If you're a regular reader, you'll know I started off this year with just one goal. Every year I set a big long list of resolutions which never seem to go anyway, so I decided that just sticking to the one would be more manageable. I chose to slim it right down just to a focus word for the year, and that word is organise. You can read more about that in my 'project organise' post, but the general gist was that I just really wanted to sort my life out. As a quick recap, I actually feel like I'm well on my way. I feel like I'm already getting a much healthier mindset about 'stuff'; I'm buying and hoarding less, and finding it easier to get rid of things. I have halved, maybe even quartered my makeup stash, which feels amazing, but more on that in another post! Today I wanted to talk about one of my biggest challenges in decluttering: My Wardrobe.
At the beginning of the year, I came to terms with the idea that I seriously needed to do something. I had a cupboard (and chest of drawers and floordrobe) full of clothes, yet absolutely nothing to wear. Barely anything fit well, and the few pieces that did were tired and worn and some were even damaged. Nothing looked good, and perhaps more importantly, nothing felt good. My big push in sorting it out was when I realised that I was actually beginning to hate the way I looked. I was still knocking about in clothes I'd has as a young teenager, and clothes that were too tight or too loose, and my main issue as a 5ft1 lady, far too long or totally the wrong shape for my body size. An element was my general look too, and I've since started on a better exercise and skincare routine to sort my other worries of acne and flabby bits. On turning 22 this year, I figured it was high time to sort myself out and feel happier in how I look, so I decided that sorting out my clothes would be a great place to start. A good start, yes, but not the easy start I was hoping for! I quickly realised that it wasn't just going to be a case of buying new clothes. I needed a complete overhaul, more focus and more of an idea on what I wanted from my wardrobe, but where to start?
A while ago, on a regular trawl around the blogosphere, I somehow stumbled on the answer to all of my woes: the wonderful blog of Caroline Joy. Un-Fancy is a minimalist fashion blog where Caroline, an effortlessly stylish blogger features outfits and thoughts based around her 37 piece wardrobe. Yes, you read that correctly, thirty seven pieces only. Her concept is that you have key pieces that go with everything, and you then mix and match many different outfits from these key pieces. This then runs for a season, or three months, at the end of which you store any unsuitable items for the season and swap them out for something more weather appropriate, or buy something new as needed. The idea is that you stop shopping throughout, in turn saving money, and space if you're a bit of a clothes hoarder like me, but then when you do need something new, have some more money available to invest in a higher quality piece. You can read more about what a capsule wardrobe is here, and how to do it here. The whole thing seemed daunting, but I needed a radical change, so I thought I'd go for it!
Caroline created a really wonderful document that is free to download to help you get started on designing your dream capsule wardrobe, which I have found so helpful. With sections to help you think about the purpose of your clothes, the times you'll wear them, your ideal colour palette and other key things to think about, it really helps to focus your planning on what you want to get out of it. You can download the Capsule Wardrobe Planner here, which I would really recommend if you fancy doing this sort of thing!
After completing it I had a much clearer direction in sorting out my clothes, and have since donated 3 ikea bags to charity. This left my wardrobe not so surprisingly bare, so I'm now at the fun stage of replenishing, but being so careful as to what I purchase. It's been a really fun process and I'm going to share how I've got on next week, so keep your eyes peeled for that! If you've done something similar, I would absolutely love to hear about it, so please do get in touch. I'm already feeling so much better in myself knowing that I have nice clothes to wear, and can't wait until I've got my whole wardrobe up and running!
Labels: style
