Last updated on July 1, 2018
About a month ago I had an interesting conversation.
It was fashion revolution week and I was looking for new reading/listening material that would inspire me for future blog posts. I happened to find a lot of books that talked about the high cost of fashion, fast fashion and what really goes on behind the scenes. My brother who is living a minimalist lifestyle, which includes his limited wardrobe (do I really need 10 t-shirts when I can only wear 2?). After all, we know that very creative entrepreneurs, hum hum, Mark Zuckerberg and the late Steve Jobs kept wearing the same basic outfit (basic t-shirt or turtleneck with jeans). During our conversation, my brother mentioned that he had read that the fashion industry was one of the most polluted industries.
YIKES !
Being that I like to think that I am very eco-conscious, I recycle like crazy, try to eat clean food, try to shop more locally, I donate to Greenpeace efforts and support other environmentally friendly ways of living, this notion was nevertheless a little shocking.
I thought okay, how can someone that loves fashion adapt it’s closet to a more minimalist way of living without losing it’s colorful style?
In other words: « How can I apply this perspective to fashion without losing the fashion??? »
It may sound contradictory yet I had an Ah ha! moment that finds a way to combine both in a simple way.
MINIMALIST WARDROBE TO A HEALTHIER LIFE
This will even help you to get dressed in the morning. No more confusion on what to wear or what to wear it with, this minimalist wardrobe will make your life much easier !
ALWAYS IN THREES (read more about this rule)
My version of having a healthier, simpler, quicker and much easier way of wearing clothing is to stick to 3 colors. Rotating only with the seasons. In Canada, I usually wear the same colors during Spring/Summer and then change my entire closet for Fall/Winter.
Choose 3 colors for those 2 groups (Spring-Summer then Fall-Winter). Only buy items and clothing that are in one of those 3 colors or shades.
For example : My Spring/Summer go-to minimalist closet would be Blue-Yellow-Pink and for Fall/Winter it would probably be navy/rust/green
Also note that denim goes into the blue group. The items can be printed, striped or solid but the main color should remain one of those 3 colors.
Does this make sense?
Let me show you examples with items in my closet.
Here are some ideas of outfits for my Spring & Summer blue/yellow/pink wardrobe
OUTFIT: Blazer (old), Free People Tee, Jcrew Pants (old, other colors w/o zip), New Balance sneakers (old, other colors here and here) & yellow flats
CITRUS STYLE TIP: Change your shoes to change the style and vibe of your outfit….in the above photos I had sneakers and then changed into yellow slightly dressier flats.
This makes it so much easier and simpler to wear your clothing since, technically, everything should look good together.
So if you find it difficult to know what goes well with what or simply don’t have enough time to think about it then this is a great alternative.
OUTFIT: Dynamite tunic shirt (old), JCrew tee (other colors here, here), straight leg GAP jeans (almost sold out), Superga pink gingham sneakers (other color)
One of the comments that I hear most often is that black goes with everything. Any neutral, well, your preferred neutrals, can also acheive the same results. However, some people only wear black as it is a no-brainer and might seem really easy to decide what to wear.
This minimalist 3 color wardrobe can be applied to any colors, this way you don’t loose your style and it limits yourself to overspending or buying items that you will rarely wear.
OUTFIT: GAP tee, Anthropologie denim dress (old), Superga pink gingham sneakers (other color), anthropologie earrings
After all, the 80/20 rule says that we only wear 20 percent of our clothing 80 percent of the time. This way, you can increase the amount of wears for each item which should decrease the amount of clothing in your closet.
OUTFIT: Old navy coat (old), Joe Fresh stripe tank (old), JCrew pants (similar style), Yellow Shoes
Let me know if you do try these tips at home! I’d love to hear about your experience or your thoughts.
Color your style, color your food, color your life!
Christiane xxx
Hey Christiane, I have gone through the same thing. At one point my closet was so full with clothes I thought „I need a new closet“ – but then I realized that instead of buying more getting rid of things was the right way for me.
So the first thing I did was taking out every piece I hadn‘t worn for at least a year. I ended up with 6 of these big blue IKEA Bags full of clothes. Wow! I washed them and gave all those clothes to charity – since they were still in good shape and just throwing them into the trash didn‘t feel right.
After that I realized I had basically only white / black and grey clothes left. So there are my 3 colours. I stick to them year round since. To add colour I add a bright lipstick to my outfits or a colourful statement necklace or colorful socks (my only exceptio – they always have to be bright and colorful, which in my opinion look great, if the rest of the outfit is rater simple colorwise). Sticking tommy colours has many benefits – everything goes with everything. Like you wrote, it saves so much time in the morning! Also I buy waaaaay less stuff. Do i really need another black skirt when I alread have 3…. or the piece doesn‘t fit into my 3 colors…
Also, I stoped „saving clothes for special moments“ – what are these anyways. Isnˋt any day special? Do I need an excuse to put on a great dress (or whatever)?
So another rule is, that everything has to be wearable any day. This really does work – for example, I went to a wedding last summer and bought a dress that was nice but that I can easly wear to other events – and I do.
The last rule I have is that if I buy something new, something old has to go. If I buy a pair of jeans, an old pair has to go.
About every 4-5 months I apply the „have I worn this in the last 12 month“-rule and always end up with a bag of clothes, that goes away to charity.
And last but not least – I started to support „green fashion labels“ a lot more. When I am looking for new clothes/shoes I try to buy them from stores that sell fair clothes. There are a lot out there.
Wow – this ended up pretty long. Sorry! I can tell you – starting is the hardest. I started 3 years ago and it got easier and easier 🙂
All the best from Germany
Ela
Hi Ela,
Thank you for your comment. You brought up some very good suggestions that I hadn’t included like “never save for special moments” which I totally agree and do myself since that can get quite expensive and you almost never end wearing it again. I also clean my closet once a year and give to salvation army types of stores. Throwing them are never an option and knowing that my something old can become someone’s something new feels good. Also, I like that even though I truly love colourful clothing (which is the theme of my blog) and rarely wear black or white but that you do, I am happy that you found a way to make it work for you with the lipstick, socks and jewelry. This is great feedback as often people think that they have to wear bright clothing in order to be colourful but your tips are great additions so thank you!
Have a great Summer & thank you for reading!
Christiane from Canada xxx