Please Stop Adding this Source of Stress to Your Morning Routine

I used to think a packed-full wardrobe meant I needed a bigger closet.  I didn't connect it to the fact that I bought new clothes every week or two, since all the women (and some of the men) I knew did the same thing.  We all wished for bigger closets.

The "perfect wardrobe" was elusive, however.  My closet held a lot of pieces I had worn once or twice and never again.  But I thought the right clothes would help me gain the approval I craved, so I kept bringing things home.

Even when I was pregnant, even after I had two children and my body was changed forever and clothes that fit me became harder to find, I bought new stuff all the time.  Eventually, I bought fewer clothes, because it was too frustrating and made me feel awful about myself.  I didn't stop buying, though.  I went for accessories instead, because those always fit.  I had a ton of jewelry, scarves, purses, and shoes.  And I hung on to clothes I might be able to wear again someday.

How I started dressing with less

I began exploring minimalism in the mid-1990s, mostly because I wanted to stop working full-time so I could homeschool my children.  I began by subscribing to Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette newsletter, accidentally discovered Simplify Your Life by Elaine St. James, and eventually read the now-classic Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin.*

* This blog is reader-supported.  If you buy through my links, I may earn a small commission.

These books challenged and inspired me with one basic, radical idea:  The way to be happier, healthier, and more likely to achieve what you really care about isn't the pursuit of more.  The answer is less.

So, very gradually, I started paring down.  I began in the kitchen and with my kids' toys.  I started on my wardrobe, but soon realized that I would have no success until I got my shopping habits under control.

It wasn't just clothes or accessories I bought too much of.  I shopped when I was bored, or sad, or happy and wanting to celebrate.  Some of my friends and I never did anything else together except shop and go out to lunch.  This was normal for me, and I had never questioned it until then.

As you can imagine, living on one teacher's salary and continuing to shop more than necessary created quite a bit of debt, and after a few years that became a burden.  I had been raised to think that carrying debt was an inescapable part of adult life, and that having a lot of accounts that I made only minimum payments on "built credit."  But my reading was teaching me something different – that I was trading my life energy, my finite time, for stuff I didn't need, and in some cases didn't even want once the high of acquisition wore off.

My situation really was "your money or your life."  Or "your debt or your life."  "Your stuff or your life."

Well... I chose my life.

The benefits of a simpler closet

If you want to enjoy all the positive results of your perfect morning routine, you need to streamline the process of getting dressed.  Please stop adding the stress of too many choices and too much wardrobe dissatisfaction to your day.

• A simpler closet leads to a simpler morning.  I usually have 20-25 pieces of clothing hanging in my half of the closet; my husband Jon has about the same.  There's space between each piece, and that creates a feeling of openness and calm.  Instead of opening my closet doors to chaos and overwhelm and trying to decide what to wear, getting dressed is easy.

• A curated wardrobe helps you define a personal style.  When you carefully select fewer items, they all need to fit, flatter, and allow you to mix and match for variety.  By choosing what's most suitable for me and my lifestyle, I've developed my own signature look.

• Fewer clothing choices leave more time for what matters.  Since I don't spend so much of my time and money shopping for clothes, and my mornings aren't taken up with deciding which scarf or shoes to wear, I can spend my energy and attention on things that really matter to me.

Take just 3 steps to a simpler wardrobe.

1.  Make four piles of clothes and sort ruthlessly.

• Keep.  I love and wear these items regularly, and feel happy and confident when I do.
• Huh?  I might want these, but I'm not sure why.
• Donate.  These items don't fit my lifestyle, climate, or body, but they're usable and might suit someone else.
• Trash.  These are worn, frayed, torn, stained, stretched, faded, etc.

Box or bag up the donations immediately and get them out to your car for drop-off.  Throw out the trash.

 2.  Choose your pieces.

• You'll need the basics – tops and bottoms.
• You'll probably find that you have a preference for two or three colors (which aren't necessarily black, white, and gray).
• Choose mostly solid fabrics and just a few prints.
• Each piece needs to coordinate with at least two other items.
• Try on clothing from the "huh?" pile.  Would you go to the store and buy it today?  Will you actually wear it in the next couple of months?  If not, add it to your donations.
• 24 pieces (for example, 7 bottoms, 10 tops, 3 dresses, 4 layering pieces) will combine into many outfits – probably enough to wear something different every day for a month.
• Accessories add more color, variety, and fun.

3.  Close the holes.

You don't want to do laundry every day because you've got one shirt that is part of almost every outfit.  If that's the case, buy more than one of that particular shirt!  The same goes for your favorite pair of jeans or that super-flattering jersey dress.  This is one situation where duplicates might be required.

Or maybe your one pair of black boots are worn, and you know you'll wear a pair this fall and winter.  Can they be repaired?  If not, a new pair needs to be on your shopping list.

Please note that I'm not advocating a spree!  Planned and focused acquisition will make your wardrobe more usable.

Do I have to get rid of all the rest?

As Courtney Carver, creator of Project 333, loves to say, "Less isn't nothing."  Minimalism isn't plain white walls, a mattress on the floor, and a gray 10-piece wardrobe.  It's what works for your peaceful, comfortable, clutter-free life.

Once you've chosen your capsule wardrobe and returned it to your closet and drawers, you're not obligated to get rid of the remainder of your Keep and Huh? piles.  However, do box them up and hide them for a while.  After you've been dressing with less for a couple of months, you can look at them again.  Maybe you'll want to wear them in the new season, or maybe you'll feel differently about them and be able to let them go after all.

You might be satisfied already.

I've written a lot on this subject, and if you'd like to see most of it in one place, consider my book The Minimalist Wardrobe.  The updated 4th edition is available on Amazon now!  It's a great guide to help you learn:

• how to make decluttering decisions
• how to "reverse declutter" your closet
• how to discover your personal style
• how to build a simpler wardrobe
• how three words can help you define your preferences
• how a signature outfit can increase your peace, poise, and productivity
• how to travel light

... and so much more!  If you'd like to experience to benefits of a simpler closet as part of your perfect morning routine, pick up a copy of The Minimalist Wardrobe and learn to dress with less.  You'll be thrilled with your recovered time, money, energy, and space.