Wardrobe Choices: Minimalist Community prompt

Hey beefriends! Today I'm responding to The Minimalist Community's prompt for the week, option one, about preference for monochrome wardrobe colors or florals (or other colorful choices)?

It's kind of funny to think of me having a minimalist wardrobe when I feel like I still have a lot of clothes, but I mostly wear the same clothes on the regular even though I haven't purged some of the others yet. 😅 I have actually purged my clothing by a lot, but I hung on to some in a "use it up/I still like this" case for some, and just not being ready to let it go for others, I suppose. It's all about progress, though - compared to where I used to be, my wardrobe is at quite a functional size!

No, not the storage closet. Shhhhhhh. Even Monica on Friends had one of those. ;)

I don't have a rule about it or anything, but I generally prefer to be monochromatic or bichromatic in my outfits. Most of my favorite outfits are either jeans and a solid color top, or pretty much the same color all over, like my shorts are green and I'll wear them with my favorite green hoodie. I will usually even match my accessories to some extent, like, if I'm wearing browns I'll wear brown shoes, if I'm wearing blacks I'll wear a black scarf and black boots, or something like that. I prefer dark colors, and earthy tones. I will happily combine blacks and browns (supposedly that's a fashion no-no, I was always told), blacks and grays, and different shades of the same color.

If I have a pop of color, it's usually in my socks, because I do enjoy fun sock patterns. Funnily though, I'm usually barefoot, so I wear the colorful socks when it's cold enough to warrant it and not often otherwise. 😅

Colorful socks, bare feet

I suppose the first time I really realized my penchant for all-one-color was somewhat unusual to other people was the time I am fairly certain a guy on the bus was trying to figure out if I was a nun. 😂 No, really! To set the story, you have to understand this was years ago when I still wore dresses and skirts and was also still Catholic. He kept giving me strange looks as I rode the bus and I was wondering what was up, and then when I got off the bus he nodded to himself. It was then that I realized: I was wearing all brown, with a long brown skirt and sensible shoes. I was veiled because I was going to church, and I got off at the stop next to the big Catholic church. He must have been trying to figure me out the whole bus ride and then when he saw me get off at the church in all brown with a veil in my hair (which, if you're unaware, is common for Catholic women in most countries to do when going to mass but not in North America), confirmed in his mind that I must be a nun in stripey socks (because yeah, you could see my stripey brown tights under that skirt). 🤣 Hey, nuns can wear stripey socks (not all orders have habits). I used to have nun friends and one of them saw my kickin' new boots one time and replied, "Must. Not. Covet." 😂

The current tunic I really covet want (but it's very expensive ...where's that lotto win when you need it) is all gray and big and drapey with a hood. My favorite sweater is all gray too. I posted the photo of the one I want on fb and one of my friends said it looked like a monk's robe. I was like ...yeah that's kinda what I like about it.

I covet.

So yeah, my aesthetic is kinda Druid monkish I guess. ;) It just makes me happy. Which may lead you to understand why I hated my clothes as a child in the 80s. My older sister was very trendy so she had all the garish bright 80s neon vomit clothes, and I never got to choose what clothes I wore. I inherited hers, and what little I got new, my mother chose quite against my wishes (Me: "Can I just have a pair of jeans?" Mom: "But these courderoys are cheaper so you can get several instead of one or two, and look! They come in pretty colors!!"). I felt perpetually ugly and uncomfortable.

So yeah, as I continue to fine tune my wardrobe to things that are more me, it gets simpler and makes me feel better. Peaceful clothes!