Last time, I tried to figure out how to approach my wardrobe in a way to simplify it in a more sustainable way. On the one hand, I think I'm doing good because I rarely buy new clothing. I buy most of our clothes at the thrift store, which means I'm keeping someone else's castoffs out of the landfill. Plus, it's cheap. But that also means it's easy to collect a lot of clothes. Too many clothes.
All of this supports the points about capsule wardrobes that Portia Lawrie bring's up in her book: develop a simplified wardrobe with fewer items that all work well with everything else to create a happy variety of outfits. The old "less is more." The bonus is that there's no trying to figure out what to wear and what goes with what. And fewer choices mean easier choices.
Even so, is a capsule wardrobe really for me? I'm not sure. In thinking about how I use clothes, how would it apply? When I think about my wardrobe, I'm easily able to break it into categories.
The obvious category is by season. Basically,
The other set of categories is by use.
- work (everyday) clothes
- town / company clothes
- special occasion
Of use, how would I describe these categories? How do I know what garments belong where?
Work. Ours is a busy lifestyle filled with all kinds of activity.
- Outdoor work: garden, working in the soil, animal handling, barn mucking, manure shoveling, mulch hauling, compost turning, fence repair, brush clearing, haying, digging, firewood hauling, etc.
- Indoor work: cooking, canning, cleaning, painting, etc.
All of these jobs are sweaty, dirty, and rough on clothes. My work clothes are my oldest, and I don't mind stains, worn fabric, or small tears. I'll do minor repairs until the fabric about falls apart. By the time I'm done with them, they're only good for the rag bin.
Town. This includes trips to town for shopping, errands, library, visiting, public events, going out to eat, etc. I also include entertaining, as in when we have company.
Special occasion. These are things that are rare but still come up, so I want wardrobe items to suit: formal weddings, funerals, graduations, concerts, parties, etc.
Of these three categories, the one I need the most help with is town clothes. Work clothing needs to be what it is because my work is hard on them. Of special occasion, I really only have a few things, and that's plenty. I don't wear these often enough to develop them as a wardrobe item. That leaves my town/visiting/company clothes. And I actually have a lot of these because there are so many nice bargains at the thrift store. I can pretty much indulge impulse there. If I end up never wearing it, no guilt. But now, I'm stuck with all this stuff.
So, that's what I'm going to focus on, and I feel a bit better for having figured that out. I suppose the next step is to define my style, so I know how to begin shaping my capsule wardrobe.
No comments:
Post a Comment