As long as you are enjoying your clothes and wearing them, your wardrobe is the perfect size. I like a smaller closet because I don't crave as much variety as do others. And the thought of spending time in front of a mirror playing around with different combinations sounds horrifying to me. But the world would be such a dull place if it was inhabited only by those of us who like to wear our neutrals. You, and all the ladies who love color and pattern, brighten up our world. You bring a smile to our faces and light up the room when you enter-- and we love you for it.

Enjoyed this thread very much and I hope you do also Natalie. A minimal wardrobe is not a moral imperative! Do what works for you and wear your clothes with joy.

Hi GP --

If your medical issues (sorry!) do/will require different clothes, and you're asking "HOW can I have a smaller wardrobe that includes pattern and color?" then I think you need to edit this title or start a new thread.

[And I do think in general one can have a smallER closet that incorporates pattern and color...but it definitely requires certain strategies and a lot of stepping away from temptation!]

Natalie it has all been said so I just want to encourage you to have the wardrobe that works for you and enjoy:)

I am guessing in general terms I have a moderate (whatever that is) sized wardrobe, however in comparison to some friends my wardrobe is quite big... but I find i get bored easily, and dressing is a creative pursuit for me so I do like variety. As long as I feel I can manage my wardrobe and I am wearing most of my items, I am pretty happy. This is going to sound really silly, Im sure, but I love it when I walk into my closet and pull out a garment that maybe hasn't been worn for a while (a few weeks)and then the enjoyment I experience at putting it into an outfit and wearing it that day. (ok maybe I need to get a life??) But it's true. While it brings me pleasure, i know I my closet and the size of it's contents are ok. But when it starts stressing me out and is too full and/or disorganised then I know it's time to take action.

I really don't have anything deep to add to this like everyone else, but I just wanted to chime in and say I hear you! I just love dressing up in different stuff and having all these options far too much to maintain a minimalist wardrobe. And like Deborah, I get this crazy pleasure from pulling out something I haven't worn in a while and figuring out a cool new way to wear it.

Also I love your closet. It's so big and neat and pretty. JEALOUS.

Thank you thank you thank you everyone for your words of wisdom and reassurance! I hope you all don't think I'm a whiner or navel-gazer for starting this thread. I was just inspired by Angie and Mochi and everyone else's minimal wardrobe threads and feeling a little frustrated that I didn't know how to achieve it myself. But I realize now that I don't really need to have a minimal wardrobe, I can have a large wardrobe as long as it's functional and organized and I wear everything. I would love to have a mix and match wardrobe like Sveta's but right now I don't think it's achievable for me.

I still would like it to be a little smaller, just because I feel like I am not able to wear my favorites as often as I'd like without neglecting everything else. I LOVE Angie's dictum above to "WEAR YOUR STUFF" because it's so true! I need to repeat this mantra over and over! (I'm so glad I started this thread just for that...it's like going to the top of the mountain and hearing the guru speak!) My favorite pieces I typically wear 2-4 times a month, but other things I may wear only once every 2-6 months. I guess I have to decide if that is often enough for me to justify keeping. I wish I had read some of these small wardrobe threads back when I was first starting to accumulate. Because like Diana, I tend to hold onto things for a long time...once I fall in love with something and it passes my K/R, I tend to always like it, even if the fashion world has already moved on. I think my "dated" filter is a bit defective, LOL! (I still even kept a couple of those 90's skirts!). It's so much easier to not buy something new than it is to purge something that's already in your closet, especially if it's relatively new and fits well and already works with your style persona.

I did get rid of a lot of stuff for the OC YLF swap (some of it was even post-YLF purchases). I will definitely try to keep purging regularly, but I think the key for me for decreasing wardrobe size will be to avoid shopping temptation and make more thoughtful purchases. It's easy to get carried away and duplicate favorite silhouettes or colors (my dress collection seems to multiply like rabbits!). I have to remind myself to only buy things that are a true wardrobe hole that actually needs to be filled, and not get seduced by something that is cute and fits and is "so me", if I already have similar items.

I think another test question that I need to keep repeating when I consider a purchase is "Would I rather wear this, or my favorite dress/shirt/skirt etc. more often?" If I like my favorites better, then I need to stick with those! To that point, I recently was browsing the Anthro website and found all these cute dresses on sale (some of which I had considered ordering when they were full price) and filled my cart with a bunch of them, each in multiple sizes. Well, I ended up deciding not to hit "buy" yet and think about it for a day or two. And now, I decided I don't really need those items as I have others that would work just as well. So, that is real progress for me! Old me would have just bought everything and tried it all on and returned most of it. Much less work for me not to buy anything in the first place! It's just as well, because I'm getting kind of fatigued with shopping and the whole order/try on/return cycle. It's nice to be able to just shop my own closet instead!

