Equational Dressing
Over the years I've become a closet minimalist.
I started getting rid of the things I didn’t like in my closet after I had my daughter. A lot of things either didn’t fit my new body or didn’t fit my new lifestyle (I went from working in a salon on Madison Avenue, where I had to wear all black every day to being a stay at home mom).
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And then, because of limited resources – both time and money – I started buying thoughtfully.
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And then, because of limited space – in our NYC apartment that we now shared with a baby – I started buying minimally.
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And now - five years later - I'm a changed woman. I've found freedom in the simplicity of less. I've found I can be more creative within my self-imposed confines. I've found that because I buy less, I wear out my clothing sooner. And my wardrobe, which before always felt slightly stale, now feels constantly refreshed.
Until I sat down to write this, I didn’t realize what felt so stressful and busy when I first became a mom. It’s funny how I read a million books on pregnancy but none on raising a child and then I gave birth and all of a sudden, had no useful information, seeing as I was no longer pregnant. Every experience I had as a mom was the first of its kind. Teething, potty-training, disciplining, feeding: none of it had been done before (by me). It was a full time job just to experience it, think through it, research, talk to other mamas, form opinions, lay out a plan of action. It was the decisions connected to raising a child that busied me - more than my actual schedule.
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I was able to take the decision-making-process out of one area of my life and it brought refreshment. It took a thorough and ruthless gutting of my closet, some careful planning and forethought. But in the end, I knew that whatever I pulled out fit and was cute. That offered respite from my decision-fatigue. And made me feel pretty. Here's how I did it:
