Why I've Never Been More Content With My Clothes

Over the past few years, I have been reworking and tweaking my wardrobe. If you know me, clothes aren’t always a high-priority for me, though I have these secret thoughts of wanting to be more fashionable (don’t we all). When I decided to bite the bullet a year ago and create my own version of a capsule wardrobe, it felt like I had a new lease on life. I talked about:

Then you’d think reality would sit in. It’s just like any new program, new diet, new anything. It typically lasts for how long and then before you know it, it’s over. You revert back to old ways and continue on the same ole path. I honestly wondered how long my “capsule wardrobe” would last too.

The other morning, when I was getting ready for work, I realized that my life is different when it comes to clothes, thanks to the desire to live with less. Believe it or not, I have fewer clothes now, than I think I ever have had, but I could not be more happy with them. Do they all fit perfectly? No. Do they all have a purpose? Yes. In the picture above, those are all of my hanging clothes – from dress pants, church clothes, dresses, shirts, zip-ups, etc. Clearly I do not have a large quantity of clothing, but what I do have, are options that I can mix and match with black, dark, and light blue jeans. Of course this doesn’t include my cotton and SPF long-sleeve shirts and t-shirts (which are all in one drawer). Anyways, these are combinations that I have been able to work with for the past year now, and it has WORKED. Do I sometimes desire to get new clothes? Oh absolutely! I have a shirt that is missing 4 buttons (though you probably couldn’t tell), I have shirts with little stains on them, but unnoticeable to the public eye, and I have cardigans that are a bit over-sized because I used them as maternity cardigans over 2 years ago. But they work. They work just fine.

That morning as I stood in front of the mirror, I took a deep breath and felt this calm and peace I felt I never had before when it came to my clothes. I felt CONTENT. I know this sounds completely silly, really. A peace and calm about clothing? Are you kidding? Well, how long do you stand in front of your clothes every morning deciding what to wear? How often do you put something on and then change out of it? How often do you think “oh I don’t look good in this…” or “if only I had THIS to wear or lost 5 lbs…”

To combat the amount of time I spend on trying to figure out what to wear, I have chosen to decide what I am going to wear for the next day, the night before. That way, it gives me no option to change my mind, but to be content with my choices. I mix and match different pieces, and in doing so, I only need to do laundry sometimes only once a week.

Do I have the “perfect” body? I’d like to think not, but according to whom? Who does? Truly? When you find someone, tell me, because I don’t think that person exists. Do I wish I had a more fashionable wardrobe? At times, but who has the perfect wardrobe? Truly? When you find someone, tell me, because I don’t think that person exists.

What I do have is the body God has given me, to be a steward over, and He has given me a conviction to live with less when it comes to my wardrobe. He has not given everyone that conviction, but has called us to be a good steward over what He has given us – the amount? To be determined between you and God. I felt I couldn’t be a good steward if I had too much. If I had more than what I could wear and clothes that just sat there, I felt I needed to get rid of them.

And that is why I have never been more content with my clothing. I don’t look perfect in them, a good number are second-hand, gifts, or from Goodwill, but I’m okay with that.

They are JUST clothes.