The Mind Shift I’ve Made With Buying Clothes

Purchasing clothes and having a lot of clothes used to be a large part of my life. I remember working every summer in high school and saving a thousand dollars over the entire summer and blowing it all in one swoop at the mall before school started on a new wardrobe. Literal summer tradition every year. Hopefully I can instill in my children a better sense for saving money, but needless to say, having a closet stuffed with loads and loads of clothing was always the number one goal. 

Fast forward to the last several years where I've really minimized my life, including my wardrobe. I tried doing capsule wardrobes, but I found myself purchasing items to "fill the gaps" of what the internet and other bloggers told me that I needed in a capsule wardrobe, instead of actually being really thoughtful about my own personal needs and lifestyle, and what I actually like in my clothing. 
At the beginning of the summer I knew I wanted very few new pieces for my closet, so I bought six shirts of varying styles, one pair of shorts, and one dress, and called it good. I thought I had done so well in being minimal, and to be honest, there are only about 15 pieces total hanging in my closet, but I found myself still only drawn to wearing the same 3-4 pieces in my closet, and then not really bothering to wear some of the new pieces I just bought. 

A huge problem I have with clothing is being small enough to fit into an XS width wise, but they always fall short on the length. Instead of exchanging pieces for a bigger size, I keep them, and tell myself I'll make it work, and then those pieces die in my closet and never get worn. 
This has taught me a few things. One, online shopping might not be the best for me, because making returns is not my strong suit, and so as much as I loathe going to the mall, shopping in person and getting something I know I'll love before I get it home might help me make more intentional purchases. 

Two, I've learned that I actually only need 3-4 awesome shirts in my closet to feel good about myself and to feel content with the clothing that I own. Getting ready each day isn't a huge priority to me. Give me a pair of joggers, an old race t-shirt, a windbreaker, and a baseball hat and I'm ready for 90% of my life. So having a closet filled to the brim with pieces I'm not wearing is really impractical to me. 
Heading into the fall I want to make a list of what pieces I know that I'll need for my lifestyle, not what other bloggers tell me I need, and then shop based on those needs. I currently have zero pairs of jeans (tried cutting them into shorts and failed hard), so I know that is something I'll be purchasing. Other than that, I have a few shirts from last fall that I still love, so I might add one really great quality cardigan, a new pair of joggers, 1-2 new shirts, and a pair of rain boots to replace the ones I finally passed on to goodwill and call it good. 

Being able to identify what my real needs are, and to identity where I lack in my shopping habits I think will help me to be able to curate pieces that I really love this fall, without being wasteful with my purchases. Hopefully I'll be able to document this in another post in the future, but thought I would share this part of my minimalist journey with you as in unfolds, in hopes of it being helpful for someone else too.  #Lookbook