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“Know, first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly.” – Epictetus
Have you ever asked yourself, “How many clothes do I need?” or “How many shirts should I own?”
If you’ve asked either of those questions before, consider just for a moment how your life would look if you owned a minimalist wardrobe of fewer clothes:
- You would have more disposable income.
- You would have more time to live your life.
- Mornings would feature less stress.
- Your closets would be well-organized and uncluttered.
- Packing for trips/vacations would take less time.
- Laundry days would be easier (not necessarily less, but definitely easier).
Unfortunately, instead of enjoying the benefits of a minimalist wardrobe, most of us buy into the lie that more is better. And because we do, we accumulate more and more clothing each season. We are convinced that new clothes will make us more joyful, more fashionable, and more popular. Unfortunately, they just end up getting in the way.
Consider going a different route with your life. Try owning fewer clothes and creating a capsule wardrobe. You may be surprised at how much you enjoy the freedom that a minimalist closet brings.
Whether you are hoping to minimize your wardrobe to the absolute minimum or just trying to pare down some of the excesses in your closet, you will find these 10 steps practical and applicable. They are the same steps that we have used in our home to create our own minimalist wardrobes.
How to Create a Minimalist Wardrobe and Closet
1. Admit that you own too much clothing. That’s all you really need to get started.
2. Wear fewer colors. Most of us already have a few favorite colors that we wear most often anyway – usually because we like the way we look in them. Choosing to intentionally wear fewer colors means fewer accessories (shoes, belts, jewelry, handbags, etc.). It also makes too much sense not to try.
3. Embrace the idea of one. When one can be enough, embrace it – one black dress, one swimsuit, one winter coat, one black belt, one pair of black shoes, one pair of sneakers, one handbag… insert your own based on your occupation, lifestyle, or climate.
4. Donate, sell, recycle, discard. Depending on the size of one’s existing wardrobe, an initial paring down won’t take long. Make a few piles – donate, sell, or recycle. Start with the clothes that you no longer wear. You’ll be surprised how much you can remove and just how close you are to owning a minimalist closet once you build momentum.
5. Donate, sell, discard some more. Removing the clothes you no longer wear is easy. Removing the clothes that you don’t really need can be a tougher choice. Turn around all the hangers in your closet. After wearing an item, return the hanger facing the normal direction. After the season, remove every article of clothing that wasn’t worn. That should help get you started on a second round of paring down. See this article for more creative tips on decluttering.
6. Impose an arbitrary moratorium on shopping. For many, clothes shopping is just a habit – and habit always takes over for inattention. To begin breaking the cycle of purchasing and discarding (the average American throws away 68 lbs. of textiles each year), set a self-imposed buying freeze. I recommend 90 days. If given enough time, this simple exercise in self-discipline will change your view of your clothing and the stores that produce, market, and sell them.
7. Set a monthly spending limit. Pick a low number and stick to it.
8. Purchase quality over quantity. Only buy minimalist clothing that you truly love – even if it costs more. If you stock your closet full of things you love, you will have less desire to add to it, which will make maintaining a minimalist closet a lot easier.
9. Avoid the sale racks. Sales can (and should) be used to help you get a better price on something you need. Unfortunately, most sale racks are designed to convince us to purchase something we don’t.
10. Impress with your character, not your clothes. Lee Mildon once said, “People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile.”
With those tips above, you should have no problem creating a more minimalist wardrobe and answering “How many clothes do I need?”
To see how owning less in other areas of life can bring even more life-giving benefits, check out my book: The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own
CoCoYoYo says
@Joshua Becker — what an interesting topic! I’ve been slowly going through my closets and cabinets in an attempt to reduce clutter. I’m amazed at the vast number of clothing items and shoes that I’ve collected that go virtually unworn! Some items are too big, some are too small (boo!) but many are just right and yet they never make it onto my body! I’m generally not the type of girl who cares much about fashion but even so I’ve found myself falling into the trap of “one more pair of black pants won’t hurt”. Ummm… yeah: I have a dozen and I wear 3 regularly. I’ve slacked off recently in my sorting and purging but coming across this site has inspired me to renew my efforts!
@pumagirl — thank you for the tip about merino wool. I will definitely be looking into that as I start to replace worn out travel staples in the future!
Jane says
Personally I’m passionate about passion, and maybe that’s because I’m 17, but almost all of my clothing I buy at consignment/thrift stores, so I feel that I am saving money and also the planning by buying “recycled” clothing. However I do like what this post is promoting, and I think I could stand to lessen my recently growing addiction to buying clothes from “the man”.
Jane says
Meant to say “passionate about fashion” :P
pumagirl says
Thanks for a great blog. I’m also a minimalist when it comes to clothes. I have discovered 10 years ago that modern merino wool is a good way to achieve minimalism. They are expensive initially, but you don’t need that many. I have about 10 summer weight merino wool t-shirts made by Icebreaker, Ibex, and Patagonia, and I can wear a shirt like 5-10 days without washing, even in the heat of summer. (One can say I have too many shirts since I don’t even need to wear all my 10 shirts in a season.) And when they do get soiled, I hand wash them in the sink. I wear them running too, and they feel fresh even after multiple exercise sessions. They dry quickly which makes them good for traveling. On a recent trip to Iceland, I wore a merino shirt, brought 1 shirt, 1 merino sweater, and 1 merino undie – that was my entire wardrobe that I took with me. They are of very high quality, and if you don’t put them in the drier, they will last for years.
ceilidth says
I have another kind of “one” for clothing. I try to only buy one thing at a time unless I really need more than one of something. Sometimes I stretch that to one outfit. I find that it makes me focus on which thing I like the best and which one works best with what I already have. I just went shopping for a pair of dressy sandals and couldn’t decide between a pair I liked and a different shoe that I really didn’t need. In the old days I would have bought both of them; this time I bought neither.
