the fish epic

For years I’ve kept a bunch of socks whose partner has gone missing or discarded. These singletons were for someday. Someday I might buy a pair of socks which are similar looking enough that I could wear this singleton again. Or someday I might need a lot of rags for stuff and I’ll be able to use these as scrap fabrics. Or someday I might come up with some neat craft project and I’ll need lots of socks.

I’ve always been a bit of a (read: a major) pack-rat, and I’ve excused that as a sort of resourcefulness I learnt from my mother. However, lately my mind keeps wandering back to simplicity and purity. From John Maeda’s TED talk to my folks’ stories on living frugally but happily, simplicity is in everything I see.

Jumping around the Zen Habits blog has become a very enjoyable past-time, and it wasn’t long before I found the articles about wardrobe planning. So it’s no surprise that last weekend I threw the singleton socks all into a bag and gave them away, along with about a third of my wardrobe which I no longer wear. The biggest key that turned itself in my head was the realisation that most of my wardrobe belongs in either the past or future: I have enough old band uniforms to fill up an entire shelf which I haven’t worn since I quit the bands, and I have some odd pieces which I told myself I would wear “when I find other pieces that would make it work.” Neither of those are conducive to having a stylish wardrobe for today.

Anyway, autumn is arrived in Vancouver, so I’m dedicating next weekend to switching seasons in. Vancouver is temperate enough that I can get away with wearing a t-shirt in combination with hoodies and sweaters and the nice! new! snow jacket I purchased last year — so it’s been very easy to not systematically review my wardrobe and purge outdated things at the end of each season. So, even though I’ll still have t-shirts for the winter, I’ll be packing away my bright summery ones (and in the process, throw out the ones I haven’t worn in two years).

Obviously there is no “end game” for a wardrobe, which will always evolve as I move through my life…. but this particular goal will be considered complete when I have pared my wardrobe down to a single armoire. Did I mention I hate my giant but unusable closet and plan to rip it out and put an armoire in its place? (Relatedly, who was the fucktard that came up with walk-in closets being the “standard” of North American homes? Much rather have a walk-in pantry.) With fewer belongings, my room will feel even bigger.