I was so inspired by the wisdom on this thread that I spent over an hour working on my closet tonight--hanging everything up that I had tossed on the floor this week, going through everything and pulling a few things for swap/donation, and setting aside my whole jeans collection that doesn't fit me anymore (around 20 pairs, yikes!) I'm saving them in case I can make it back down to my original weight, but it was such a relief to clear them all out of my closet...I felt like I could breathe a little easier! Having them there and wondering whether I could still fit into them was stressful! I realized that I haven't worn my colored denim (except the red) all that much, so maybe next time those will be the first to go. I do have the boyfriend jeans and larger sized jeans so I do have a few pairs that I can still wear. I think I'll be OK. I also culled a bunch of T-shirts that I rarely wear because they're a little too tight/short now and a few other items that I wasn't excited to wear. I'm going to put them all in a holding pile and re-evaluate them later when I have more time.

So, long-winded response to say that I took all of your advice and applied it to my closet and while it's still large by any measure, I feel like I made a lot of progress in streamlining it as much as I can! Thanks for your support--I really enjoyed reading your responses!

Oh, and I don't think I could survive one of those 30 for 30 challenges. I love the IDEA of those Vivienne file capsules, but if I had to wear this for a month I think I'd cry! They all look the same to me!

And I'd go hmmm... that could work with a couple of bright scarves and a few accessories. Isn't it wonderful that we both can feel at home in this forum!

It sounds like you have fun with your closet, Natalie.

Yes, Gaylene, I love the wide variety of styles and approaches at YLF and how we are all supported no matter how we do things! I wouldn't want everyone to dress like me! I don't think I've seen your WIW's before but I have no doubt you rock the neturals!

I went in my closet and just sat for a minute or two...so relaxing to have it neat and organized again (it had been getting messy).

You've gotten a lot of great commentary and advice here. I am a lover of color and pattern too, but I also have a pretty small wardrobe at this point. I still have some holes to fill but none that are urgent needs. I don't do a whole of remixing, but I do some, like taking a statement top and wearing it with jeans/capris/pencil skirt.

I look at some things as 1-2 season items and some as longer term. I keep around 10 dresses and buy a couple each season and pass a couple on. If I'm not sure if I'm ready to pass on I'll put them away a while.

Bottoms - I buy these pretty basic as I'm more apt to pick more statement tops. I tend to keep these multiple seasons, often until they wear out. Because they are basic to me I tend to not overbuy and I will re-wear a lot, especially denim. I might wear a favorite pair of jeans or Bermudas a couple times a week.

Tops - I buy several statement tops that are less expensive. I tend to wear them a season or two until they wear out or I tire of the print and then I pass them on in favor of shiny new colors and prints.

Toppers - I go for more basic toppers to work over my statement tops and dresses. I tend to keep toppers a long time, and I have fewer of them.

I've had quite a bit of success limiting my neutrals. I try to stick with Black/Blue/Grey/Metallic - Staying mostly out of the brown family (I do have one cool brown pair of boots) help's my bottoms and shoes mix and match with my statement tops and dresses.

Basically my dresses and tops are the divas. I try to not repeat within 2 weeks at work, but I will often use a statement top or dress one week at work and then the next weekend. Replace my statement pieces as I get bored so I get to keep having fun shopping and trying new things.

Natalie, just wanted to lend support as a fellow print-loving large wardrobe owner who would be bored stiff with that 30x30 capsule pic you posted upthread.

I like that we all have our own individual styles -- and that applies to wardrobe and shopping preferences as well as fashion! Some of us will thrive with tiny, tightly edited wardrobes that skew towards solid colors, simple shapes, neutrals, etc. And then there are some of us who love colors, patterns, and have a bit of "collector" personality when it comes to our clothing.

Enjoy your closet -- all of it! Whatever you don't enjoy, let go of it. That's my philosophy.

I would be bored stiff with the capsule you posted directly above too Natalie! I think you have a wonderful closet, and I could see you branching out with accessories if weight gain is a temporary problem. I've been thinking about silk scarves, bags and shoes since my body is changing, and is likely to change some more in the next couple of years.