One other thing I do is never to use a credit card to buy clothing. It’s the debit card or no purchase at all.
Angela says
Hmmmm…I’ve already done a fair bit of paring-down, but I think this has inspired me to do another round.
I’m commenting mainly in response to the idea that women don’t/can’t do the extreme-minimalism with clothes. I just read an article about a six-clothing-item challenge that a few hundred people (mostly bloggers) are doing right now. A lot of women are doing it successfully. I don’t think I could do it because my work and non-work clothing needs are so different. I could probably do six items for EACH for a couple months with no problem.
Deborah says
I feel this is a topic that is always easier for men. All the minimalist bolggers seem to be men, especially the ones that only own 13 things and list them for all to see.
It comes very naturally to me in one way, because I hate to shop. But getting rid of things is really hard for me. Also, I would wear jeans and t-shirts all the time, but not only is this not acceptable at work, my husband complains if I do that every weekend, and also nags me to buy more shoes.
One thing I like to do is get together with friends (of a similar size) with all of the clothes we are getting rid of. A few of those things will be rescued that way, and loved in a new home. But don’t grab anything you won’t wear just because it’s free.
joshua becker says
Deborah, for a female’s point of view, try rowdykittens.com or simplerabbit.com. They are both minimalist blogs written by women.
ceilidth says
I don’t think we need to look for perfection in this or make it a competition. After a number of rounds of getting rid of unnecessary clothes or things that no longer fit or are completely at odds with my current life, I’ve found myself with a closet of nice clothes that all feel good to wear. I don’t worry if one person thinks I have too many or another thinks I have too few. Learning to shop consciously rather than recreationally has been a challenge and a lot harder than throwing things out, but one that is getting easier with time. What I’ve tried with a lot of success is to be much more conscious of my purchases and only buy things that I truly enjoy wearing and meet my needs. A beautiful dressy dress may entice me, but the reality is that I only need one of those in my life. When something wears out, I don’t automatically replace it but instead think about how many similar items I have and whether I have enough already. Gradually, my closet gets more spacious and I find it easier to look well dressed for the life I lead.
Rachel says
Another great minimalist blog from a female point of view is missminimalist.com. She keeps little clothing but is still very classy and stylish.
Eileen says
Hi Tariq
If clothes don’t fit me- i get rid of them. Clothes with special memories can be sorted through. I have the dresses i wore to my university ball, my graduation and my final year at school ball. I never seem to grow much so, i still fit into them. They are much too fancy to wear but i really hope for an opportunity to wear one again. I do not keep these dresses in my wardrobe. I have put the dresses in storage bags and packed them away neatly in the storage area of my house. I also change my wardrobe around according to season. For example, now i have a lot of skirts and light tops in my wardrobe and all my wool clothes and heavy coats are in storage until the cold weather returns.
If you feel you can’t part with some of the clothes with memories attached- you could always send them to storage if you have space for this.
Cool that you are a minimalist. As ive said already i love to buy clothes. My parents and siblings tell me off for buying too many. I’m actually about to sort my wardrobe and have decided im on a clothes shopping ban. Despite having a lot of clothes- i like to keep them all hung or folded away neatly and right now im at risk of running out of space. So, i guess even i should stop shopping for now. This has been a cool article. Thanks minimalists- you may save me some money if i can keep up the current clothes ban lol and good luck with deciding what to do with the clothes with good memories Tariq. Eileen x
Tariq says
Great article, when it comes to clothes, I am a minimalist. I have no interest in shopping for clothes unless if its absolutely necessary. As a result my parents and siblings tell me off, that I am miserly. I just tell them, I like spending money on things that are more valuable to me.
I have one question though, What do I do with clothes with which good memories involved from various events. They don’t fit in me anymore.
Any advice.
Deborah says
“I have one question though, What do I do with clothes with which good memories involved from various events. They don’t fit in me anymore.”
You could sew some of the fabric into something new, or ask a friend or family member who sews to do so. I had a friend who sewed a small piece of corduroy pants (that I had loved but worn almost literally to pieces) into a cool wrist band punk bracelet thing for me that takes up much less space. Other ideas would be stuffed animals or of course quilts.
Bet says
“I have one question though, What do I do with clothes with which good memories involved from various events. They don’t fit in me anymore.”
After a major clean out of clothing for some kids, and faced with serious reluctance from the kids of passing on some favourites, we decided they could keep two items each. They chose favourite shirts, and by sewing up the opening and stuffing with fibre filling, turned them into snuggle pillows. When I was in high school, I (with help) turned a jacket that no longer fitted into a book bag, and recently transformed a chambray shirt into a handbag. I am currently working on a project turning a favourite pair of jeans into an apron.
For the more important things, the things I can’t bear to change or donate, I have a memory chest.
Weeze says
I take a lot of pictures. A picture of me in an outfit I LOVE takes up a lot less room than keeping an article of clothing I no longer wear. Same with stuff. It keeps the memory but not the stuff.
Eileen says
I could never do this. I love fashion. The thing is i wear ALL my clothes. If they aren’t being worn i give them to charity. I only keep what i wear and yes, i’ve a lot of outfits. It would be nice to have more space but i know i would not be happy with just a few items in my wardrobe. Its all very organised and colour coordinated. I can pick out what i want to wear in a second despite the amount of garments. This was a really interesting discussion. Although i won’t be becoming minimalist- i want to say good luck to all of you who are. x
Antonio says
I think it goes back to the danger of having too much. “A man with two watches is never sure what time it is, the man with one watch always knows”