If you remember, as part of the Minimalist Experiment, I went through my closet and got rid of the clothes that I don’t wear on a regular basis. Some of the clothes I threw away, some I donated to goodwill, and some I put in a duffel bag and stashed in the back of my closet (now that I had the room).
Over the weekend I remembered that I had that duffel bag tucked into my closet. I had completely forgotten about it! One month has passed and I’ve easily made it on about one-third of my clothes.
Clothing List Changes
- I’ve had to throw away a couple pairs of socks, which was expected.
- I purchased a new pair of sleep pants. I definitely wear these enough to keep them around! (I might need to get rid of the other ones that I kept, however.)
- I received two t-shirts as gifts. Again, I wear them often enough to keep them around. (Also again, it might be worth weeding out my unworn t-shirts.)
Challenges
- Since I only kept 7 undershirts, I have run out a time or two, on laundry day. Not a problem, just an inconvenience. My wife would say that I should do the laundry a day earlier.
- Similarly with the socks; since I haven’t opened the new packs of ankle socks yet, I’ve run out once or twice. Again, not a problem.
- Apparently I don’t love all of my dress shirts. I keep wearing the same two over and over. I guess I need to weed out the ones that I don’t wear and keep an eye out for new ones to replace them, as I would like some variety in my options.
About That Forgotten Duffel Bag
Since I’d forgotten about the bag being in the closet, much less what was in it, I suppose that it is time to donate its contents to charity. The best way to do this is to just dump the contents into a bag without looking and then go drop it off.
Of course, I’m not going to do that. -sheepish grin- Because I wish I had some different dress shirts, I will see what is in my bag (no point in buying new ones if I have good ones already in my possession). If there is nothing that I like, it will be donated immediately. I have specific items that I am looking for, and can safely ignore anything else that I find.
Empty Closet Space
With the duffel bag gone, I’ll have some extra space in my closet. I imagine it will quickly be filled with art supplies, since I had to bring them all home from school. A dedicated storage space where I can organize them would be quite a relief. Now, if only I could figure out where to install a studio space…
What would you do with an entire empty shelf in your closet?
Great topic! About a year ago I went through the same sort of purge. I wanted to figure out how little clothes I could get by on. It was a fun experiment that I am actually really glad that I did because now I have way fewer clothes than I used to, and it seems normal. There are people I know of that can survive for a month without doing any laundry, I can’t survive a week.
The other benifit with doing this is that it helps me to justify buying better quality clothes. If I am going to be wearing the same clothes all the time, I want to really like them, they have to be really comfortable, and they have to be good quality.
I’ve still got more clothes than I wear and need to revisit this whole process to pare it down further. My ultimate goal, as I consciously begin to build the wardrobe that I desire, is to have a select range of high-quality clothes that will serve me when I’m out-and-about, as well as timeless pieces that will allow me to always stay fashionable.
My sentiments exactly! Buy higher quality (more expensive) clothes that fit better, last longer, and are more comfortable than the “cheaper” items that used to fill my closet.