Minimalism is all about identifying the essential items in your life and eliminating anything that doesn’t add purpose. Simply put, it’s aligning your life with your sense and priorities. So, what does this have to do with building a minimalist wardrobe? Well, a lot.
A minimalist wardrobe emphasises building a minimal, simplified collection of top-drawer clothing selections that you feel great in and enjoy wearing. It is not about removing everything in your wardrobe but about being premeditated on what you wish to keep or buy moving forward. Here are the essential tips for creating a minimalist closet.
1. Identify Your Colour Palette and Style
What patterns and colours accentuate your skin tone? What type of attire do you feel great in? Does layer dressing make your content? What materials make you feel relaxed? Do you want to keep a professional or casual wardrobe? Well, these are some of the questions you need to ask yourself. However, if you don’t know much about your style, you can create a mood of favourite looks, trends, and patterns that you love most or look great on you.
2. Release the Perfect You
Consider who you are currently and not who you hope to be or used to be. Avoid holding on to the past due to the good old days' regret, attachment, and guilt. Instead, reflect on who you are and your present body and not the individual you wish to be when you are more adventurous, active, or 30 pounds lighter. Remove the fancy outfits if your perfect Friday night is a movie and a pizza in sweatpants on the sofa.
3. Create Rules Around Your Buys
Identify the rules you will stick to before making future purchases. Some questions you can ask yourself include:
- Do you have specific colours to stick to?
- Will you buy an attire if it is not on your indispensable list or will you be content with buying anything you love?
- Will you stick to specific cuts or fabrics?
- Do you have particular items that you want to retain in your wardrobe?
4. Overcome Financial Barriers
The fact that a minimalist closet focuses on high-quality, fewer outfits means you can quickly feel the pressure of buying these items compared to the fast fashion, low-quality pieces. Luckily, you can overcome this hurdle by shopping second-hand, renting an outfit, or looking out for special deals. For instance, Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on an outfit that you can only wear in a single event such as a wedding, it might be worth looking into versatile bridesmaid dresses that you can wear on different occasions.
5. Quality over Quantity
While there is no number of pieces you should have in your minimalist closet, the main reason for creating a minimalist closer is to have high-frequency attire to wear with mix and match. So, buy high-quality outfits that you might wear for many years to come.
6. Use Base Colours
You can quickly build a minimalist wardrobe with your favourite colours, but including base colors, such as white, black, and grey, is recommended. Compared to bright colours like orange and red, having base colours in your wardrobe makes your patterned or bright-coloured outfits stick out. What’s more, they make the clothes much more balanced.
7. Avoid Being Stuck with Numbers
Your minimalist closet should have no definite number of clothes because being minimalist is personal. To some, 100 clothes are regarded as minimalist, while others consider 50 as minimalist. Overall, ask yourself whether you need over 100 pieces, yet you will only wear half of them.
8. All Clothes Should fit You
Building a minimalist closet is not only about styles and colours but also fitting. When it comes to fitting, the outfit needs to be comfortable when you put it on. Therefore, all the attire in a minimalist closet should suit the present you.
Enjoy the Process
Building and maintaining a minimalist closet is not an overnight change. It’s a process that you need to follow and adjust to. Over the process, you will try new things, experiment with less, and search for new ways of thinking and doing things. Remember that you are learning and growing, so it’s advisable to offer yourself grace along the way. Don’t belittle yourself for being unable to declutter or buy things you wish to.
