” get worn or spotted up I demote them to “work clothes”. As the work clothes become so worn they can’t be used even for that (too Sasquatchy) they get cut up up into rags. As the rags get used up or worn out I burn them and use the ashes in the garden.
So when Marie says, “Would you like to buy this shirt?” I respond with, “Depends; will it make good fertilizer?”
Allan Douglas recently posted..Normality Restored
Allan you’re so funny. In Arkansas we had that kind of freedom too. No one ever really came out to our property unless we invited them so there were no surprise visitors. And our house was nestled deep enough into the 5 acres that we had lots of privacy and freedom. Ahh, you’re making me miss it!
Now with you would it be a Gray Sasquatch or a Gray Leprechaun? I seem to recall something about a Leprechaun nature a few months back. :)
Your method sounds incredibly practical. I love your trickle-down method. My one big question for you is do you only by natural materials since they eventually go in the garden? Polyester? Rayon?
I do try to avoid “plastic” clothing. Cotton and denim are wonderful. Of course, you can’t always avoid the “modern” fabrics, so I do have to be careful to weed those out when making rags.
Allan Douglas recently posted..Normality Restored
Oh, and … you caught me – the headline would read Small Grey Sasquatch… or perhaps it would be “Possum learns to walk upright!” ‘cepn I don’t have no tail.
Allan Douglas recently posted..Normality Restored
Heeee! You’re cracking me up Allan. :) Hello possum!
I really enjoyed this post, as minimizing the contents of my closet is an ongoing battle for me.
It’s mostly a battle because I have to work with four distinct seasons when I could find myself outdoors for several hours in 10° F at one point during the year and at 100° F at another – and I need to be presentable at both. But I don’t believe in artifice or uncomfortable clothes, so I’m already fairly minimal. I have four skirts, several dresses, 15 pairs of pants (5 cold cold winter, 5 hot hot summer, and 5 in between – I would definitely have fewer if it weren’t for that darned climate), 5 short-sleeved t-shirts and 10 long sleeved ones, plus a handful of goes-with-everything cardigan/sweater-y things that I can layer with the various t-shirts.
I have 12 pairs of shoes, which includes two pairs of summer shoes, two pairs of winter shoes, two pairs of in-between shoes, three pairs of sneakers, hiking boots, winter boots, and flip flops. I don’t like wearing the same shoes two days in a row – I feel like it’s unhygienic – so I have more than I might otherwise need.
I am, though, able to store almost everything in my small closet without any out-of-season containers. The exceptions are my jackets and coats (front hall closet), my pajamas and long underwear (one dresser drawer), and my regular underwear and tights (another dresser drawer).
I envy those of you in temperate climates who don’t need to worry about additional layers like long underwear, wool knee-highs and tights, etc. (Although, Tanja, it sounds like you’re not unacquainted with cold!)
What strategies do those of you who have to manage multiple seasons have to manage the necessary clothing?
Hi A,
I’d love to hear other people chime in with answers to your question. In the meantime, here’s mine. When I started decluttering I was living in the Arkansas mountains. Flat Arkansas doesn’t get nearly as cold, but where we were the days were short from the hills and we got very little sun. We’d sometimes hit as low as -5 degrees which was really frickin’ cold!
When we left Arkansas I had less clothes than ever before but more clothes than I have now. A serious winter definitely means more clothes! Even so, I did downsize quite a bit while living in Arkansas. I was probably around the 40 to 50 item mark at the end of living there.
I realized I only needed one winter coat (imagine) and I cut back my “decorative” scarf/glove/hat sets. When downsizing I looked at bulk as a major factor: Sweaters take a lot of space so what I started doing was choosing just a handful of button up sweaters instead of pullover the head style sweaters. I found with a “throw on” sweater I could wear them more frequently and it was more socially acceptable. Weird but true. I only had three sweaters and the one winter coat (full-length, wool) and I got by just fine.
I did a lot of layering and found it to help shrink my winter wardrobe needs. I layered my summer tanks under a fall long sleeve under one of the winter sweaters. Topped it with the coat, hat and gloves and I was good to go.
Bottoms were jeans with leggings underneath, wool socks, and my birks.
