A style experiment
Starting this blog has been a blessing and learning
experience. Not only have I encountered a new community of creative and warm people, but I've also learned a lot about myself. Since embarking on this journey, I’ve discovered one thing
in particular which really started to bother me. I realized how
much excess stuff I accumulated over the years. From
shoes that hadn’t left their boxes in months, to blazers with the tags still on
them, I collected more things than I had a need for. That said, on a given weekend, I could
convince myself that I had nothing to wear and needed something new! Now I
don’t know about you, but my friends and I can almost always talk ourselves
into a purchase. If the item was on sale, forget about it – it was definitely
coming home!
As I sat back and reflected, a few things were clear. The
majority of the time, I wore the same things. Shoot, I have a pair of jeans
with a huge hole in the knee to prove it (RIP).
More importantly, as I looked critically at my finances, I came to grips with
the fact that I spent more of my disposable income on "stuff" than actual
experiences. I’ve always wanted more time and money to travel, but I wasn’t
doing nearly as much as I could to make this goal a reality. The extra things
that I collected were clouding my space, had no real purpose, and were getting
in the way of things I really wanted.
So, back in November I started drastically downsizing. I sold clothes and
shoes online, donated items, gave away things to friends and family members –
you name it. Slowly, my closet reduced in size by at least 50%. But that still wasn’t enough. I needed to
take action that would not only force me to eliminate the excess, but also minimize
the urge to spend while still enabling me to develop my personal style. My passion for style and visual expression isn't going anywhere.
Then, in came this idea of a capsule wardrobe – wearing a
predetermined number of items, for a set period of time. I discovered this concept on Project 333. You can learn more about it here.
Over the next three months, I’ll be doing an experiment in living and styling with less. I
curated 36 items that I will wear until April 1. During
this time, I’ll continue to get rid of things that didn’t make it into my capsule
AND no shopping is allowed.
In the coming days, I’ll share the items that made
it into my capsule wardrobe as well as more inspiration behind my experiment. Stay tuned!
Cam