The Scenario

It’s a scene that repeats itself countless times: I stand in my overflowing closet and woefully conclude that there’s simply nothing to wear. The situation doesn’t get any better even after trying on a dozen outfits and to make matters worse, the room then looks like someone broke in to look for the Queen’s royal diamonds.

In reality, with so many different options, it becomes hard to decide what to wear, often because of the poor selection of items to choose from. Every closet has them: the discounted who-cares-it-doesn’t-fit-perfectly pieces and the ones kept for when-I’m-as-skinny-as-when-I-was-16-again. Daniel’s wardrobe is worse; it includes the once-trendy-not-in-style pieces as well the ones from-high-school-shoulda-been-tossed.

Over the last month, we’ve been working on purging ourselves of unnecessary items. We’ve supposedly rid ourselves of 406 things (more on that soontimes), many of which were articles of clothing. We are left with the question of “Whatever will I wear?”

The Solution

We’ll be taking a minimalist approach to personal style. Consider this:

1, Albert Einstein purchased himself several versions of the same grey suit because he didn’t want to waste his brain power by choosing an outfit each morning.

2. When interviewed for the magazine Vanity Fair, President Obama similarly revealed that he only wears grey or black suits in an effort to pare down decisions. He quoted research that shows the act of making decisions degrades one’s ability to make further decisions.

The ability to pare down the wardrobe choices offers opportunity to establish a signature look. Steve Jobs famously wore a black mock turtleneck, blue jeans and New Balance sneakers at all times. Fashion editor Carrie Donovan donned her look with trademark oversized glasses and also always wore black. In addition to taking out the decision of “what to wear”, they created a personal brand that made them memorable and distinctive.

The Challenge

For the month of March, we’ll be participating in modified version of the 30 x 30 remix challenge conceived of by the lovely fashionista Kendi Skeen of Kendi Everday. The original version of the 30 x 30 is take 30 clothing items to make 30 different outfits. We don’t care about outfits in our challenge, and so, the rules to our 30 x 30 clothing challenge is as follows:

1. Pick 30 items (includes accessories, shoes, outerwear, home clothes, PJs, and socks).
2. Wear only chosen items for 30 days.

Note, workout/sports clothes, jewelry and underwear are not included in the 30 items.

Kendi suggests giving up shopping for the duration of the challenge. In our challenge, we’re making it mandatory! Don’t buy any clothing this month.

And that’s it! Here’s the catch, once you choose your 30 items, there’s no turning back. For the entire month, you will only be able to pick from the list of pre-approved items. Choose wisely and do laundry.

The Scoring System

This month we’ll take a break from the score keeping. We deserve one after trying to keep track of all the items we tossed last month. Love it or hate it, everybody a gets gold star participation. Everyone’s a winner. E+ for effort!

The Last Word

Fashion is an a form of self expression that should be approached thoughtfully and deliberately. It should be flattering, functional, meet any occasion, outlasts fickle trends and be pretty. Learning to focus on quality of our wardrobes, rather than its quantity, is an exercise in self control and will positively influence our everyday lives.

If you’d like to participate, leave us a comment below. We would also love to hear about how you’re dealing with your clutter on Twitter or Facebook. #UrbanSimplify

We’re still picking our 30 items; what items would you choose to last 30 days?e]