Today I want to talk about maintaining your wardrobe in an
organized, simple and paired-down fashion. The trouble with shopping for new
clothes can be, that once we return home with our new purchases, we keep hanging
on to the old ones. Of course, this is not what we wanted to achieve when
starting out with building a capsule wardrobe. But let’s be honest here,
despite all the good intentions, we still have the tendency to “hoard”. The
reasons can be anything from feeling anxious because all of a sudden that
closet looks so empty to feeling guilty to give clothes away that could still
be used for gardening, sleeping in, lounging…
Stop! Right there! Wrong attitude.
There is nothing frightening about a capsule wardrobe. Yes,
your closet suddenly looks pretty empty, but consider the facts. Look at the
size of the closet. Mine is 1 meter
wide and 2.3 metres
high. I may only fill half of it, but this closet is HUGE, and filling up half
of it still means that I have plenty of clothes. It is our perception that
tricks us into believing we own nothing anymore, mostly fueled by the fact that
the size of our closets has become mind-staggering. Since when do ordinary
people need a walk-in closet? Keep thinking it through and, if necessary,
repeat the facts to yourself daily. It is all good. Start using your new
wardrobe and see how it goes. If there really is something you miss, go ahead
and buy it.
But before you buy items, at least give your current setup a
try. Who knows, after a while you may find out that what you initially thought
you needed is not really helping and you gravitate towards something else.
Keeping your old garments for wearing at home or in the
garden is a bit harder to tackle. Using up items in the garden where they will
get dirty and ripped and what have you is understandable. As long as you keep
the proportions right. There is no need for six sweaters, eight jeans and
fifteen T-shirts in the gardenwear-pile.
Be realistic. Think about how much you are in the garden and how many
sets of clothes you will need to have something available in between laundry
runs. Then, stick to that number. Assign a place in your wardrobe for these
items and only keep what fits into the space. Do not allow your clothes to claim
new territory. Evaluate your pile before adding something new. One in, one out
is the concept you want to stick to.
As for wearing old garments at home…. Hm. I am also guilty
of doing this, but to be honest, I do not like it anymore. Why do I want to dress
like a schlump at home? What if people come over for an unplanned visit? Do I
want to great friends and family looking like this? And I am not even going
into the territory of looking reasoblably attractive for you beloved. Believe
me, if you put effort into your appearance at home as well, your relationship
will benefit. So I do not think that one should be wearing old, frumpy and worn
out items at home. Get some nice, reasonably priced items for loungewear and I
promise, you will feel better about yourself every time you cross that
full-body mirror in the hallway ;)
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