I admit - I've got Tw.itter, Ins.tagram, and FB accounts in my real-life moniker. I admit to populating them at random (I really ought to work harder at that, I suppose), but I totally don't get the whole trending thing...just because someone else says I should look at what's going on with a celebrity or diet or color doesn't mean I'm going to hop on over and start Goo.gling the bejeebers out of it. I liken it to lemmings (now, go Goo.gle lemmings so you get it. I'll wait for you.)
Good, now that you get it, you can understand my fear and trepidation for our future.
That said, I just followed a link (cough, cough) that Ordinary Sarah posted on FB to a sarcastic poke at an apparently trending fashion idea. The blog post to which she linked was funny, because an at-home homeschooling mom wrote it, and it was real and honest. I, therefore, had to follow that link to the original blog from which she took her inspiration...
Here it is, I'm intrigued, curiosity is piqued, and, darn it, I want to go do this RIGHT NOW! (yes, the shouty capitals were necessary).
The author of the inspiration blog is a 5'10" (at least), leggy lady, with a body of which Giselle would be jealous. She's either not married, married with no children, OR, married with children and an au pair. Regardless, I am totally in awe of the simplicity she's brought into her life.
She has created, but is not the original creator of, a Capsule Wardrobe. She went through her entire wardrobe, kept only the pieces she loved and wore again and again and again, and culled the rest, either eliminating that which she didn't love, or packing away the items about which she couldn't make a decision. She gave herself a total number of pieces to include tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear, footwear. She doesn't count swimwear, pajamas/loungewear, accessories, or undergarments. She has seriously, for the last 6 months at least, lived with 37 pieces of clothing in her wardrobe. And she's put together some seriously amazing outfits that fit her personality, her lifestyle, her budget...
Guys, I'm ridiculously jealous of this.
I chalk it up to reading Jen Hatmaker's The 7 Experience, all about simplifying and cutting back...and to realizing that I've had the same stacks of turtlenecks in my closet for 6 years and they look no worse for the wear. Or that I've honest-to-goodness got a CU sweatshirt Preacher Man bought me for my 8th birthday. Yes, you read that right. 8th birthday people...I've got a sweatshirt in my closet that is older than my relationship with everyone that reads this blog, older than the majority of my friendships, and older than my Doc Ma.rtens...
Today, I'm writing this while at the bookstore (ahem) working. And I'm already planning on when I'm doing this! I'm going to take a morning when Littlest is at school, or perhaps a night while BB is in India, and am truly, honestly going to do this. here are her steps:
1 - EMPTY YOUR CLOSET AND DRESSER. Seriously empty it, and lay it all out on your bed.
2 - Sort it into 4 piles:
- LOVE IT, CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT IT
- Undecided - those pieces you just can't figure out whether or not you love. You like the color, but it fits weird, or it fits great, but that shade of purple just isn't quite right. Those kinds of things...
- Don't love it. The pieces that are hanging about your house because they just don't ever get worn, but you paid for them so you can't justify getting rid of it.
- Seasonal
3 - Assess what's left. Decide how many pieces you need to get through the period between laundry, accommodate for events that require dressing up/down from your usual, and determine how many tops, bottoms, dresses, shoes and outerwear you'll need for those occasions. Her magic number is 37. That works for her and her lifestyle. Yours may be less, it may be more. The idea is to simplify and downsize. Fill in where needed (if all your jeans are holey and splattered, it's time to invest in new ones that will be for the days you're NOT wanting to look like a bad '80's video).
Here are her rules to make this work:
- Pare down your wardrobe to your magic number (try 37 pieces and see what happens!)
- Wear ONLY those pieces for 90 days (by season), mixing and matching with your accessories
- Don't go shopping AT ALL during those 90 days until...
- 2 weeks before the end of the current season, when you'll PLAN and PURCHASE pieces for the next 90 day season.
- Buy what you need to make the next 90 days work for you. But remember, less is more.
I'm so overwhelmed by all the stuff that is occupying space in my house, in my mind, in my dreams...seriously...BB and I have so much stuff in our house. Things we haven't unpacked from the summer we married and moved into our home. Things that BB has from college, packed up when he left his house near campus, and took his job in Sa.n J.ose and then moved to Color.ado. I have things which have been passed onto me by my sister-in-law, my mother, our grandparents...and they are sitting in my basement, or my closet, or shoved under/next to/on top of stuff. We have papers, books, furniture, "artwork", supplies...
People, I have a 1300 square foot basement. THIRTEEN HUNDRED!!!!! in this space, my kids are crammed into a corner for their play area, and the rest is literally full of STUFF we NEVER use...
I've decided that I'm starting with my wardrobe, and am going to make some charitable organization VERY HAPPY with donations of good clothing that I just simply don't love.
I realize that I'm mostly an at-home mom, but now that the kids are bigger, and I'm more involved at school, and am back to working outside my home, I need more than just jeans and athletic t-shirts. But I can't justify spending money on clothing when I've a closet full of perfectly wearable items.
If I can pare down my closet, then I can pare down paperwork, and boxes, and books, and games, and puzzles, and decorations...
And if I can pare down the material possessions, then I can pare down the mental clutter, which will free me for so much more...
Now, to make it through the days until I can implement this plan...
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