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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
Bea says
Goods tips to consider. I wonder if you have another agenda? Here’s my agenda. Take the cell phones away from your very young children. Mimilize the junk that they’re exposed too. A cell phone is an indicator for low self-esteem and body issues with teenage girls.
C says
As a 13-year-old girl, I must say I agree. I have had a phone since the age of 9 and it will just bring you down. Bring down your mental health, confidence, and your overall will to live. With that being said phones are becoming more and more important. I don’t think we need to stop using them young, we need to make it simpler. Fewer media, more conversing. That’s what phones were for in the first place after all.
Alyson Long says
I have a feeling that the environmental impact of constantly running a washing machine, and, unfortunately, a drier, would be fairly disastrous compared to simply owning a practical amount of clothing and doing a full load once a week.
joshua becker says
We do our laundry once/week. Yup.
Christine says
I honestly want to know how you do this. Despite not washing my clothes or my five year olds as much I’m washing every second day. Partly it’s because I use a Cuban mop so also washing cloths I use for that, but I hardly even wash bedding and can’t keep on top of it.
Vivian says
You only wash the clothes you wear either way. Does it matter how many choices you had as to which outfits those were? In the end, there are I my 7ndays in a week…
Vivian says
*only 7 days in a week
Verity says
Hi Vivian, it’s about reducing the decision fatigue too, so even tho the amount of actual washing may not be reduced, the chore and stress of deciding what to wear from a large selection of garments is reduced. All the best with your journey!
Vivian says
@ Su, You only wash the clothes you wear either way. Does it matter how many choices you had as to which outfits those were? In the end, there are only 7days in a week…
Maybe I misunderstood your comment(?(
Verity says
Hi Vivian I think it’s also the fact of the decision fatigue… just as many items probably that need laundering but there is less stress from having choices from a wide range of colours, styles and fashions every morning
Trisha says
Why do you need a dryer? Here in UK, people seldom have them; put your clothes outside to dry or indoors on a modern drying frame. Dryers are one of the worlds leading consumers of energy and need to be phased out, please don’t add to the worlds environmental problems
Robin says
If I put my clothes out in the winter here in New England they would be frozen and snow covered….just sayin’
Marjoe says
When we first moved to a warmer climate I had hubby put up clothes lines in the carport out of the high altitude fading sun. I hung my clothes out for a while. We are accountants and like “free” drying. Then we developed allergies to dreaded juniper. Then the scheduled burns in the forest. Then the neighbors that heat with wood. We no longer hang laundry out to dry.
Gwen says
Here in the southern part of the Philippines, we don’t have some sort of charities where we can donate our stuff. Unless people will post ads after some calamities, etc. What we do with our excess, we give them to the garbage collector, informing them that these are clothes that people can still wear. So just in case, there are people who are doing dumpster diving, they can give the clothes to them directly. This is sort of rampant here in the Philippines.
Regarding our journey to minimalism, we are practicing (1) Project333, (2) 1 in, 1 out, and (3) create a uniform for work, or for trail running and mountain climbing activities.
Janis says
Hi Gwen
In Australia we put things on the footpath with a free sign written and people can take what they want. That way it gets reused
Naomi May says
I have been on this minimalist journey since last year. I have been slowly purging my house of things that I don’t need or use. I donate them to Salvation Army. I recently tackled my closet. I have found that I need a lot less clothing than I thought. I have a washer and dryer at home, so I can wash my clothing as many times as I need to. I have pared down my work clothes to two dresses for work. They are both dark colors. I have 5 or 6 pairs of leggings to wear under my dresses. I have 5 t-shirts, 4 long sleeve shirts, and two pairs of jeans. This only works because I have a washer and dryer though. Not everyone can pare down that far. My shoes are minimal as well. I have a pair of work shoes, and a backup pair in my desk at work. I have a pair of tennis shoes plus two backup pairs in case one pair gets wet or wears out. That is all. And I have one purse. I only need one.
Jeff says
Why do minimalist articles always feel like they are directed at folks that are nowhere close to living as an actual minimalist. I am constantly trying to own only exactly what I can carry a decent distance at once. This seems directed at people that couldn’t do that with just their shoes!
Rhonda says
To help them get there. There are a lot of people tossing justifications around like a baseball because they want to do this but have their cake too. Minimalism was natural to me as I had started studying Buddhism to help me to let go of an abusive past. I learned through reading the Dhammapadda that ALL attachment meant suffering, that’s why we grieve, but that suffering can be controlled through practicing letting go PURPOSELY of things, even things of value. Most people don’t have that pre-education to help them past the attachment. They are struggling to let go.
