Sep 21, 2017

It feels really good to focus on something non work related at the moment. I’ve been loving being busy and trying my hand at entrepreneurship, but I’m happily making time to write about clothing.  Odd? Maybe! But it feels good to think about how far my shopping habits have come compared to the unanswered emails I have yet to address.

My year of less was a huge success for me.

I felt like after college I was adding and adding to my life.  My closet and my world became filled with things that added very little value. Things that felt great in the moment only to quickly lose their appeal and have me searching the next best thing.  So today I figured I would chat about ways that helped me switch my thinking that the best shirt ever was out there and my closet/life was not complete with out it.

Made my closet seasonal.

I can’t help but chuckle at this because growing up I couldn’t  w a i t  to have a closet that was big enough for all my clothes. So I got that (semi) big closet I always dreamed about… and promptly realized it made life harder.  Or more it made my clothes less appealing.  I saw the same shirts hanging year round and always felt bored with them.

Now – I pack up the items I don’t reach for during the season.

It’s a pain in some ways, but it’s really helped open my eyes about what I genuinely use and enjoy wearing.  When I unpack my clothes I happily donate anything that I’m not excited to see again.  And those that practically make me bounce for joy stay! Simple and effective.

Invest.

I can’t help but think that ‘invest’ and ‘mindfulness’ have to be some of the hottest topics this year.  Though with good reasons!

By investing in my closet rather than just spending, I’m mindful about what I’m actually spending money on. See they are important words! Albeit maybe a bit overused at the moment. Still, I invested in my closet quite a lot this month and instantly worried that I was getting back to old habits.  But I looked over my purchases and realized they were all things I had been missing and eyeing for months.

This white linen dress from Piper and Scoot is something I was looking for Mexico as I wanted linen for the hot weather. And my feet have been literally  c r a m p i n g  at the end of long days so I’m sorry but comfy fashion tennis shoes were basically a must for me.

Think. Evaluate. Invest.

Stick to a color palette.

At first I didn’t do this.  Mainly because I was worried I would get soooo bored sooooo fast. But guess what? I’m a neutral girl. I pick out neutral clothing with bright lipstick 80% of the time.  And when I want color mustard and dusty pink gives me all the color I need.

All of my closet now works together seamlessly, even though it’s quite a bit smaller.

Track what I buy.

Also known as a budget 😉  For me I’ve been a stickler about keeping a meticulous budget lately.  Mainly because if I ever do make the leap into a self owned business, finance is something I know I need to have a firm grip on.  The bonus of this is I look over my spending at the end of each month and see exactly what I bought.  And if there was anything I could have gone without!

I was queen of excuses back in my borderline shopaholic days and never wanted to regret a purchase. But guess what? I’m not perfect. (Shocking I know.) And not every decision I made was great which is fine! But ignoring a problem isn’t the answer either.  So at the end of each month I look hard in the mirror at what decisions I made and how I could possibly make better ones in the future.

No guilt, but no ignorance either.

I think for a lot of people, and even myself, in the beginning of chasing less, I thought I was going to go without.  Turns out – less clothing means more room for life. I said no to new shirts only to get to say yes to other opportunities.  And ended up getting much smarter closet out of it!