The first step towards my perfect wardrobe is to figure out the foundations. Getting this right will – let’s hope – lead to success in this ambitious mission. So I started with something I always find fun: making lists. First, a list of materials I …
I clearly remember the day I started to care about what others think of me. I was a lanky eight-year-old, fearless and free of concern. During recess, my classmates and I were playing catch. One of the catchers chased me; thanks to my long legs …
For years now I have been thinking and talking about designing my wardrobe from scratch.
I want to only own clothing I love. I want to be excited about wearing my clothes and I want to feel good and like me when I’m wearing them. Too often do I put on something that just doesn’t feel quite right. And too often do I think ‘oh, it’s fine and still looks nice’.
It’s absolutely a very nice problem to have. I realise that. I still think it’s worth solving – it will make me feel good every day, it will save me time every morning, and it will reduce my clothing purchases.
Over the past few years, I’ve tried different initiatives (calling them initiatives makes it sound so formal). I’ve made lists of clothing I own, trying to identify what’s missing. I’ve gone a year without buying any clothes. I’ve tried building up my basics and then adding statement pieces. I’ve introduced rules about buying; for example, waiting a night between seeing and purchasing to make sure I really want an item, or donating the cost of an item I buy to charity (making the clothing purchase doubly expensive).
Long story short, none of these initiatives was successful.
I’ve come to the conclusion that what I need (or at least what I want to try next) is to start from scratch. Tabula rasa, baby.
You’re welcome to follow my journey.