Simplifying my wardrobe and filling it with only things I love has had an amazingly positive impact on my life and my savings.
For so many years of my adult life I don’t remember ever removing an item from my wardrobe. It was just a succession of adding. It just kept getting more and more full of items I would purchase or things that were given to me. No matter how they arrived, I let go of nothing. I just found more space and squeezed it in. Then we made the move to Italy. Three months living out of one suitcase was so liberating!
One unplanned side benefit of reducing what I was in my closet it that it actually curbed my spending. Now when I go shopping, it is easy to know what is clearly missing from my wardrobe or what is wearing out and needed to be replaced. I know exactly what I want before I even enter a store. If what they have to offer doesn’t meet the criteria of what I need or it’s not a perfect fit, I don’t buy it.
Before I started reducing my closet I didn’t know what I had, what didn’t really fit, and what was missing. The hanging rack was stuffed full of clothes, out of season clothes tucked away under the bed waiting their turn to be smashed into the closet. I had no idea what was in there taking up all the space. Mornings were a stressful mess of trying on multiple outfits finding still ‘nothing to wear’. After so many days and weeks of that scenario, I would head shopping, determined that I could find the missing pieces that would bring it all together. So after purchasing some additional items I would come home and add it to the already packed closet. I would feel a moment of accomplishment, the hours scouring the racks and stores have resulted in the perfect additions to my wardrobe. At some point the realization would hit that everything I purchased (a) didn’t actually go with anything I already owned (b) I didn’t really like, or (c) it didn’t really fit that well. So, the shining new additions to the wardrobe became just another piece of clothing I would try on in the morning, then toss aside since it wasn’t just right.
Almost two and a half years later with my slightly reduced wardrobe and curbed shopping habit I am actually looking forward to the opportunity to finish the sorting Kon-Mari style. I have a completely free Saturday coming up in a couple of weeks and I am going to dive head first into the (hopefully) final culling of the wardrobe for the year. I already know there are some things I am ready to let go of, but to be sure I start the process with a little momentum, I am going to wait to discard them until the big cleanout.
I don’t have a specific number of items I am going to keep, or a specific number of items I will hang in my closet each season. I will keep what brings me joy, and let the rest go. Wish me luck and stay posted for some before and after pictures of the big purge!
Submitted February 13, 2018 at 04:17AM by AllieCat19 http://ift.tt/2snUyyA
