Minimal Mania

I have to say that I have never been one of those people who has Russian Egg closets, piles of treasures and knick-knacks, or finds long-lost government documents, etc. behind my toaster. I'm the type who knows where everything is (or where everything should be) mainly because I don't have a lot of stuff to keep track of. Narrow and deep is my motto: few but good friends where time has indeed, stopped; a bright and chic lip for some make-up, but not a whole lot else; a pair of good, real, earrings without all of the other costume extravaganza, and instead of an over-stuffed, mass-market closet, I will just wear my one-of-a-kind Karl Lagerfeld or vintage Moschino, thank you very much.

Yeah. I have always been adamantly, eccentrically minimal: almost sterile-sparse, definitely picky and sure, maybe even a little snobby.  In all aspects of life, I like quality over quantity, so despite being "fashionable", I certainly don't have a lot of clothing and in list format it actually looks pretty bleak:

3 dresses
1 jumpsuit
4 pairs of pants (only one of them black)
4 pairs of jeans
3 sweaters
5 blazers/jackets
4 overcoats
4 blouses
3 button-downs
3 pairs of shorts
4 skirts
4 pairs of boots (1 thigh-high, 1 over-knee flat, 1 ankle heel, 1 ankle flat)
(No pairs of dress heels!)
1 pair driving mocs
2 sneakers
1 pairs of sandals

(Of course, being the minimalist I am composing this list, I already see some things that will begin to make their way to the thrift store...)

I was once enlightened about the "pure" and minimalistic "Japanese way" of ownership: fitting an entire wardrobe on one rolling rack, and having it all be the best that one can afford. I must say, it was a game-changing moment; my anomalies and Spartan ways were finally given street cred! (Tellingly, the streamlined aesthetic resonated.)

While my closet is fairly middle-tier in the world of decadence and designer clothing due to my middle-tier (at least by Manhattan standards) resources, I have made some tight purchases that are willed to last throughout the years; I easily see the majority of my closet lasting decades with careful care and yet, with regular wear. While I have some mass-market T-shirts and tanks, and some Lululemon tucked away in my drawers, I'd like to think that I have a "respectable" closet: not a lot, but nice, but of course, maximalists like Anna Della Russo, would be mortified.

People ask if this is too limiting or boring:  it's not.  Limiting and boring is making monthly stops to Zara, Macy's, Aldo, Nine West, et al. (replacing cheap-but-not-cheap-enough things over and over) or washing something more than two times and having it look like something that's been rumpled under your bed for six months... (Don't get me wrong, cheap definitely has its place, especially if it's done right: take Target, aka Retail Crack, for instance.)

Just thinking that a pair of black Walter Stieger curved-heel pumps would fill my dress heel void pretty darn nicely. I dare say that these shoes are decades-long-in-the-closet material.


I think that a "well-edited" closet (and everything) could certainly be bleak in the wrong hands, but isn't having quality and control over one's life a little bit chic? In a world where more is often merrier, sometimes, less is just a little bit more. So, consider savings those pennies into dollars, as literally and figuratively, one "Chanel" sure as hell trumps twenty-five+ "Zara(s)"...