Tag: wardrobe

[This is the follow up to my Spending Less Time Getting Dressed! post.]

“Edit your life frequently and ruthlessly. It’s your masterpiece after all.”
-Nathan W. Morris

 

Week 1-2 Notes:

• I love it. Fewer options means less time deciding what to wear. Since I picked some of my favorite clothes, I’m always wearing something I like. I never have that silly urge to wear something just because I haven’t worn it in a while… even though the sleeves are too long, and it’s got a coffee stain, and it’s from the 90s.
• I’m so excited to pare down my wardrobe that I’ve already flagged 18 or 1/3 of my short-sleeved shirts to get rid of! Sorry not sorry, oversized polos – you’re dunzo.
• You can do this too by going through each item in your closet. Maybe limit yourself to one section at a time to make it easier to start. For each item, if it’s not a hell yes, I’d wear this shirt this week—if there’s any real hesitation—flip that hanger around to flag it or add it to a give-away pile in your closet. Later, donate or trash everything in that pile or with a flipped hanger.
• It can be hard to ditch your precious threads but anything that doesn’t look great on you or has noticeable stains or holes is ripe for pruning.
• Darker options can be your friend if, like me, your somehow mysteriously end up with food or other unidentifiable spots on your clothing from time to time.

 

Week 3-4 Notes:

• Ask for help: my partner Will was doing a load of laundry this week and he let me throw one of my Ts in that needed a full wash, which helped stretch out the time ‘til my next required load.
• Workout clothes and athleisure wear are probably the biggest challenge because they need more frequent and thorough cleaning. Fortunately, you can save yourself from doing extra laundry loads by taking gear in the shower with you and washing with Dr. Bronner castile soap—an all-purpose wonder—or soaking in Oxi Clean in a tub or spare bathroom sink. (Full disclosure: I’m not getting anything from these brands for saying this, though maybe I should be.) This works best with non-cotton blends, which dry faster and are less prone to wrinkling.

 

Whoomp, there it is…

• This was the spark I needed to do an aggressive shakedown of my wardrobe.
• A shopping paradigm shift: If I feel the need to get something new now, it will likely be a color, cut, etc. that I already know works, if not an exact clone of something I already own rather than something completely different.
• However, this experiment has shown me how few pieces of clothing I really need, which helps alleviate the already negligible shopping pressure I feel altogether.

 

What’s next? Drop me a line with any feedback. Also, please leave a comment with what you think my next experiment should be:

1. CrossFit 3x/week
2. Sensory Deprivation Therapy (Float Tank) 1x/week
3. Daily Meditation (10+ minutes)
4. Daily Intermittent Fasting (restricting eating to 8-12 out of 24hrs)
5. Your suggestion?

I will likely pause the experimentation for a few weeks as I’ll be embarking on one of the most popular global, longitudinal experiments in history: getting married. Cheers!

Experiment: Wear the same 4 outfits for 4 weeks (+3 for workouts).

Wardrobe minimalism. Jobs did it. Zuckerberg does it. Doug Funnie and the rest of your favorite ‘toon characters did it. I may be dating myself as an elder millennial with that last reference and I’m ok with that. In fact, Zuckerberg appears to have literally grayscaled this aspect of his life.

Ok, so why… Similar to my 1st experiment (eating the same 7 meals for 7 weeks), this one is all about reducing the number of choices you have to make in a given week to free up more time for your highest priorities… and your Netflix to-watch list. (Speaking of which, one more plug for Elder Millennial which should be on that list!)

Uh oh… This means not even one unique outfit per day of the workweek, let alone a full week. And given that I work out 6-7x/week, I’m gonna have to get really good about the sink suds, scrub, and hang-to-dry method. Also, I enjoy the variety of colors and styles I get to wear and my—as cliched as it sounds—freedom of personal expression.

About that… Confession: I work from home. This helps me in two ways. 1) I don’t have coworkers who would consistently see me repeating getups from one week to the next. 2) I don’t really have to wear much at all, particularly in these warmer months in LA… and without A/C. But I do still crawl out of my hermit cave and need to be presentable—as low as the SoCal standard may be—for meals with friends, group workouts, occasional client visits, and if for nothing other than to walk Zara thrice daily.

That said, I was originally planning on 7 outfits—one for each day of the week—+3 for workouts, which seemed somewhat reasonable given I don’t have a closet full of the same gray Ts like Mr. Z and will have to do a lot o’ hand washing. Well, I cut that 7 down to 4 to ensure this challenge is, well, challenging.

I already only wear a few pairs of shoes so no issue there. Socks and undies aren’t part of the issue and are exempt from this challenge because ew.

I betcha… I expect to benefit from some newly freed mental RAM as with experiment 1. However, I’m doubting the likelihood of me wanting to continue this approach as is. The constant manual laundry effort does not seem sustainable. If I’m really feeling less conflicted at the closet, then it may be time to invest in some multiples of my favo’ faves and ditch some of my third-string threads.

 

The Lineup:

Left half is a jacket and the 3 workout outfits. Right half is the 4 daily outfits.

If you see me wearing something else in the next 4 weeks, heckle away!

 

Do try this at home: Look at your closet and/or dresser and ask if I could only wear 4 shirts/sweaters and 4 pairs of pants/shorts for the next month—or better yet year—what would I choose? (Dresses would count as one outfit.) Sentimental but ill-fitting clothes are quickly stricken from the consideration set.

Items that are the most comfortable, best fitting, and versatile win for me. Solids are generally a great choice. In addition to matching with more other clothes, people are less likely to notice you wearing them over and over. I still included a few printed shirts because of their great look, fit, feel, and versatility… and, in one case, fabulousness.

Stay tuned for my results in a few weeks!