Minimizing

Project 333 – 2017 No New Clothes – The Capsule Wardrobe

What does it mean to “minimalize?” Just google it. It’s all over FaceBook, Blogs, Podcasts, even the movies. Last night I viewed The True Cost on Netflix and was amazed at the impact of “Fast Fashion” on the world. Not that my wardrobe contains anything “fashionable.” It’s more like two closets jammed packed with forty years of clothing that might come back into style someday.

About a month ago I sorted through one of the closets filling six garbage bags with clothes from two sizes ago. Were they to return to vogue, I couldn’t possibly get my muffin tops into them anyway. I sent Eric off to the green charity bin next to KwikStop with the bags before I could change my mind. The disturbing part of this is, now that I watched The True Cost, I learned only 10% of those donations might be sold at thrift stores. The rest will be shipped off to somewhere like Haiti and most likely end up in their landfill.

So here comes my solution: I’ve made a commitment to two groups on Facebook – Project 333 and 2017 No New Clothes.

The object of Project 333 would be tackle these two closets and pull out only 33 items to be used as a capsule wardrobe for the next three months. There’s no rule that you must dispose of the other 3,000 items in your wardrobe but serious followers will pack away three more seasons and toss the rest. Note photo above – this is my first attempt – we’ll see how long it takes before I dig deeper into the closet of temptation. I’m not ready to fill up that landfill yet.

As for 2017 No New Clothes, it’s been easier than I thought, perhaps because I had a bit of a shopping spree just before Christmas. But I’ve been thinking. Is it cheating to buy used clothes? Is it cheating to suggest to someone that I might need that new t-shirt for my birthday? Just kidding… I have no intention of cramming one more piece of clothing into the mess. My wardrobe won’t be supporting environmental destruction, GMO cotton, pesticide use, and cheap labor.

Now about that new Instant Pot on the kitchen counter…