My Wardrobe

Twenty months ago, I took all the clothes I had, save for a few, and put them in a suitcase in the basement. I went a month without my favourite clothing and stuck to simplicity. It was predictable and I never had to think for more than a second about what I was going to wear.

Sometimes I get asked about how that’s going, and the answer is always that I love it! It’s the best decision that I’ve ever taken with regards to the clothes that I wear. As stated above, I never have to think about what I’m going to wear. I reach into my closet and the shirt that comes into my hand is the one I wear, and I pick a hoodie, sweater or cardigan based on the weather or whichever happens to be closest to my hand.

In the clothes that I wear on a regular basis, I have plain white, grey and black t-shirts, a couple of blue denim jeans, a hoodie, a sweater, and a cardigan. For exercising, I have a few pairs of sweats. For formal occasions, I have two button down shirts, two ties and a suit. Other than that, I have some traditional Punjabi and Sikh clothing for relevant occasions.

The flexibility that comes with this and lack of thought that goes into it every day is wonderful. An example that I like to repeat is that when it comes to many things, the more effort and thought that you put into it in the beginning, the less you will have to do so later. This is especially true of building skills, muscle memory, and habits.

A big part of this has to do with the way one thinks. If I cared too much about what others might be thinking, it would be difficult to wear the same thing everywhere. We do tend to consider what others “might” think. We need to stop ruminating over what we don’t know and have the confidence to be true to ourselves. A part of this is realizing that a lot of people simply don’t care about so many things that we think they do. It’s a test in ego as well to not let yourself think that it matters enough to affect someone else. For those who actually do care, and it bothers me that people actually do, they’ll probably fall into one of two categories:

1. Someone who cares about you and is genuinely worried. It can be easily explained that this is your lifestyle choice. If they care, they’ll come around.
2. Someone to whom you don’t need to cater your wardrobe.