How I Got Rid of My Work Clothes
I have always loved having endless amounts of shirts to choose from for work. Being a lighting sales rep I am in front of all sorts of different kinds of customers, from electrical distributors to interior designers as well as lighting showrooms and electricians. It's a broad spectrum of people. I also have the anxiety that I don't want people to think I wear the same thing every day, for some reason. On the Minimalist podcast, they mentioned this idea of wearing 33 pieces of clothing for a month and see how it goes. I thought, well, let's take that up a notch! So I decided, excluding underwear and socks because I am somewhat sane, I went with:
1 pair of Gray canvas dress shoes
1 leather belt
1 pair of dark jeans (Yes, I get to wear jeans to work. woot-woot!)
1 Blue Nike Polo golf shirts with the company name on it
2 Black Nike Polo golf shirts with the company name on it
So naturally, since I am a bag of bones, Sam trimmed them up to make them fit me better. I did this for about 3-4 months. No one said a word. I even had a customer comment "liking the new Kichler shirt" twice! So, of course, I went straight to my closet to cut the fat off my other work clothes.
-Pause- Twice a year I attend Dallas market. This is when everyone is well groomed and dressed and flys into Dallas to present new lighting products for the year. This happens every six months and lasts about a week. It's a big group that is in the same "showroom" for most of the week. By the end of the week, you're so tired you forget where you are. So I needed to have at least a weeks worth of dress clothes. -Play-
I ended up with the following:
2 belts
3 pairs of dress shoes
3 pairs of dress slacks
7 dress shirts
Since I do travel for work, I have one suitcase now that stores all my Dallas dress work clothes. I decided to pack in the suitcase now so (1) I know it fits and (2) its space that's not being used in Tiffany that can help clear up another drawer. I keep it in the bathroom closet ready to go whenever I need it. Easy.
Some people might say "I can't do that, I work in the same building with the same people every day" and that could be true. What you can do is go to your closet and make a structure that suits your needs at this very moment because what I can guarantee is that you can cut some closet fat off and you will feel better. Most importantly I doubt anyone will ever notice! My buddy Dobs also said something funny that was a good side note, you can't have a bleach stain on your pants or people will notice. Yes, you might do more laundry but it’s not like we are washing them in rivers anymore. We all have clothes in our closet that we hold on to for memory or because you're going to fit in it one day. I ended up getting rid of about 21 dress shirts, 6 pairs of pants, 8 pairs of shoes, and 1 belt.
It's nice knowing what I am going to wear and that every day is already planned out for work. I don't have to stress about packing for Dallas or what to bring for a couple of overnight trips. It's easy, it's more efficient, it allows me to do other things I enjoy more.
Any tips you have on decluttering your closet? Share in the comment selections below!
-Tim
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