Surprise...apparently I am a closet minimalist.

Peri

There have been a few posts recently about what is the minimum you need. I'm not sure who started the most recent one, but I didn't answer it...I couldn't figure out how to guess what would be minimum number of items I would need.

Then I realized I didn't need to guess, I just needed to count what I wore this summer...and the result was pretty shocking. Here's what I wore: 2 pairs of pants, 9 tops and 1 dress (worn once). This isn't counting yard or gym clothes, just work and play clothes.

Is this crazy low? Really, I didn't feel bored...I liked my summer clothes more than I have in years. It's possible I can get away with this because I see different people every day so no one knows how often I repeat things. I'm just wondering if this is abnormally low or just kind of minimalist.

10 years ago

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12 replies

Latest reply was from AnnieMouse

AnnieMouse

Veteran

I think that depends on the person. If it works for you, then it's perfect. I'd go bananas out of my head.

10 years ago

Makrame

Veteran

It's great that your wardrobe worked so well for you!

I do not have a minimalistic closet but I find that I tend to wear my favorites almost all the time. This summer, I mostly wore 2 skirts, 4 pairs of pants, one dress, about 10 tops, and 6 jackets/cardigans (not including gear and special occassion things).

I work with the same group of people all the time but I am not sure if anyone pays attention to the fact that I tend to repeat my favorites often.

10 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Not crazy low. Just lower than many.

Claire linked us a while back to a site about a ten item wardrobe:

http://dailyconnoisseur.blogsp.....-2013.html

It turns out she actually has more than ten items, and that is her fall/ winter wardrobe (so I assume she has another for spring/ summer).

But that's the general idea. I think Claire is a lot closer to ten items, in fact.

I'd say if you are not bored and you have what you need to do the activities you want to do, then your wardrobe is the right size! Congratulations! That's a fantastic place to be.

I have been trying to follow my transitional capsule, that includes 6 tops, 3 bottoms, 2 toppers. I followed it for precisely 5 days and I was already crazy bored. That totally surprised me. I didn't think it would happen. I will have to post about that when my experiment is over.

10 years ago

Caro in Oz

Veteran

What Suz said - if it works it's perfect

10 years ago

Peri

Veteran

Well, it seems to work for me, but maybe I just don't apply enough creativity to getting dressed. Maybe I'm in a rut.

10 years ago

Lisa

Veteran

I think that's a great sized wardrobe. I find I wear the same handful of clothes again and again and if I didn't track my CPW on my clothes, I would have never realized that I did this! I do try to remix the items so I am not wearing the exact combinations again and again, but more often than not, once I figure out an outfit I like, I just keep wearing it. I do have more clothes, and I try to remember to wear them all, but sooner or later I hope to have my wardrobe paired down to a very small amount where everything is in heavy rotation.

10 years ago

Peri

Veteran

Well here's a thought...I want to refresh my winter wardrobe since a huge purge last year. If I keep the number of items low I can spend pretty much what I want per item. I think I may be heading in the direction of a smaller but higher quality wardrobe for most pieces.

10 years ago

MsLuna

Veteran

Low is relative to the person. Some people prefer a quick and easy system that just works. Sometimes having a lot of clothes is overwhelming. Others prefer having a wide variety.

If you can cover all areas/occasions in your life with a minimalist wardrobe, then you should be good, right?

I've tried so hard to be minimalist but I find I'm only that way with bottoms (I like my neutrals and denim in primarily two cuts and two colours each). I also own a few jackets and cardigans. I tend to go crazy over tops, shoes and jewelry.

10 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

If you didn't feel bored and liked your clothes better than you have in years I would say it is just perfect.

10 years ago

Beth Ann

Veteran

Your WIW posts show a rich and vibrant personal style. It sounds like you're thoroughly enjoying your wardrobe, and the limited quantity allows you to enjoy good quality. Time to make that Fall list!

Your post inspired me to count my worn items -- just the Summer, since I can't remember what I wore in early/mid Spring:
3 shorts
3 or 4 pants
8 dresses
8 skirts
15+ tops

I didn't count jackets or shoes, since I don't wear toppers much and I have a lot of sandals (some quite old, but they're cute and easy to story, so I don't purge heavily).

Obviously, I'm not a minimalist, and I definitely have 2 wardrobes, warm and cold, although there is some crossover, particularly in skirts and tops, which I layer. I didn't wear black pants at all this Summer, or my skinnies.

I was surprised to see that, despite moaning about a casual lifestyle with a "team dressy" heart, I wore a wide variety of dresses and skirts. I do repeat pants/shorts more, though.

Were there any surprises in what you left unworn? Did anything find heavier use than expected?

10 years ago

AnnieMouse

Veteran

Thanks to this post, I actually just did a data sort on my spreadsheet for the last month. In that time, I wore 29 different bottoms, 33 different first layer tops, and 20 different second layer tops.

While I'm always incredibly envious of those that can happily do small capsules, it's increasingly clear that won't work for me, ever. *laughing at self*

10 years ago

AnnieMouse

Veteran

(I should note that I often change clothes when we go out in the evening or to events with friends. So I have a "costume change" pretty regularly.)

10 years ago

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