By Aaron Rockwell, Staff Fashion Writer
The available time of a Thunderbird is non-existent. Steve Miller said it best: “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future.” Thus, in an attempt to control this, I’m proposing we all stick it to the garment industry and go with minimalist fashion.
The Pros:
Decision fatigue: The concept is to wear the same thing every day to avoid decision fatigue while choosing an outfit. I personally buy into the time-saving aspect over the decision fatigue; it’s possible that more decisions in a day help exercise and lube the brain.
Brand Identity: Another reason to go minimal is to establish a brand identity. For example, you can forever be known as the person who wears plaid every day.
Time savings:
- Sorting laundry
- Sorting clothes after laundry
- Shopping for clothes
- Deciding what to wear
- Packing for vacation or travel
Courtesy of theurbangent.com
Who else has done it: If you were to change to a minimalist fashion, you would not be alone. Here are some other folks that have followed the concept: Mark Zuckerberg, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Barack Obama, Carrie Donovan, and Charlie Brown.
Considerations:
Going with the right choice for your forever wardrobe could be the biggest decision of your life. It has the potential to set you into an eternal fashion disaster loop or give you a classic timelessness. With this, you’ll want to pick clothes that are simple and do not change with the trends. (Looking at you, bellbottoms.)
How to start:
- Split your decision into categories: Fitness Clothes, Casual Clothes, Formal Clothes
- Eliminate anything that is trendy.
- Eliminate clothes that might be hard to buy in the future.
- Eliminate clothes that buying in bulk would crush your budget.
- Choose something you feel looks great.
- Buy 10 sets of what you land on.
I’m in:
Courtesy of wikimedia.org
I’ve been seriously considering this. So far I’ve thought about going black or grey slacks and slip-on black shoes. Then I could wear whatever I want for the top that goes with both black and grey slacks. In time, I would merge to a single top style or design.
For workout clothes, I would convert to only black tank-tops. I think navy blue and black are the biggest clashing element since plaid on stripes. I would use slip-on sneakers or forever-tied shoes. Maybe I would use a shoe spoon if I needed a snug fit.
For formal, since that occasion is rare, I think I can keep my grey, black, and blue suits and decide for each occasion.
Personal Anecdote:
Two Thanksgivings ago, I was roped into going to a Thanksgiving dinner of a girl that I had just met the night before. It was blizzard conditions out in Minnesota, but I said yes to the dinner because her family’s house was close to mine. I had a tank top on, so I just threw a hoodie over it. I thought I could bear the cold for a couple of blocks and be comfortable at the dinner with the hoodie on. The house was packed with people, fancy people: professors, chefs, and folks of significant status. And there I was, sweating to death in a hoodie and jeans, but I refused to take off my hoodie to walk around in a tank top. The moral: If I had ascribed to a nice set minimalist fashion, I could have enjoyed the dinner and avoided overheating.