On Having a Thoughtful Closet

A post from Indiana . . . 

A few people have commented and contacted me about my #thoughtfulcloset self-imposed challenge that I've mentioned a bit on IG. I am hesitant to call it a capsule collection or a minimalistic wardrobe, because I don't know if what I'm doing falls squarely into either of those things. 

Honestly, it's not that planned out nor is it that rigid. I've simply pared down my closet, including my shoes, to 30 items total, and I'm making myself wear only those 30 items for 90 days. I don't have plans to rotate my 30 items out for 30 entirely new items at the end of the challenge, and I don't plan to turn my wardrobe into a monochromatic thing of even fewer items eventually. This was just a drastic measure I had to take after the millionth time of cleaning out my closet and wondering how in the world I had amassed so much stuff-- stuff I liked but didn't wear regularly. 

Although getting my wardrobe down to 30 in-season items could certainly be considered a "capsule collection", I'm calling it a thoughtful closet because it's pared down practically (and not by any set of "rules") and I've very carefully considered each of these items and I've tried to make sure they've fit into my "Shop With Heart" shopping philosophy. For almost all of the items, if the item is less than a year old, it's second hand or it's manufactured by a company who has put into practice a give-back model, humane working conditions, and / or eco-friendly materials. If the item is more than a year old, it's something I've worn season to season and isn't just a "trend" to me. 

I did this for me-- not for the sake of my blog or Instragam. And since I'm already 30 days done, I can honestly say that this is really working for me. At first it was weird to have such an empty closet bar, now it's not at all weird... except how much more often I have to do laundry. 

I wasn't initially planning to blog this at all, but I weirdly miss having a style blog. It's not at all lost on me that I quit doing a fashion blog when I got jaded and overwhelmed with the way that the world of style blogging evolved ("fauxtoshoots", the endless "must have's" shopping lists, relentless trend chasing, and the never ending pursuit of "increasing my influence"), and now that I've made a clean break and rebranded my blog, I want to have a style blog again. 

In complete transparency, it's a slippery slope for me. For instance, a while back I announced that I was going to start a thoughtful gift giving blog, but last week, after putting six months into it behind the scenes, I decided to not move forward with it. Again-- since it was a SHOPPING blog, my queued up content was very consumeristic, although the brands were brands that were doing good. I couldn't figure out how to helm a shopping blog without making those "GO BUY ALL THESE AMAZING THINGS IMMEDIATELY" posts all the time. Before it even launched, it already wore me out. Do I really want to make people feel like they need to go buy all the things all the time? No. No! 

So that's where I sit now when I think about doing outfit posts again. How can someone do a personal style blog when A- she isn't showcasing groundbreaking style, and B- she is uncomfortable promoting "BUY ALL THESE THINGS" posts all the time? and C- she just really wants to have a space on the web where she can be funny and maybe show you what she's wearing but not brush her hair if she doesn't want to.

All that to say: I'm going to try to blog a little bit about my Thoughtful Closet experiment, but I'm actually far more interested in how other people are shopping thoughtfully. More on that later...