Matt Souveny was feeling overwhelmed by the unworn clothes languishing in his closet when he began poking around Reddit's menswear forums, where style-conscious men debate different shoe leather and denim brands, or bravely seek constructive feedback on how a suit fits。
Souveny, a Canadian Air Force pilot, got into discussions about what to wear if you could only choose one outfit for the rest of your life, a popular topic on such forums. It was hypothetical at first, but as the list grew, Souveny decided he had enough intel to turn into a real-life experiment。
"I'd been trimming it down over the past year, but after that conversation on the Internet, it really struck me that I don't need all this stuff," he said。
As of June 1, Souveny has pledged to pare down his wardrobe to 10 articles of clothing for the next year, excluding socks, underwear and outerwear。
The list includes: one pair of pants, one pair of shorts, two T-shirts, one button-down, one sweatshirt, one pair of sneakers, one pair of boots, a blazer and a belt。
He declared his intention in May to wear one outfit for one year in a blog post titled "minimalism." The timing couldn't be better, he said. He and his wife were moving to a smaller home, and he would be on parental leave from the Air Force for six months, freeing him from the daily obligation to wear a flight suit。
It was also a way for him to start experimenting with how to live with less overall, he said。
"We've found over the past year that having less stuff can actually allow you more freedom. Instead of spending free time sorting stuff, or organizing stuff, or searching through stuff for other stuff, you can hopefully spend more time doing things that you want to be doing," he wrote。
Most of us aspire to de-clutter our lives at some point. Shunning all material possessions is a big leap for most, but slimming down one's closet is an easier first step. Popular minimalist fashion movements include the 10-piece capsule, the five-piece French wardrobe andProject 333, which invites participants to dress with 33 items or less for three months。
When people recognize the benefits of fewer choices in their closets, they start thinking about how to apply the philosophy to other areas of their lives, said Courtney Carver, creator of Project 333.
"It's sort of the gateway drug for further simplicity, because that's where we start each day," Carver said。
Carver began Project 333 in 2010 to simplify her life while dealing with the onset of multiple sclerosis, and ended up inspiring a movement that continues to gain momentum. Project 333'sFacebook page, which has more than 12,000 likes, features stories from people around the world participating in the challenge。
Inspired by Project 333, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Alison Sherwood started her own version earlier this month, the Tiny Closet Challenge, and invited readers to join her. So far, 30 have signed up from around the world
"The simplicity of a minimalist wardrobe really appealed to me. I wanted to give it a try and see how it would affect my perspective on things like style, spending habits, materialism and contentment. I have two little kids -- ages 2.5 and 9 months -- so I don't really have time in the morning for trying on outfits and staring into my closet," Sherwood said。
"I tend to have a hard time getting rid of clothes even if I never wear them, because of guilt that I spent money on them or because I'm afraid I might want or need them at some point. I want to prove that I can let go of those clothes and be perfectly fine."
So far, it's working out, she said. She saves time in the morning and laundry is easier. When temperature fluctuations struck, she layered tops to stay warm。
"It's nice only wearing my favorite clothes and jewelry, and not feeling guilty for neglecting other clothes I may not like as much," she said。
"I feel a sense of calm when I look in my closet. It's stressful when there are clothes jammed into every available space, especially when you have a toddler who might come in and start tearing clothes off the hangers when you're trying to get ready. Now there is breathing room in my closet and it makes me feel like I'm starting the day with some semblance of organization and control."
Cutting back completely changed Carver's life. After being separated from her clothing those first three months, she realized most of it didn't matter to her. Today, she continues to use only 33 clothing items (not including underwear, sleepwear or workout clothing) at a time, reassessing her wardrobe every three months to cycle in seasonal necessities from a single container into her closet。
She still makes purchases to replace items in her closet, but she's more thoughtful about them, she said. The minimalist philosophy has extended to other areas of her life. After deciding that she could do with much less in the kitchen, the living room and elsewhere in her home, she moved from her 2,000 square-foot home into an apartment. She also left her job in advertising to focus full-time on consulting with others to streamline their lives and businesses。
Parting with clothing, even clothing you hate, is hard, said Jillian Quint, managing editor of PureWow.com, an online publication geared toward women's interests. Start by asking: Does it fit? Does it look good on me? When was the last time I wore it?
