When Socks Attack!

Cats know too well the evil nature of socks. Hence their ever vigilant hunt!

I've recently started a simplicity group with some of my friends. We plan to gather once a month and talk about why this lifestyle choice is important to us and explore ideas about the things we need help with and the things that are working well for us.

At our first meeting, one of my friends declared that this month she hopes to simplify her family's socks. And I've been thinking about socks ever since!

I have always loved socks. I am very specific about the types of socks I like to wear. They need to be as close to 100% cotton as possible, well fitted so they don't side down often, colors I like and when I find socks that are also not made in a questionable sweatshop I am in heaven! But I have the privilege to be picky... I don't have kids!

My friend and her husband have three young children... so with five people and feet that never seem to stop growing, one begins to comprehend the sock struggle. And yet, this friend of mine is not alone, I have another friend coping with the same problem! She and her husband only have one child, but both families still have a basket full of unmatched socks that seems to grow every week. Tie that up with the Google search, "Too many socks" and you will see this problem is omnipresent!

Too Many Socks!

A couple of weeks ago I read an article about a mother who chose to drastically reduced the amount of clothing her family keeps in rotation. She was discontent with the everlasting supply of laundry chores and desperate for relief. That article inspired me to maximize the minimalist potential of my own small wardrobe. Now I have one full size drawer, one half size drawer and a small shelf of clothing in rotation. I still have about two bins of clothes in the attic... and I'm sure half of it will be decluttered soon... perhaps today.

This is where I store ALL of the clothes I currently wear.
On the left you will see my 3 long-sleeve shirts and my 7 t-shirts, then my sweater and my 2 pairs of pants, then my running clothes and derby clothes.
In the middle you see my sports bras and underwear (OMG! Now the world knows I wear underwear!!!) and my socks (running, derby, normal and dress/tights... not sure why I have those)
Finally a small shelf with two pairs of PJs, painting clothes and my reflective vest for running and biking.

I took those pictures today, and I last did laundry about 2 days ago, so some of the clothes are missing... but you get the picture.

I've only been using this minimalist wardrobe for a little over a week. It seems preliminary to talk results, but I would like to share some of my initial impressions. 

- I like how my drawers look, how easy it is to see my belongings and that I only have a few places to look to find them.

- Since I only kept seven t-shirts, I get to wear my favorite shirt every day! When I take today's shirt off the pile I am so happy to see what I will be wearing tomorrow!

- I have DRASTICALLY reduced the amount of exercise clothes I keep in rotation. I am not sure if this will work, but I do tend to air out my workout clothes and wear them more than once... I mean, I'm about to get really stinky anyway, so who cares!

- I also rewear my PJs for a couple of days, and since I plan to do my laundry once every 3-4 days, this should be okay. 

- I love all of the socks I currently own... it makes me very happy that I don't have to wear lesser socks just because my clean ones are waiting in the dirty laundry.

Recently my fiancee told me that she gets a little sad when she opens her drawer full of freshly laundered clothes, pulls our her favorite shirt and then retires it to the dirty clothes basket for the next week or so while we procrastinate the chore of laundry. I like the fact that I have given myself the freedom to be happy with less, by focusing on what I have and love.

What do you think? Could this work for you? I'd love to read some thoughts :)