The Closet in the Man: Me, My Clothes and I

The store(y) of my life: having little time but many clothes

Growing up with a shop-aholic mother and sister (common Italian disease 😂: compulsive buying disorder) as soon as I got a job, it also felt natural to start buying myself clothes and accessories. These quickly became habits when I started producing visual media, especially for instagram, because I thought I always needed to present myself with a different and new outfit. I ended up buying stuff every week, often pieces I didn’t even like just because they were on sale. As time went by all these clothes were making a pile because I felt guilty trashing clothes unless they were done for (I mean with holes, stains or a major loss in color).

Can’t close the wardrobe because it is full of clothes

Even if I was donating all my synthetic clothes (by recommendation of my doctor) and I shrank some in the dryer, it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t stop myself from keeping too many pieces thinking they’d become fashionable again or would have been good for something some day (maybe for a theme party) or just for affection to the single piece. I realised I really had a problem when I was wearing only the same clothes (mostly the older ones) because the new ones were staying hidden at the bottom of the garderobe and I forgot that I even had them. I couldn’t really see what was in there anymore and it was taking a lot of my time to choose what to wear.

I'm starting from the man in the gardrobe: how to save money and even more

When Covid came, I (finally😅) had less reasons for shopping and stopped buying. I also had much more time to think and realised that maybe this might have been part of a bigger problem that extended outside my closet. So I decided to take action and thought making space in my closet would also open my mind. Even if it is a process still in progress, knowing better what is in my closet helps me to feel better with what I am wearing and in my life. Collecting stuff that I don’t really need was a waste of my time and unfortunately on the large scale at which this happens, it is also a waste of energy for the planet. For example, have you ever needed to re-wash a dress that you let sleep in the closet for too long before you wear it again, because it smells? In short: wouldn't it be great to slow down collecting and really learn how to make the most of what we already own?

Finally seeing the end of the drawer

What is helping me to achieve this goal is also that I started to live as a digital nomad. I haven't lived longer than a month in a place in the last year and I realised that the clothes you really need daily can fit into a 😘 suitcase (unless you are going to ski, but that’s another story⛷). I started, therefore to stop buying new things and use only what I have (which also helps me to see what’s my color). Of course it also doesn't mean I have to walk around looking like trash: as soon as my favorite mesh tank top breaks, I buy a new one ✨.

If you also feel like you are sinking into ‘things’, here are some things you can do:

• Avoid the sales period and shopping streets (especially on the weekends, anyway they are hideous)
• Stop giving as a present gift cards (also hideous; if you don't have time to think about a gift, is it so wrong not to doing it at all?)
• Use app like Vinted, depop or facebook marketplace to sell your clothes
• Make a secret (no) Santa (no) party where guests bring clothes they don't use as presents

You can also watch these videos to know more about the topics:

• Stop Buying Stuff | Niko Stoifberg
• Change Your Closet, Change Your Life | Gillian Dunn
• On Netflix: The Minimalists: Less Is Now and of course Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.

(Less is) Moral: if you want to survive a sinking remember that Rose (Kate Winslet) docet.

All mine and Ryan belongings (in Berlin) that we left behind