It’s been almost two years since I quit buying clothes and started “minimizing” my wardrobe. Other than one purchase last December [which you can read about in my post My First Clothing Purchase in 19 Months], I have not bought any clothing since I made the commitment to simplify my wardrobe and put an end to my consumerism.

Originally, I was thinking that this would be like a victory lap where I show off how little clothes I have…

Until I actually pulled them all out and counted them. I still have 155 pieces of clothing!!!! That doesn’t sound very minimal to me, but if you look at the difference in the photo below, I’ve definitely made some progress.

Still, this is not exactly as “minimal” as I had hoped.

Here are the numbers:

In general, this is good progress – but I felt like I had WAY LESS than 155 pieces of clothing!! And now I see that I still have too many workout tops and tank tops and underwear and – why the heck do I need two bathrobes?!?!

So, since we are moving and downsizing, I’m going get rid of 55 more pieces so that I end up with an even 100.

What I Wear

I have the benefit of having a casual job and a lack of concern about what people think of my clothes which makes it very easy to get dressed.

Sure, I like to dress up sometimes. I have a few dresses I keep for summer and skirts I like to go out in on hot dates with my man…but in general, I’m a leggings and loose top over a camisole kinda gal.

I’ve already shown my favorite outfit – leggings with a camisole and a button-down flannel that I stole from my partner’s closet.

I recently stole another one – black this time – and I wear this one a lot now too.

I intentionally kept neutral pieces so that I can create as many outfits as I need – but in reality, I only need a handful.

The majority of my wardrobe still consists of workout clothes because that is my job and my passion and my hobby and the majority of what I wear.

What You Should Wear

Since I am the absolute LAST person who should be telling anyone what to wear, I’m obviously not going to make any recommendations. But if you are interested in reducing your wardrobe, here are some tips I recommend:

1. Get rid of what you NEVER WEAR.

If you have clothes that you never wear, well, chances are you don’t need those. So that’s a good place to start with decluttering your closet. And if you pay attention to what those types of things are and avoid acquiring more of them [regardless of how adorable they look on the mannequin], then you’ll be well on your way toward a less excessive wardrobe.

2. Stop buying what you don’t NEED.

Very few of us actually need new clothes, but we all buy stuff for different reasons. Mindfulness and a little self-reflection go a long way in this regard. I discovered that I liked the idea of certain clothing [wearing a certain style or looking a certain way], so I would buy it, but then never wore it because it wasn’t my thing. I also used to have a terrible problem with turning down “deals.” PSA: Just because something is cheap doesn’t mean you should buy it!

3. Find YOUR style and wear it with PRIDE.

We don’t all have to look alike. In fact, it’s kind of nice that we have the ability to choose what we like and what looks good on us, so let’s not fall into the trap of letting anyone tell us what we should like or buy or wear. Also, forget all that hogwash about not wearing the same shirt twice and don’t wear white after Labor Day and all that other nonsense. Do whatever you want and don’t worry about anyone else thinks.

Anyway, these are just the things that I’ve been learning and embracing over the past two years.

As always, if you need to know the reasons behind reducing your clothing habits, watch The True Cost documentary and/or read Overdressed by Elizabeth L. Cline.

Happy decluttering!

👚👖👕

Karis