If you can't answer "yes," "yes," and "within the last year," the item has to go, she said。
If you really want to rock a minimalist closet, it helps to invest in quality pieces that do double, triple or quadruple duty, Quint said. Think a crisp white blouse, a black blazer and a perfectly fitting pair of jeans accompanied by shoes and accessories to bring in more color and current trends。
But the first step is overcoming the fear that "it could never work for me" and starting small。
Don't get rid of anything at first, Project 333's Carver recommends. Hold onto everything and gradually shed the items you didn't realize you were missing during the experiment。
Everyone has different reasons for paring down their wardrobe. For some, like Carver, the goal was to reduce stress and clutter。
For others, it's part of an effort to focus on quality over quantity. Consumers are demanding a return to high-quality items that can stand the test of time, Quint said
"We're in an era of examining our carbon footprint. Nobody wants a closet that looks like a landfill," she said。
Souveny's motivation falls into this camp。
"I tried to find brands that embody this whole idea of making high quality products out of the best materials available," he said。
And, it shows in the bill: $2,703, as one Redditor estimated the total cost of Souveny's 10 pieces, most of which are made in North America。
Each piece of clothing was selected for its versatility and durability in different weather conditions and social environments, Souveny said. He avoided denim because it was too "casual" but he didn't want to wear a suit all year, leading to a wardrobe consisting of mostly synthetic fabrics that keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter。
It helps that some clothing brands heard about his plans and donated clothing to his experiment. Still, he says, he chose clothing by brands that he already owned or was likely to own, making the experiment not too far removed from reality。
"The way I justify buying higher quality items is in buying less and buying the best I can afford," he said. "My closet is full of cheap clothes that will never wear out because I never wear them. The items that I saved for and sought after, however, get plenty of loving wear."
His exercise isn't meant to be prescriptive for everyone, he said。
"This was just a fun experiment for me to see how long things last," he said. "Who knows, maybe it'll inspire others to think about how minimalism could work in their closet."
譯文：
馬特•蘇維尼(Matt Souveny)在逛紅迪網(wǎng)(Reddit)男裝論壇時，對他的衣櫥里那些一次也沒穿過、慢慢過時的衣服感到很頭疼。論壇上注重穿著打扮的男士們在討論不同鞋子的皮革和牛仔布的品牌，也有人大[微博]膽地尋求衣服是否合身的建設(shè)性意見。
蘇維尼是加拿大空軍的一名飛行員。他加入到“如果在剩下的人生中只能選一套衣服，你會穿什么”的討論中，這一話題在這些論壇里討論非常熱烈。一開始只是假設(shè)，但是隨著衣服單逐漸列出來，蘇維尼決定來做一次真實的實驗。
“過去一年里我也整理過衣櫥，但在加入到網(wǎng)上那場討論中后，我確實覺得我并不需要這么多衣服，”他說道。
蘇維尼立誓，從6月1日起，他要將衣櫥里明年穿的衣服縮減到10件，襪子、內(nèi)衣和外套除外。
