I describe my wardrobe as minimalist because it is a capsule collection of styles, shapes and colours that are perfectly synced to the way I live my life. Everything in there serves a purpose, and I repeatedly wear the few but fantastic items I have collected over the years.

The key to living a minimalist way of life is to ensure each and everything thing you do or own adds value, experiences and contributes to your personal happiness. Everything I own enriches my life or makes me happy, including the items hidden behind my wardrobe doors and drawers.

Think twice when it comes to buying those new shoes on sale for that instant gratification rush, or rushing out in a mad frenzy to stock your wardrobes with clothes for your upcoming short break. Instead, spend your time carefully curating a wardrobe that reflects your personal style, and will be yours to wear and wear again.

This way, you can avoid the ‘I have nothing to wear and nothing suits me’ meltdown we have all experienced twenty minutes before we are due out of the door.

One big misconception when it comes to having a minimalist wardrobe is that it should be limited to very few items. My wardrobe has a great range of key staples that match my own personal style and body shape, whilst allowing me the flexibility to dress for any occasion and not look the same each and every day.

Key steps to minimising your wardrobe

I personally got my wardrobe to it’s current minimalist state by following five key steps. I will talk through the first one today, but I will be posting resources and posts over the next five days on how to tackle each of the following steps.

Having a first initial declutter

If you are looking to minimise your wardrobe, it’s likely that you are doing so to reduce the amount of clutter your clothes are currently taking up in your home.

Before you begin to define your own personal look and work towards having less but loving your clothes more, you need to get rid of the clutter.

Take two boxes, and work through your closets (one draw at a time if they are a little overwhelming). Bin stained, frayed or damaged clothes and recycle or sell on anything you haven’t worn in a year or you’re really not keen on. Including that dress you’re keeping ‘just in case’ you lose/gain weight, it suddenly fits right, or you need it for that particular night out (we all have one!)

Defining my personal style – view the post to guide you through this step by clicking the image below or this link here :

Addressing the needs of my day-to-day life – ensure your clothes are purchased with your lifestyle in mind.

Retackling that declutter, with a personal style and objective in mind Build it back up with a minimalist mind

To show you how a wardrobe can be minimised but still be fashionable, functional and exciting, I have laid out my clothes for the next week.

This includes:

A striped loose off-the-shoulder top

Pink knitted jumper

Grey long sleeved t-shirt

Black cropped t-shirt

Black halter neck jumper

Black jeans

Nike leggings

Cropped work out top

Black playsuit

Black dungaree dress

Nightdress

White shorts

Accessories:

Marc Jacobs silver earrings

Skagen Watch

Sunglasses

Glasses

Not pictured – a weeks worth of underwear and the turtle neck jumper (as I am currently writing this post in it!)

I will be wearing these 11 items over the next seven days and you can follow my outfit updates over on my Instagram. This capsule collection will take me from work, to weekday dinners, workouts and weekend adventures and parties.

My personal style

I have curated these key pieces over a couple of years, and they have become regular wardrobe staples, as I have purchased them to align with my own personal style.

I have a main colour palette that I rarely stray from, because I know these colours work for me and additionally as I tend to purchase in similar tones, I can mix and match my clothes easily.

I go for the same shapes – skinny jeans or cigarette trousers on the bottom, and plain delicate fabrics for my tops. I work in an office with a casual dress code and therefore my clothes tend to be less risqué as then I can wear my whole wardrobe both in and out of work.

I don’t suit high waists, full skirts, complex patterns or loose fitted trousers, so I steer clear of these.

By bearing all this in mind when shopping, I have managed to put together the perfect minimalist wardrobe in which each item enriches my life and makes me happy. No more instant buys, and therefore more money for doing the things that matter!