Packing for a business trip in 2015 - trimmed down my wardrobe to several pieces...

Hey there, I get it. It's a pain every morning or night wondering what to wear for the day. You look into your ever-growing wardrobe, but ironically there is nothing you want to wear. Every piece looks kind of alright, if not, quite 'something', because you handpicked every one of them, but they just don't seem to fit into your everyday wear.

You are just not that into your wardrobe.

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1. Figuring out what to wear is a 'ain't nobody got time for that' episode in your everyday routine.

Admit it. As much as you want to look as excited as Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City when she opened her closet, thinking about what to wear is not an exciting task, but, instead, a mundane task for you.

A mundane task is one that's repetitive, overwhelming, and doesn't give any satisfaction. It just means you have too many options.

2. Thinking about what to wear is easy, but thinking about what INTERESTING things to wear is out of your game.

At the other side of the closet is a pile of clothes you wear almost all the time. They are the same usual pieces that you are bored of. It's either black or grey, or with some colours that you know looks flattering on you but is considered 'safe' and 'conservative'. Some signature pieces there, but it's only reserved for special occasions and you never know when you can pair it with your 'normal outfit.
It's time to rethink: is your wardrobe matching your lifestyle and reflect your personal style?

3. When asked about what your personal style is, you're absolutely speechless or attempt to utter some adjectives such as 'classic', 'casual', 'minimalistic', etc knowing you mean 0 of that.

Let's face it, you probably get more excited by shopping for clothes rather than actually thinking about wearing them. Yes, you might feel invincibly empowered the first few times you wear them, but once you're used to them, you are hungry for another set of new outfit again.

Doesn't this defeat the whole purpose of handpicking your favourite pieces, shop for them, bring them home, and make the full use of every single item?

4. Some pieces are just disposable.

Now this just sound as wrong as it is. I am a firm believer that in order to live a quality life, we must embrace every single item, moment, and experience. Why spend your bucks on something you want to throw away? Why spend your time on shopping for something you don't even care about? Living quality life is a conscious choice. It doesn't have to be expensive, and it certainly doesn't mean 'luxury' in ordinary sense. It just means you are conscious and responsible for choices you have made.

If you just take a good look at how every single piece of 'disposable' clothing you own and begin to explore:

the number of pieces of fabric,
the different styles of seams,
the cut of fabric,
the weave (how threads are interlocked in a fabric),
the material that gives the texture,
the colour,
the accessories and how they are attached to the fabric
and of course, the design

You would begin to realise, not everything can be done by automated machines and there are certainly a lot of thoughts, if not, work, that goes into making a piece of clothing that is considered 'disposable' by you.

Fashion, and the production of clothing, is still very much a labour-intensive process. If you had known how much resources had been invested into that random piece of 'nothing', you would reconsider your relationship with your very own handpicked wardrobe.

5. When shopping online or in-store, you can tell immediately what the pieces you like are. You bought them, but you never really liked them for more than a season (or 1 year max.).

Now this is getting interesting. How can you totally know what's good for yourself, love it, buy it, but then ended up not wearing them? You might have loved the piece, but you don't like how it looks on your body. You might have loved the piece, but you don't like how it matches with the remaining of your closet. Or that the colour just isn't easy to pair or wear (who wants yellow sweat stains on a flawless white shirt on a hot summer day), or the texture simply isn't functional (who wants a turtleneck that gets more and scratchy with washes on a winter night?). Or it simply gets out of fashion at the blink of an eye. Or you don't know how to care for it (trust me, I've had classy expensive silk top that was ruined by just 1 wash - I never wore it since). Many more reasons / excuses to follow.

There should be a lot more thoughts that goes into purchasing every single item in your wardrobe. It is a trade-off: either you spend time before your purchase, or you spend a lot more time thinking about how to wear it and a lot more space / resources to store or look for close alternatives to 'fill the space in your heart'.

You should consider: (1) the fabric, (2) the cut, (3) the fit, (4) the colour, (5) the style that you are trying to curate. These have direct impact on how the clothing feels on your skin, how you feel in the piece, how the style fit with your daily routine & overall lifestyle, how you wash or iron, alter or repair it.

If the above resonates with you, stay tuned for my upcoming posts on how to curate your own wardrobe!

“Living quality life is a conscious choice. It means you’re conscious of and responsible for choices you have made.”

5 Signs you're not that into your wardrobe