Discardia_ More Life, Less Stuff - Dinah Sanders [55]
Cartoon by Jimmy Johnson, Arlo & Janis. Used by permission of the author.
Don’t hang onto things that you never use. Send that just-not-you suit to one of the great organizations helping low-income businesspeople carry themselves to success. Give that big, out-of-fashion winter coat to charity and save someone from the chill. Let that over-the-top formalwear send someone on a tight budget to the prom or a holiday party in style. Move the neglected items out of your space and into the arms of someone who really appreciates them.
Remember: “Someday Is Now” still applies to your dress clothes; we simply define “Now” as being a longer time range. When you haven’t worn that suit or gown in six months, but you don’t want to be in the lurch if you get invited to a fancy occasion, you can still hold onto it “just in case,” provided that it fits you well and you actually like wearing it. However, I have seen people keep something ostensibly because they think, “I might need to wear it if I go to a formal event,” but really for the reason “I spent too much on this and it fits me completely wrong and I haven't worn it the last five times I've been invited to a formal event, but maybe, if I hold onto it, somehow that money will magically have been wisely spent.”
Keep things that are both beautiful and useful to you, and perhaps define the utility of formals in a longer-than-six-month cycle, but move the rest along. Don’t let the fear of being caught unprepared for exceptional events make your daily encounter with your closet a hassle.
The best possible
My friend, entrepreneur Evan Williams, gave me a wonderful tip for choosing whether to keep or buy clothes: “Don’t ask, ‘Can I imagine wearing this?’ Instead, ask ‘Can I imagine this ever being the best possible thing in my closet to wear?’” (This approach works extremely well for other things besides clothes!)
Listen to your answers about what is “the best possible thing to wear.” You will find that it represents a smaller list of clothes than most people own—and certainly less than the fashion industry would like you to buy.
Dress for your own happiness, convenience, and the message you want to send to the world.
You may find that all you really need is a core set of underlying pieces, which you mix and match to suit activities, mood, and weather. If you have doubts about how far you can go with a single, simple base garment, look no further than the amazing array of styles achieved in Sheena Matheiken’s first year of The Uniform Project. How about other experiments like the Six Items or Less Challenge, Courtney Carver’s Project 333, or the constant color adventure the “wear nothing new” outfits designer Jessi Arrington shares on her blog Lucky So and So? Great quality over quantity tips are also available in Jesse Thorn and Adam Lisagor’s web series Put This On.
Extreme immediate change isn’t necessary—this is Discardia, after all, and there’s no need to be mean to yourself—so take a step in the direction of reducing unrewarding shopping, owning fewer clothes that make you look and feel less than great, and spending less time worrying over what to wear.
When nothing in your closet is wrong for you, getting dressed can cease to be a source of stress and hassle.
Symptom #21: Stuff as a Way to Show You Care
Solution #21: The Lamp Has No Feelings
What global psychological hang-up prevents people from throwing away dried-up erasable markers, the moment they notice them?
—David Allen
Not antistuff, just pro-awesome
We hold onto things out of a need for security; however, other more subtle, sometimes toxic, emotional responses are behind packrat tendencies. Look in any room of your house and you can probably