Wardrobe reduction begins.

Hey peeps. I got exactly 2 responses when I asked if you cared about my possible quest to narrow down my wardrobe and be a fabulous minimalist. But they were both fairly enthusiastic responses.

Obviously this is a hot topic and you are all dying to know about it.

Lucky you, I'm here to oblige.

I have a very small closet. My apartment was built in the late '60s when "storage space" wasn't quite the hot commodity it is now. Compared to some people I know, I really didn't have that many clothes. But still, I began to be more and more frustrated that I was looking at a closet full of clothes while saying "I have nothing to wear!"

Clearly, there were clothes there. Lots of them. So why did I act like they were nothing I could use? Why did it take me so stinkin' long to figure out what to wear in the morning?

Have you heard of the 80/20 rule? It says that we wear only 20% of our clothes about 80% of the time. So what about that other 80% of our clothes? Sure, there are a few special occasion outfits. They may not get much wear, but are definitely handy to have when you need them. But what about the rest? The dresses, shirts, pants, skirts, and jeans that almost never get to see the light of day?

After thinking about it, I realized that, yeah, I pretty much wear the same rotation of tops and bottoms over and over again, while totally ignoring everything else.

In a fit and burst of energy and inspiration (and probably not a little bit of "nesting"), I finally decided, "Yes, I can! I can get rid of it all! I can have a perfect little minimalist wardrobe that contains only things I love!!!! I CAN DO THIS!"

And guess what? 

I totally did! My wardrobe is now perfect!

Okay, that's a lie. But I did make a little headway toward that end goal, so that's something, right?

Here's how my closet looked before I got started...

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Whoops. Never mind. I didn't take a picture. I got started on a Saturday morning with such feverish enthusiasm that I didn't even think about documenting how things looked to begin with. But just imagine a small closet with too much stuff on the floor and a lot of clothes in it.

You picturing it? Good job!

Granted, I can't wear a lot of my clothes right now. However, using my immense brain power, I managed to recall what I wore regularly, only sometimes, or pretty much never back months ago. (Months is, like, a long time back to remember, in case you weren't aware.)

So, as anyone may have guessed, I went through my clothes and separated them into 4 piles: Keep, Maybe, Donate, and Toss.

The items to toss weren't tough to decide on. They were extremely old and/or had holes in them. I went through my socks and tossed the ones that had elastic that no longer did its job. I even tossed 2 beloved but old and stained t-shirts that I've been using for PJs for years. Patrick was jubilant. I felt like I was throwing away a little bit of myself, but I stayed strong, and I did it.

For the other 3 piles, though, Keep, Maybe, or Donate, I asked myself several questions when trying to decide whether or not to keep it:

1. Do you actually wear this? Have you worn it more than maybe once in the last year?
2. Does it fit, or do you feel like you're constantly having to adjust this item while wearing it?
3. Ignoring the fact that you spent money on it, do you actually like it? Or are you just kinda "meh" about it? (For this one, I had to remind myself that keeping it in my closet wasn't going to make my money come back. That money is long gone whether I keep the item or not.)

Some items were total keepers. I love them, love how I feel when I'm wearing them, and think they flatter me.

Some items were easy to put in the Donate pile. They're in good condition, but they gape at the bust, or are too small in the shoulders, or generally I just don't wear them for one reason or another.

Then there were some that I had a hard time deciding if I should keep or let them go.

But it's a Calvin Klein dress.
Yes, but it's a size too big.
It WAS a size too big. It might fit once you have the kid!
Probably not. You haven't really gained weight so far.
Well, maybe I could get it tailored down!
Yes, you could. But if it isn't tailored by the end of this year, you donate it.
Ugh, fine. I'll put it in the Maybe pile.

I hate having to be my own voice of reason.

At the end of the purge, I had 2 garbage bags of clothes to donate. I had a small number of items in the garbage can, and the rest (mostly stored away since they don't currently fit) were either "Keep and love forever!" or "You might love it... you just need time to think about it before committing to it."

It's kind of like finding the right relationship. Sometimes you just need to think about it. Of course, if you have to think about it too much, it's probably not for you... But that doesn't stop you from WANTING it to work even if deep down you know it doesn't.

I swear I'll get that dress tailored! I swear! If I can just fix it, THEN it will be perfect and we'll be happy together!
(Sigh.) I've heard this before. I'll be there to hold your hand when December 2014 rolls around and you haven't tailored it and you have to give up this fantasy you're living in that "one day" it'll be the right fit for you...

Man, I'm just full of tough love. But I'll show me! I'll prove me wrong! That dress and I WILL go the distance... we're perfect for each other! It's not a perfect fit now, but I'll make it better! I swear!

We'll see how that goes, but in the meantime, I have a neat, tidy, edited wardrobe with only the clothes that I can actually wear in my closet or dresser.

In the months to come, I hope to come up with a limited list of items I own (or hope to procure) that mix and match very well, maximizing the number of outfits I can wear while keeping the number of items on the smaller side.

Jennifer L. Scott, curator of the blog The Daily Connoisseur and author of Lessons from Madame Chic--a book I have not read but am seriously considering buying--goes with about 10 core items (pants, blouses, dresses) plus extras (jackets, camisoles, tees, etc). I think I'd want a few more than that. Maybe 20?

I'm interested to see if I follow through with this. I've stated before that I'm not exactly Ms. Rah-Rah, Go Get 'Em Tiger! But maybe I can nudge myself towards a more thoughtful, well-put-together wardrobe.

And then eventually maybe I'll transfer that fabulousness to the rest of my life. Listening to this music all the time: http://www.jazzradio.com/pariscafe. Eating off my china every day. Fresh flowers always. Hosting fabulous brunches. Laughing joyfully with Ina Garten in her beautiful home in the Hamptons where we hang out with Jeffrey and sip cocktails by the fire pit...

Hey, a girl can dream.

Have I been a burst of inspiration to you and you're now gung-ho to get rid of the clutter in your closet? Or do you think I'm nuts? How many items do you think I should try to narrow my "core" wardrobe down to?