Shopping today

I went clothes shopping today- for myself. For a minimalist that is a huge thing. Of course, it helps when your mom goes with you and does all the paying.

I based my wardrobe in navy back when I started teaching at Bemidji State U. It has simplified everything a great deal. And instead of just simplifying my work clothes the color scheme bled over into my homework/play clothes too. One thing about navy is that is not black, I can't wear black near my face, it washes me out, but I could do navy, and just like black it matches almost everything else- and some things like my favorite purples and pinks really well.

Anyways, summer came on here overnight, and it was hot. In Minnesota some summers it only reaches 80s a few days, but today it was officially 88, and most signs read into the 90s. Yesterday was almost as warm and tomorrow will be 85 or higher. My summer hot days wardrobe officially consisted of 2 pairs of capris and 1 little black dress (organic cotton).  Well, one of my capris finally gave up the ghost. It only handled 8 years of life, and about a dozen repairs before it ripped beyond salvage as a piece of clothing. So I knew I'd have to replace that. So we headed out today to Nisswa, MN which has a nice selection of women's boutique clothing shops, and probably the best selection of decent wearable items for people who can't manage clothes from Target.

Ideally, I was looking for 1-2 pairs of nice navy capris.  But I was actually open to anything that could improve my summer wardrobe situation. Now, there are a few things you should know about my preferences, one is I prefer natural fabrics, I run from the slinky rayon/spandex blend like mosquitoes from garlic, two is that I am taller than average, and often wear talls.  I am also mostly modest, prefer to not always have sleeves (at least a cap sleeve, and like my skirts and shorts to reach my knees).

Searching for things that are appealing (minimal bling please!), and that comply with all my other requirements made browsing fairly fast. First, I found a Navy T-shirt dress. Simple, right color easy to dress up or down. Lots of possibilities so I bought it. It also had pockets. I turned down a striped overshirt, the cut of it suggested pregnancy and I don't need any help in empathizing my post babies belly. The only shorts I even cared enough to try on was a pair of legging capris. I bought it because it was better than nothing.

But the last store we hit actually had quite a lot of interesting items of things worth trying. And after trying on 20 pairs of shorts/capris. I actually bought 3. I pair of plain denim, 1 blue short (bonus, it was organic cotton), and 1 pair of linen capris with some floral design, that picks up some blues and pinks. Then we went back into the clearance section and I fell in love with some organic wool sweaters in men's xxl. Perfect to wear with leggings (I'd actually been keeping a lookout for sweaters to wear with my favorite wool leggins/longjohns.)

7 items??? How does that even classify as minimalist?

Well, I am hoping they are as well made and versatile as they look. that will give them 8-20 years in my wardrobe, being worn in all hot seasons. They match my color schemes and replace items that have worn out over the last ten years.  I was very careful in my selections, and if these pieces work as well as I am hoping they might be replacing a few things I haven't gotten rid of yet.

So careful shopping- planned, local, buying at least half my pieces of organic fabrics. and not much just because it fit or somebody else liked it on me.

One of the pitfalls both my Mom and I recognized is when we shop we our moms we buy things because they like it, and we never actually wear it.  It sure made it easier to explain that a piece wasn't really me, when Mom's had the same issue too.