This article is written by the guest writer Bellary Jouy.
‘Less is more’, you’d probably heard about it before, but what does it have to do with our wardrobes? What is an intentional wardrobe compared to an overwhelming one? Let’s dive right into today’s topic.
Principles of intention and purpose
In life, it’s important to do things with purpose and intention. Doing so allows you to maximise your resources and minimize any waste — whether that’s in the form of time, effort, materials, or lost opportunities. The same principle can be applied when it comes to your wardrobe, too. Many fall into the traps of consumerism and buy too much stuff, leading to an overwhelmingly stuffed closet. And still, there are days you might think that you have nothing to wear. While this doesn’t seem like an outright crisis, UCLA anthropologists have reported that people who have issues with clutter are more prone to chronic fatigue and post-traumatic stress disorder.
To help you overcome clutter and live life with more joy, consider creating an intentional wardrobe where you curate existing pieces that perfectly fit your personality, lifestyle, and philosophies. While downsizing is a huge part of creating an intentional wardrobe, it doesn’t mean that you have to stick with a bare-bones selection of clothes. In this post, we’ve listed below a few tips on how to create an intentional wardrobe that works best for you.
Identify What’s Important
Before choosing pieces to retain or throw in the donation bin, you should first establish what’s important for you when it comes to clothes. Do you want to have a timeless wardrobe that works with any trend or fad, or do you want to create a wardrobe that’s centred around function and practicality? Asking questions like this can be a great baseline before you start decluttering your closet.
Furthermore, you also have to figure out what kind of pieces work for your body type. For those with smaller frames, a guide for petites by Pretty Me highlights how vertical patterned and v-neck dresses help elongate the body. Meanwhile, those with fuller figures can settle on wrap dresses or belted dresses as their wardrobe staples since pieces that cinch the waist flatter their bodies the most. Choosing pieces for your intentional wardrobe should go beyond trends or fashion styles — you should also pick out pieces that make you look and feel good.
Find Your Vibes
To help craft your intentional wardrobe, it’s also best to figure out what kind of style you want to settle on. For starters, choose a fashion icon whose style you want to replicate and feels like you the most. Swipe through photos of your chosen fashion icon and try to look for pieces that stand out. From here, you can then figure out what their signature pieces or styles are to help further define your intentional wardrobe.
If choosing a style icon is too limiting, you can try picking out pieces for your intentional wardrobe that give off a certain vibe. Between playful, classic, or chic, there are a lot of options when it comes to the kind of fashion vibes that you want to exude. Ultimately, settle on one that can work for any season and will fit into whatever the current trend is.
Be A Thoughtful Consumer
The main culprit behind our very overwhelmed wardrobes is fast fashion. In recent years, clothes have become significantly cheaper as huge clothing companies continued to produce on-trend pieces that are readily accessible in the market. However, fast fashion comes at a huge cost. Business Insider reports that the fast fashion industry accounts for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions, is the world’s second-largest consumer of water, and releases 500,000 tonnes of microfibres into the ocean each year.
We understand that building an intentional wardrobe is not just about simply downsizing your closet, as some clothes that you have might be too outdated or don’t fit you any more. In the event that you do need to buy new clothes to serve as staple pieces in your intentional wardrobe, be sure to buy only from sustainable and ethical brands like Sylven or Charlie + Mary. Other than creating stylish pieces with sustainably sourced materials, ethical brands also make sure that the local makers they employ receive their dues, unlike fast-fashion brands that underpay and overwork their employees. By choosing to support ethical brands, you also support hard-working local artisans and help make the world a better place to live in.
This article is written by the guest writer Bellary Jouy.
