Goals for a Minimalist 2021 Wardrobe

2020 wardrobe analysis

After a few years of wardrobe confusion and changing my lifestyle significantly in 2020, finally, by the end of 2020, I had settled with a wardrobe that I was very happy with. I’m still generally satisfied with it. I’m very pleased with my summer wardrobe (Western Australia, where I live, does summer really well, and because of that, I’ve been able to build a summer wardrobe quite effectively). However, I’m only moderately pleased with my winter wardrobe. I gave it a rating of 6/10 last winter. I think that the reason for that is because we don’t have much of a winter in Western Australia, I used to work full time for many years during winter, so I was spending a lot of time in air-conditioned places, which meant I didn’t really need a winter wardrobe. I wasn’t spending that much time doing stuff other than working. 

Currently, there are sort of two neutral base colors within my wardrobe. I’ve got a little capsule of charcoal-colored items, and then I’ve got this small collection of cream-colored items. And those two form the color bases for my wardrobe. Most of the other stuff in my closet - the shoes, accessories, hats, items that are accent colors, even my fitness capsule, all fit in with that neutral base. I also basically replaced all of my shoes and handbags last year, so I’m very content with those.

2021 wardrobe plan

So what is my 5-year plan? Writing my style course really forced me to sit down and think about my style. I came to a bunch of conclusions about my wardrobe while creating that course. [‘Create authentic style with a small wardrobe’ is a free 15 module online course that I’ll be giving about how to create and design your authentic style while minimizing your wardrobe].

Most of the items that I have work well; as I said, I’m mostly satisfied with my wardrobe. This 5-year plan that I have is a slow plan of replacement. My goal is to use as many items as I have up. I want to use them to their full capacity. Or until I’m sick of them or I find a great replacement. 

While my wardrobe is great, I’m not convinced that the charcoals and the creams are the best colors for me. I discovered this when I was working on my course. As a result of working on that, I realize that charcoal probably isn’t the most flattering color on me. It’s not terrible, but it’s also not amazing. It’s perhaps a little bit too cool for my warm coloring, and the cream does tend to wash me out quite a bit. It also tends to create a little bit more contrast in my wardrobe than I would like. If I wear it with anything remotely darker, natural contrast starts to happen.

I’ve learned so much about what cuts, styles, and colors suit me over the last few years. Unless I discover something new or get excited by a new concept, I’m basically going to stick to the general shapes that I already have within my wardrobe. So I’m going to be looking for those sort of cuts but in warm, mid-tone browns. Or these sort of warm grays, like the greige (gray/beige), the mushroom colored pants that I have, for example. I love that color; it’s great on me.

In terms of styling, I will continue to wear some of my fabulous jewelry. I still intend to wear my hair long and wear my makeup in a pretty natural way mostly.

How will I do it?

Basically, my long-term 5-year goal for my wardrobe is for it to be more minimalist. I want less variety, less color difference, and less contrast. My goal is to use up my existing wardrobe as much as possible and slowly, over this year, start adding pieces that might be great replacements for the ones that I want to replace. If I’m bringing anything new into my wardrobe this year, it needs to fit in with that plan, but it also needs to be extremely high quality, a pinnacle of aesthetic excitement for me. I need to know that I would be happy to wear it for the next five years because that’s kind of what I’m planning. 

I still haven’t found cropped knitwear that I like, so that was one of my winter struggles. So I’ll be looking for some warm mid-time cropped knitwear. I also want a summer dress in a warm mid-tone. Also, I’m looking for another pair of pants that are quite similar to the pants that I already have, just because I wear them so much that I know I’m just going to wear them out. They’re good quality, but I wear them at least 2 or 3 times a week, so with that sort of continuous wearing and the constant washing, it’s just inevitable that they’re going to wear out. I need to wear something similar, so I can start balancing the wear between those two items rather than just wearing that one item all the time.

My goal is to cap how many clothing pieces I bring into my wardrobe in 2021 into 6 or 7 items. I place to source those items by looking at local brands and maybe some second-hand clothing stores as well.

For me, the whole theme for everything in 2021 is just consistency and repeating and practicing what I’ve already learned and perfecting that essentially. That theme is carrying into my wardrobe as well.

Comment below with what your plans are for your wardrobe in 2021. I’m also curious to know whether your perspective on your wardrobe changed at all in 2020. It certainly did for me, and with so much having changed in 2020, I’m sure that many people have changed how they relate to their wardrobe.