I've never really considered myself to be a clothes horse. A wardrobe-minded Shetland pony would probably have been a more accurate description. However, after two-plus months of working from home, I've come to realize that I've got too many damn clothes.
Over the years I've tried to cut as much fast-fashion as possible out of my closet and invest in more high-quality, longer-lasting, classics that won't go out of style.
I even instituted a one-in, one-out rule for any piece of clothing that included a "no new hangers" clause. That way I'd be forced to purge because I'd have nowhere to put something new.
Working from home has given me a unique opportunity to pare down what I wear and reassess what really belongs in my wardrobe. I started by taking the things that I love and moving them to the back of the closet. If I wasn't going anywhere, why bother to wear the good stuff?
Next, I grabbed all the pieces of clothing that I either wasn't wearing that often or, for one reason or another, just didn't like that much anymore (button-downs, T-shirts, socks, underwear, jeans, you name it).
Whatever had the least amount of wear and tear was earmarked for the donation pile. What was left was what I would wear for the duration of my time spent working from home, what I would venture to say is about 10 days' worth of clothes.
My three-fold plan is working. I'm wearing things I spent good money on (but don't necessarily like) into the ground. When things return to the new normal, I'll be so sick of these clothes (that will probably be hanging on by a thread). But I was still able to get maximum usage out of them.
The second part of my plan is the reinforced realization that I can make do with a much more streamlined wardrobe that will allow me to wear something I really like every single day. So you know, looking good, feeling good.
As for the third part of my plan, well that's drastically limiting any new clothing purchases to items that specifically need to be replaced rather than adding things just because of, you know, shopping.
Now, if I can only make this plan work for my T-shirt collection, then I'd really be making some progress.
