Last time we talked about closet minimalism, I ventured on a six-month shopping ban.

And, I did it! Sort of. Mostly. We'll get there.

The reasons I gave for instigating the ban, I now realize, aren't the full truth. While my motivations for culling a streamlined, thoughtful closet are still very real ( less stuff, increased consciousness, easier decision making, yada yada ), the shopping ban forced me to come face to face with a pesky truth I've struggled with for a long time: negative self-esteem.

The truth is, shopping ( or rather, consumerism ) presents us with a false solution for wholeness. It promises happiness, but the reality is fleeting. Caroline talks about the connection with negative thought patterns + consumerism more eloquently in this podcast. And as much as I hate to admit it, I must somehow believe buying that new dress or cute pair of shoes or whatever is going to solve my dissatisfaction with my Roman nose and frizzy ass Medusa hair.

Maybe you don't struggle with this, and that's great. But it was me, IS me.

All along, I think I knew the root of my constant shopping was the elusive promise of feeling good about myself. Sometimes it even worked! But inevitably, I'd buy those trendy skinny jean overalls that looked so cute on the model ( ugh, whyyyy even? ), put them on, take one look in the mirror and end up in shame spiral fueled by self-loathing and hits from the Cheetos bag.

Deciding to reduce your closet or build a capsule wardrobe will NOT magically bring happiness. Neither will expanding your closet or buying lots of new things. You can't really be happy unless you do a few things first. Accept who you are, right at this moment. Define your why. And be hella grateful for what you have. It sounds cheesy, but it's true.

That being said, I'm owning up. During my shopping ban, I purchased one pair of sandals and a new jacket + pair of shorts for our upcoming trip to Tanzania + Zanzibar ( !!! ). Were these items "needs?" Kinda sorta not really. They were more "wants."

But we're all human here. Mistakes happen, so let's just keep striving to do better + forget that skinny jean overalls thing ever happened.

//

"Nothing is going to make you happier than you decide to be right now." ( Caroline Rector, Unfancy )

It's funny. When I first posted about culling my closet to create a more minimal, thoughtful + "me" wardrobe, I thought I had a good grip on the whole closet minimalism thing.

Get rid of shit I don't wear. Find the gaps. Buy clothes to fill those gaps.

And I wasn't completely wrong—each of those steps is necessary to form a functional wardrobe. But then I got off track, bought clothes I never wore and had to re-analyze my strategy. To start, I wrote down what didn't work and tried the capsule wardrobe ( not for me ), but grew frustrated that I still couldn't get something as dumb as my closet together. My brain needed a break.

Why was I doing this whole thing in the first place?

To buy less, but higher-in-quality things. To be more conscious about who I buy from. To make it easier to get dressed ( aka no more stressful "What do I wear?" mornings ). To give my brain back space to make more important decisions. To love what I'm wearing every day.

That's why I'm on a shopping break until September.

And that's where the uniform comes in.

I have more than enough clothes to wear. And I've decided to live with those clothes for six months as an experiment to really track what I wear, what I need and how I feel when I take shopping out of the realm of possibility. This article was a huge catalyst in that. Even though I don't work a traditional office job, I, too, want one less thing to worry about in my day. And if I needed any more convincing, this article, this article and Steve Jobs did it.

Five out of the seven days in a week, you'll most likely find me wearing some combination of the above items. In fact, I'm wearing the sweatshirt, jeans + tennies as I type this.

Confession: I did just buy a pair of blue jeans at Madewell ( with a gift card ) because my one and only pair broke open a huge crotch hole. I probably could've still worn them, but instead I'm saving you the pain of me pulling a Britney. YOU'RE WELCOME.

plaid, loafers, sweatshirt, jacket, chambray, earrings, scarf, dress,
jeans, tennis shoes, tote, sunglasses