Saturday, December 14, 2013

Revising a Minimalist Wardrobe

I ran into a dilemma recently as a minimalist.  I needed new clothes.  And I mean it, I actually NEEDED new clothing.  Entering a professional full time job, I needed to have appropriate clothing to actually look and feel...well...professional.  Most of my adult life has been spent in the military, college or abroad in countries where the culture is much more casual than here in the US.  But with my goal of fitting all my clothing into ONE suitcase, how could I possibly go buy more clothing?

After standing in front of my minimal wardrobe for a while, I came up with a plan. I do need to buy some key items to fit my new role in the workplace, however, I do not need to double my wardrobe in the process. So here are the steps I took:

1) I made a definition of what I want my wardrobe to look like:  I want to have a mature, stylish and professional wardrobe that can easily go from the office to hanging out with friends with minimal changes.  

2) I donated anything in my wardrobe that does not fit that definition.

3) I started shopping with purpose. I made a short list of items that I needed and stuck to the list. I needed dress pants, dress flats, a pencil skirt and a few button down shirts.  Anything extra I wanted to buy I had to think of an item I could give away in exchange.

So far this method has been working for me and my wardrobe is not growing, just changing to better fit a new phase in life.  



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