In the past, I’ve written about Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and travel wardrobe minimalism. And yet, nothing resonated until I was forced into what I’ll call The Clothes Diet Challenge:
The Clothes Diet Challenge:
1) Pick out only a few essential pieces from your wardrobe and wear only that for 3 months.
2) Seal off everything else.
3) As you eliminate clothes from your essential pieces, you may go “shopping” in your sealed off clothes.
4) Watch your relationship with clothing change before your eyes.
You see, I’ve been wearing the same thing nearly every day since April, not by choice. After a moth epidemic across our apartment, we washed and quarantined non-essential cloth items, and will be keeping them under tight wraps until the moths have been banished. I used to have one and a half closets at my disposal; I currently store all of my clothing in a single drawer.*
While it wasn’t voluntary, it has transformed the way I think of clothes (and belongings) well beyond vague ideas of minimalism or sparking joy.
1) Being forced to wear your entire wardrobe twice per week means that you quickly discern what clothes you don’t actually like
We do laundry twice per week, so I wear all my available clothes twice per week.
You know how you have that one white shirt that fits kinda wonky but serves its purpose when worn under that one sweater you have? Or, that one button down chambray shirt that was inexpensive and you really like…except maybe the sleeves are a tad too short…maybe…but it’s nice otherwise and looks good with skinny jeans…with the sleeves rolled up.
I started tossing ill-fitting clothes in the trash out of anger within a couple weeks. And these were all pieces that I thought I liked enough to put in my essentials pile!
Really, these would have sat in my closet, maybe worn a couple times a month, taking up space and creating this slight negative energy every time I wore them. Forced to wear them twice a week, the negative energy became immediately apparent. Tossing them in the trash actually feels good.
And then you can go shopping in your sealed off clothes, which is very exciting.
2) Wearing everything you own twice per week quickly separates the wheat from the chaff (re: because clothes start dissolving during wash cycles)
I noticed that shirts that I planned on having for a few seasons seemed to almost deterioriate within a few weeks. And then a friend clued me in that many clothing stores only estimate 8 wears before their clothes falls apart. Ah.
So, a t-shirt that would have hung around my drawers, worn here and there, would have lasted a few months. Actually wearing it? A few weeks.
I also learned to really appreciate my clothes with staying power, and they weren’t even the expensive ones! An Old Navy cardigan, washed in hot water and dried on hot, still looks the same.
3) The comforting knowledge that all your clothes are cycled through and clean and ready to wear
You know how you might have that one jacket that needs a button sewn back on? Or, maybe that cashmere sweater could use a trip to the dry cleaners. So, rushing through your morning routine, you rifle past those and find other options to wear.
Washing your entire wardrobe twice a week makes everything feel fresh and cared for. If the one jacket I have needed a button replaced, I’d have replaced it…because I didn’t have any other jackets to wear in the meantime.
4) Minimalism becomes a way of life
Similar to the way my relationship with food changed after going on the Elimination Diet, without a closet full of clothes to ponder every morning, my relationship with clothes has changed as well. I’ve tossed all the clothes I don’t like, cheaply made clothes have deteriorated, and now I have a drawer of clothes that I like to wear and can withstand the wash cycle. What more do I need?
5) Out of sight means out of mind
I’ve also started eyeing my clothes in storage, and tossing out most of them as well.
Because, looking back, I’ve been able to dress myself fine for the past 4 months without needing any of it. Sure, when I can finally unseal my clothes, I’ll be keeping things like nice dresses, suits, and coats. But, the day to day clothes…I’m not sure I need you anymore.
Extra towels, bedding, and kitchen linens: you’re next.
I feel like this is the true magic of The Clothes Diet Challenge: putting clothes away for a long (long) time gives you some emotional separation from them, allowing you to objectively sort through them once you’ve gone through your transformation.
If you’ve read Malcolm Ryan’s The Eight-Step Home Cure, this is akin to the outbox. Being forced to decide here and now whether to keep something is too fraught, but putting it in an outbox lets you delay the decision, see how lovely your home looks without it, and then maybe decide to toss it. Or, in the inverse, you realize you really really do want it, at which point you can accept it back into your home.
5) You actually can start buying whatever you want, even if it’s not on sale
Once you’ve felt the minimalism ethos creep in over the course of months, Marie Kondo is right: you can go out and buy whatever you want. Since I no longer really want much, I have the clothing budget for whatever I do want. And, because my eyes are now open to clothes with lasting power, I’m buying better quality than I used to.
Also, being forced to wear your entire wardrobe twice per week means that you know where there are holes in your wardrobe. When I go shopping now, I’m looking for a specific item, not just casting my net wide to whatever looks good.
What do you think? Is this something you’d ever try? I say go for it, it’s been an odd and fascinating experiment.
* My essentials are: three pairs of pants, two sweaters, one cardigan, two long sleeve shirts, one button up shirt, 2 short sleeve shirts, and 4 tank tops. (In addition to undergarments, a pair of pajamas, a pair of sweats, and a work out outfit.) For outerwear, I have a vest, denim jacket, hoodie, and one scarf. For shoes, one pair of each: sneakers, hiking shoes, running shoes, d’orsay loafers, and sandals.
