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How to be a functional minimalist?
I am not a fashionista or a stylist, but I do always want to look put together in a classy sort of way. I don’t want to buy too many things or splurge on designer brands with hefty price tags, but I also don’t like compromising with quality or style. After spending way more than necessary hours in search of minimal closet essentials, I can confidently say I have become an annoyingly picky person.
I spend hours, days, months looking for an item – something that’s not overly priced, is durable but chic, has colour that goes with everything, a style that fits my preference, is timeless and in-fashion, can be worn both casually and at-work, and is comfortable. Yeah, good luck finding that!
I used to buy things on a whim – my mantra for a long time was “like it, get it”. Dear reader, if you are such a shopper, you know the horror it leads to. You end up with a pile of things that take up all the space and yet none of them come close to being handy when you need that one perfect outfit for an occasion. Years of wasteful shopping made me a conscious buyer or ‘minimalist’. However, choosing items for a functional and minimal closet is not easy. For me, it requires a lot a planning, preparation, and patience. I am sharing the five steps I follow to plan my shopping:
- Keep a tab on your stye preference. (I feel that everyone has these preferences. For instance, I tend to wear clothes in neutral, solid colours with simple feminine styles like a plain white cotton shirt with puffed sleeves, or round neck t-shirts, or ribbed fitted tops, more often than anything else. These kinds of clothes never stay idle for too long in my wardrobe.)
- Based on your preferred style, keep a list of all items missing. (For instance, if I need to go out for a chill evening with friends and I notice that I don’t have any comfortable pants and I also don’t want to wear jeans in Summer, I use my phone to make a note.)
- Keep a list of all the things you like. (I am an avid Pinterest user, and I often use it to keep my list of all items I like. Keeping a list of all the things I need and all the things I want, stops me from buying random items on a whim. I think that it is also an effective way to further discover your style choices.)
- Dividing the list into following groups (I do it mentally):
- Need/must have (usually the missing items list)- e.g. trouser for work.
- Items from my style preference but not needed – e.g. white shirt.
- Fancier items that can enhance my closet – e.g. – a fancy clutch.
- Everything else that I like and want to own.
- Set priorities:
- Prioritize to buy the needs/must haves.
- Do not hesitate to buy extra pair of items of your style choice any time you find a good-quality item. They add some choice to a functional wardrobe.
- Plan a budget for your list of fancy/pretty items. For instance, if there is a coat that I really want, I avoid buying anything beyond my must-haves and keep a budget saved for the coat (there are some more conditions before the purchase, of-course!)
- For all other pretty things in the world that you want but not sure if you would ever use them – avoid buying them! but it’s good to keep a list, you know, just in case ;).
So, we now have our shopping list ready and it’s time to spend some money, but don’t rush into it. Imagine buying a top that you love, it fits perfectly, and you get lots of compliments. Then you wash it twice and it looks like worse than the sweatshirt you have been wearing since forever. I know, it sucks, and it hurts!
To avoid the traps of fast fashion, before buying anything (literally, anything at all), I now ask myself these questions:
| 1. Will it last at-least 6 years? | If the answer is no, then don’t buy. |
| 2. What’s the material used? | Natural materials like cotton, silk, wool, leather look much nicer and feel good on skin. Look for items that have at least 50% or more of natural fabrics. (Note that for certain styles of clothing, synthetic fabrics have a better look.) |
| 3. How often will I use it? | Avoid buying items that you don’t know if you will use them. |
| 4. Does it complement anything I already have? | If the answer is no, avoid buying such items. |
Of course, it is not easy, and I give in to temptations from time to time. However, using the above process/guide, in the past few years, I have been able to create a basic, minimal, and functional wardrobe, skin-care essentials, and other accessories that have made my life a tad bit easier to manoeuvre.
I must also confess here that with all these filters and conditions, shopping has become a daunting task for me. To give you a flavour, it’s been over two years since I have been searching for a nice pair of shoes; I don’t remember since when I was looking for a functional work bag; more than a year since I want a comfortable pair of biz-casual pants; and so many other items are pending in my shopping list. On the bright side, I never needed them anyways!!
Dear reader, if you are on the path of minimalism, or if you found this post relatable, do share your thoughts in comments. I would love to connect with you and hopefully get some ideas on how to efficiently shop for quality items that I can cherish, value, and feel proud of using for a long time.