Hannah says
Why would being free of all attachment be a good thing, though? If you don’t mind me saying, that does not sound like a route to a meaningful life, but a hardly-lived one. All good things – like love, family, community – they’re all hard, and they require attachment, but they’re worth the risk. I get what you’re saying in terms of possessions, but that doesn’t sound like a nice way to be thinking about life in general.
Ann says
Interesting, The Bible also speaks to us about possessions and finding our worth and letting go of past and looking forward to the future. We are all created special and unique. I would recommend starting reading in Proverbs in the Bible.
Libby says
I would like to get to where you are. You are right that i would be hard pressed to carry my shoes from the upstairs bedroom to my downstairs living room. However; we all have to start somewhere on this journey and this article has very helpful ideas for me. I hope you find an article that helps you on your journey!
Mary Marjorie Kjeldsen says
I feel so blessed that God led me to this article before this 2019year ends. That means I’ll be able to start living an abundant life with less in 2020 and so on.
Thank you for your writings. It truly helps a lot of people.
God bless you endlessly.
From: Philippines
Luke Smith says
Thanks for your tip about imposing a 90-day rule of not buying clothes to minimize expenses and possible discards. Christmas is near, and the present I chose to give to people is statement shirts. Since I don’t have enough time to change my plans anymore, I’ll see to it to buy sustainable packaging for the shirts and check the fabric that was used.
Alyr says
Are you pushing EXTREME minimalism? You should say so. Mostly terrible advise here – no surprise coming from a man. First of all, there is no reason to avoid color. That’s for insecure people who default to the “trusted black, beige, grey monochromatic”. My 4 “dress” pants are white, navy, khaki, and PINK. ONE handbag? ONE winter coat? In what universe? I’m a professional dog walker/pet sitter. I can just see me carrying around my Chanel bag and wearing my $300 coat on jobs.
You obviously don’t even know about “exercise”. You CANNOT wear the same shoes and clothing because of many reasons. In my case, walking in the Florida rain and having muddy dogs stomp on my $145 work shoes would last one day with your theories.
I’m not commenting more because I have an Extreme Minimalist policy with my time – I don’t waste it on silliness.
alyr says
BTW, even Fumio Sasaki has five shoes. Primarily because he knows the dangers of athlete’s foot, fungus, and quickly destroying expensive shoes with overuse and weather elements. A human being who truly NEEDS “athletic wear” because of athletics needs at least two sets because we do not throw our high quality crap in a washer and dryer between DAILY (and some times 2x daily) uses.
Suhas Annadani says
Hey Joshua,
Nice post. Personally, I’m transitioning into a minimalist, not yet. But, I’ve noticed over the past 3-4 yrs, I’ve hardly used only 4-7 shirts & maybe 3 pants. For my tracking, I’ve kept rest of my wardrobe in the ceiling. And, I hardly have time to assess the ceiling OR grab those extra clothes up there !
I’m just managing with 1 pair of sandals for over 4 yrs (Just my old minimalist sandals which I thought were indestructible were damaged by rats !) I don’t wear shoes, but I did wear shoes on just 2-3 ocassions over the past 2-3 yrs.
As most folks agree, it’s a matter of choice on Minimalism. Personally, I don’t care much for clothes anyways, and I don’t care much for fashion either. And I neither have the time/money/effort/space in my life to waste myself at malls !
Life is all too easy for me. My wife I’m a minimalist. Only I haven’t started on minimalism yet & I’m interested to go down the rabbit hole soon !
Jeff says
I would say that this is directed at people who are not ‘extreme’ enough. If I can pare down in the extreme north of Canada then you surely can walking in the Florida rain.
Tina says
We live near Chicago. We get four seasons. I wear gray, navy, black, and whatever T shirts people give me. I have piles of things for Goodwill when it reopens. I was given many sets of dishes and kept the salad plates or dessert bowls. They are nice gifts when filled with good candy or dried fruit. I gave the big plates and cups and saucers away.
Not you says
Get over yourself
Peg says
Exactly! I’ve recently retired as a teacher…obviously I won’t NEED as many clothes for DAILY dressing up but I buy clothes as art! I love color and style…but not necessarily “fashion”.
Many of these minimalist ideas/suggestions are “guilting” I.e. ‘look what works for me…it’s what everyone should do’!
I am downsizing by giving away to other young teachers books, craft items, games, etc. and have donated/Poshmarked clothes, shoes, boots, coats, jewelry,etc.
It works for me and I live in a 700 sq ft house…btw…what works today may not work next season…but I’m not depressed except when one tells me what I should do at 72~ thanks…?
Monory says
Very nice post, Thank for sharing.
Chris Jade Hall says
I really appreciate the insight here in this post and confident it’s going to be helpful to me and many others. Thanks to everyone contributed as well.