衣服包括一條褲子、一條短褲、兩件T恤、一件有紐扣領(lǐng)的襯衫、一件運(yùn)動衫、一雙運(yùn)動鞋、一雙靴子、一件運(yùn)動上衣和一條皮帶。
五月份，他在博客上寫了一篇《極簡主義》(Mininalism)文章，宣布一年只穿一套衣服的計劃。他認(rèn)為這時機(jī)再好不過了。他和妻子新搬的家比以前要小，而且在空軍服役的他馬上要休六個月的親子假，不用每天都穿飛行服。
這也是讓他開始試驗如何穿著簡單地生活的一種方式。
“過去一年，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)擁有的少量的東西，其實會讓你獲得更多的自由。不用再在空余時間整理分類東西，或者從許多東西里找一個東西，你可以將更多的時間花在做你想要做的事情上，”他寫道。
我們許多人在某個時刻都想簡化我們的生活。精簡我們所有的物質(zhì)財富，對于許多人來說都是一次非常大的提升，但是縮減一下衣櫥是一個簡單的開始。正流行的極簡主義時尚運(yùn)動包括“10件衣服膠囊活動”、“五件衣服法國衣櫥活動”和“333計劃”，“333計劃”讓參與者3個月內(nèi)只穿33件或更少的衣服。
“333計劃”的發(fā)起者柯特妮•卡佛(Courtney Carver)表示，當(dāng)人們意識到簡化衣櫥的好處時，他們開始思考如何將這一想法運(yùn)用到生活其他領(lǐng)域。
“這是對生活中更多領(lǐng)域的簡化的一種藥引子，因為我們每一天就是從穿衣開始的。”卡佛說。
卡佛在2010年開始與硬化癥作抗?fàn)帟r為簡化生活開始了“333計劃”，并最終促成了這一項日益高漲的運(yùn)動。“333計劃”的Facebook主頁獲“贊”次數(shù)超過1.2萬次，講述世界各地的人加入這一挑戰(zhàn)的故事。
受“333計劃”的鼓舞，《密爾沃基哨兵報》(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)的記者艾莉森•舍伍德(Alison Sherwood) 6月初開展了自己的活動——“迷你衣櫥挑戰(zhàn)”(the Tiny Closet Challenge)，邀請讀者加入。目前為止，世界各地已經(jīng)有30人報名加入?yún)⒓印?/p>
“我對極簡主義衣櫥的簡單大方真的很感興趣。我想嘗試一下，想看看它會怎么影響我對一些事情的看法，例如風(fēng)格、花錢習(xí)慣、物質(zhì)主義和滿足感。我有兩個小孩，一個兩歲半，一個九個月大，因此，早上我真的沒有時間一件件試衣服，對著衣櫥干瞪眼，”舍伍德說。
“扔掉那些即使我從不穿的衣服對我來說也往往很難，因為我會有浪費(fèi)錢的罪惡感，我也怕有一天我可能穿或者需要它們。我想要證明我可以不要這些衣服，也能過得非常好。”
她表示，到目前為止，頗有成效。她在早晨節(jié)省了不少時間，洗衣服也變得更簡單了。等氣溫波動時，她就多穿點(diǎn)保暖。
“只穿我最喜歡的衣服，帶喜歡的首飾感覺很好，也不會有忽視了其它我沒那么喜歡的衣服的愧疚感，”她說道。
“現(xiàn)在看我的衣櫥我會有種平靜感。當(dāng)許多衣服塞滿了整個空間，尤其是有小孩子在你收拾好的時候進(jìn)來，把衣服從衣架上扯下來，會感到緊張壓迫�，F(xiàn)在，我的衣櫥里有了很多空間，讓我感覺我是有計劃有管理地開始每一天。”
精簡衣櫥完全改變了卡佛的生活。在簡化她的衣物的最初三個月以后，她意識到大多數(shù)衣物并沒有那么必不可少�，F(xiàn)在，她仍繼續(xù)在一段時間里只穿33件衣服(不包括內(nèi)衣、睡衣或工作服)，每三個月就重新整理一下衣櫥，從小箱子里更新一些季節(jié)性的必需品到衣櫥里。
她仍會買些衣服來置換衣櫥里的衣服，但她表示現(xiàn)在更深思熟慮了。極簡主義的思想延伸到了她生活的其它領(lǐng)域。在認(rèn)為她可以在廚房、客廳和家里的其它地方使用更少的空間之后，她從她2000平方英尺的家搬到了一棟公寓里。她還離開了她在廣告業(yè)的工作，專注于向他人提供簡化生活和業(yè)務(wù)的咨詢。
一家專注女性愛好的電子刊物PureWow網(wǎng)站的主編朱利安•昆特(Jillian Quint)稱，丟掉衣物，甚至是你討厭的衣物也很難。開始問自己：衣服合身嗎?我穿著好看嗎?我最近一次穿它是什么時候?
如果答案不是“是，”“是”和“就在去年”，那這件衣服就可以不要了，她如此說道。
如果你真的想要一個極簡的衣櫥，那就在里面放質(zhì)量好的衣服，能起雙倍、三倍或者四倍的作用，昆特說。嘗試一件潔凈挺括的白襯衫、一件黑色的運(yùn)動夾克和一條非常合身的牛仔褲，以及鞋子和配飾，增加更多的色彩和時尚。
不過，第一步是要克服“這不會適合我”的擔(dān)心，從小地方開始。
不要一開始就去掉所有東西，333計劃發(fā)起者卡佛建議。一開始保留所有的東西，在嘗試過程中逐漸去除你自己都沒有意識到你已經(jīng)不再使用的東西。
每個人縮減衣櫥都有不同的理由。對于一些人，比如卡佛，目的是為了減少壓力和混亂。
對于其他人來說，這是專注于質(zhì)量而不是數(shù)量的努力的一部分。昆特認(rèn)為，消費(fèi)者要求產(chǎn)品回歸高質(zhì)量，能經(jīng)受住時間的考驗。
“我們生活在一個要時刻檢查碳排放的時代。沒人想要一個像垃圾場一樣的衣櫥，”她說道。
蘇維尼的動機(jī)也是如此。
“我試圖尋找體現(xiàn)用最好的材料生產(chǎn)高質(zhì)量的產(chǎn)品的想法的品牌，”他說。
這體現(xiàn)在價格上，紅迪網(wǎng)一位網(wǎng)友估算蘇維尼十件衣服的總價為2703美元，大多數(shù)衣服都是在北美生產(chǎn)的。
我根據(jù)在不同天氣條件和社交場合的多用性和耐用性挑選了這十件衣服，蘇維尼說。他沒挑牛仔布，因為太“休閑了”，但是他不想一年到頭都穿西服，所以衣櫥里大多都是人造纖維，夏天涼爽，冬天保暖。
幸運(yùn)的是，一些服裝品牌聽說了他的計劃，為他的實驗贈送了一些衣服。然而，他說，他按照他已經(jīng)有或想擁有的品牌選擇服裝，讓他的實驗不會太脫離實際。
“我堅持應(yīng)該買高質(zhì)量的衣服的方式是買的更少，以及買我能支付的起的最好的衣服，”他說。“我的衣櫥里滿滿的都是永遠(yuǎn)不會穿壞的便宜衣服，因為我從不穿它們。但是，我攢錢買的衣服就會很喜歡穿。”
他表示，他的嘗試并不是為了給所有人指導(dǎo)。
“這就是一個有趣的實驗，讓我看看一件事能持續(xù)多久，”他說。“誰知道呢，或許它會鼓舞其他人去考慮怎么精簡他們的衣櫥。”
