recently (very recently. as in, the past three days.) i was introduced to the concept of a
capsule wardrobe. i began to do a bit of research and realized
oh man, this is exactly what i need to do. my day-to-day wardrobe is very consistent. six out of seven days a week i wear a dress or skirt & my evenings are filled with studying at a coffee shop or lounging at home with friends. it's a lifestyle that's already easy to dress for, so i decided that this may be the best impulse decision of my life. i immediately took everything out of my closet and started looking at how much of it i really loved and how much was just ehhh. i put the "ehhh" pile in a huge bag, only keeping the things i loved. the next day i sorted through the clothes left in my closet, making sure they all could be worn together and that they were the clothes i want to be best friends with for the next three months. i consolidated down to 34 items (including shoes, but not including accessories or workout clothes). so this is what i'm left with.
it's going to be
so much fun to challenge myself with this, to prove that i can live with only 34 things to wear for three months. this might just be the best decision of my life (i secretly hope to get to the end of december and never want to go back to owning 267 items of clothing. ever.) but more than simplifying my wardrobe for the sake of a challenge, this is deeper for me. i want everything about me to completely back up what i believe. i want a lifestyle that supports the direction i'm going tomorrow or next month or next year or after graduation.
so if i say i want to move across the world and live in a third world country, but yet i have two closets (one at school
and one at home) that are jam-full of clothes --
how does that make sense? i say that i want to make 1 peter 3:3-4 true of me. ["don't let your adorning be merely external-- the braiding of hair and putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear--- but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."] but i spend more time deciding what to wear than building a relationship with Jesus & cultivating humility. i focus much,
much more on myself and my appearance than serving the people around me.
and i'm not okay with that.
and if drastically changing my wardrobe and the way i think about clothes helps me have more time, money, and focus for other people -- then it's worth it. no, getting rid of clothes is not going to make me less materialistic or more humble. it's not the solution for my sinful flesh,
but it's a start.
this is part of my process of making october a month of growth, prayer, and refocus. sometimes that looks like afternoons spent in my hammock, praying and journaling. other times that looks like making an impulse decision to get rid of 90% of my wardrobe. either way, i love this time. it's all grace. and i'm thankful.
