Less is more

As I mentioned before, I still have a lot of decluttering to do. This time my wardrobe was the target. I actually do this frequently. I used to do it twice a year when I switched to summer or winter clothing. The extra clothing got stored in boxes or bags somewhere else. But I still kept too many things.

Things that don't look good on me. Things that I bought because - hmmm, why exactly did I buy them? Things that made me look frumpy.

This is the after, actually. Forgot to take a before shot. As usual. Sigh.

I was lacking a plan. For years most of my clothing was office wear, with a pair of jeans or two for weekends. Then I had kids. And more pairs of jeans. And maternity clothing and just-after-delivery clothing and all that. Not much time to shop, unless you care about shopping with a toddler running away and a baby screaming because they both, like their dad, hate shopping. I have no idea who these babies belong to that you see sleeping in the stroller while mommy tries on new outfits. Anyway, not my kids, so online shopping it was for me. You know, big Swedish store common here in Europe. Cheap. Modern. Stylish - if you're 15. If you're not 15, you eventually run into trouble if your wardrobe consists of mostly cheap, modern stuff. At least I did. Because I never ended up looking like those casual and put-together catalog images. I ended up looking frumpy.

Then Joanna started her Get in Style series. Now, while not all of that works for me, it was the wake-up call I needed to get started. I bought different things. I actually thought about what might go together and what I might need to complement exisiting pieces. What a novel concept. At least for me.

A clouple months later I am getting better at this. I know it's silly and the rest of the world has been doing this for ages, but I am still so excited every time I discover that outfits come together so easily when things match in style, when there accessories to hold it together. When you bag and your shoes and the scarf actually sort of match. And by match I don't mean same store, same collection, I mean same style or color family or pattern or whatever else ties them together. Like this scarf that I found and fell in love with, discovering much later that it makes all those gray and beige and brown things I have go together and work together.

This time I really cleaned out my closet, tossing everything I didn't really love. The result is four boxes of stuff that will be sold next weekend (wish me luck - any profits go towards my next shopping trip without kids). And there's another box waiting for Spring to be sold.

It feels so great.

All my off-season clothing fits into these two boxes at the top of my closet. As Rachel from Small Notebook says, It Is So Much Easier to Simplify Than Organize. Whatever I will be adding, I will be doing carefully. Wait to find the perfect piece. I keep a running list of things I need. And I try to think ahead if this really matches what I already have and my style. Haha, like I have a style already. Let's say the style I'm working to accomplish. I'm getting there.


What are your favorite pieces?

Swenja