Evaluating my wardrobe
This month I discovered The Minimalist Mom Blog (I think there might have been a link to one of her posts from Unclutterer) and have been enjoying reading through her archive.
For a while I have been thinking about my wardrobe and her posts about her clothing have been resonating. On the one hand, I don't buy clothes that often and I don't spend much when I do buy things. I try to buy clothes second hand. Ebay and Oxfam are my tailors of choice. On the other hand, I'm not very good at admitting that an item of clothing has become too tatty to wear and get rid of it. I think part of the problem is that by the time something gets to the point that I won't wear it anymore, certainly no-one else will. I've also spent most of my adult life in situations where wearing scruffy almost rags are acceptable, whereas now I have a grown up job and would like to look nice. I'd also like to use my wardrobe space to store clothes I wear, rather than as a retirement sanctuary for clothes whose only possible next incarnation could be high quality paper.
Anyway, this has led to me trying to work out what clothes I actually need, so that I can make sure I have those clothes and question whether I want to continue storing clothes that don't fit into this scheme. This list is per 'season', so 2-3 work skirts translates into 4-6 work skirts: 2-3 for winter and 2-3 for summer.
Work clothes
2-3 skirts
5 shirts
2-3 jackets or cardigans
1 suit
1 pair of black shoes
1 pair of brown shoes
Shabbat
Two outfits to wear on Shabbat
Leisure
2 skirts
2 t shirts
1-2 cardigans
1 pair of comfy boots
Workout clothes
1 pair of yoga pants
1 skirt to wear over the yoga pants
2 t shirts
1 zip up hoddie
Other
One outfit to wear to a wedding
One outfit to wear to a formal dinner
One outfit to wear to a funeral
My outdoor walking gear
Headscarves to match all of these outfits
The next job is to work out how the clothes I own fit into these categories. Then I can work out what extra items I need and what items might struggle to justify their wardrobe space.
For a while I have been thinking about my wardrobe and her posts about her clothing have been resonating. On the one hand, I don't buy clothes that often and I don't spend much when I do buy things. I try to buy clothes second hand. Ebay and Oxfam are my tailors of choice. On the other hand, I'm not very good at admitting that an item of clothing has become too tatty to wear and get rid of it. I think part of the problem is that by the time something gets to the point that I won't wear it anymore, certainly no-one else will. I've also spent most of my adult life in situations where wearing scruffy almost rags are acceptable, whereas now I have a grown up job and would like to look nice. I'd also like to use my wardrobe space to store clothes I wear, rather than as a retirement sanctuary for clothes whose only possible next incarnation could be high quality paper.
Anyway, this has led to me trying to work out what clothes I actually need, so that I can make sure I have those clothes and question whether I want to continue storing clothes that don't fit into this scheme. This list is per 'season', so 2-3 work skirts translates into 4-6 work skirts: 2-3 for winter and 2-3 for summer.
Work clothes
2-3 skirts
5 shirts
2-3 jackets or cardigans
1 suit
1 pair of black shoes
1 pair of brown shoes
Shabbat
Two outfits to wear on Shabbat
Leisure
2 skirts
2 t shirts
1-2 cardigans
1 pair of comfy boots
Workout clothes
1 pair of yoga pants
1 skirt to wear over the yoga pants
2 t shirts
1 zip up hoddie
Other
One outfit to wear to a wedding
One outfit to wear to a formal dinner
One outfit to wear to a funeral
My outdoor walking gear
Headscarves to match all of these outfits
The next job is to work out how the clothes I own fit into these categories. Then I can work out what extra items I need and what items might struggle to justify their wardrobe space.