Silk long underwear! Takes little room. Washes and dries quickly. Keeps me amazingly warm. I discovered them back when we lived in Minnesota and did cross-country skiing. Now I wear them when friends want to sit out in the desert at night– gets cold out there when you are just sitting.
Also I buy all my socks from Tilley.com. They have some wool in them which breathes in the summer but insulates in the winter even when I step in a puddle wearing my Crocs. :)
And my coat is a lightweight shell with a removable polar fleece liner. That makes for three options that cover me year around when I add hat, gloves, and scarf in the winter.
Linda Sand recently posted..Weight loss tip
Linda, I’d told forgotten about silk long underwear. Back when we lived in Arkansas I kept looking at an L.L. Bean catalog that had some (back when I still had catalogs come to the house). I never did get any because they were so pricey but I did get Patrick a pair of some turbo-camping space age material long underwear. He wore them all the time.
And I definitely believe in the power of a good pair of wool socks. I don’t have any now that I’m in Florida, oh wait, my mom got me one pair last year which I hid in Patrick’s sock tub. :) Wool is so cozy on winter nights. :)
I love the idea of silk long underwear, but I try to avoid animal products wherever possible, and buy ethically when I have no other option. Your post does remind me that I should refresh my long underwear collection, though, before it gets too cold (and too late to find anything good). Luckily, I am willing to shell out a little bit more for some good quality technical long underwear that will layer well.
Thank you!
Hi Tanja,
(long-time reader, first time commenter!)
I thought I’d take the challenge to count my things, but I decided to first try and see if I could count in my head first before going into the closet… it’s so refreshing to think I was able to visualize and remember almost every piece of clothing I own! I come in at 52, including all forms of clothing/outerwear, except the underthings, and 8 pairs of shoes.
I especially love your point about not having dressers.. dh and I got rid of ours, but we now have one again that is actually a changing table/dresser that was our sons’ (we’re waiting until the youngest outgrows the coordinating crib, then we’ll ditch them as a set). That leaves my boys with no dressers (more room to play, less furniture to climb on!) and it’s great having the clothes out in the open (no closet doors, either!) It allows me to easily do an inventory whenever we’re in the room, things stay tidy when it’s out in the open, and it’s more practical for toddlers to get dressed when all is visualized.
Also, to help stay limited like #1, I’m trying to only have clothes that coordinate with black/grey. I realized I used to have double the necessary clothes because I would always have stuff to go with black/greys, and stuff to go with browns. No need for brown shoes, belt, jacket, socks, pants now!
One question I have for you though- drawers still seem to be the best option for us now for undies/socks, etc;, they’re always a jumbled mess and are better kept under wraps anyways. How do you store yours without a dresser?
Hi Kate,
I love it when a long-time reader comes out of the shadows and leaves a comment. Thank you! About the drawers/lack of dresser. On my tiny house closet post I show pictures of our shared closet. It’s where Lorna asked the original question that started this post. :)
If you go to that page and look at the finished closet shot you’ll see I got wire basket drawers and shelves using a closet system and Patrick got shelves sans drawers. I love my drawers! What I like about them vs. a dresser is each drawer also provides horizontal storage space + they’re moveable at any time. I can rearrange, add more or take out drawers if I want to. The other big benefit is since they’re open-air baskets everything can breathe better and I can see what’s inside without rooting around.
I fold my pants and put them on a shelf, while my undies, pajamas, scarves and misc. get thrown in one of the wire baskets.
Patrick is primitive :) and just has shelves. He uses a small cloth bin for his unmentionables and socks. Before we put up a custom closet, we both used small cloth bins. The drawer lets me spread out more though!
I’ve been wishing for drawers lately myself. My husband and I ditched our dressers 5 years ago and use cloth bins for our underwear, socks, etc. It is such a pain to dig around in those bins trying to find what I’m looking for. I have wire basket envy!
Hey Cath,
Up until we moved into the tiny house we were using bins for underwear, socks, etc too. I found downsizing to be very helpful! When I filled my bins to the brim it was hard to root through them. I reduced my quantities to just what I needed for a week of wear and it really helped. The wire baskets are lovely though. :)
p.s. Patrick’s still using bins because he turned down wire baskets. He’s just got shelves and bins.
