My Accidental Capsule Wardrobe Changed My Life
I wouldn't call my minimalism a lifestyle "choice"
Clothes are, for many people across the world, a thing to protect their bodies from their environment and preserve a sense of modesty. For me, clothes used to be much more than that. They were a wearable art form, a signal that I fit in, and a manifestation of my persona of the cool, put-together, confident woman that I wanted to project to the world. While I have never necessarily valued looks or appearance as a priority in my life, the expressive aspect of my style has been a source of pride for as long as I’ve had the awareness that clothes are more than functional swaths of fabric.
I am a recovered clothing hoarder.I used to wear maybe 10% of what I owned on a regular basis, the rest was either shoved to the back of the closet or stuffed in donation bags that I never quite got around to dropping off at the donation bin.
Clothes were fun, but they were also a source of angst. If I stayed overnight at a friend’s house, I had to pack a week’s worth of outfits just in case one change of clothes wouldn’t look right. During back-to-school shopping trips with grandparents, I enjoyed picking things out but stressed about choosing the wrong things and regretting my selections later over what I could have brought home.
