The rumors are true. I went clothes shopping.
Since the project, shopping from clothes is something I rarely do. I’m not sure if it’s because not buying stuff makes me feel virtuous or because my closet is so chock a block full that I can’t cram anything else in there. Maybe it’s the feeling that I should be doing something better with my time like having picnics or going hiking.
In any case, last week while in between film screenings on Vancouver Island, we went thrifting. It turned out that it was half price day at Value Village, so I managed to snag 3 sweaters and dress all for $15. (Mmm hmmm – that’s a bargain). I was pretty pleased with myself, having stuck to my eco guns and shopped secondhand.
And then I started thinking about minimalism. Minimalists aim to live with very few belongings (eg. some people actually count their belongings, aiming to own just 50 or 100 things tops). And I have to say, I’m inspired. Not to the extend that I am going to ditch my blender or my tickle trunk of awesome costumes, but I have decided to cap my wardrobe.
That’s right, in my newly dubbed ‘one in, one out’ closet, I am going to have to donate 3 of my current tops to charity in order to get my 3 new-to-me sweaters in the door. (No fair trading an old pair of socks for new jeans – they have to be the same general category of clothing).
It seems easy in theory, but when I actually tried to do it, I just couldn’t find three shirts I was willing to part with. I have two rubbermaid containers full of shirts; I only wear maximum 2 at a time; but I seem to have sentimental attachments to every single one.
Grant has been successfully trimming his belongings by taking photos of the items he feel some distance nostalgic connection to and them dropping them off at the Sally Ann. But so far all I have managed to get rid of is a couple pairs of raggedy underwear (rag bag), a few single socks (dusters), and some t-shirts that would fit a 12 year old.
Seems like to road to wardrobe minimalism is going to be a long one for me.
The Clean Bin Project Blog 
Good for you to try to reduce. This reminds me of the joke defining a wife as someone who has absolutely nothing to wear, but she needs more closet space to keep it in. Sorry.
Keith
I like the idea of taking a picture of items with sentimental value, then getting rid of them. Wonder if I can convince my partner to do that with old video games collecting dust in the closet, never to be played again…
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