Mindful Wardrobe Shopping

 

The title of this blog may be a little too much but let me try and explain.

Shopping is necessary. I would never ask anyone to stop shopping. Having a wardrobe is important because what you wear talks about your personality or your brand. Mindful - this is my core message. Mindful means, knowing what you need, how much can you utilize, avoiding hoarding and essentially putting your money in places that is more meaningful.

This blog is an amalgamation of what I read, heard and saw from many many content creators before with my personal spin and experiences.

Before I begin adding the bullet points, let me take a minute and thank "Uro Pataa". Uro Pataa is a contemporary Bengali Digital Magazine issued quarterly which will warm your heart and touch your soul, memorable short stories from the corners of Bengal wrapped in a colorful yet soothing cover for the book lover in us. Follow them on Facebook if you are Bengali or can read and understand Bengali. They featured one of my articles about my reflections on the lock down era and gratitude.

Now back to creating a mindful wardrobe. I will list down some of the steps that I take to ensure my wardrobe is hot to trot.

• Every three months, pull out everything from your cupboards and do an audit. See which of the dresses are great and are unused (they got buried between the other clothes).

• Look for outfits that cannot be trashed but are not fit to be worn outside. They have the natural snugness that a worn out, comfy t-shirt has. Convert it into your new Work-from-home-gear.

• Look for outfits that don't fit you at all and are still in a great condition. Donate them. Somebody would be very thankful to wear them.

• Look for outfits that give you fitness goals. Losing half an inch might make the skirt look wow on you. Place it in a middle shelf . Look at it everyday and do a 10minutes exercise till it starts fitting you.

Understand your style. If you are in India, salwar kameez might be your go to option. Understand what works for you. What makes you feel good along with what you can carry easily. Let's face it, if you are still trying to fix your protruding mid-riff a bodycon dress cannot be your go to outfit. Understand the several different occasions and circumstances where you need to get ready and go out. Pay attention to the weather conditions. Bangalore and Kolkata experience completely different climates. So while crepe and chiffon may be great in Bangalore they are an absolute NO NO in Kolkata. Look at the fabric that you want in your wardrobe. My categorization is below, but am sure you can have more.

• Running to the grocery shop, cobbler, dry cleaner. I will add the chai-shop also to this list. I usually wear my jeans, tee and flipflops here or my culottes and tees. Occassionally it could be a kurta and straight pants and I have a easy calf length skirt that i can team with tees and just step out.

• The next category is time out with friends, mall hopping, restaurant hopping, movies etc. you need a nice pair of belly shoes preferably nude in color, a jeans, some interesting tops (cold shoulder, sleeveless fancy is the operative word), some dresses with or without sleeves but that flatter your body type. Some nice accessories and you are set. I have 3 different earrings and yes there's a rose gold one and two watches, one sober one bling. Sorted

• Third and an important category is what you wear to office. I did wear Kurtas and leggings for the longest time and they are non fussy and easy to put together but I have grown out of it now. My office wear has one great fitting black pant or tregging. Tops that mimic the formal style and if they are sleevless, I have shrugs to give it a more formal look. A pair of black belly shoes exclusively for office.

• Apart from this I have this Indian category, which comprises of sarees and some salwar kameezes for social occassions. Most of the time the sarees tha are gifted, I get a well fitted, but gorgeous piece of blouse made with it to make the outfit look party appropiate. My gold kada and earrings are a steady accessory for such gatherings. Heels - yes. Can't leave them out.

• Lastly and very importantly, the holiday stuff. Yes these are things that you don't wear where people know you. They may include the skimpiest of swimsuits, shorts, strappy dresses a comfortable pair of esperadilles.

I am yet to add the sections where i talk about all of my staple pieces. I will do it shortly. In the mean time if you find this an interesting read, do comment.