TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE MINIMAL WARDROBE

Dear friends, I better start this post with a question - how on earth do you girls who blog and work full time do it? I'm swamped! Here I thought that every weekend I'll write one or two posts to share with you during the week and I'm coming up short every time. Any advice? 

This outfit was photographed some two or three weeks ago, when it was still acceptable to wear thin summer trousers in a transitional look. I looove their pattern, but now they're safely stored in the "summer" drawer of my chest. Today I thought I'd share a little update about how I'm finding the minimal wardrobe quest without the capsule wardrobe rules. After all, it's been a little while since I announced this new approach...and started working in fashion.

The perk of being a fashion employee is that you get first dibs on lots of samples and you can take them home for a fraction of their price. Pretty tempting, eh? And especially easy to fall back into the old ways - if it's a bargain it doesn't matter it doesn't quite fit / doesn't go with the rest of my wardrobe / doesn't correspond with my personal style, no? What is really helping me in these times of need is one amazing lady I've spoken about before, Jess Lively. If you haven't heard of her yet, she works with intuition and ego and advocated for life with intention. Listening to her podcasts reminds me to check in with myself and listen to my intuition more. So even though I have taken home some samples, most of them ended up with family or friends. And I´m totally happy with that. Though I am quite jealous of this one sweater my mum grabbed...

This is not to say I have been holding a shopping fast, not at all. I got a couple sweaters - trust me, I'm getting a lot of wear out of them - a pair of jeans, a couple tops and inherited some shirts (from my mum's closet). Clearly, I would suck at the 5-new-items-a-season wardrobe approach I was thinking of adapting before.It feels like my personal style changes season by season. Not by a lot, but it means that there are pieces in my closet that I swear by and there are pieces I just like, some of which I realise may not be 100% me. But then again, who has a completely 100% me wardrobe?

I've noticed an internal change too. Every day I am reassured that the capsule wardrobe experiment has been so helpful in guiding me to a more minimal lifestyle. Shopping mindlessly is much less of a problem than it used to be and I find that if you're struggling, repeating your ultimate goals in your head keeps you in check. (Jess Lively could talk about this all day.) With a little time, you'll have to quietly chant your mantra less and less frequently. You'll simply train yourself to think differently. And that's pretty cool! I still have a way to go and a lot to improve. I'm hoping once my life settles a little, my style and wardrobe will too. But who knows? I'm ready for any kind of adventure.

How do you keep yourself in check while shopping? Do you check in with your intention? (Or gut, I suppose.)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Top - New Yorker / similar

Trousers - C&A / similar

Jacket - Esprit (thrifted) / similar

New Balance 373 / similar

Bag - Asos / same