LIFE & TIMES MASTERING MINIMALISM

This month, Kathy discusses perfecting her capsule wardrobe to create a more minimalist lifestyle.

December is the month when we might expect to spend more money than we’d like to and acquire more things than we need or want. The staggering cost of eating, heating and everything else might put paid to lavish exchanges of presents this year and I for one won’t be sorry. I do not need any more stuff. I am the genetic opposite of a hoarder. I am by nature a sorter, a filer, a declutterer. I don’t actually know if there is a hoarding gene but if there is, my partner Jim definitely has it. Every available surface in his house is littered with used train tickets, bits of wire (they might come in handy for something, apparently) and ancient birthday cards. The moment I enter I want to grab a black bin bag and scoop it all in. Give me a recycling centre over a shopping centre any day. I wouldn’t define myself as a full-blown minimalist - the kind that has 10 black t-shirts, a plant and one chair - but in recent years I have found that the basic tenets of minimalism make a lot of sense.

Minimalists define themselves in all sorts of ways, but the core idea is that things do not make us happy; we simply don’t need All The Stuff. Until recently, it was easy, I didn’t have any room for it. I lived for a dozen years in London and couldn’t afford to buy a place so I was a serial renter of small flats, never acquiring much more than books, CDs, DVDs, the odd picture and clothes. I didn’t have as many clothes as others I knew. I was never one for ‘fast fashion’, the wearing of an exploitatively cheap outfit once before grimly disposing of and replacing it; however, I wanted to streamline what I had. A quick search led me to the hordes of minimalist bloggers, vloggers and podcasters out there gently coaxing us into letting it all go. I started with US duo The Minimalists, who led me to Courtney Carver’s Project 333 in which she lays down the challenge of getting dressed using 33 items or fewer for 3 months. She has some rules: coats, shoes and accessories count; underwear, nightwear and workout gear do not, but you can do it whatever way you like. Once you’ve whittled your wardrobe down to the essentials it’s easier to choose what to wear, you use every single item you own, you become more creative in your styling and, crucially, you stop shopping, thereby saving money, helping the environment and freeing up time for more useful pursuits.

The project was a revelation. I couldn’t believe how many items of clothing I never wore: things that didn’t fit me, didn’t suit me, didn’t go with anything else or had been ‘aspirational’ purchases - glittery cocktail dresses bought for Fantasy Me, who attends glamorous soirées, rather than Actual Me, who mostly watches telly in jogging bottoms. Some items, to my shame, still had the label on. There were

THIS MONTH’S OBSESSIONS:

Bad Sisters – Dark Irish comedy series on Apple TV about five sisters waging war on their controlling brother-in-law. Adapted from a Flemish series by the wonderful Sharon Horgan.

EDITED BY KATHY CLUGSTON

pitfalls, of course. It took me a while to realise that I didn’t actually like the “uniform” pushed by many proponents of the capsule wardrobe - blazers, collared shirts and pencil skirts in neutral shades of black, cream and tan. None of these suited my shape or colouring. I soon realised that getting rid of old clothes just to replace them with new ones with a more minimalist ‘aesthetic’ completely misses the point, which is to stop endlessly consuming and love and value what we already own.

Moving back to Belfast and into a house gave me more room to fill, and gradually my wardrobe started to swell. So I started the process again. A good cull has yielded several bags of donations to friends and the charity shop - again, mostly bad impulse purchases. I have more than 33 items left but it’s a number I’m happy with and will try to stick to. For an organiser like me, there is so much satisfaction in opening my wardrobe and seeing everything hanging there neatly, knowing that it all fits, is in good repair and will fulfil its destiny - to be worn!

Thunder & Lightning: A Memoir of Life on the Tough Cul-de-Sacs of Bangor – Bestselling author Colin Bateman’s recollections of life growing up in 1970s Bangor and working as a journalist on the Bangor Spectator. Insightful and, as you’d expect, very funny.

Stuffed Peppers – De-seed and halve peppers, sprinkle with oil and salt and roast for 15 minutes. Make couscous with stock and stir through fried mushrooms, pesto and chunks of halloumi or feta. Fill peppers and bake for another 15 minutes.