“Fashion is Architecture: It is a matter of proportions” –Coco Chanel
Following this line of thinking would lead us to believe that the capsule wardrobe movement (a technique that endeavors to reduce the number of items inside our closets) has been gaining enough momentum to stir some waves in today’s current trends and styles. As Coco Chanel would have us believe, fashion is all about building a worthy ensemble—an arresting outfit if you may, that speaks volumes of your personal style. However, though building our sartorial preference and our personal voguish taste requires raw materials, there does not need to be a superfluity of it and as a hackneyed phrase would have it, “Simplicity is beauty” or “less is more”. These platitudes have never been truer than in today’s fickle and rather finicky fashion scene where sartorial pundits would nitpick almost everything in an outfit.
However, this capsule wardrobe movement is far from mainstream. And considering how fashionable people love a plethora of clothing varieties, it seems like it would take a while for this movement to be embraced by everyone. Though this may be the case, the movement has caught the attention of some high-profile personalities who chose to apply this movement into their minimalist lifestyle. Of course, this raises a lot of eyebrows from dubious naysayers who could not fathom the idea of limiting yourself to a few fashion pieces when your financial resources could very much allow you to splurge. Those who are not privy to the movement will be rather skeptical and would find the rather limiting concept rather suspect as they could not envisage a lifestyle of wearing approximately twenty to thirty pieces of clothes and rotating those clothes all year round. Well, for those of you who are wondering just why this minimalist trend is causing a small furor among some members of the elite then read on as this article will aptly provide insights as to how this seemingly little experiment garnered so much attention.
- FEWER CLOTHES MEANS QUICK DECISIONS
An array of various clothes would lead an individual to stay in front of their closets for a prolonged period of time trying to come up with a final fashion ensemble for the day. Unfortunately, this would lead to individuals experiencing decision fatigue which refers to the poor quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making. For highly successful people who make pivotal decisions day to day, this is one less decision to make. Something that may be as inconsequential such as deftly and swiftly choosing what to wear from a small number of clothes will leave you more mental space and better productivity throughout the day.
- LESS TIME WASTED
Possessions are indeed a burden—a fact we tend to overlook and only realize once we begin to remove them. But when we do sort them out, we would discover a life of freedom and opportunity. So pare your closet down and try to be meticulous when doing so. Sift through years and years of collected wholesale clothing or ones bought from retail that you have been relentless holding on to and keep only those that still suit you and discard the ones that do not. Try an experimental number such as 38 articles of clothing to keep. If this seems a bit too much for you, adjust until you can find a reasonable number. Try not to go beyond fifty though, remember the goal is to lead an uncluttered and minimalistic lifestyle.
- LESS WASTED ENERGY
Large wardrobes requires a very specific skill in decision making—one wherein you choose the right kind of ensemble that you have not worn in quite a while and looks stylish as well as appropriate for you. When this becomes a daily routine, energy that could have been allocated to more important stuff gets wasted in something as frivolous as deciding what to wear. Additionally, larger wardrobes would require you to do more organization, frequent updates, more maintenance and more shuffling around. A big wardrobe would also lead you to neglect some of the clothes you do not readily see. Lastly, big wardrobes tend to give you a harder pile in laundry and storage.
- FEELING PUT TOGETHER
When you have a variety of your clothes at your disposal, the sheer number of it all can be a bit overwhelming. Some of your clothing options and decisions when put together just do not fit right, would not look right or might be something that does not sit well with you. If you have a minimal wardrobe of various versatile choice pieces, you may have fewer options but you are guaranteed of better choices. A pared down closet does not leave you so much legroom into choosing from a salad of clothes, and since you only leave the best among your clothes, your ensembles will almost always be amazing. You will look and feel better.
- ICONIC
It is undeniable that the more you sport a singular style, that look would tend to become your signature look leaving you with a fashion prowess for making iconic statements. By having a singular fashion style, you are essentially forming your own personal uniform which is a brief nod and an insinuation that your priorities have shifted with age and that dressing in a minimalistic manner gives you better leverage on other matters in your life.
- LESS EXPENSE
There is a really big chance that someone who has not pared down their closet has some items sitting in their wardrobes which have not seen the light of day in months or for some…years. Our closets are teeming with clothes and shoes purchased but these are rarely worn, if you put all those expenses together, you would find just how much you actually splurged and how much you could have saved had you refrained from buying more. It was shown that in the year 1930, the average woman owned at least nine outfits. Today, it is a whopping thirty which roughly translates one outfit for every single day of the month. Should you switch to a minimalistic approach towards your clothing preferences, you will find that the waste and expense from trial and error clothing purchases will be significantly diminished.
We live in a materialistic world inundated by worldly possessions. This should be controlled before it fully takes over our lives, apply the minimalistic lifestyle today and start decluttering your life and you will see it drastically change in ways you have never imagined. Adopt minimalist principles, start with your wardrobe and discover a life or more productivity, less stress, less expense and less distraction. Give it a try and it might just work for you.