EXTREME minimalism for clothes - Page 2

[crunchy_mommy]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

Some were gifts with sentimental value (a robe that I really don't like except that it was given to me by my late foster-mother for the last Christmas we spent together and is the only physical thing I have from her, for example, or the stupid worn-almost-to-shreds "Princess" pyjama top my late father bought me the last time I saw him).

Could you make something with the sentimental clothing? A quilt or throw pillow, maybe? Or cut out patches from the outfits & put them in a scrapbook?

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Could you make something with the sentimental clothing? A quilt or throw pillow, maybe? Or cut out patches from the outfits & put them in a scrapbook?

That's actually on my to do list, but I'm avoiding taking on "new" projects (ie re-learning to sew) while I'm decluttering for now. Eventually, I hope to make it that far. Will I? At this rate, not before I die.

[Ola_]

I really like YouLookFab for fashion advice (though I don't always agree with it) and she advocates having a "sentimental" box. They don't need to be in your closet if you're not actually going to wear them, and storing them safely is probably a better bet from a wear-and-tear perspective too.
http://youlookfab.com/2009/01/06/cle...tional-closet/

[accountclosed3]

i think i keep it pretty minimal: 2 pair jeans, 4-5 tops, 4-5 under tops (tanks, which i can wear under or wear separately), two skirts, dress clothes. minimal shoes (though i am storing more)--two flats, one sandals, one sneak, two high heels, one hiker. and undergarments. one pj (i wash them about once a week).

basically, my husband, baby, and I can fit all of our clothes in one garment bag and one tall boy dresser (i have one drawer, DH and DS have two).

[Smokering]

I'm fairly minimalist, I guess. I only have one pair of jeans (largely because I hate, hate, HATE jeans shopping), one pair of shoes for summer and one pair of boots for winter (largely because I hate shopping for shoes almost as much as jeans!). I have a couple of skirts, a dress or two and quite a lot of tops.

I'd get bored with a very small number of clothes, myself, but that could be minimised by choosing clothes that mix and match. If you can create 10 different outfits out of 6 garments you'll have more variety than if you can only create 3.

I'm learning to sew right now, and I do gradually hope to phase out my boring bought clothes and replace them with really good-quality, as-coutured-as-I-can-make-them clothes that will (in theory) last for years and years. I'm planning on making all my dresses and tops breastfeeding-friendly so I'm not frustrated by losing half my wardrobe every time I have a baby. And if I can make myself a really super ankle-length coat, for instance, I'll happily wear it for ten years. (Heck, my curent store-bought coat has been going strong for nearly 8, and it's not even that gorgeous...) I'm going to try to keep the colours along similar lines too so everything matches, while at the same time maintaining enough variety I don't get bored - probably lots of chocolate browns and neutrals with splashes of colour in similar, uh, tone? Hue? I suck at colour theory. You know, stuff that matches.

[Logan]

Yeah I was thinking along the lines of everything is interchangeable. If I keep it simple everything should be able to mix and match. You know, like when they show you the same black dress done in 7 different ways for each day of the week, and each outfit looks totally different. I wouldnt be bored as long as I liked everything that I own. That's the plan, to only have nice casual things which I feel really good in and can just as easily wear at the playground as when we are out. Id rather wear clothes that look and feel good over and over, than have nice stuff and old stuff and have to choose whether to look/feel good when playing with the kids, or risk ruining the nicer stuff. I love the little brown dress link, when the kids are sleeping Im going to have a proper look. I love the reasons she did it too, I dont see why our image of ourselves is dependent on having so much more of something than is necessary or needed.

[Siennaflower]

I have about 6 outfits for everyone and I thought that was pretty minimalist . I don't think I could go much lower though. I've had too many days/nights where dd was sick and I ended up changing clothes/pjs multiple times within just a few hours because she likes to snuggle when she's sick, putting me directly in the line of fire so to speak Plus I like to have a little bit of choice as to what color etc to wear that day. But it is an intriguing idea.

