5 Apr 2013

wardrobe challenge: six items or less

Last month, I opted to undertake a 'Six Items or Less' challenge. This was part of my minimalism pledge and I feel it was quite a success. I will explain why as this post goes on.

So to recap, here were my six items (well, five in the picture):

Five of the six items. The last item is a coat - originally, I had chosen an Aquascutum mac but because of the adverse weather, I changed that item to a Whistles wool coat. This meant I still stuck to the 'six items or less' rule :)

The hardest part of this challenge is being creative with the daily outfits. Six items can only mean that the combinations of outfits are less than if there were ten items, for example (mathematics can explain this quite easily). This meant that one had to be dedicated and also learn and develop the art of perseverance. Nothing in life is easy (everyone says this, and I'm pretty sure we can agree that this is true) which is exactly why this is called a 'challenge'.

Also, another problem is that you can get bored easily with such a limited number of garments. However, using the creative side of your brain can help you even if you're more of a scientific person (like I am). Even within science, creativity and the ability to think in different ways can be beneficial but enough of that and back to the topic in hand.

With this challenge a success, I have found it has helped with my new urge to be minimalistic. It has reinforced the need for me to downsize my wardrobe and sell some items on eBay this summer. And it has also taught me that I can live on fewer items too. I'm quite bad in that I love all of my clothes but I don't wear nearly half (at a guestimate).

How my wardrobe looked in my old house... and I hope it won't look after a good declutter; as a direct result of this challenge!

As a result, I believe that this challenge will help me declutter. The positives I have taken from this challenge are:

- that although it is good to have a lot of choice, a smaller number of items equates to less time wasted choosing outfits each morning and;

- that the 80/20 principle might actually be true and maybe I should apply it to my wardrobe! Something that can be related to being a minimalist too, I guess.

I have to admit that this challenge was hard. Laundry had to be done more often and I only chose one cardigan so that made my outfits a bit more boring than I would have liked. On the other hand, the positives I have taken from it has only spurred me on to get rid of more items. A massive sale is next on my list and with me being on a 'no clothes shopping' ban this year, my wardrobe size will surely have reduced dramatically in size in a few months' time.

If you have a similar problem to me - too many clothes, etc - then this challenge would be ideal for you. My advice would be to do it in the summer so that a coat doesn't take up one of the items and possibly expand it to ten items if you think six is too few, and then maybe go down to six the next month.

How do you think you'd fare if you had to do this challenge? Or have you done one already? If so, how did you find it?

9 comments

  1. I couldn't do it, because of the way laundry works where I live. It's expensive and there's no option to do a half load.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How about increasing the number of items? :-) x

      Delete
    2. I wash all my nice items by hand- that's an option too.

      Delete
  2. I think I do this without thinking. I have certain outfits for Uni, or work (when I was working in the office) I wear the same items over and over but always change the tone or the look of the outfit by adding a lovely necklace (from the huge amount I have) to just jazzing up my make up, adding red lipstick, adding darker lipstick, hair up or down etc really makes a difference in the way you carry yourself, which of course reflects in your confidence and the way you dress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think we all do this without thinking (the 80/20 principle) but actually choosing the six items means we're choosing from that 20% of items we wear 80% of the time. I agree that accessories make the difference - I don't wear much make-up (usually only wear it on bad skin days!) but jewelry is the thing I mix up :) xxx

      Delete
  3. I actually got a few extra items so that I would have a standard (fairly minimal) wardrobe for work, and I stuck with my challenge for a month (which was the amount of time I'd planned to do it for). Unfortunately I had bought a couple items because they were suitable for work, not because I actually liked them, and so I now have a couple of tops to put in the charity bag. I should do that today as there is a collection on Monday. :-) Warmer weather is coming so I should be able to be reasonably minimal again, it is time to check though all my clothes again...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hehe, I think you should do a six Filofaxes or less challenge ;D kidding!

      The warm weather definitely makes it much easier to be minimal - no need for that big wool/chunky winter coat :D I might do this again during one of the summer months but knowing me, I'll end up choosing a month that perpetually rains and also end up choosing a pair of sandals for that month... x

      Delete
    2. I'd like to know more about your experience. I know about another project -33 items to wear for a season. This sounds more doable than only 6. What other people said about it-who sea you every day- did they noticed?
      I don't go to work, and I don't wear too many items- I think this is exactly how many I wear. Just if I'd have to go to work every day, this doesn't seam appealing.

      Delete
    3. To be fair, I don't think anyone really noticed what I was wearing. I know I certainly don't tend to notice what my friends wear everyday and as it was so cold, most of the time when I went out, you could only see my coat. I think this would still be do-able if you did go to work though. Think back to when you were in school, you'd wear the same clothes everyday, right? And some people wear the same suit for a week/a few days before dry cleaning it so I guess it's the same principle xxx

      Delete