To those who know me, they know I have a love for clothing, style and sewing. In my free time I enjoy thrifting, watching sewing youtubers, learning about recent and historical fashion trends, and going through piles of fabric, dreaming of what I could create.
There are so many ways now to create a style, and getting guidance on how. Find your color season using Pinterest. Get a Kibbe consultation. Read these seven paragraphs to determine your style essence. I love learning about all these ways of curating a “look” that is meant to be perfect for my specific appearance. But lately I’ve been thinking differently about clothing.
Today, trends change in a week. Some items, that are beautiful, unique or quirky, are only worn once by a person for fear of repeating an outfit. Investing in quality pieces may be the method of some, but for younger individuals, it is not the norm. For people who love style trends, they quickly go online and pick up the latest fashion piece, which they may be obsessed with for a while, but will likely be “over” or revamped by the next year. Clothing is treated as replaceable. Largely temporary. Especially in fast fashion.
Over the last few years, I’ve noticed how my relationship with clothes has changed. I’ve always been a lover of unique pieces, but whereas before I might go thrifting once a month and pick up a piece or two I’d keep for years, now I was buying thrifted and new clothes regularly, tracking store sales and buying items that were unique, but then wearing them infrequently until my next new shipment.
I know these habits directly correlate with the lifestyle I’ve adapted since the pandemic. I’ve been debating for a while how I can change these habits. My initial thought? Give up buying any new clothing for a year. Extreme? Yes. Realistic? For me… not yet.
Thus, I have challenged myself not to buy any new clothing for one whole month. Officially for me, the challenge began June 13. But then I thought of another component.
What if I limited what clothes I had access to also for a month? Say – to 30 items.
Essentially, a summer capsule wardrobe. This idea both thrilled and excited me. And after initial hesitation, last night I separated twenty-four items out of my closet and onto a bureau in my bedroom, limiting myself to them.
Now, some of you may have just read “twenty-four items” and be confused. There is a reason I only picked twenty-four out of thirty items from my wardrobe. I actually did not know what else I wanted to add. Thus I decided I’d give myself “wiggle room” with six additional pieces that I could add from my closet throughout the month if I needed a special item. For instance – I already know I will need a bathing suit at some point, but chose to wait until I leave on my beach trip to make my final selection.
Of course I have some exceptions. Clothing items for working out are not included, nor are pajamas. I also decided that anything I sew within the month can be added to the capsule wardrobe and not count towards my thirty piece total. Wearing a pre-sewn item to church is allowed, and I have unlimited access to accessories and shoes.
I made these exceptions for several reasons. The first being I sometimes get very dirty working out, especially if its on my family’s farm, and don’t have time to do laundry every day. Thus, if a clothing item is being worn just to exercise in, it does not count as a regular clothing item. I also have fallen off my sewing streak. In order to encourage myself to sew more, I am giving myself the ability to sew items for my wardrobe.
I must confess, I have already finished a sewing a pair of shorts this morning, so I do believe it is working.
The curious thing about this challenge? I’m already beginning to see how there is clothing I own that I’m not event interested in wearing. Hopefully by the end of this experiment I can not only downsize my closet further but also be more conscientious about my closet habits, sew more and be less dependent on the trend cycle.
Chasing serendipity 