[Maela]

Originally Posted by Logan

I love the little brown dress link, when the kids are sleeping Im going to have a proper look. I love the reasons she did it too, I dont see why our image of ourselves is dependent on having so much more of something than is necessary or needed.

[bobandjess99]

I think how minimal you can go also depends on if you WOH versus WAH or SAH....I simply can't show up to work every day in the same outift, LOL! I mean, if i were deliberately doing some sort of "brown dress" thing, maybe, but just in general, i have to present a professional appearance. But, I did pare it down to 5 work outfits, so I have 1 different outfit to wear every day, and that is all. At first, i pared i down to 10, so i had 2 weeks worth, and that ended up being way too much..I certainly didn't get the "minimalist" effect I had hoped for, o i went down to 5.

[accountclosed3]

for the brief time that i worked as a lawyer, i had three skirts and two shirts and one jacket that i wore in various formations with different jewelry, shoes, and scarves to change the look. so, it can go down below five outfits. DH was down to three pants and 4 shirts.

[abharrington]

yea...i have to dress up for school/work and i for winter, i have 4 skirts and 4 sweaters, 3 shirts and 2 pairs of shoes. i make it last all week and do laundry on the weekends. i wouldn't want to go less though. its good for me.

[bobandjess99]

Originally Posted by zoebird

for the brief time that i worked as a lawyer, i had three skirts and two shirts and one jacket that i wore in various formations with different jewelry, shoes, and scarves to change the look. so, it can go down below five outfits. DH was down to three pants and 4 shirts.

i can totally see that, if you mix and match stuff, and hey, a black skirt mixed with different color tops might as well be different outfits, who's to say they aren't different black skirts, right?
I wear mostly dresses though, so it's pretty noticeable that they are either the same or different ,lol. I used to mix and match a few shirts with like 2 skirts though.

[mamaluvspirates]

I had 2 kids, gave away all of my maternity clothes, then decided to have one more baby. I sewed 2 pairs of black maternity pants and one blouse, then added a couple of t-shirts. I decided that everything had to be in shades of blue or black so that everything went together, and that made it much easier to only have 5 of 6 items in my wardrobe.

Right now, I'm a SAHM so I have 2 pairs of jeans, 4 tshirts (which double as pj tops), and 2 yoga pants for exercising that double as pj pants. I have 2 blouses and one pair of black dress pants for weddings, funerals or parties that my husband's company hosts. One pair of runners and a pair of comfortable heels completes my wardrobe .

The one thing I can't get over is that I have to have lots and lots of clean underwear and socks. I just have to...not sure why .

[accountclosed3]

heh re: dresses. i would totally notice and be really snobby about it like--she always wears the same dress!!!! lol

that's really a matter of style, yo know? if one has a prference for dresses, then yeah, you need it.

i only own two dresses--the LBD and then one that i just couldn't pass up i love it so much. it's green.

[conniebonnie]

i love the brown dress and was just thinking of that website. ever since i found it i have been dreaming about doing it myself. if i could only find a dress that looks good on my oddly portioned body. LOVE it.
op- your not extreme. go for it.

[MiniMum]

I love capsule wardrobes, but for me going that low would be inconvenient. I don't want to do laundry every day, and couldn't even fill the machine every day, not even close. There is three of us. I like to do laundry once or twice a week at most. But 4-5 pairs of pants (including lounge pants) and 10 tops/tunics and a couple of cardigans works for me. For summer I add a few tank tops, cropped pants and a spaghetti strap jumpsuit I like:)

I keep my colors restricted to black, shades of blue and purple, and some red. I mostly only wear things with stretch. I love cotton-linen mix jersey!! I currently have one pair of jeans, one pair of corduroy pants and one pair of skinny black pants. The black pants have holes in them and need to be replaced though... I NEVER get anything requiring dry cleaning! I also never iron anything.

About 10 pairs of panties and 4-5 bras is a good amount for me.

I have five pairs of shoes, but only because I live in extreme four season climate! This includes my party heels, my summer sandals, gore-tex walking shoes, and a pair of knee high boots and a pair of ankle boots. I could probably use a pair of nicer walking shoes but meh... I can also do without. I just don't want to go over five pairs, so I'd have to get rid of some other pair! The party heels get used the least, but I do need them occasionally and it would be stupid to have to go buy new ones, and I do like the ones I have as they are quite comfy and look really cool. The knee high boots are probably my first candidate to go.....

