In December, I challenged myself to create 30 unique outfits from the 30 pieces of professional clothing I own, to show how a minimalist closet can be done. I Instagrammed them @savemycents using the #30pieces30days hashtag. The only time I slipped up was on days 25 and 28, but, I was traveling, so I didn’t get to launder as much. Some days (13 and 20 for example) look very similar, but the shirts are actually different.
Special thanks to my officemates Stephanie and Anna for helping out with photographs, and also to my dear husband for putting up with the majority of non-selfie photos.
Don’t give a **** what other people think and don’t take a job that depends on your clothing
Wear confidence. It is about loving yourself and not being defined by what the world thinks of your clothing. As long as you look professional, that’s all that matters.
Understand what need you are trying to satisfy with more clothes
There are many people who tell me “I can’t do that” when I talk about #30pieces30days, and what I really want to say is, “You think you can’t”. We have the ability to train and control our minds, we just don’t do it often enough. I do this because I can save a lot of money and time getting dressed in the morning. Changing habits does feel a little weird at first. Then, you have to replace the original need (materialism, comfort, self-soothing, inability to let go of the past), with a new source that “feeds” that need (a state of gratitude, inward-driven validation, a desire for a greater goal, a future-oriented mindset).
Give yourself time
I used to be that person with overflowing drawers of different colors. I used to be that person who loved fashion, could dress in multiple outfits in a day if I wanted to. And then I would get overwhelmed when trying to move. It took years of moving and downsizing to get my closet to 30 pieces, and it wasn’t until this past year when I really saw it as a way to save money with very little effort, that I felt compelled to do so.
Layer, layer, layer
If you wear 2 items on the top, if you change just one of them, it creates a new combination. Most of the success from me doing this was from adding variety in the layers, and mixing and matching them together. You’ll notice that I am often wearing a brown sweater, a white sweater, or my black blazer, and changing the color on the inside in a subtle way
A photo log helps
As I started Instagramming my outfits, I started having a visual log. I noticed for example that I stopped wearing my shift dresses after the first half because it got too cold, but this was also telling me that once the weather got warmer – which it did last week – I went back to wearing the dresses first to add variety.
Give your clothing many occasions
Some people might say, “Shang you’re not a mom” or “Shang you don’t do ____ and I need clothing for that”. Okay, try me. In the past 30 days, I went to work, met clients, played with babies, pets, and children, cooked, went to parties, hosted parties, walked around museums, flew, drove cars, rode trains, hiked, ran errands, cleaned my house, slept on my bed, slept on an air mattress, slept in a hotel, walked through snow, walked in beachy weather… The only thing I do not show is my workout clothing. I would argue that we all are busy, but we have to find clothing that fits multiple kinds of occasions.
Go for one color scheme and keep styles classic
The majority of my clothing is neutral with one accent color – pink. Find a color palate that you love and stick with that for all purchases. Very few of my clothing is trendy, although I really would say I’m not a fan of the sweater in day 16 and the way I styled myself on day 1 was somewhat tragic. For the main part I dress in the same silhouettes I dressed in since 8 years ago
Demand absolute fit
I follow a certain silhouette and shape, and almost all my clothes fit about the same. That is not an accident. The better they fit, the more interchangeable they become, and the less you need to make up for awkward shapes.
Thank you for reading this post!