Tanja,
Thanks so much for answering my question! I totally forgot I’d even asked it. LOL I just counted the clothes in my closet and it’s 42 including a light coat and a sweater. I also have five pairs of shoes: walking shoes, boots, sandals, suede mules, and dressy sandals. All are in black with the exception of the walking shoes. Boring, but the shoes go with any outfit.
Hi Lorna,
Isn’t it funny? You asked that question on the closet post almost two months ago. I may be slow but I get there eventually! :)
Your wardrobe sounds easy and functional! And hey, black shoes go with anything! I’m not great at matching (I gave up on it years ago) so I decided that all my shoes match anything regardless of what color/pattern they are. I’ve got two black and two tan pairs right now.
Lorna, care to share if your low number was the result of downsizing along the way? Anything you like about having less in your closet? 42 is an awesome number!
Great question, Tanja. Actually, my small wardrobe is a result of my mother and several other close relatives losing their homes during Hurricane Ike. Not only did they lose most of their belongings, but I lost my letter jacket, cap and gown from graduation, wedding dress, etc., as well. They were all being stored at my mother’s home. If they meant so much to me, why didn’t I keep them at my home? After that, I sort of became numb and no longer attached to any “things”. It’s family and experiences that matter most in life. I do wish I could scale back on a few clothing items, though. The number doesn’t really matter, but I would like to be able to fit everything in one small suitcase, if needed. It’s just the survivalist in me, I guess. LOL
Hey Lorna,
I’d love to fit everything in one small suitcase too. :) I just read about the idea of having a “bug out bag” and I’ve been obsessing over the idea all week. I even went to the army supply store a few towns north to look at backpacks. (I felt quite tough.)
That sounds like quite an experience to go through. Here’s hoping that your family had insurance on their homes and that everything ended well after the hurricane. I can see how losing so much in a natural disaster could make a person not feel the need for much in the future.
Ok, that link to the purse forum place was SCARY. I thought I was bad with my clothes when I worked in retail, but WOW. Imagine how much that cost some of them!
I dont have the most minimalist wardrobe, I mean I’m pretty great (especially now I’ve donated about 75% of it!) but I have some black spots. I have probably too many coats. I’ve kept 2 skinny dresses, some skinny tops and 1 pair of skinny jeans that dont currently fit. (Although to be fair, I put on 20kg when I got sick, which I have lost most of through healing my auto-immune disease. I’m nearly into them again!) And I have, um, a few too many pairs of party high heels. But you know what? I know exactly what is in my wardrobe, and I wear each and every item! (Except the skinny stuff, and I WILL wear those soon.) I never have “WTF do I wear?” moments, and everything matches. I think I could have more clothes and still not have the maximum that is manageable for me. Probably under a hundred, if I had to count.
Mia you would be the one with the party heels. :)
Now you start by saying you don’t have the most minimalist wardrobe, but then you go on to say you’ve downsized by 75%! That’s so cool! To me that’s what finding your own perfect level of minimalism is all about.
I bet that getting rid of that 75% meant the 25% you had left just shines for you. That’s the real trick here, not to get stuck on someone else’s number, but to create our perfect lives for ourselves.
I am so glad to hear your progressing with your healing and I’ve been wanting to hear more about your planned swimming with the sharks. Are you really going to do that?
Swim with sharks? Absolutely! :) The word shark covers a fairly broad family of animals, not all species are dangerous or even capable of biting you. The ones I’m chasing are harmless. So it’s ok!
I agree with you on the number not being important. I think everyone has that sweet spot, somewhere in between having nothing to wear, and having too much choice. I think in life in general we have too much choice and things get complicated, no point making getting dressed in the morning one of those too-complicated things!
Your post and all the comments are a great illustration of the beauty of coming to terms with our wardrobes, and that there are also many right ways of going about it. I’m thrilled that I’ve pared things down to around 80, and could probably take it further, but I don’t have to, as everything fits easily into my half the closet and a small set of drawers. My most important wardrobe goal is comfort. Age, physical issues, extreme weather conditions, and time of life are controlling factors for what stays and goes. For instance, I have a couple more pairs of shoes that I would otherwise need, because I alternate between the shoes that are best for my feet and the ones that are best for my knees–the heel height differs for each. Little things like that make a big difference, as does being warm or cool enough. Nonetheless, I am still able to revel in having only what I need and love, and being able to find it and take good care of it!
