Robert Corey Minimalist Implementation: Clothing Routine

I’ve maximized my minimalism such that I’m more minimal than ever before.

Robert Corey
Aug 8, 2017 · 4 min read

One of my most vivid memories from middle/high school is always being in a state of sock/shoe/shirt anxiety. I was forever exhausting my supply of socks and shirts I was willing to wear. I’d go to sleep not thinking about it and then wake up in a panic realizing I only had 2 mismatched effeminate socks and a tiny shirt that was way too tight.

I’ll just wear the tiny shirt and never move my arms at school

I’d think to myself. Those tiny shirt days were horrible. They system I had then wasn’t working. As I got older I got better at managing my clothes but was still spending a lot of time thinking about/ maintaining my appearance and clothing. I finally decided that simplicity is my number one goal regarding my appearance and have built the following system to support that.

giving the people what they want

The picture above is the most unique thing I’m doing, I’ll start with it. I’ve combined washing my body and my clothing together in the tub at the end of the day.

The first thing I learned from doing this was that the soap I was using was really strong smelling. You can’t really tell when it’s on your body, but when it was on my clothes I could tell I was radiating dove soap smell everywhere. At first I liked it, I’d bring my shirt up to my nose and take a long inhale to really take in the smell. But then I started thinking

why do I want my clothes to smell like this? what chemicals are used to make this smell like this? why do I have dove soap? where did it come from? I don’t remember buying it? Shouldn’t I want my natural vegan body odor to come through so everyone will know what a good person I am?

Instead I replaced it with hypoallergenic dove soap that doesn’t smell as much. I’m planning on buying it from someone who makes soap locally in the future. I know they exist from looking at my mom’s facebook feed in the past.

After I finished cleaning them I hang them on this upright bedframe to dry overnight. If I spread them out fully on the rack they are dry by the morning. This is important because I’m wearing the orange shorts and bandana depicted in the picture everyday.

I purchased the orange shorts because they were 40% cheaper than the black version; not because they are the same shade of color as goku’s gii in dragonball, that is merely a side benefit. I started wearing the bandana as sun protection while I biked. By doing this I have joined the ranks of a secret society of adult men who wear headbands un-ironically (SSoAMwWHU). We nod to each other in solidarity at yoga class and the grocery store.

The office presents a different set of challenges. Luckily it’s 2017 and notable sex symbol/tech CEO Mark Zuckerberg has paved the way to wear the same thing to the office everyday. I settled on a black polo and black skinny jeans. Changing into the skinny jeans restricts my flesh and serves as a physical reminder that I’m in a corporate environment and shouldn’t say anything that contradicts television advertisements. At the end of the day I shed the symbolic and physical shackles of the jeans which helps me discard the mental shackles that have been building all day.

Clothes that aren’t being currently worn/dried/kept at work I store in luggage. Since I’m cleaning my clothes everyday I don’t actually have to dip into these backups very often. I’ll do an even deeper purge once my routine stabilizes and I’m sure I won’t need them.

I’m very happy with my relationship with my clothing now. I feel affectionate and loving towards them instead of viewing them as a horrible boring necessity.

donating excess/ old clothes by balancing a mile w/ them on my yet to be stolen bike.

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