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You may have heard of capsule wardrobes and they’re truly an amazing tool for simplifying your mornings and style, however, my spring wardrobe challenge is a little different. In fact, it is the complete opposite of a capsule wardrobe. -My challenge is to wear EVERY single item in my spring wardrobe over the course of the spring. I know, that is the exact opposite of what a minimalist is, but remember, I’m not a perfect minimalist. I am a simple living enthusiast and simple living is my lifestyle; minimalism is just a tool in my tool box. It is not the be all end all to simple living and it does not 100% work for everyone for every single area of their lives. But I do have a slightly minimalist reason for this very maximalist approach.
We very seldom wear every item in our closet, even when we do keep our wardrobes more simple. I read somewhere that the average person wears only 20% of their closet. You might see where I’m starting to go with this.
My goal this spring is to wear every single item. I’m doing this for numerous reasons;
- To practice appreciation for every item I own in my spring wardrobe.
- To see what I actually do wear and what I don’t want to wear. By doing this I believe I will see what items truly do spark joy and what items I own for the sake of an ideal, but don’t actually work for me, my body, or my lifestyle.
- To challenge myself to be more creative with what I already own rather than feeling the need to buy new.
I’m not expecting the challenge to be too difficult. I do own an abundance of clothes, however, I don’t own so many that this challenge will not be possible in three months. I’m sure that less than half way into spring I will start repeating outfits and I will be mixing and matching items into new looks. I do take pride in being an outfit repeater; I do not feel the social pressure to wear something new every day, but I do feel that might also hinder my ability to actually wear and appreciate all that I have.
I also expect by the end of this challenge that there will be several pieces that I didn’t enjoy wearing. Perhaps the fit was a little funny or the item just wasn’t “me,” but that is also a big component to the challenge. I do not believe in holding onto too many “one day” items or items that simply don’t fit or work well for me, but I’m sure I somehow managed to hold onto more than I should. I’m thinking that this challenge might help me part ways with more of my clothes and donate what no longer fits or suits me. If I will not wear an item for some reason it is time to let it go and I will place it in a donate box.
Most of all, I’m looking forward to breaking free from consumerism for the season. (Although I believe I’m truly good at this, fashion trends and posts I see online do tend to sway me and give me a sense of the “wants.”) I hope that this reason alone might inspire you to join me with my spring wardrobe challenge this year. If you too feel the pressure to shop after seeing ads, fashion posts, and our friends online sharing their new outfits, let’s turn that pressure around to inspire us to style what we already own to create new and fun looks without having to buy more.
The weather here in New England is still a little too cold to begin, but by the start of spring next week (the first day of spring is on the 19th this year) I will be starting my spring wardrobe challenge with layers. I plan on pulling out each item from my closet and making a section just for spring clothes. I will most likely be mixing them with some of my winter wear because of the temperatures. And I’ll most likely be wearing a winter coat for at least a few more weeks.
I imagine that the biggest difficulty I will face will be layering properly on chilly days and using all of my spring clothes while trying my best to make them work for the office I work at during the week. The style there is more business attire, but all winter long I’ve been casual with black leggings and sweaters with many layers because I’m such a wimp in the cold. -Lightweight blouses just don’t cut it during New England winters. I’m sure spring shirts, casual tops, and sundresses will be a step up from my winter slacking and I will do my best to layer with cardigans and blazers to turn my more casual outfits into work wear. I’ll wear my shorter and more casual clothes on the weekends or after work hours.
Would you like to join me with the spring wardrobe challenge? You can join the challenge and interact with the Facebook Live Lovely group by clicking on this link or by following me on Instagram here.
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