Meg recently posted..The Rusty Sword of Shopping
I love this subject. Because my wardrobe (unlike my book collection) is one of the areas of my life that I find very easy to control. My strategy – black base and two co-ordinating colors – dark teal and purple (aubergine not barney purple). Both colors look great with black and with each other and flatter my hair and complexion. I do incorporate pattern, but the main color in each piece is one of those three. I am also lucky because I have a job that doesn’t really have a dress code (have you seen what some professors wear?) I like to go with business casual most days. However, if I have a laundry pinch i will go ahead and wear jeans with a blouse or sweater. Nobody cares. So mostly I wear the same clothes during and after work and on the weekends. I layer my clothes so I tend to keep pieces through all four seasons just adding and subtracting as the weather permits. Although if I know I am going to be home all night, it is yoga pants and a t-shirt. Oh, and I hate buying shoes – HATE IT. So I keep that down to about three pairs. I probably should bump it up to 5. Okay, so here is my list:
1 winter coat (plus scarf and hat)
1 spring/fall coat (plus scarf)
2 “at home” t-shirts
1 “game day” t-shirt
2 yoga pants
4 tank tops/undershirts
2 summer skirts
2 cotton blouses
2 camisole shirts
3 sheer blouses
3 cardigans(black, teal, purple)
1 v-neck sweater (black)
1 turtleneck sweater (black)
1 nice dress (oops – I need some shoes to go with this)
1 bathing suit
2 pajamas
1 house sweater (ratty but comfortable)
3 shoes
7 underware
3 bras
*I rarely wear socks. When I do I grab some dress/spot socks from my husband :)
So that is 47 items, which counts all of the underthings individually. Pretty good.
Now, if I could just stop the book madness….
jaime recently posted..weekending
great question! and i didn’t really know til i counted. i have 33 total items. this includes lounge/sleep wear, outerwear, robes, and regular clothes, but not underwear/bras. i also have 4 shoes, ( 2 are flip flops), 3 real gold earrings, 1 necklace, and 4 purses. (but i think i’m going to soon give away 2 of the purses to a friend) basically everything i have is black or denim.
i can have so few because i live in a warm climate and can get by with just a fleece jacket or hoodie. no coats or special shoes. also, i am a SAHM, so that requires less. and since i am in the process of losing weight, i have a few things that i hate, but need to hang onto for now. one “nice” shirt and pants in case i have to go somewhere that i can’t wear jeans. i plan on ditching them as soon as possible!
my husband has way more because he wears a suit and tie to work, work out clothes, lounge clothes and regular polos and shorts.
for my 2 older boys, 11 and 12, we try to keep it around 7 shirts/7 pants/shorts with a one in/one out policy. also my boys have a couple jackets each and 2 shoes. one athletic and one flip flop.
my baby, who is 2 has about 5-7 tops and pants/shorts, plus boxers and wife beaters for sleeping. he has one pair of shoes. which i’m pretty sure that most people would consider child abuse! LOL
we tend to buy nicer name brand shoes, and new clothes on sale. there are no good thrift stores around here and i hate to pick through stuff. would rather just buy new at target, walmart, old navy, gap outlet.
I tackled Project 333 early this year. Loved it. However I have struggled to stop myself from shopping, especially when it’s a big sale! I need to go through my closet again and weed out the extras or things I never wear.
I do have one big problem though, and I’m wondering if it’s because even at the ripe old age of twenty-seven, I’m probably doing my laundry the wrong way. My clothes just don’t last. I sometimes try to wear them twice before washing, but inevitably after a month or two the color is faded, they might have lint spots, and occasionally they come out of the washer and dryer with inexplicable stains. What am I doing wrong?! That is one of my biggest reasons I have to keep shopping, my clothes do not last.
Also wondering… do you count your pjs and casual around the house clothes as part of your wardrobe?
