The Inspiration

I have been writing and sharing a lot lately about the book, The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth L. Cline. This book is so inspirational on so many levels. It has inspired me to do a cleanse of my closet and try to get to more of a “capsule wardrobe”. In case you’re not familiar, a capsule wardrobe is when you invest in just a few essential pieces that are classic and non-trendy that can be augmented with select seasonal and trendy pieces. A capsule wardrobe is MUCH smaller than a typical wardrobe. The idea is that when you have fewer pieces that you actually love and are of good quality, it all gets worn, and you spend less time standing in front of your closet figuring out what to wear.  

BTW, if you’d like some outfit inspiration ideas check out my free guide from this BLOG POST. 

The Challenge

I’ve decided to take on this challenge! I have NEVER been accused of having a minimalist wardrobe. But, to be honest most of the items currently in my closet go unworn. Either because they are from a time when I had to dress up for work (now I work from home) or there are items that don’t fit. After all, this is the year that I decided to stop weighing myself so there are a few pieces that used to be snug….that are just unwearable now. This is going to be a work in progress so this blog post will be part I of I-don’t-know-how-many posts until I get to that desired capsule wardrobe. So, sit back, relax, and join me in my conscious closet cleanse. 

The Count

I was procrastinating and dreading to do it, but it needed to be done. I needed to count how many clothes I had in my closet. So, here it is:

Pants = 13

Dresses & Rompers = 35

Skirts = 13

Shirts = 89

Blazers = 35

Jeans = 21

Cardigans = 30

Sweaters. & Sweatshirts = 13

Coats/Capes/Ponchos/Vests = 26

Total = 275

The number that I think I was the most shocked by was the shirt count of 89. 89!?!? I haven’t even counted my dresser drawers yet! And….I had already gone through and started to purge a few things before I did this count. Do I feel like I have 89 tops in my closet that I would be happy to wear on any given day?

NO!

One of the other numbers that is a huge problem is 35 dresses/rompers. For my current lifestyle I really don’t need that many. So, some of those are going to have to go.

Why am I not calling out the blazer count as a problem? I LOVE blazers. I consider jeans, a t-shirt, and a blazer my signature look. Unfortunately Southern California weather only allows me 3 seasons of that look. I am going to probably get rid of at least 2-3 that I have not worn in a long time. But most of them are staying put and I am okay with that. Here’s why – I can cut way back on the tops and jeans but throwing on a pop of color, pattern or texture with a blazer can instantly make that simple jeans and tee super interesting.

The Castoffs

So what to do with the castoffs? I have been exploring some new ways of disposing of my old clothes. There are now four categories the castoffs go into; Sell, Donate, Swap, Recycle.

Sell: Anything that has resale value obviously goes up on Poshmark and Mercari to sell. I don’t worry about making a huge profit on those pieces so I try to price them to move.

Donate: Anything that is in good condition but not worth the effort of trying to sell, gets donated.

Swap: I recently signed up for a membership with Swap Society. You sign up for a fee and earn points that you can use to “swap” clothes. When you send in your old items they will assign a point value as well. You use these points to shop on their website. There is also a small fee for each transaction. It’s probably not the most cost-effective way to swap but since organizing a large clothing swap isn’t in the cards due to the pandemic, I thought I would give this a try. I’ll share more about my experience after I have a chance to have the full experience with shopping with them.

Recycle: I found a couple of other websites that will, for a small fee, send you a bag to fill up with your not-so-great old clothes and they will recycle them. Did you know that only 1% of clothing is recycled in the truest sense of the word? Companies like For Days and Universal Standard are trying to change that. This is a good option for clothes that aren’t really usable. For example, my daughter had several t-shirts with paint stains (because she never listens to me to cover up her clothes when she paints!) and these are clearly not going to be desirable by anyone. So, they are good contenders for recycling. Some of my son’s old worn-out pajamas fall into this category as well.

What’s Next

It’s clear that this is going to be a process for me. Gutting my wardrobe isn’t something that I think I can do in a single day or weekend. But instead, something that happens over a slightly longer period of time. But, not too much longer. I just finished watching the documentary “Minimalism” on Netflix and it’s given me a little extra boost of inspiration to be more aggressive with my conscious closet cleanse schedule.

I’m still not sure what a realistic goal is in terms of the number of items I want to end up with and by when. With 275 total items today I know I can cut it at least in half. That’s my comfortable goal. But, I am going to try for 100 or less. Which still sounds like a lot, doesn’t it!? Like I said, it’s a process. The reason I am not assigning a time goal is that I want to discard things responsibly, and that takes a little more time. Sure, I could just put all the unwanted stuff in garbage bags and drop it off at the local Goodwill but that would not make my cleanse very conscious, since often stores like Goodwill will ship unwanted items offshore, only to fill landfills in foreign countries. 

I’ll check back in with my conscious closet cleanse Part II in a couple of weeks or so. I’ll give an update on my wardrobe count and how it’s going overall. So stay tuned!

BTW – If you’re interested in some ways to create a more conscious wardrobe on a budget, check out this FREE CHECKLIST for Building a Sustainable Wardrobe on a Budget.