Today I suck less at defining my personal style and beginning a journey into minimalism. Heavy stuff here.
I N S P I R E D! That is the word of the month, day, hour, minute for me. I seriously love the Internet. Really, truly, deeply love it. I love it for the connections I've made that blossomed into friendships, a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips, cat videos, and for inspiration at every click!
One blogger and website that has been a constant source of inspiration is Caroline and her blog:
www.un-fancy.com.
First, she's an Austin gal so I already love her. Secondly, she has the style that I've always wanted, attempted and failed to achieve. I never really found a direct way to get there. Caroline's approach to a more minimalist wardrobe and implementation simply aligns with my goals. I hit refresh daily to see what she's up to!
Her basic concept is creating 37 piece capsule wardrobes for each season. For me, I'm cutting down from 5 closets worth of clothes and over 60 pairs of shoes. So, I wasn't sure I could get to that number. I also don't really feel much of a change in seasons here in Austin. It's hot or not hot to me, but never really cold. I guess moving from NYC made me a tough cookie during winter.
I came up with a 100 item capsule wardrobe. This will include tops, bottoms, shoes, bags, outerwear, and I left a special category just for vintage. I had a few vintage pieces that I just did not want to part with.
This process has been LONG. I started by sorting all of my clothes into five piles.
1.
My Ebay Shop, "Lula Delaney Vintage" 2.
Keep 3.
Maybe 4.
Donate, and 5.
Trash. I'd say this cutting process took me about 2 weeks to complete. During this time, I used some of the money I had made in my Ebay shop to purchase a few key pieces that I was missing. By key pieces, I mean I bought an entire new wardrobe.
I did this for a few reasons:
- QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
I have always been someone that loves to shop. But, because I've never really had a huge budget for my shopping sprees, I would buy relatively cheap clothes from Forever 21, Thrifting, basically, cheap, trendy clothing stores. I really did have a TON of cute clothes, but somehow I never had anything to wear. In comes reason two.
- UNIFORM
I needed a uniform. I used to shop for events, for the fun of it, because I was bored, I really didn't need a reason. This left me with so many items that served no purpose. I was amazed at how many items of clothing still had tags on them in my closet. Because, I'm a Mom now I don't really want to spend hours trying on clothes when I get ready to find the "perfect" outfit. I want a uniform. That doesn't mean boring or plain, it just means something I can put on for any event that truly fits my personal style, makes me feel comfortable, and is flattering. Flattering... reason number three.
- SELF-CONFIDENCE
Never having anything to wear or thinking you don't really does a number on your self-esteem. I found that I would spend so much time trying on my clothes that I started to think it was my body that made everything look wrong. Here is something huge I learned during this process.
Higher quality clothes make your body look better. I know, I know you already know this. But, I totally didn't! I've always been on the slender side and most things looked good even if they were cheaply made. But, I just thought pulling or messing with your clothes during the day was part of life. I thought all clothes got ruined in some way when you washed them. I never paid attention to materials that worked for me or brands that worked for my figure. Revelations! Epiphanies! Oh, my! Once I started wearing well made clothes they seemed tailored to my body, which in turn made me look better, and I wasn't constantly messing with my outfits. I felt better about my own personal style and body. Boom, more self-confidence!
- EMBRACING MINIMALISM
My husband and I hate clutter, but I love clothes. See the problem here? In an effort to save time on cleaning and save my marriage (I joke), I wanted to embrace a more minimalist lifestyle. I work full-time from home, I'm a mom, I'm trying to master this Mrs. thing and I just don't have time to waste on cleaning things I don't even need. I discussed this new minimalist lifestyle with my husband and he jumped on board! The rest of our home was incredibly simple to cut and organize. My closet was a different story. After combing through a hundred blog posts on how to add minimalism into your life, the answer to our fights was staring me in the face. "
GET RID OF YOUR CLOTHES!" But, that was really scary and brought up so many different feelings. Which leads me to my last point.
- LETTING GO / LIVING NOW
When I first moved to Austin, I missed my friends in NYC. I missed that constant creative energy, I missed my single life, I missed a lot. I've been in Austin for over two years now and have started some wonderful friendships and I'm slowly embracing this new lifestyle of being a wife and mother. I found myself wearing yoga pants and hoodies everyday. A far cry from all the cute party dresses and funky outfits I wore when I lived in New York. Each time I walked past my closet I felt a hint of sadness. I realized that my clothes were serving as a constant reminder of my "old" life. They were holding me back from truly embracing and enjoying where I am right now. Did I really have a ton of parties to go to now? No, but did I REALLY want to go? No, I'd rather be home with my family and binge watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix. Side note: When is that coming back?? Anyway, those cute outfits were like a bad friend trying to get me to sneak out on a school night. They just weren't working for me anymore. My life had changed. My comfort level had changed. Now, I'd much rather wear a pair of slip on vans than spend a day walking around in platform booties! I had been wanting that crisp white button down shirt instead of wearing that super short Forver 21 dress. Let's be real, it's freaking hot in Austin and I can't exactly wear leggings under everything here! So, those short little dresses don't really do anything for me now. Why was I holding on to them?
I decided to clear everything out, but I had this ONE dress. This dress, see I even took a selfie when I bought it.
You know the one. That item of clothing that holds so many found memories. It seems to hold the key to all of life's answers. I wore it to a fancy party when my husband was still my new boyfriend. I wore it on killer auditions. It was my security blanket. I wore it out. But now, I didn't have any use for it. I decided if I could let go of this one dress I would be able to let go of everything in my closet. Happy to say, I just sold it on Ebay for a nice price. She's out of my life and hopefully building new memories with someone else.
Where am I in my process now?
- REBUILDING
I'm still selling through heaps of clothes and shoes. That process will take a while to finish. I'm done shopping for my nice, high-quality, new wardrobe. I will be posting my final 100 Item Capsule Wardrobe soon with mood boards. You can use them as a base for your capsule wardrobe if you decide to take the leap!
Let me know if you are going to give it a try. What things are you holding on to that are serving no purpose in your life? What ways are you brining minimalism into your life. I want to hear from you!
Happy Living,
P.S. Follow me on
Pinterest to see my capsule inspiration and final collection!
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