A few weeks ago I wrote about buying time instead of material things. By and large I am adhering to that but shoes are my achilles heel (no pun intended).
When I was a child, I used to get dressed up in my mum's or mum's friends clothes. I was about 4 or 5 when I slipped on my first heel (it was about 4 sizes too big and I only wore it for about 5 seconds).
I bought my first pair of high heels when I was 15 and worked a pair of knee-high gladiator wedges through much of University. Which incidentally led me to become friends with the only other girl in school to wear similar ridiculous yet fabulous footwear.
On my 21st birthday, my ever practical friends bought me two shoe wheels. I filled them up and fulfilled my commitment to never let them go till I moved to a smaller place that couldn't accommodate them.
The point is, I really love shoes. All 43 pairs that I currently own.
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| 4 of 43 pairs. |
When the article of Miranda Kahl and her work uniform popped up a while back, someone suggested I try out a capsule wardrobe. I would say I dismissed the idea like an calm and collected adult, but my inner reaction was completely aghast - how, what, and most importantly, why would you wear the same thing to work for 3 years?!
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| Miranda Kahl in her work uniform. Courtesy: Max Ahlborn |
Lately however...the idea seems to have taken root (also partly brought on by another shoe buy).
Like most people, I notice that ~80% of the time, I'm only wearing ~20% of my wardrobe.
So, maybe this could work? I could have less things cluttering up my life, and really get maximum use out of the things I do own.
Some people go as far as having a 10 item capsule wardrobe, some 33 pieces across 3 months (see Project 333). My fashion challenge is less extreme - I'm going to start with downsizing my shoe collection first, by getting rid of shoes that I don't love or don't quite fit.
Then, it'd be the (slightly frightening task) of creating an all-seasons capsule wardrobe master list, like what Laura (thelovelylauralife.com) has done. This will help me figure out what my capsule wardrobe's magical number is.
If you'd like to join me on my journey, here are some general tips from capsule wardrobe experts:
1. Start by getting rid of everything you don't love
Think of it as a therapeutic purge where you get rid of things that don't fit, don't love or haven't worn in a while.
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| These don't fit. They're also not mine. |
2. Creating that master list of things that you need
Make a list of all the things your master wardrobe would have, and what you would need to get to complete it. Since we live in tropics, there isn't really a huge need to think about dual-season (hot and cold) clothing that can be layered.
Nonetheless, I do travel so I have some cold-weather items lying around (leather jacket, coat, etc) but I won't include those in my master list.
3. You don't need to do an 10-item wardrobe. Find your own number
The objective of a capsule wardrobe is not to follow an arbitrary small number, but to learn to live with less, or not more than you need to.
4. Get going!
Stop thinking about it and just try. Good luck!
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