my new year resolution to a more minimal wardrobe- by haylee-rae
In this day and age, it is so easy to over buy for your children, and I, for one, am guilty. Before my daughter was born, I had her 6-drawer dresser full of just 0-6m clothes plus a closet. It was a lot. I didn’t realize that it was too much because everyone loves to tell you that your baby will need 2-3 outfits a day because of spit ups, blowouts, etc. But, that simply isn’t true; at least not for my kids. It is also extremely easy to get sucked into the cuteness of it all and just buy it all - I fell for that, too.
When we found out a year and a half later that we were expecting our son, I found myself quickly buying all the clothes again. Why wouldn’t I? I was having a boy this time and obviously he needed his own wardrobe. The only thing that even kept me somewhat under control was that our living situation was not changing. So, that six-drawer dresser and one closet would now be shared between two kids. That helped a lot. Then I started finding more quality items that I preferred to have my kids wear because I realized that I could purchase quality pieces that would last. My daughter could wear them first and then my son could wear them once she outgrows them.
Which brings me to now: My family lives in the same >1000 sq ft 2 bedroom apartment, the kids still have one dresser and one closet between them, and we are now expecting baby #3 in March.
Since becoming pregnant again, I started paying more attention to the space, or lack there of, that we have. I am trying to be mindful of what we fill it with and the fact that our kids will be sharing a room and still have space for what they need. And there my New Year’s Resolution was made. I am going to start being much more mindful of my kids’ clothing. As much as I aspire to have capsule wardrobes for each of them, I know myself, and it’s not a realistic idea. But, I can be more conscious of the quality of items I’m buying them, and the versatility of neutral items so they can be worn by all three children regardless of gender. It’s companies like Fin and Vince that make this possible. The mix and match possibilities are endless, and I can be confident purchasing that they will make it through wear and tear of all three kids.
So, I encourage you to do the same, regardless of the amount of space you may have for your children’s clothes. It’s better for storage purposes, the environment, and even your wallet. It won’t be an immediate switch to a minimal wardrobe, but over a short amount of time, it’ll happen.
I started with this month going through all my kids’ clothes and making piles of everything they don’t regularly wear. From there, I donated and/or sold those items they didn’t wear, but I could also see what type of items, and how many, were being consistently worn. Now, I can see what each of my kids really need per size, and can keep that in mind when purchasing the next batch of clothes when they size up (also being mindful of what is being handed down from one kid to the next!). Then, I can make more mindful decisions, starting with purchasing for my oldest, as those will be the ones being passed down. I’m confident that I’ll be able to have awesome wardrobes for my children without over buying or being wasteful, thanks to Fin and Vince, and all the amazing small shops out there!
