A Motion for Minimalism

Aaahhhh new year, new you! 365 days filled with so much potential and promise. Another page turned, and another chance to renew yourself and start over! Don’t you feel so refreshed and clearheaded? Now take look at your overflowing closet that’s bursting at the seams…do you still feel refreshed? DUNDUNDUN. As I alluded to in last week’s article, one aspect of our lives that we all might need to declutter this new year is our own closets. That’s right, this is your new year’s wake-up call, and a motion for minimalism.

So what exactly is minimalism? To put it simply, it’s all about simplicity (see what I did there? 😉). It’s a lifestyle centered on cutting out the excess in order to achieve a higher sense of freedom. If you’re intrigued by minimalism as a lifestyle, theminimalists.com is a great place for more info and inspiration! Now I’m not asking you to go full blown minimalist here. All I’m saying is that the concept of minimalism applies very nicely to our wardrobes. Having a minimalist wardrobe basically entails investing in staple pieces, and limiting the number of items that you own while ensuring that the pieces you do have are extremely versatile (meaning you can mix and match them to create endless outfit options). We’re forced to practice minimalism when we travel, so it’s a handy concept to master! Not only is minimalism a useful exercise for traveling, it’s also the direction that society is heading, according to some futurists. Trend forecaster and futurist, Lidewij Edelkoort, stated in her 2016 prediction that we’d start to move away from fast fashion and instead, move back to quality, handcrafted clothing. This predicted shift to slow fashion is all about promoting sustainability and minimalism, and is bound to start sinking into our society before we even realize it.