I’ve really been under conviction lately about the amount of clothes and things I have. I have too much. They say we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. I do believe that, but why is it? How much do I really need?
I’m not about to fully embrace a capsule or minimal wardrobe. I did a 30×30 before and got really bored by the end of it, although it was a fun way to come up with new outfits. I combined work and weekend into the thirty pieces and decided by the end that I need a few more weekend pieces than that allowed. So I basically have two wardrobes- a business wardrobe and a casual/weekend wardrobe with some pieces that cross over.
I know I have more casual clothes than I really need. I spend more time in work attire than casual or other attire, so I really have more casual/ weekend clothing than I really need. I only get to wear one or two casual or non-business outfits per week, at the most maybe four casual outfits.
Yet every season I seem to add something else and ignore what I bought last year. Where’s the balance? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Even though work clothes get worn on repeat more often, there are still items in that category that don’t get worn all that often.
Have you heard of the #30wears movement?
The idea that we should be able to wear an item at least 30 times. It takes over 7 months of wearing the same item once a week to wear it 30 times.
I have items that have probably seen triple or double that over the years, but other things it’s almost impossible for me to wear that often because I don’t go places requiring casual attire that often.
Given my thoughts above, I’ve been trying to focus on wearing at least one item every day this past week that hasn’t been worn yet this season or at least not worn in a while. When I put it back in the closet, I’ll turn the hangers the opposite way.
I think I’ll keep this up for at least the month of August and see how far I get without repeating an item. Or maybe I will repeat a few things but with other unworn items. New things count too. They haven’t been worn yet!
Anyone want to join me on this challenge? Leave me a comment or email me (icon for email in top right corner of page) and maybe we can collaborate on a linked post each week or a wrap up at the end of the month. I’m calling it the Forgotten, Ignored and Unworn. Each of the outfits below fall into this category.
Edit: Play along on Instagram too any time you wear a piece that qualifies with the hashtag #forgottenignoredandunworn.
Top- Loft (old); shorts- Amazon; earrings- Amazon; slides- Kohl’s
The Forgotten, Ignored and Unworn– the top! I bought this last year from Loft and didn’t cut the tags off until this year. This makes the second time I’ve worn it. The shorts! New this year but not yet worn out of the house. I wore this out last Friday night to run errands and get dinner.
Top- JCrew Factory; shorts- Loft (old); sandals- Nordstrom; earrings- Amazon
The Forgotten, Ignored and Unworn- The shorts! I bought these last year. I think I wore them once last year and not yet this year until last Saturday.
Wednesday I wore this outfit to work.
Blazer- old- so old I forgot where it came from! It’s definitely seen 30 wears! Top- JCrew Factory; skirt- JCPenney; shoes- Nordstrom; necklace- JCPenney; earrings- Kendra Scott
The Forgotten, Ignored, and Unworn– the top and the skirt. Both have seen plenty of wear in years past, but it’s been a while since I’ve worn the top, and the skirt hasn’t been worn at all this year. I don’t know if I’ve ever worn them together.
Thursday
Blazer- JCPenney; cami- JCrew Factory; pants- Limited; shoes- Lifestride; earrings- Kendra Scott; necklace- Rocksbox
The Forgotten, Ignored and Unworn– The cami! I bought this cami last year and wore it once? maybe twice? It had not been worn yet this season. The shoes! Someone gave me this pair of shoes. I wear them occasionally but not often.
Please let me know if you enjoyed this insight into my self challenge. Do you want to see more? Will you join me in wearing those clothes, shoes or accessories in your closet that you haven’t been wearing?
