The Minimalist (Spartan) Wardrobe--My Way

When it comes to clothes, I like to keep it simple. I like to look good without a lot of effort. I thought about doing the mix and match capsule wardrobe, but I decided that all of that mixing and matching was too much work. The 10 piece wardrobe tempted me, but that seemed like too much laundry too often. Instead I decided I would put together 10 outfits that I really like and that suit my lifestyle, and I would just wear them in random rotation. I think I only wound up with 8 or 9 this summer which was plenty. All of the effort happened at the beginning when it came to choosing the outfits. Then I just always hung them up together, so I never had to think about what goes with what. I just pick the one I want for what I am doing that day. I had these clippy hangers from Korea that I put the pants on and bought plastic hangers with a flat bar at the top so I could hang the pants right with the tops. Clothes with mates in the laundry go to the left and empty hangers to the right. I also picked out one mowing outfit from clothes I would otherwise have given away which was in the laundry when I took these but goes to the far left. This really appealed to my extremely tidy minimalist (my husband calls it Spartan) personality, and it made dressing a no brainer. I didn't always wear the same shoes and jewelry with an outfit, and I didn't wear the same outfit the same day of the week, but otherwise it was the same outfits all summer. After doing this for three months, I mentioned it to the one who calls me Spartan, and he said he hadn't even noticed. It takes a little time and effort at the outset, but this is the kind of thing that is worth considering if you don't like the hassle of the modern American wardrobe. All of the stuff that didn't end up in these outfits either went to Goodwill or put in a storage box for later mowing outfits or just later outfits.

You might think you would get bored with this, but I never did. If ease of getting dressed in the morning and simplicity (plus a guaranteed great outfit every morning) appeal to you, give this a try--you might be surprised how much you like it!

Skip the midweek manicure

Here is something fun and practical for the gals. Thank goodness funky nails are back in style!
Start your week with a regular manicure. I started with the metallic gold on Sunday. When your tips start to chip, use a similar color about halfway or a third of the way down your nails (metallic pink for me). When this starts to chip off, paint just the tips with a darker color. I used metallic teal this week, and it is pretty but a little "young" for me. Next week, I am going to use the coral color in the first photo to simulate a sunset :)
As you can see, it is Friday, and I need to touch up the bases a little with the gold, and the teal could use retouched too, but the overall effect helps to hide the damage. In fact, I think it looks kind of cool, like an old piece of furniture with chipped layers of paint.