Maintaining a Minimalistic Wardrobe

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Creating a minimalist wardrobe is only half the battle. Today we’re taking a look at how to maintain a Minimalistic Wardrobe through the different seasons and years.

Creating a minimalist wardrobe is only half the battle. Today we're taking a look at how to maintain a Minimalistic Wardrobe through the different seasons and years. #minimalistwardrobe #minimalist #capsulewardrobe #organized #cleanclosets 

Maintaining a Minimalistic Wardrobe

Over a year ago I wrote about how we were downsizing to a minimalistic wardrobe after we moved into our camper. I shared a few tips on how to get your wardrobe to a more manageable size. Now, after spending more time with our minimalistic wardrobes, I’ve got a few more tips for you on how to keep the clothes clutter to a minimum!

After I initially cleaned out our closets I realized that there is much more to keeping minimal clothing than just cleaning out what you aren’t using! It’s easy to get tempted and side-tracked by sales, gifts, and other things that can quickly add the bulk back into your closet and put you right back to where you don’t really need to be. Here are some of the things we’ve done to help maintain a minimalistic closet.

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1. Maintain your clothes wardrobe.

You may be wondering how to maintain your wardrobe. The easiest way is to stay on top of it. This may mean doing another purge every few months to keep it fresh and relevant to what you are wearing. Or it may mean that you need to take a good look through it once a year to see what will need to be replaced. You may even find it helpful to keep a basket at the top of your closet for unworn, unwanted, or ill-fitted clothing so you can add daily as needed and donate every season. Either way, make sure you check on the closet every so often to make sure you are maintaining the minimalistic amount of clothing that you are hoping to have.

–Make sure to update your kid’s wardrobes frequently too! Learn more about How to Minimalize Children’s Clothing.

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2. Have a place for everything.

Until this month we didn’t even have a dresser yet, we were keeping most of our clothes in fabric bins. It was working alright but we couldn’t see all the clothes and weren’t sure what we had. After clearing out the bins and getting a proper dresser for our clothes, we cleaned out a full garbage sack of clothes to sell on our rummage sale!

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3. Be able to see your clothes!

Bouncing off idea #2, make sure that you can actually see and find your clothing! Once we moved our clothing out of the bins we also put up some shelves. Now I can see each of my pairs of jeans, shirts, and everything. If you don’t have room for shelves, hanging up all of your clothes will also create this visual. After we put our clothing up on shelves I felt like I had a whole new wardrobe!

–Check out this post to find out more about How to Create a Realistic Family Closet System.

4. Don’t always get rid of what you aren’t using.

While cleaning out of clothes this year, my hubby and I both noticed that we had many things that fit us well but we weren’t really wearing right now. It didn’t make sense to get rid of it since we knew we would wear it and living the lifestyle that we do, our clothes tend to wear out quickly. So now we have a “Later” box that has some clothing for each of us that we can pull out when we have things that wear out. It doesn’t need to sit in our closet and take up space since we aren’t wearing it now but we have it for when we need to refresh our wardrobe instead of having to make a trip (and spend money) at the store.

–When I do need something “new” in my wardrobe I’ve been finding great deals online. Here are 10 Ways to Save on Used Clothes When You Shop Online if you’re new to it.

These are just a few ways that we are not only making a minimalistic wardrobe but maintaining that wardrobe. So far it’s been working well and we’ve been spending less and less on clothing as the years go by.

Here are a few more post you may enjoy reading if you liked this post on how to keep your wardrobe clean:

If you are looking to simplify your life even further, you may want to check my eWorkbook, 31 Days to Simpler Living! In it, you will find 79 pages of daily challenges, info and advice, and printable worksheets and checklists to keep you on track along your journey.

What are some tips that you have to share about maintaining a minimalistic wardrobe?
Do you have a certain number of garments?

merissabio

This post on Maintaining a Minimalistic Wardrobe was originally published on Little House Living in January 2014. It has been updated as of January 2020.

