When I first decided to become minimalist, I can remember looking in my closet and seeing 100, maybe 120 different articles of clothing.
I cut my wardrobe in half to 60 items. But then I discovered Project 333 started by Courtney Carver. After trying it, I cut my closet in half again.
Nowadays, I own about 33 to 35 articles of clothing. Somewhere during that process, I started wearing basically the same thing every day: a V-neck t-shirt, pants, and black shoes.
I have come to love wearing the same thing each day. And I’m not alone. A lot of people are doing the same thing.
Here are some of the reasons why I wear the same thing every day:
1. Fewer decisions. This is by far the most popular reason why people decide to adopt a streamlined capsule wardrobe.
Decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making. Wearing the same outfit each day removes picking out clothes as a decision to be made.
The truth of the matter is, you have more important decisions to make than what you’re going to wear each morning.
2. Less time and energy wasted. When you wear the same thing every day, you save time deciding what you’re going to wear each morning. And you save significant energy over the course of the week.
Just think about how much time goes into maintaining, and organizing, and taking care of your clothes. Laundry, for example. When you decide to wear the same thing every day, all of that becomes easier. You save time in the morning and energy over the course of a week.
3. Less stress. As a result of fewer decisions and more time, wearing the same thing means you have less stress in the morning.
It also means you experience less stress over the course of the day. I don’t ever have to think about, “Oh man, am I wearing the right thing today? I wish I would’ve worn x instead.” I wear the same thing, and it works perfect for almost every occasion. I love it. You will too.
4. Save money. The average American family spends $2000 a year on clothing—despite already having closets full of clothes.
For some reason, we just keep buying more and more and more. A lot of this expense is wasted on clothes that are never worn—trial and error fashion that ends up wasting time, energy, and money.
5. Feeling put together. Every moment of every day my clothes fit, match, and just so happen to be my favorites. All day long, I feel like I’m wearing something I enjoy and look good wearing.
6. Less waste. The average American throws away 70 pounds of clothing every year. Deciding to wear the same thing is good for the planet, it’s good for you, and it’s good for everyone else as well.
7. An iconic look. Wearing the same thing every day is the quickest way to become famous. You become known for your particular style, you look put together, you look classy, you look comfortable, and you look confident. Because you’re not constantly chasing the newest fashions, you’ll communicate confidence in who you are and how you look.
I love wearing the same thing every day. You will too.
If you’re looking for help to get started on this in your own life, let me suggest: The Minimalist Wardrobe: A Practical Guide to Owning Fewer Clothes.
Adapted from: 6 Reasons I Wear The Same Thing Every Day.
Bob says
I love this. I am going into my wife’s closet now and am going to throw away all her clothes. And then i’ll tell her Joshua told me to! ;)
Mari R says
I can imagine your frustration. I always want to throw away all my husband’s books and a pile of mediocre artworks.
joshua becker says
As a word of caution, I’m pretty sure your wife knows me well enough to know that idea didn’t come from me. Proceed at your own peril :)
Gina says
Nobody knows how many items of clothes you own, unless they go and root around in your closet! All people see are the 2-5 items you have on right now (underwear excepted).
So you can have 20 or 30 items of clothes and look just as good as someone who has 100 or more. All you have to do is pick a color scheme that works for you, and buy high quality clothes of whatever you need, and think coordinates.
And if you follow Project 333 or similar capsule wardrobes, your sleep clothes and those special clothes you need for your gym/rec activities aren’t counted in your outfit counts.
I feel really anxious if I have too many clothes in the closet. I’ve been doing my own version of this for years. Two pairs of slacks for public wear, two pairs of yoga pants for around the house. 9 high quality tunics/t-shirts (1 in each color of the spectrum, 1 white and one grey). 3 cardigans for public wear. 2 fleece hoodies. 3 lightweight jackets for hot weather office wear. 3 dressy tops that work with my public pants for most dress up occasions. 3 office appropriate dresses/skirts that I never wear, but keep just in case I need interview outfits. One black dress and a long navy lace dress for awards banquets that I go to once a year.
2 pair of sandals, 3 pair of dressy flats on athletic soles, a pair of winter boots, 2 pair athletic shoes for walking. (No heels, ever.) One everyday purse, one mini-backpack used as my travel purse, and one evening bag. An everyday winter coat, a heavy parka, a lightweight outerwear jacket, and a dressy outerwear coat.
That plus sleep wear, old clothes I keep only for gardening/cleaning, a couple of eclectic t-shirts I wear only at comic con type events, a team shirt for watching my football team, and underwear is my entire wardrobe for the entire year and takes me through all four seasons.
I am a professional. Nobody at work has complaints about my wardrobe. My ceo wears jeans and t-shirts to the office as much as suits. I still have too many clothes.
P.S. I HATE wearing black. My pants/cardigans/jackets are charcoal and chocolate or burgundy.
Michelle kelly says
I have a large selection of clothes that are mostly currently too small. So I end up wearing my black tshirt and jeans for going out and top it with a cardi or puffer jacketand a scarf. Same black tee does with a pair of trackies around the farm and there’s a uniform for work. Layering works for the cold. Most of my clothes are a waste of space and money. It doesn’t take that long to wash and dry what I have. If someone is judging you on your limited wardrobe – then they obviously aren’t aware of what really matters in life.
