It should be abundantly clear to those who know me even the littlest bit that I love clothes. How you present yourself, which includes the shoes you put on your feet, the coat on your back and the bag in your hand, speaks volumes about who you are or want to be. And if you’ve been lucky like I have been and had a chance to meet many major designers and see their designs and creative talents up close and personal, you realize clothing can be inspiring, almost an art form. I will never quit loving or desiring beautifully made things.
But I am having issues with fashion these days. The majority of social media (at least that I follow) feels like a constant marketing barrage of newness and moreness (making up words here, but it feels exactly like what it represents). Fashion houses, for the most part, frankly create too much stuff and still have their deliveries so out of whack (fall clothes in June etc), everyone waits till it all goes on sale, which is an unsustainable cycle. And I’m exhausted by Pinterest photos that show glittering walk-in closets chock full of rainbow arrays of shoes and Hermes bags and Instagram influencers posing in a new outfit everyday. Plus if you consider some of the sobering statistics–85% of textiles end of in landfills and that between 2000 and 2014 people increased their clothing purchases by 60%, buying whatever you want when you want it–just clicking the LikeToKnowIt button on Instagram and snatching up whatever that really chic influencer is wearing, starts to feel like a wasteful, un-modern practice that is ultimately harmful to the planet.
There has to be a better way–one that allows you to love fashion and getting dressed without feeling like you’re responsible for encouraging needless (and sometimes destructive) spending and environmental waste. Because honestly, how much of what’s sitting in your closet do you wear? I think I wear less than half of mine. Maybe one third? Maybe even less?
I have been giving all of this a lot of thought and realized I couldn’t revolutionize the fashion industry, but I could change my behavior. I started to think–how could I change my habits and hopefully inspire and possibly encourage others to follow suit? And maybe if I was radical enough in my approach, a clearer path forward for others would present itself. I’d be my own fashion guinea pig.
My first step? I seriously, close to radically, cleaned out my closet. I had completed a few purges prior to moving to the city a couple of months ago and have written a few posts about it. Then I decided to get ruthless. A couple of weeks ago, I sent over 80 items to The Real Real and another 40 to ThredUp plus a dozen or so to be recycled. There is now extra space in my single closet and I only have two plastic bins–one of summer shorts, etc and another of seriously sentimental clothing items. I am also down to 4 leather handbags and two straw ones. (Out went my Hermes Birkin/30th birthday present that I have been holding onto, and not using, for years.)
At first it as a struggle, I let go of a lot of beautiful things that I still loved, but didn’t get worn. At the same time there were plenty of old and worn out items that just needed to disappear. Plus, I was committed to a zero waste clean-out (which I managed to achieve) and that takes a lot of effort–splitting up the resell items from the donation piles from the recycle bits and then getting everything where it has to go.
Worse than letting things go was realizing how much money was sitting in my closet. In fact, it was rather shocking. Sure, I will make some of it back with resell, but it will be the smallest percentage and there was money wasted on whim purchases. Too much of it. The traveling I could have done with that money.
The most surprising thing since I completed my clean out? After the initial stresses, I am really happy with fewer things, I miss nothing that I let go of, and two weeks later I’m ready to let go of more. As I continue to get rid of extraneous things–those meh items that hang around, I find I am wearing something that I love most of the time. My style seems more focused. I do believe when you learn to live with less, you find your flair. It’s something I thought I was already practicing, until I decided to take it more seriously. To me a sexy closet isn’t one teaming with stuff, but a succinct one that allows you to immediately envision that person’s style. James Bond would have a sexy closet. Audrey Hepburn probably had a sexy closet. My goal is a sexy closet. It will evolve and change and get updated–which all seems much more achievable when you eliminate the excess.
Having less also goes hand in hand with learning to get really comfortable with wearing the same things again and again. What’s wrong with repetition? If you have seen me this fall/winter, chances are I was wearing the Nili Lotan blazer I’m wearing in the photo above. I have one perfect (in my eyes) plaid blazer and that is enough, I don’t need a second or third option. It’s in weekly rotation. Now, I am thinking about next Spring and how I can make thoughtful purchases that will work with what I already have and still keep my Spring wardrobe to a well-edited, really tight minimum.
I’m excited by the prospects, because it feels really good on so many levels. I’m even more thrilled because I really want to start helping other women (and men) achieve a well-edited wardrobe and am about to embark on a program that will do just that. If you’re game for a closet clean out email me at jennifer@theflairindex.com, so you will be the first to know once I am ready to roll it out. More details to come soon, plus more of my journey on living with less and ways to sharpen your style. And if you’ve been through this and want to share any tips I would love to hear from you.
What a fantastic post. I’ve become so disgusted at the word “refresh” which is used constantly by bloggers, on emails from clothing websites, etc. to get you to buy another thing for the current season. I’ve even started wearing the same “outfit” – jeans and a sweater, days in a row. I never buy any “in case I need it” items, and have also stopped buying ahead of the season. There’s always something else, so I don’t want something sitting in my closet for months before I can wear it. I really applaud you for being a great example to us all. And I will be signing up for your roll out.
