I started this blog in 2012. Now, six years later, I can’t even fathom wanting to spend even an hour shopping for clothing. I’m getting an uncomfortable lump in my throat thinking about it! I can’t think of many things more unpleasant than shopping. I don’t think I’ve stepped in a mall in over a year. Nordstrom has given up on me.

Whaaaat?

Guys, I have no idea how this happened, to this level of extreme.

This is why I call it extreme: I wear sweatpants in public now. It is so bizarre to even write that.

Usually I keep the sweatpants at home, but if I don’t feel like changing into something else… I don’t. I’m not a slob, but I’m 100% for comfort and convenience now. I want to wear what I have available. I want it to be comfortable. I want to look decent.

I’m having way too much fun with the Normcore concept, though! I am actively pairing too-short jeans with big-ole all-weather Merrell sneakers. Sweatshirts and jeans, just like when I was a kid. I’m also jumping ahead a few years, wearing leggings with drapey layers. I LOVE IT.

I do miss makeup, though. I’m just too lazy most days to bother. I still think it’s fun!

Sometimes I look around me and see someone dressed in a way I might have criticized at one point, and I wonder why I used to care so much. These days, I’m wearing the same few things over and over again. I really need to clear out 75% of my closet. This is a freedom I never imagined I would experience. People who have not struggled with a shopping and clothing addiction will never understand it. But when I get ready in the morning, I feel so light and unburdened.

I feel extremely lucky that this complete overhaul happened to me. I never expected or imagined it.

I’m pretty busy these days with my part-time day job, and an at-home business that I started in November. My boys are now 11 and 8, and totally manageable (…most days). I’m not under the same level of stress that I was when I started this blog. Life is so much better now. I probably won’t be posting here with any regularity, but I want to keep this blog available for sharing.

I also want to print it out as a journal to keep for myself. I don’t want to forget.

Today, I had an appointment right in the middle of Shopping Central. I often schedule time for shopping before or after this appointment, and was trying to resist the temptation all week, but I really thought I was going to cave in. I’m so relieved to report that I did not shop! I drove straight to my appointment and drove straight home afterward. (It helps that it’s downpouring out there. I really dislike shopping in bad weather.)

Also, when I was choosing my outfit for the day, I picked a loose, drapey tee that became an instant favorite. I wear it all the time! When I looked in the mirror this morning, my first thought was that I should try to find another one just like it. Maybe two. Would two more be enough? Yes, I’d have three then. Good.

What??

NOT good! That defeats the whole idea of a minimal wardrobe. No, if I want to wear a drapey tee, this shirt is what I need to wear. That’s how small wardrobes work, and that’s how I want my style mind to start working.

It’s going to be hard to undo all those years of clothing gluttony!