Maguelonne says
Joshua, thanks to your newsletter Inspiring Simplicity – Weekend Reads in December 2018, I wanted to do this experience. The link to this article (https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/style/story/jersey-middle-school-teacher-wearing-dress-100-days-59452012) inspired me to really simplify my wardrobe.
The introduction of a personal “uniform” this year has been very relaxing, fun and economical for me.
I first observed for a while what clothes I felt good in, and what I liked to wear the most. Then, I reduced my wardrobe to the only elements with which I was comfortable: black jeans or pants + white tops, whatever the season.
Short or long sleeves, blouses, sweaters or t-shirts, all the tops are white. I can dress for work (webdesign in a computer company) or for the weekend very easily. My clothing adapts to all situations, with jewellery, or by wearing heel shoes or sneakers.
I have 2 black dresses, with short sleeves, that I can wear with a jacket or a waistcoat in winter, during special events (evening, outing, but also funeral).
In summer, with episodes of intense heat waves (I live in the south of France), I still switched to shorts or beach dresses on weekends, but the offices in which I work are air-conditioned, so my work clothes are not changing.
It was a very funny experience: from December 2018 to July 2019, every day of the week, I wore only jeans and white tops (usually t-shirts with a vest or jacket):
– NO ONE realized that I was dressed in the same way every day. My daughter didn’t realize it until after two months… My husband and my son didn’t notice it either….
– As a woman, it is a counter-current attitude, but one that is truly liberating: saving time, money, self-image, controlling one’s appearance….
– Shopping doesn’t happen to me very often anymore. And when I’m in a shop, it’s easy: I know what to look for and go straight to the white top shelves…
– All the tops go through the machine together: I no longer sort this laundry, it’s much more practical.
After this little 8-month game in uniform, I diversified slightly, and added 2 black tops, a light pink t-shirt and white summer pants. But I’m still in my uniform 80% of the time…
Jennifer says
Love this (love you books as well). I do a version of this also based on project 333. Makes life so much easier. My 80 year old mother has so many clothes, 100+ pairs of shoes, 30-40 purses, in two closets you can barely open the doors, yet she is “broke” I don’t want to follow in her shoes ?
Dionne says
I was wondering the same. The author has created a community that includes ideas of what he has found helpful. His goal is simply to be helpful. If not helpful to a person, they can simply move on. I’m pretty sure some people are just looking to argue. I’ve always been a calm person and that so goes in line with the minimalist lifestyle. Since I’ve adopted these habits, I’m even more at ease. Calm, Confident and Clear of Clutter for me.
Ann says
Thank you Joshua. I am already “uniform” oriented and have a simple wardrobe. I do yoga pants and t-shirt at home (where I work) and for going out I wear different patterns of what is basically the same dress with 3 different sweaters. I have a pair of jeans and 3-4 tunic tops for winter when it is too cold for the dresses.
I am going to give your idea some thought. I would love – LOVE – to get my wardrobe down to a signature outfit that would work for everything, every day. Do you think this is feasible for a woman, – and do you know any women who have pulled it off?
Lee Anne says
Adopting a uniform of sorts may not be for everyone. I go back and forth. To keep it simple, I recommend the free Cladwell app for anyone looking to use what you have to get outfit recommendations each day. I currently have 23 items, including shoes, in the app and this translates to over 500+ outfit options. I like Cladwell because it minimizes decision fatigue and spending while keeping outfit ideas fresh!
Suzy Toronto says
I find it interesting as many acquaintances of mine have set off on a minimalist journey that when they get to the wardrobe section the choose all black outfits and decide that is the perfect, most appropriate color and look. They claim it “goes with anything and looks great on everyone!” It does not. As an artist I am very “color keen” and how colors work together. Skin tones are different colors and not all go with black. But I keep my mouth shut because don’t have the heart to tell 99% of them that black is not attractive on them at all and burst their new minimalist bubble. It washes them out, drags them down, gives them a bit of a goth look and is not a good business look. The same people usually comment that they dress up and mix up their outfits with colorful scarves etc. Again, I keep my comments to myself but no one is fooled into thinking they look even slightly more dressed up by the scarf. I wish new minimalist would embrace other neutrals. Even colors like white, cream, khaki, olive, grays, and taupe have more life and energy than black. Ugh!
Mari R says
I totally agree with you, Suzy. I’m very petite and not a young woman. When I wear only in black or dark blue, I look disappeared. I feel better in pleasant hues as I get older.
I don’t look a minimalist at all in dressing myself, but my spending on clothing is. To be exact it’s $500 a year for all outfits including underwear, socks and accessories for me and husband last twenty years. As we wear most of items we own, everything is fitting in a closet.
Mari R says
I want to add that $500/y purchase includes shoes (my husband replaces a pair every year, costing $100), purse (I rarely buy) and belts.
We are very satisfied with our looks which are office work appropriate for him and moderately fashionable for me.
tom clark says
How thoroughly boring. Dress to impress, baby!
Cat says
Dress to impress who? If you are comfortable with who you are, the need to impress disappears
Reena says
Dress to impress yourself, I think he means. Some people do feel better when they are dressed up. I am one. I’m working on the minimalist approach where it make sense, but when it comes to clothing, I can’t wear the same thing every day. It’s too boring. Too many things look and feel good to wear. That being said, I do have my favorite styles and work to stay within that realm, but the same top and bottoms every day – that removes some of my joy. I do have a love for fashion, not to impress others, just to appreciate the different textures, colors and a few different styles for various occasions, even for working from home.