Happy Monday, all! Thank you to those of you who have welcomed me back, so kindly. Returning to this space has been somewhat scary for me, and it’s so nice to see some happy faces upon rejoining the fold.

As promised, I’m about to start outlining my project for you. Let’s hop to it, shall we?

PHASE ONE: MINIMIZE

Right. So. Back when doing my previous project, I once filled an entire walk-in closet to capacity with garments and otherwise manner of acoutrements. If you’ll recall, the Closet365 always had a limited budget, but in my time doing it, I became very adept at stretching my last dollar. Regularly scheduled thrifting trips and my proximity to clothing at work made it easy to fill my life to the very brim with clothes, clothes and more clothes.

However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last year or so, it’s that you can’t take it with you. Not symbolically and not literally. Although, believe me I tried. A truckload of clothing followed me into my new life, but I soon became discouraged with the fact that more clothes than I knew what to do with. I was dismayed to find that the clothes that once brought me so much joy were a burden on space and at times, a harbor for bad memories. At the end of 2010, I quickly rid myself of a lot of things, just by selling and donating the unnecessary.

Even still, I quickly found that I had too many things when I moved into my first studio apartment with a rather unfortunate closet situation. More items got purged and what I couldn’t part with got shoved in a tub and tucked in to the wall with the Murphy bed (I know right? I really have one! Although I don’t use it.) I then went to work at another clothing store and acquired…you’ll never guess…MORE CLOTHES.

For the record, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with owning a lot of clothes. There are so many wonderful garments out there needing good homes and ain’t nothin’ wrong with an appreciation of beauty. The problem comes when you have so many things shoved in a dark closet that you can’t even tell what you own anymore and thus end up neglecting half of your wardrobe. This is where I’m at.

SO. This is where PHASE ONE comes in. In the next two months, I plan to significantly reduce the volume in my wardrobe. The idea is that I need to rid myself of everything that I don’t absolutely cherish. The things that don’t fit. That are old and outdated. That I haven’t worn since the early 2000s, Etc. And from there, we can start anew, building a wardrobe that is both functional but also current and adored. I’ve become a fan of decluttering in recent years. It’s my perception that the less you have, the more you appreciate and enjoy the things you do.

In PHASE ONE, you’ll get to join me for the big ridding. In a perfect world, I’d like to own about 100 clothing items. No more and no less. And rotate items out of the collection as needed. I’m not sure how exactly this will go, so for PHASE ONE, you’ll get to join me as I sort through the mess. I may require help deciding between various items. What to keep and what to toss. I will send some of my older garments on a farewell tour. It will be a quick study in minimalism, simplifying and letting go.We’ll talk about how to edit an overflowing wardrobe and good options for what to do with the crap you no longer want.

I am very excited for this part of the process because it also means a clean slate of sorts and comes at a very apropos time, which you’ll get to hear more about later.

Also of note, unlike the previous incarnation, I will not be posting every single day, but I have set a goal for myself of about two outfit posts per week in addition to a couple more on the current phase and what it entails. And maybe a random lifestyle post here and there as I see fit. The formula will not be exact, but that’s part of the fun. Are you excited? I’m excited.

Title courtesy of MGMT – “Congratulations”