Or: How My Spending Fast Ended with a Bang (More Like a *SWIPE*)
For the month of December, I was on a self-imposed spending fast. Obviously that doesn’t mean I didn’t spend any money — I bought plenty of Christmas gifts, of course! But it did mean that I tried not to spend any money on myself. And it was hard! I don’t think of myself as a big spender by any means, but I also tend not to think twice about the occasional personal purchase: a cute top here, a pair of shoes there. And yes, it tends to mostly be apparel. Which, one might say, is not so bad — you have to wear clothes after all, right? True, yes, but a huge wardrobe is both wasteful and impractical. I can’t possibly wear all those clothes at once (at least not during any given season of the year) and it really tends to have the opposite effect: opening a closet jammed full of clothes can sometimes be paralyzing, with the sensation that most women can relate to — “How do I have all these clothes and still nothing to wear!”
For the past year or so — pretty much since I was forced into purchasing several new items as part of my maternity wardrobe — I’ve had in the back of my head the concept of a minimal wardrobe with a compact selection items that I love to wear, fit well, and are “re-mixable” (meaning that they mix-and-match well and can transition between seasons if need be). My closet clean-out with personal stylist Meredith Smyth of Stylemuse was a memorable experience that opened my eyes to clearing out clothes that don’t fit/don’t work with my style, and creating a wardrobe that