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11 Comments

  1. We went Plain a few years ago and what a difference it made. I have a *very* minimalist wardrobe, essentially a “uniform” of a few different (but similar) dresses of different weights. My husband wears black work pants and navy work shirts, and I joke that people might think he only has one of each. He doesn’t – he has several.

    Probably more minimalist than most people would want, but I love it.

  2. I still haven’t found a good home for my sweaters, and it’s January. Right now they’re piled in a corner of my bedroom. This post reminds me that I need to get that worked out. Now that I’m taking the time to think about it, I think an under-the-bed box is going to work best.

  3. my problem is that I have no will power when it comes to pretty clothes! I used to because I couldn’t find a great source for cute fashionable PLUS size clothing, but I have now – and I have to reign myself in. does that reigning in ever get easier?

    1. I’m happy to say it doesn’t eventually….but not right away! I know what you mean, once I found some decent clothes that fit me well I’ve had a hard time not shopping, but I’ve realized now it’s funner to get things when I really need them and it’s also fun to think of the other things I can spend my money on when I don’t need them. 🙂

  4. I made a capsule wardrobe. My skirts span all seasons with tights and
    stretchy cut off jeans underneath in Winter. I wear turtlenecks with
    vests. In the Spring and Summer, I wear mostly the same skirts with
    light t-shirts and Kosher Casual half tops underneath. I have about
    six necklaces and four scarves that work year-round. Finding a color-me-beautiful color wheel helped me find what colors look good on me. Now, I stick to those colors, it makes shopping so much easier. So does sticking with classic clothing, and dressing it up, with a necklace or scarf. I also found that if you pick just two colors for your pants or
    skirts, you will only need to buy two different colored shoes for all your
    outfits. If I wear tights, I make them the same color as what I wear
    on the bottom half of my body. I don’t try to keep up with fashion any-
    more. I have my own distinct “look”, that is affordable and timeless.

  5. I love your idea of the Later Box. Fantastic. Like yourselves we have clothing we wear a lot, and consequently wear out, due to our lifestyle. I am definitely giving that a go.

    I am with you on being able to see what you have. I have always lived by; if you don’t wear it in a year, it goes. If you really liked it, keep it one more year and then the same maxim applies. (This excludes special occasion clothes.)

    And my tip: I change my wardrobe over every 6 months; spring/summer, autumn/winter, putting away one seasons bringing out another, with all-season staples staying put. This makes me feel like I have new clothes every 6 months, so I never feel deprived. It also makes me look at the clothes to see how they are holding up and make any repairs if needed. I think with out the ‘fun’ of the changeover I would put this task off as long as I could.

  6. I have found that it is easier to have a defined style. I don’t mean “preppy” or “boho” or any of the silly labels that I usually read about in fashion magazines. I mean something simple like “I only wear gold jewelry” or “all my pants must have pockets” – little fashion rules that only apply to you (or in this case, me.)

    I also have a later box. Boxes, I should say, they are stashed under my bed. I used to have one big tub that I kept in my closet floor. But it was too bulky and got in the way. It was also too difficult to empty and repack every time I needed something from it. The smaller under bed boxes are much easier to look through and find exactly what I need, usually special occasion clothes.

  7. I go through my closet and try my clothes on because I have lost weight with my healthier lifestyle. The fat clothes had to go because I am not going there again. I also ask myself one simple question when I try my clothes on. If I was seen wearing this by a very important person, would I be embarrassed? You would be surprised at how many times I said “h**l yes” then dumped the garment in the donate box.
    BTW, I love Sauder products too! My Sauder chest of drawers are my favorite pieces of furniture.

  8. I have had to buy clothing for our three young adults recently. Here are some tips on trying to save money if someone is in that situation. Buy professional capsule wardrobe in three colors only. Make it mix and match as much as possible. Buy the whole capsule wardrobe in January. The prices are much better then, especially at outlet stores. Look for suits or jackets that a friend may have that no longer fit them. In July, bring something old that father no longer needs to Men’s Wearhouse and get 50% off a new item young adult might need for an interview. Encourage young adults to buy thrift store clothes for everything that is not work capsule wardrobe. Get nice shirts from a neighbor and seam rip them to sew one size smaller.