My personal basics comprise the bulk of my simple wardrobe. It would not be an overstatement to say that I could function well with only a small selection of my personal basics. Chosen with care, these pieces could take me into most of the everyday, indoor situations + temperatures in which I find myself.
And yet...I've been wrestling these past few months with that just a little.
Over the past number of years, I've worked toward a more minimalist wardrobe. I haven't really subscribed to any rules. I've just been trying to feel my way to my sweet spot with the amount of clothing I have...a very personal sweet spot that lies at just the right point between too much + too little.* For years, I've been able to slowly reduce...reduce...reduce...as I've found "enough" in less + less.
And now...I've gotten to a point where I can function with a very few pieces (this is relative, obviously). In the past few months, however, I was feeling the loss of some of the joy of getting dressed. I'd reduced my pieces to a very few items in a very narrow color palette. Almost every piece was either black or white...and that was never intentional. I found myself feeling like I didn't look good in colors...shying away from patterns that I might get tired of quickly...choosing safe shapes for their versatility.
Yes, I could get dressed + feel good + appropriate...but I wasn't having a whole lot of fun doing it. I started to wonder if I'd pushed minimalism just a touch too far...and concluded that this just depends on my ultimate goal.
Is my goal to fit my entire wardrobe into a backpack so that I can travel the world? Is my goal to see how few pieces I can function with? Is my goal to curate the perfect capsule collection? Is my goal to find a sort of system I can use to keep my wardrobe manageable, functional, fair to farmers, garment, workers + the environment, and a joy to wear? There are many worthy goals that could involve using minimalism as a tool in the wardrobe, but for me, that last one is most in line with what I'd like to achieve.
I've decided that the recognition of my personal basics...combined with my knowledge of how few pieces I can dress with...has given me the freedom to add in a few wild card pieces to my functional wardrobe...like sprinkles on my unicorn toast. These pieces may not be strictly necessary for "enough"...but they do provide joy!
*It's always a good idea to remind myself here that this is a very privileged thing to be able to spend my time thinking through. The vast majority of people on this planet do not have the opportunity for any such luxury. They will never experience the tipping point toward "too much" or perhaps even reach "enough". It is with this knowledge that I am partly fueled to assess the amount of things that I hold away from others...the amount of resources that I take...the levels of harm + waste that my consumption produces...the quality of wages that my possessions provided.
Compassion, "enough" + a few sprinkles for all of us...that's what I'm after.
Love,
Jane
And yet...I've been wrestling these past few months with that just a little.
Over the past number of years, I've worked toward a more minimalist wardrobe. I haven't really subscribed to any rules. I've just been trying to feel my way to my sweet spot with the amount of clothing I have...a very personal sweet spot that lies at just the right point between too much + too little.* For years, I've been able to slowly reduce...reduce...reduce...as I've found "enough" in less + less.
And now...I've gotten to a point where I can function with a very few pieces (this is relative, obviously). In the past few months, however, I was feeling the loss of some of the joy of getting dressed. I'd reduced my pieces to a very few items in a very narrow color palette. Almost every piece was either black or white...and that was never intentional. I found myself feeling like I didn't look good in colors...shying away from patterns that I might get tired of quickly...choosing safe shapes for their versatility.
Yes, I could get dressed + feel good + appropriate...but I wasn't having a whole lot of fun doing it. I started to wonder if I'd pushed minimalism just a touch too far...and concluded that this just depends on my ultimate goal.
Is my goal to fit my entire wardrobe into a backpack so that I can travel the world? Is my goal to see how few pieces I can function with? Is my goal to curate the perfect capsule collection? Is my goal to find a sort of system I can use to keep my wardrobe manageable, functional, fair to farmers, garment, workers + the environment, and a joy to wear? There are many worthy goals that could involve using minimalism as a tool in the wardrobe, but for me, that last one is most in line with what I'd like to achieve.
I've decided that the recognition of my personal basics...combined with my knowledge of how few pieces I can dress with...has given me the freedom to add in a few wild card pieces to my functional wardrobe...like sprinkles on my unicorn toast. These pieces may not be strictly necessary for "enough"...but they do provide joy!
*It's always a good idea to remind myself here that this is a very privileged thing to be able to spend my time thinking through. The vast majority of people on this planet do not have the opportunity for any such luxury. They will never experience the tipping point toward "too much" or perhaps even reach "enough". It is with this knowledge that I am partly fueled to assess the amount of things that I hold away from others...the amount of resources that I take...the levels of harm + waste that my consumption produces...the quality of wages that my possessions provided.
Compassion, "enough" + a few sprinkles for all of us...that's what I'm after.
Love,
Jane
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