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6 Reasons to simplify your wardrobe

2 weeks ago I packed up 2/3 of my wardrobe in an attempt to simplify my routine as well as physical and mental clutter and so far I'm loving it!



The idea:


Minimalist blogs have referred to this concept as Project 333 (wear 33 items for 3 months), others have coined it a capsule wardrobe.


What's included in the 33

  • clothing

  • accessories

  • jewelry

  • outerwear

  • shoes


What's not included

  • wedding ring or another sentimental piece of jewelry that you never take off

  • underwear

  • sleep wear

  • in-home lounge wear

  • workout clothing (you can only wear your workout clothing to workout)


The process:


It didn't take me long to do as I pretty much only wear a small number of items regularly anyway. I put my whole wardrobe on my bed and put back on the items I regularly wear and packed away the rest. I could have made decision about what to donate that day but I was not in that mind set so will leave that off until another day.


Here are my before pictures



Here are all the clothes I packed away


What did this leave?


I didn't quite get it down to 33 but here are my 46




The benefits:


The benefits are outlined well here, but basically for me they have been:


1. a simpler morning with less decision making about what to wear. As there are far fewer options it's easier to pick out what I feel like wearing that day and I don't have to feel bad for not wearing all the other clothes that would stare me in the face every morning.


Here is the after





2. a clean bedroom - when I come home in the evening I get into my PJ's and because I have room in my closet and it's easy to find hangers, I hang up my clothes from the day instead of throwing the on the floor (yes I was in a very bad habit of throwing clothes on the back of a chair or on the floor instead of the laundry basket as I was telling myself I would get another wear out of them). Now I make the decision on the spot - dirty or clean - and my bedroom floor stays clean.


Now my bedroom is easy to keep looking like this




3. less laundry - last week I had very little of my clothes to wash as I am getting more wears out of them before washing. I had tried to do this before but probably half of what could have been worn again ended up on the floor instead of back in the closet and when I did laundry on the weekend I just picked up what was on the floor without checking if it was actually dirty. I'd also like to start spot cleaning to get even more wears before throwing in the washing machine. This saves time, clutter (from air-drying clothes), and water/energy to run the washer. An even bigger environmental issue I'm reading about is microfibres where tiny bits of our synthetic clothes come off in every wash and are too small for water treatment plants to catch so they end up in our oceans and wreak havoc on marine life. A more detailed article here. The best way to stop this is to buy natural fibre clothing but for now I will try to wash less of what I already have.



4. a feeling of freedom - this one is hard to explain but I have been feeling freer, now that I'm in the habit of keeping clothes off my bedroom floor and I have decluttered a number of other areas in the house, the house is easier to keep clean. Walking into a tidy uncluttered house comes with a feeling of freedom/airiness. It's as if the physical clutter was causing mental clutter too.



5. a way to save money - I didn't consider myself a big shopper as I don't often go out buying clothes but looking at the piles of clothes I own and do not wear I had to think about how much money I'd have if I didn't buy those in the first place (I did a quick estimate on the price I paid for those I packed up and I'd guess conservatively between 1,500-2,000€). Limiting your wardrobe to something more curated means you will buy more versatile items and only buy items you love instead of buying things because they are on sale or because they might be something you'd wear. Another way it will save me is, in the new house I was looking to build custom closets which would cost something like 1,000€-3,000€ but now that I see how little space I really need I will not have that expense.


6. a way to wear nicer clothes - again as you limit yourself to fewer items of clothing you will be able to afford nicer higher quality pieces that you will love and get a lot of wear out of. From what I have read of other bloggers they find that they get more compliments now than they did before as they are more put together.



The how:


If you'd like to try this yourself you can try my way by emptying everything onto your bed and putting back only those items you wear regularly now and pack up the rest. The better more thorough way would be to divide into piles for keeping and giving away but if you don't have the heart for that straight away, packing them up is the easiest from a mental perspective. If after 3 months you still don't think you will wear them, it will be easier to know which items to donate. If your closet is huge you may want to try this approach. There is also a checklist here for items to get rid of.


Good luck!







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