I did a pretty big closet purge in the spring and I have a lot fewer clothes in my closet. Not 10 items — not by a long shot. But everything in there now fits. Mind you, I don’t know where this statistic comes from, but in my case it’s true:
“You wear 20 per cent of your clothes
80 per cent of the time.”
In the fall and winter, I most often wear a crisp shirt, a blazer, dark jeans and nice shoes or boots. (In the summer I’m just miserable and wear mostly chinos and polo shirts while I complain that I am too hot). I do need some suits — both summer and winter — and I have those, but they truly are 20 per cent items.
So why don’t I just buy really nice shirts, quality blazers, my favourite brand of jeans and footwear that I love?
Because I’m often swayed by sales, bright colours, vivid patterns or interesting stitching. I (almost) never wear those clothes.
So starting this fall, I have decided to implement a uniform of sorts. From now on, I’m only going to buy things that fit into these categories:
- Quality blazers — none of the pilling junk I got at the Gap last year.
- Solid or striped shirts in colours I will actually wear — no bright purple.
- Jeans that fit me well — sadly, the jeans that I like the best come from
Sweden and cost too much, but it’s worth it if I love them and they
fit properly. - I am not going to limit myself in the footwear department — I do wear all the shoes I own and I need an outlet for my love of the (slightly) garish.
I fully support this plan!