Minimalist wardrobe

Let you and your clothes breathe

Hi there.

finally spring

The air feels lifted, fresh. Here and there are sutle hints of what is about to come. Blooming fields of daisies and fresh green leaves, filling the air with their distincive smell. I love spring. It´s a relief from winter. It´s the world telling us to wake up and start over. Winter is the time of deep thoughts, so deep you sometimes loose the sight to the bottom. But spring is different.

Differences

Little things (sikh) can make huge differences. Some people change their looks others change their behaviour but they all have the same pursuit. Renewal.

I can be extremly radical if it comes to change. Not in my personality but more in cleaning up my space. And that means checking my wardrobe.

Last year a very interesting hype started. Ist all about minimalism in your wardrobe, how to organize it properly and how to overcome unnessecary thoughtless purchases , you will never wear.

Im not a professional guide but I am on a good path of feeling totaly comfortable with my clothes.

 

Enough rambeling --> goals

Lets get started.

Goals of this project:

• ·      Clean up your space
• ·      Feel good about the pieces (mental and physical)
• ·      Get in touch with the amount of clothes that you own
• ·      Know what you own, and what you need(dont need)
• ·      Let go
• ·      Perfect overview for future shopping

Simple system

Making lists. Yeah, some people may find it unnessecary but if you really wanna know how full your wardrobe is and how many beige cardigans your actually own, lists are your best friends. And on top, I really enjoy making them.

I set up 4:

1. 1.     What do I own?
2. 2.     What can leave?
3. 3.     What is my new set up?
4. 4.     What can be added?

Essentials

Number five is optional. But if you wanna include it, I recommend to set up another extra list:

5.    Essentials

Due to the fact, that everyone defines their essentials differently, I made up a list of my own key pieces that you may find helpful but obviously didn´t have to adapt to. It was helpful for me to be geared to others and maybe add some pieces I forgot.

 Flash into action

Get yourself 3 loundry bins and decide one for keeping, getting rid and not shure. If you know someone who might wanna keep some clothes, make an extra bin for them (little sister, friend mom etc.)

Begin by grabbing each piece in your wardrobe and look closely.

I followed five ideas.

1. 1.     Did I wear it?, If yes often?
2. 2. Do I enjoy wearing it? (Comfortable)
3. 2.     Is it combinable with several pieces of my wardrobe?
4. 3.     Is it the only piece of this kind? If not, wich is more important to me?
5. 4.     Is it still in a good condition?

If you answerd all these questions with yes, perfect. It should fit into your wardrobe.

If not, you should either put it into the „getting rid“ or „not shure“ bin.

Dont forget to note the item on the lists for an extra good overview.

Have fun with discovering your wardrobe in all it´s dimensions.

Don´t forget to look after shoes as well and if you are extra busy, check your jewellery and purses as well.

 After the mess

Now, after an afternoon between clothes and more clothes your are finally done (with step one). Next you should face the „not shure bin“. I think the best way to figure out what you wanna keep is through trying on, asking someones opinion and see how you feel about them. I know some pieces are even unshure after these procedure, and there is another simple trick to find out your relationship towards them.

Take the remaining unshure clothes and put them onto your clothing rack, but in the other directions.Wait between 3-12 months. This way, you will automatically see which itmes you used and which where untouched. And after that , its finally time for them to say goodbye.

New homes

After all the sorting out there is always the question: What now with them?

• Give them to friends/familie/younger siblings --> they may like those pieces
• sell them online: Platforms for selling old things are used a lot so use the power of them to get rid of your pieces. Just check that they´re in a good condition (platforms: Kleiderkreisel, e-bay, shpock,...)
• sell them in real life. There is always the good old flee market. Never underestimate the power of direct confrontation with the customer and the ability to set up your table the way you want it. Plus: Make a nice event with friends out of it and share the prize for the table, you will have a lot of fun.
• give them to charity. Either in the (in German) Altkleidersack or inform yourself which organization give them to who? (like refugees) 
• throw worn out pieces aways or use the fabric (if its still usable) for DIY projects (Always keep leather, you never now if you might use it for some DIY in the future)

Cofrontation 

Uff. That was a big step. But hey, I think you feel fresher now.

The best thing: You really confronted yourself with the amount of what you have (and thats allways more than you think). Plus extra good knowledge about what you don´t need and what can be added to your collection but this time you know what fits in there.

The little extra for lovers of one colour.

All you lucky ones ,who really enjoy a particular colour, you can play this card. See what goes well with that colour and compose other clothes around it. You will see, almost everything will be combinable with other pieces.

The Great Opposites matching

Another great trick is matching opposites for the the onion look. You have two sections. The outer section like a coat or a cardigan and the inner section like blouses, tops and T-shirts.

Examples:

• ·      Pattern with unicoloured. Either having a patterend coat with different unicolured shirts tops etc. Or have some nice patterend blouses with a unicoloured coat.
• ·      Soft and rough material. Combine leather with flowy fabric or soft jumpers with thick jeans
• ·      Of course colours with neutrals. If you have a favourite colour combine it with neutrals like black, white and grey. It will allways match.

My fave color combos right now:

  

Some other nice color combos:

Some extra Tipps for afterwards:

• ·      For a neat look, make some space for an outside clothes hanger and display your favourite items there
• ·      Quality over quantity: Yeah its long known, but investing into a good quality piece will bring you much more joy than having ten crappy itmes.
• ·      Have your basic Key-Pieces in good quality, too
• ·      Dont hang your jumpers. Fold them neatly on top of each other (maybe colour coordinate, that looks allways nice)
• ·      Buy conscious. Remember, what you have and what not. Is it combinable with other pieces?

Okay, wuh. That was a lot but I guess there was something useful for someone beneath all the rambelling.

Feel renewd and a bit less heavy and enjoy your wardrobe again.

Until next time, get minimalist (just kidding)

See you...