Thursday, September 29, 2011

Choosing Simplicity.... with my clothing

I just went through my closet and got rid of well over half of my clothing.  I will be the first person to admit that I am in NO way a fashionista!  Any of my real life friends will tell ya that!  I do try to dress a little cute and not totally frumpy and out dated.  I like the 'classic' look over trendy.  Although, a lot of days I'm neither.... working in my barn or garden!

I gave away quite a lot and put some up in the upstairs closet (just in case I really can't live with this pared down selection).  I am a big Money Saving Mom fan and she is a MINIMALIST in all aspects.  I am not, but I try not too keep things we don't use/need or love.  She recently posted a few blog posts about her TINY wardrobe.  I found this one to be particularly inspiring.  In fact I printed it off and my daughter and I have talked a lot about it and how we could implement this into our own clothing.

A couple of weeks ago I did a closet purge and then today I really dove in and pulled out another half.  My wardrobe is a little more complicated than some.... I need:
  • *work* clothes.... ya know the kind you wear in the barn, garden, butchering animals and to doing home remodel projects.  
  • I also need clothes to wear on the job site ( I work part time for (and with) my husband in our Ceramic Tile business...  thus I have to have work shirts with our company logo and  jeans
  • I also have my "home days" clothes 
  • and clothes for volunteering at the school, going to  church, bible study, date nights and the few extra nice things for weddings and funerals.
 When I was going through my clothes I really tried hard to only keep things that mixed and matched easily with the other things I chose to keep.  I focused on ONE type of clothing at a time.  I also took out the summer clothes that I won't need for several months to come.... sniff, sniff!  When I put it all together it is much more than 13 items like in the Money Saving Mom post.  However, each category of clothing doesn't have much more than that.  I will try to post some pictures soon!

I am excited to live with a small wardrobe again..... I grew up with MINIMALIST wardrobe and home and don't ever remember feeling deprived.  Now I need to go through my kid's clothes and pare down with them, too.  Keep what we LOVE and use and get rid of the rest! 

What about you??  Are you a minimalist or fashion queen??  I want to look *cute* sometimes, but I have to admit that comfort is my main thing. 


Have a BLESSED day,
BE a BLESSING!
Heather

4 comments:

Leanne said...

this is shocking...but I'm more minimalist in this area than most think!! I own a few pairs of shoes (one in each basic color, 2 athletic pair, a pair of boots, and a few pairs of sandals/flip flops). Almost everything I own can be mixed and match. It all fits in one closet☺ If I haven't worn it in 6 months, I get rid of it (except major items like coats/ jackets). And everything I own fits my body and my lifestyle. I like classic over trendy, also. I'm a big fan of lands end (sales with discounts and free shipping!). I do 2 big clothing buys a year...one in late spring and one in early fall. I keep everyone's closet paired down,too! the biggest advantage? I know what we have and its saves on laundry. It tend to buy a little better brand of kids clothing, so I can sell it to Once Upon a Child later and use the money to buy them new clothing!
I loved those posts from MSM, too!! very inspiring!

Debbie said...

One time ago I was a "fashionista" of sorts, lol!! Two kids later, I now choose comfort over cuteness :)

Linda Myers said...

I have a hanger divider in my closet. When I wash something I put it on the left side of the divider. Once a year I carefully review the stuff still on the right side. Usually it's a Goodwill run. I like keeping it simple.

Cara Putman said...

I try to live with a pared down closet, but not quite that pared down. You've given me a challenge!