Extremely minimalist wardrobe
In this autoethnography of relating with the world differently (to what is the norm in our materially wealthy society), I often sketch some notes about my wardrobe. I feel that it is important because clothes is one of our basic needs. In my consumption, I focus on basic needs (food and water, shelter and energy, clothing, transportation, personal care and medicine). I generally avoid consuming things that are outside these areas (e.g., jewellery, home décor, makeup, trips to far-away destinations, etc.), and I try to satisfy my basic needs in the most ecological way possible (living in a small space, using renewable energy, using public transport, minimal personal care, etc.). I also try to take part in changing culture. It feels important to normalise looking casual and comfortable, to normalise looking the same every day and for all occasions.
I live with 10 items of clothes. Apart from that, I have 1 jacket that I wear in winter, 1 woollen scarf, underwear, socks, 3 pairs of shoes (1 is worn out so I will let it go), 1 backpack and several simple cotton bags (and 1 made from linen). All my clothes are beige, grey and off-white. All of these items are made from organic cotton and linen. I avoid fast fashion and I also avoid second-hand shopping. Avoiding second-hand shopping is something that my fellow humans find surprising, since it's such a common practice in various sustainability movements. I am not against second-hand shopping (indeed, it's a very good practice), but it doesn't go well with my other practices, principles, and values. I want to wear the same outfit every day, every year, and avoid reinventing myself. This is possible if I repurchase the same items. I repurchase things very rarely though, as I don't discard items when they develop holes or have small stains on them. I also avoid shopping as much as possible, which includes second-hand shopping. Perhaps I would shop second-hand if I chose to wear something different for events (I would not want to buy something new just to wear it once or twice), but I wear the same things for events that I wear every day. For example, for my partner's brother's 40s birthday, I wore shorts, a basic top, and one of my two linen shirts that has holes in it. I was under-dressed in comparison to others, but that's ok.
I find the colours I wear calming. This is not to say that I believe that others should avoid bright colours. My grandmother had a rule to never wear black. She loved bright colours (red, purple, yellow, blue) and avoided wearing the colours I wear (off-white, grey, beige). She looked wonderful. She is in her late 80s now, and recently she wore a bright yellow sweater, something I would never wear. She looked breathtakingly beautiful. In my private life, I find bright colours overstimulating. But I live with high sensory processing sensitivity, so perhaps bright colours don't affect my fellow humans who live without high sensory processing sensitivity in the same way. At times, I want to interact with bright colours, and for that I look at the sky on a sunny day, or walk around Copenhagen.
There are many reasons for my practice of extreme minimalism. Ecological, spiritual, aesthetic, ideological, and my mental-health. I also want to mention the financial side of this practice. I did not step on the path of extreme minimalism for financial reasons, and though extreme minimalism helps me avoid debt, it does not make my financial situation much better. The main outgoings in my case are rent and food. I do not spend much on clothes at all (perhaps I will write about that in one of my entries). Spending less on clothes than what is the norm in our materially wealthy society allows me to make better decisions in other domains. For example, public transport is expensive, but I always take trains and avoid flying. Organic food is expensive, but I would rather spend more on this than on clothes. Locally made, natural personal care is expensive but I would rather spend more on this, as it supports local, small and family-owned businesses. Recently I saw this article (in Danish) in the news. It says that for the second year in a row, more farmers are abandoning organic farming. From 2022 to 2023, the number of organic farms decreased by 135. This is heartbreaking. Here in Denmark, as in many other places, food is very expensive. Generally, the cost of living is very high. What I find especially sad is when those fellow humans who can afford to buy organic food, choose not to. I consume organic food not because I am scared of eating conventionally grown food or believe that it is toxic. I buy organic food because I believe that organic farming is more gentle towards non-humans in a broad sense (animals, plants, soil, water). It needs to be supported. Many years ago, I accepted that practising this would mean spending more on food and less on other items. And that's ok. What is more important than food? To me, surely not jewellery, fashion items, status items, paintings and so on. This is not to say that systems of food production is personal responsibility of consumers. Organic farming and organic food should be subsidised, and governments must do so much more to reverse this trend we are seeing here in Denmark. But I cannot allow myself to wait for governments to act. I cannot sit and wait for a post-growth society to manifest, and only when it's there feel good about practising things differently. My small actions (buying organic food, living with just a few items) on their own will not bring about sustainability. But collective actions will.
