A lot of people have been asking me lately just how I keep a Tiny Closet. Well, in the beginning I threw out everything I didn't love.
And since, at the time I didn't have the means to shop, I had to make the most of what I had left. But that's not really what has caused me to maintain being Tiny.
From years of shopping and owning countless cluttered closets, the most important thing I've learned is:
Clothes won't give you style.
As soon as I learned that, I wasn't so interested in shopping all the time.
I mean, shopping is amazing... But nowadays, I know what I'm shopping for. When you know what you're looking for, you tend not to buy the wrong things. You also tend not buy things that won't last. My Tiny Closet is handpicked by me, each piece carefully added to my little collection of only things I adore. But that wasn't always the case...
When consulting clients, Rachel Zoe would always ask who they wanted to look like. The purpose of the question wasn't so that she could copy the look for the client, but so that she could see the kind of essence the client wanted to possess for themselves and exude it to others.
Boom.
When I read that, it changed my world. I quickly recalled all of my style icons. I pulled up their photos and studied why I liked them so much. And Zoe was right. The iconic styles I'd assumed I needed to copy in order to achieve them myself had nothing to do with the clothes they were wearing. It had only to do with them.
The clothing merely reinforced their personalities and traits.
So thaaaat's why my closets were full of discarded clothing! The clothes weren't really for me in the first place.
people.com
It wasn't Ashley Olsen's endless clothing collection that I wanted to have per se. It was her immense class, confidence and her effortlessness that I wanted to have for myself.
karlascloset.com
It wasn't Karla's tiny figure and countless costumy looks I relished over. It was her keen intuition and unparalleled creativity I was addicted to.
instyle.com / stylebalzer.com / vibevixen.com
And it wasn't Solange's fabulously colorful aesthetic that I daydreamed about. It was her unapologetic eccentricity
and her laser focus on surrounding herself around only things she loves that I wanted to emulate.
If I or anyone else for that matter wore the outfits of Ashley, Karla or Solange, it wouldn't be the same. The vibe would be different. Because I'm different. So I decided to seek out the various qualities that I loved in those women and create the traits within myself. Clothing eventually came from that in baby steps.
To me, clothing is the last delicious step in presenting the woman and not the first. I think that mentality is really why my wardrobe is so small :)
