My 40-Hanger Winter Closet

Our house is mid-level chaos these days. We spent Les's winter break unpacking and situating and tackling projects. Now that we have everything unpacked, we're shin deep in piles of things we haven't figured out a place for yet. These piles are totally stressing me out - mentally and emotionally. Sometimes physically. (I'm looking at you, box of random formerly-hall-closet-contents now just box-in-the-middle-of-the-hall on which I keep stubbing my toe).

Everyone has stuff that they don't use that often, and it's hard to know what to toss and what to keep. No one wants to end up in the position of re-buying something you just donated or tossed. But the fact remains that we have more belongings than we actually need, so some of them are going to be re-homed. It has been overwhelming to figure out where exactly to start.

I've been stewing about all this for a couple of weeks, and apparently I'm not the only one. My dear sister and my dear Jackie are both in the midst of some Epic Closet Simplification. They inspired me to take a hard look at my clothing stash. The closet is as good a place to start as any, right?

I took one look at my closet, and then re-read this blog post from Living Well, Spending Less. I had read her 40 Hanger Closet post last year, but I wasn't quite ready to commit. Today, it turns out, was the day.

Behold, My 40 Hanger Winter Closet

• 9 sweaters (including one not pictured because it is on the drying rack downstairs)
• 7 cardigans
• 1 printed hoodie sweatshirt (which I am wearing right now)
• 3 skirts
• 8 tops
• 6 dresses
• 2 pairs of pants - one corduroy and one black denim
• 4 pairs of jeans

Whoa. I have a LOT of navy, gray, and camel-colored clothes. 

I chose my favorite, best-quality, best-fitting, most versatile pieces and decided that I would attempt to get through the end of March by wearing these and only these pieces. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to choose. In fact, it was kind of a no-brainer. If I'm honest with myself, I wear the same things over and over and over again all winter. Especially sweaters. And guess what? If you limit yourself to the items that you like the best and look the best, I suspect it will be even easier to get dressed in the morning.

What's not included:

• Underthings
• Leggings/tights
• shoes & bags
• layering t-shirts
• workout / yoga clothes
• hooded sweatshirts that you wear around the house for days on end because it is in the negative double digits outside.
• Formal wear. We're going to 2 weddings in February, so I'll need to pull out the glam for those. 

My version of the 40 Hanger Wardrobe is actually a mishmash of the blog mentioned above and other minimalism writings that encourage a strictly seasonal, minimalist wardrobe. So I'll change up the 40 items when spring rolls around, which is why I haven't actually discarded any of my other clothes. 

I am actually pretty psyched about a truly seasonal wardrobe. I have a few items that will get a workout all year-round, but I'm eager to swap those sweaters for bright dresses in a few months. Let's face it, I am not the best dressed gal on the block, and that's OK with me. But if this simple discipline of a seasonal wardrobe helps me focus on the best I already have and look the best I can, then Yay For Me.

Eating mealy tomatoes in the middle of winter just feels "off", right? Well, so does seeing a 30-something year old woman trying to rock a sundress with a lemon yellow cardigan in January. No more.