[SubliminalDarkness]

I definitely wouldn't want to do that. But if you want to, more power to you. 

I've lost a considerable amount of weight in the past year, and I now have almost nothing that fits. And I really do mean that. It's not just an issue of stuff looking bad(which it does, really). But it's so big on me that it doesn't stay up and I spend the day holding my pants up. It's a tiny bit ridiculous. lol. So, for my birthday, DH got me some clothes. I now have one pair of jeans, one pair of shorts, a dress, and a couple of shirts that actually "fit." And so I've been basically recycling those couple of clothing items, and lemme tell ya, it gets old fast. But I'm also at a point now where I'm enjoying clothing because I feel good in it. So.... That's a factor as well. 

In an ideal world, I would have my version of a simple wardrobe. I do like patterns, so I feel like maybe I couldn't simplify down as much as someone who was ok with only wearing solid colors. And I also really like wearing dresses, so maybe I'd need more pieces than someone who liked separates? Hard to say. 

[Juvysen]

In terms of what I wear day to day, I have like 5 sweaters, two pairs of pants (one is jeans, one cords), and a handful of long sleeve and 3/4 sleeve shirts. I did that because I only want to have things I feel good in, but I can't see cutting back too much further because washing is hard on clothes and it could take me months to find a replacement piece at a price I'm willing to pay. I'd be upset if I got pushed into wearing something I didn't love, out of necessity.

[ameliabedelia]

I think as long as your clothes were very basic, neutral, versatile, flattering and flexible then you could totally get away with a very minimalist wardrobe and very few pieces.   I think you would have to stick to very basic, neutral, classic articles and honestly most people probably wouldn't even notice.   One black shirt looks basically the same as another.  However, I don't think you could get away with it, if you liked patterns or bright colors.  People would definitely notice if you wear the same hot pink and lime green shirt every day, but not if you wear the same fitted, classic,  black shirt, yk. 

I think the brown dress website is a great example of this.  Her brown dress was cute, flattering while still looking very basic and classic.  It was the type of dress which flatters the wearer and draws attention onto the person wearing it and away from the article of clothing itself.  Although...in fall/winter/spring it looks like her look/outfit changed quite a bit by adding sweaters, long-sleeved shirts, tights/leggins etc.

[seashells]

I think you could do it. Personally, I would want more than one outfit. Maybe three. Like a PP said, everything would have to be very basic and neutral.

Of course everyone's lifestyle and clothing needs are very different. And regional too. Around here, most people would not notice you wearing the same clothes over and over, as long as you were not wearing literally the exact same outfit every single day. You could get away with the same pants and different top two days in a row, or the same top with pants on this day and skirt the next. I recently visited a place where I can tell that people would notice and actually care.

I personally would feel satisfied with a minimum of outfits - I don't have any need to have new outfits to feel good. As long as my wardrobe was ok quality to begin with (and really, by ok quality I mean like, Old Navy - just not the Walmart crap that I seem to be stuck in myself).

I would also need some seasonal changes - not due to any fashion sense, but just practicality (weather). Though I live in a 4 season area, I might be able to get away with just 2 seasons of clothes though. I wear lots of layers, so winter layers can get stripped off in spring until I feel warm enough to reach for the summer clothes. And summer clothes can be layered with a winter layer in fall.

I would want some buffer for laundry in case I got behind, but if you consistently do laundry day after day, then you apparently have that settled.

I also second the travel thing. I just traveled and had access to washing facilities but I was sometimes too busy to wash (and was not really in control of my own schedule), and of course my parents also needed to wash things too. I wore the same 2 outfits every day for 11 days, not because I'm minimalist or that I even underpacked, but I just packed wrong (overestimated how warm I'd feel). Ah, but I did at least rotate the outfits so it wasn't literally the same two outfits, but I'd switch the pants and tops around.