BEST POST YET!!! 💛 Thank you.
Hooray for this post! I am 100% in your camp in this – the waste that my closet represents makes me a little queasy. And I agree as well that the constant marketing that is bombarding us has started to make me want to turn away from it all. But at the same time, I still love clothes! In addition to constantly whittling away at my closet I am trying to buy more resale when I do need something new then at least I don’t feel as if I’m contributing to the unhealthy cycle of influence, buy, ignore regret, buy more … I was looking yesterday at some work by an artist that I adore and I thought how nice it would be to afford one of her paintings and then I thought that well, if I hadn’t spent so very much money on impulse clothing purchases I could easily have one of her works on my wall giving me much much more pleasure.
Wonderful post!
I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction getting rid of things.
I am beyond looking forward to hearing your advice, regarding an edited wardrobe.
I no longer shop at any fast fashion stores as I know it won’t be long before it ends up in the trunk of my car, en route to Good Will.
Oh golly…big yes to your post and the comments above…
the travel! the art!
I too am purging–I’m fortunate because much of is wanted by my daughter. And I’m also buying most “refresh” on therealreal.
I love your site and your advice.
Thank you
totally agree with you & have been trying to do this for a few years. Giving things away to those who could use them is a wonderful feeling.
I’m surprised by how many bloggers that aren’t young & who should know better, still go the high/low mix which means incorporating pieces from companies that manufacture in Asia & are meant not to last. Yes they’re cheap in the short term, but are costly in so many ways in the longer term.
I’m lucky that I have a home office so require less for “work” on those occasions when I am meeting clients but still, I could have a lot more casual clothes but choose not to.
A lot of adding “stuff” to our closet comes from needing more on the outside to make up for what’s missing on the inside too. Maybe time to do a refresh inside too :)?
Really enjoy your site & your podcast but wonder if you could use a darker font. I prefer grey to black too to but maybe a darker grey?
Style is important, but so is the future of our planet. We should be able to figure out how to do both. Great Post Jennifer.
The outfit you’re wearing is perfect! Love everything. I’ll be more than happy with some great jeans, a few high quality tee shirts/sweaters/blazers.
Couldn’t agree more Jennifer. I’ve been paring down my closet for more than 15 years, holding onto a few prizes. But lately I find myself taking the Michele Oka Donor approach of mainly wearing the same silhouette in subtly different dark colors all the time – not exclusively, but that uniform is my most comfortable go to. And it is made in the Asiatica studio in Kansas City where they have the same small group of artisans working for more three decades up-cycling beautiful vintage kimono cloth into modern clothes, all that time adhering to sustainable practices way before it was the “thing” to do.
Love this. I am currently in the process of doing this very thing as well. It feels wonderful to scale back and only keep things that I LOVE. I’ve purchased a few new things lately but all of them have been pre-owned, which makes me feel ok. My overall budget is lower than what yours probably is, and I think it’s difficult for lower-income folks to buy really quality things that will last years, but it’s doable with some education. Knowing to choose single knits over blends with synthetics (avoiding synthetics in general), looking at the seams, structure, lining, etc., ensuring that the garment is laundered properly, knowing when a tailor can make the piece better, proper de-pilling processes, etc….these are all things that will ensure that clothes are kept and worn for a long time. Not long ago, many people bought ONE coat and wore it for years until it was ragged. I’m not saying we have to be that extreme, but a new coat/bag every season isn’t necessary. I look forward to seeing how this new outlook evolves and what it produces!
My small company, Asiatica, in Kansas City, has been making clothes with this philosophy for 40 years. http://Www.asiaticakc.com. Great post!
Commenter Susan Cannon mentioned your studio above!
Fabulous post which I am most grateful for. As others have mentioned, I, too, have refined my wardrobe and looking to cut excess. Yes, less is more.
I’ve been thinking about this post all day! I couldn’t agree more about needing less, and I’ve been thinking about WHY I over-bought and over-spent, as well. I think as I’ve gotten older (and wiser – or at least more afraid of debt than I was as younger person), I’ve realized that I don’t need to acquire something to appreciate it; that is, I don’t need the object to enjoy the object. And realizing, too, that I stuck to one small corner of my closet has opened up space both literal and figurative. I appreciate this post (and your blog) very much; thank you for taking the time to find the words for feelings a lot of us have.
Every time a blogger suggests something on the pricey side, someone invariably says something along the lines of “That’s a crazy price! I can’t afford that and I can pick up the exact same thing for $10!”
It’s going to take a lot of effort to change people’s minds but I’m definitely going to do my part.
Yes, yes, yes! One of my favorite quotes is from the late French architect and designer, Andree Putman: “I love America, and I love American women. But there is one thing that deeply shocks me – American closets. I cannot believe one can dress well when you have so much.”
Great post, thank you!