Amy recently posted..Accepting Your Limitations
i’m late into the game here… been busy this week with contractors fixing my roof and siding from that storm two months ago… took that long for the adjustor, insurance red tape, the 106 degree temps etc. to get overwith.
what kind of closet minimalist do i think i am?!!! i’ve never counted my clothes. just did. embarrassed to admit i own 57 pieces. that includes 5 pairs of shoes… 1 sandals, 1 flipflops,1 heels,1 walking shoes, 1 winter enclosed sandal type to wear with socks. (looks better than it sounds!)
i only wear tiny diamond studs for earrings, and a string of pearls for dress.
actually was amazed how fast it all added up! but like meg… my closet is very roomy and i actually wear everything… we have two seasons now… VERY hot and VERY cold.
i never iron. haven’t ironed in years. i take them out of dryer after about 5 minutes… just to get the real dampness out … then hang them from my shower curtain rod over the tub. works great! and no wrinkles. i love the look of a clothesline outside… our neighborhood won’t let us do it. :(
great post… wonderful inspiring comments!!! as always with your blog!
love,
tammy j
My issue remains that I have a full time suits only job. I love my job but hate the suits. ; ) So I have to maintain nicer things and I do try to keep it to a minimal amount by buying separates that I can mix and match.
At home, it’s t-shirts/tanks and jeans/shorts, sandals/cowgirl boots for me…with the occasional dress for occassions or if they temp goes over 110 here and I just need comfortable. If it is something fancy but not down right ballgown needed, I just use my suits separates and I have a pair of sparkly black heels that I love.
3 tops x 3 bottoms = 9 outfits
Iron clothes on a towel over a kitchen counter.
Rather than use a hanger, iron an outfit and wear it.
Try one pair of dress shoes, sneakers and boots – or go barefoot.
Rather than a hat or umbrella, try a hooded jacket.
When it comes to clothes I am like the skinny person at a Weight Watchers meeting announcing that I need to gain weight. Don’t hate, but I almost never buy clothes, I have so little that I am already an extreme minimalist, in the clothing department. I know I need to be a minimalist in MANY other areas in mylife and I am working on those areas one at a time. Back to the clothes conversation, here is my big problem with the small amount of clothes I have (other than a few favorites), I do not have enough clotes in some categories, such as jeans, I only had 1 pair up until yesterday ( for over a year now), now I have 2 pairs, but I have WAY too many t-shirts, I am guessing about 18 or so. My problem is organazation and I like the rule of 3. 3 items in each category of clothing needed (i.e. casual shirts, dress shirts, pants, jeans, etc.) This will create balance in my wardrobe and give me many options. Ok now off to start my new clothing/wardrobe revision!!!
You are a good role model in cleanliness in her closet. It is very important that our stuff must be organized. Once our stuff is organized I think we can be able to have a peaceful mind.
Pamela Oakley recently posted..The Dangers of Acne Medications
I have been wanting to get rid of my closet for ages and have also started focusing on the few pieces I really enjoy wearing.
Two big sacks of textiles has already gone to charity and the last one is following shortly.
Initially I was worried that without a big wardrobe with closing doors my clothes will become dust collectors, but then I realized that if I only have a few outfits, they will necessarily rotate all the time, both because there is nothing else to wear and because I really like them. So really no time to collect dust. I can simply leave them out on a basic shelf in the corner of my bedroom.
That in turn also helps keeping them neatly organized, because if they are lying open on a small shelf, I (again necessarily) have to fold and stack them nicely so they don’t fall down, therefore don’t end up a huge pile as they tended to do in the wardrobe (can’t just close the doors anymore to hold back the deluge).
Just found your blog now, btw. First post I read, like it a lot.
Patrick recently posted..Lazy Thinking
Thanks for this post! its good inspiration for clearing out all my crap… im moving soon and it would be so much easier if I just didn’t need to bring my huge dresser. Im hoping to empty it completely but it is a slow process. also I love this font!
I have tried to downsize alot but my weight keeps changing so i dont think i will get down to less than 5 pairs of pants or 6 pairs of shorts some are dressier than others. I have tried to get a uniform but i go in between 2 postitions for work causal and business casual. I am trying to sell more of my clothes and donate the things i dont wear i do follow the rule one in and one out and i know i have less clothes than my parents i will have to wait to see what i wear this year and get rid of more clothes.
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