If you’ve ever opened your closet, looked at hundreds of well dressed hangers and thought, “I have nothing to wear”, keep reading for relief.
Think about the clothing that you have accumulated over the years, the money you’ve spent, the countless hours at the mall, or in a dressing room. With all that you’ve invested in your closet, why aren’t you satisfied?
When you flip through a magazine or walk through a department store and compare your wardrobe to all of the new fashion choices, it’s hard to measure up. So you buy more. When you walk through Target and see that brand new clothing is $10.00 and sometimes less, it’s hard to resist. And yet, nothing you add to your closet makes it any better for very long.
I know you are asking yourself, “Why don’t I feel good about what I wear?” “Why do I need to buy a new dress for an event that I will only wear one time?” “With all of the choices I have, why don’t I have anything to wear?”
Why you have nothing to wear
Clothes that don’t fit
Holding on to clothing that is too big or too small, especially if it is hanging in your closet is the best possible way to feel bad about yourself before you even get dressed. “I’ll never fit into that” and “I can’t believe that used to fit me” are just a couple of the phrases that will get you down. Only keep clothes that fit.
Trendy clothes that go out of style
If you bought the latest recommendation featured in your favorite magazine, don’t be surprised if it doesn’t go with anything else that you own and if it’s fashion shelf life has expired before you get to wear it. Companies pay big money to be featured in magazines and media so you will spend big money on their garments. Stick with the classics and the pieces that you really feel good in.
Impulse purchases
You buy to feel better. You buy to fit in. You buy to measure up. If any of those strategies worked, you’d be happy with your wardrobe. Stop it.
Comparison
If you keep comparing your shoes to her shoes, his jacket to your jacket and your sense of style to her sense of style, you will never be content. Only when you move from comparison to gratitude for what you already have and who you already are, can you be joyful instead of jealous.
Choice
If you go to a restaurant with hundreds of choices, you can get overwhelmed, and the quality is never as good as the small, local establishment that specializes in a few well crafted recommendations. If you are paralyzed in the cereal aisle or at The Cheesecake Factory, you can understand why all those clothing choices still aren’t making you happy.
True Cost
Until you look at the true cost of comparison, cheap clothing and excessive consumption, you’ll never have enough, you’ll never feel good about what you buy and you still won’t have anything to wear. The answer is less.
Experiment by dressing with less and learn what is most important to you. When I started Project 333 (wearing 33 items or less for 3 months including clothes, shoes, jewelry and accessories) a few years ago, I never thought that I would still be practicing the principals today.
Because of the benefits I’ve experienced, and lessons I’ve learned, I’ll never go back to a closet overflowing with clothes that I don’t like or wear.
