Downsizing My Closet

My sister is convinced that the Zero Waste Home book has become my lifestyle bible and that I am now going around spreading the word like some crazy zealot.

Not. True.

I am however attempting to make changes to how I live in an effort to decrease the impact I have on the environment and to live a simpler and eco-friendly life.

Simple=less stuff
Eco-friendly=less trash

So now that I have cleared out most of the plastic containers which had accumulated in my kitchen cabinets, the next stop was my closet.  I know...probably the toughest spot to tackle because I looove clothes!  Like Bea in Zero Waste, I was NOT going to have a wardrobe which fit into a carry-on suit case.  That was just not possible for me.  So I started searching the internet for ideas on how to create a capsule wardrobe (where everything is coordinating giving you more options, but with fewer clothes) and came across a few inspiring websites.

The Project 333 - Less is the new black.
Be More with Less - A minimalist fashion project.
Into Mind - A minimalist approach to personal style and wardrobe building
Uniform Project - One dress, 365 days.  All to raise money to send kids to school in India.  Check out the Tedx talk on the site.
Seamly.co - Sustainable fashion made in the USA.  The Versalette, one piece of clothing 30 ways.

Needing some moral support for the project, I called on my sister (a costume designer) to come and help me start the process of simplifying my closet.  I decided to go with a system based on Project 333 - 33 items for 3 months - and created a wardrobe for each season.  Fall - September, October, November. Winter - December, January, February. Spring - March, April, May. And finally the summer - June, July, August.

We started with a full closet and pulled out several items which I counted as "must haves" for each season and then built the rest of the wardrobe around those items, using what I already had in my closets and drawers.  Whatever was left after that, was either recycled, donated or consigned.  That meant, the cute top which matched only one other item usually went in the discard pile. Tear.

I am including a before picture and will show a true after picture when I get started in September.  While I do have a seriously pared down wardrobe for summer right now, I wanted to start fresh with the fall cycle.  I will include a complete list of my fall items and the basic rules in September.

So here is to a year (hopefully longer) of living with less.

P.S. This was a very difficult area to tackle, I spent most of the summer thinking about it and mentally preparing myself to part with almost half of my wardrobe.  This is not for the faint of heart!  We will see how I feel about it come the end of November :)

P.P.S. Some additional resources I forgot to include last week.