Wardrobe Challenge

Although not a fashionista, I have always believed that fashion and clothes help us express ourselves and communicate something about our lifestyle, things we love and even our beliefs to the world. Sure, for some people is easier than for others, but even that says something.

As for me, I am never one to side with trends, because I like what I like and it doesn't really matter to me if it's trendy or not. I find that the most important aspect when choosing my clothes is that they fit my style (usually I know this is the case because I feel the butterflies when seeing a dress, a purse or shoes and I just have to have it! This doesn't happen to me as often as you may think.) and they look good on me.

Last year I found myself being stuck. Nothing seemed very appealing to me and my closet was full of clothes I didn't want to wear. This turned out to be very frustrating. So I started to do a little clean up and little by little I ended up keeping only pieces I loved. This wasn't easy though. We tend to get attached to the things we own, just because they are ours. In order to keep just the stuff I really liked I kept asking myself would I wear this right now? or would I still buy this piece? 

For years now I try to stop buying cheap clothes (those impulse buys we love so much), but it's easier said than done. Still, after all the trimming and purging I couldn't help but notice that the pieces I kept were the high quality ones, the handmade and vintage pieces and the classic ones.

At the beginning of the year I stumbled upon the capsule challenge by un-fancy and decided that I must try it and it is the refresh my wardrobe needed so badly. Upon taking this challenge the hardest thing was to stop myself from shopping for new clothes with the temptation of all the sales and everything. I did get a new pair of boots though.

My capsule wardrobe has 37 pieces of clothing (shoes included) for this season: 4 dresses, 6 skirts, 8 pullovers, 3 cardigans, 2 blouses, 2 t-shirts, 1 jeans shirt, 3 pairs of pants, 3 coats, 5 pairs of shoes and all the accessories and bags I want!  

I was surprised to realize that 37 pieces of clothing is actually a big number. One month into the challenge I feel better about my wardrobe and every time I open my closet I get to browse through items that I truly love. As a welcomed bonus, it's way easier to answer the all time question: what will I wear today?  

Some of the clothes I didn't like wearing anymore will go to charity and others I will try to sell them at the flea market. 

This challenge helps me shop smarter and better quality products, but also it's a great exercise to see that we don't really need that many things, as long as we chose only items we really love. I'm sure  this challenge isn't for everybody, but I do recommend it, if only as a short term exercise - it definitely helps un-clutter your wardrobe and define your style better. Hugs, Anca