What to do when you are bored with your wardrobe?

How come I can get SO BORED with my clothes?  There are tons of people campaigning for wearing the same outfit always (or for a year), without any obvious damage to their wellbeing. Not only people who work jobs requiring uniforms, but also fashionistas, like the Uniform Project, people limiting themselves to six items, XOJane writers and some fellow bloggers that I just discovered recently.

So how can we avoid the boredom with our wardrobe, whether it is a capsule or a crammed walk-in closet? One of the most inspiring and perspective-changing things I have ever encountered is this short list from Be More With Less. I was feeling in a fashion rut despite a wardrobe where I could only hang new clothes if I wrestled the hangers to one side. So I thought, yay for some tips! Instead the list read as follows:

1. Create a playlist with silly 80’s dance tunes … and dance.
2. Find a local writing or wine tasting course.
3. Organize a scavenger hunt for your friends.
4. Start a blog.
5. Take a yoga class.
6. Attend a town meeting.
7. Bake for your neighbors.
8. Learn to meditate.
9. Break up with your phone and other digital devices for 24 hours.
10. Create your own 30 day health challenge; quit sugar, become a vegetarian, or drink smoothies everyday.
11. Get a massage.
12. Read Autobiography of a Yogi.
13. Grow an herb garden with basil, oregano, and rosemary.
14. Try a new recipe.
15. Visit a new city.
16. Read Man’s Search for Meaning.
17. Take a long walk.
18. Listen to a podcast that features inspiring interviews.
19. Volunteer at a local homeless shelter.
20. Trade your birthday for clean water.  
21. Give away 25 things that don’t matter to you.
22. Smile and say hello to every person you pass for 48 hours.
23. Take yourself out to lunch. Yes, alone.
24. Read What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question.
25. Pull the plug on TV, Hulu, Netflix for a week or longer.
26. Cancel two appointments that aren’t important to you.
27. Walk through a museum.
28. Make a love list.
29. Donate your books to a local retirement home.
30. Turn inspiration into action and bring a crazy idea to life.
31. Trade your car for biking, walking, and public transportation for 2 weeks.
32. Create a meaningful morning routine.
33. Send love letters.

It was such a shock to my system- what a brilliant change of perspective!

You see, she says whenever you feel bored with your wardrobe (capsule or otherwise), you’d better take a step back and  consider what is it that you are REALLY bored with? You know how you rarely get bored with your clothes while on holidays, spending time with people you love, organising an exciting project or running from a pack of hungry wolves? That is because you have exciting and interesting things going on. If you are lucky, you are even pursuing something you are passionate about. So if you feel bored with your clothes, doing something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT but interesting will likely scratch that itch. In my experience, it will likely scratch it much better than spending three hours scrolling through ankle boots on Amazon – trust me, I tried both!

Fiddler wears the same black and white outfit every day, no problem!

The great thing about, erm, life, is that you don’t have to go wingsuit diving as soon as you get an urge to shop the latest sales. There are a ton of ways in which you can get out of your comfort zone without directly endangering your life or having to drop major $.  The tips above can be grouped in five clusters, with some more suggestions):

Step Zero: Become conscious about why you feel bored– just reflect a bit on whether your closet really is the problem.

Step One: Pick your adventure!

• Go shopping! Nah, I am kidding.
• Get active – you can also try an online yoga class, like the ones by the mind-blowingly amazing Adriene, or something entirely weird and wonderfully outside your comfort zone, like a P90X or Zumba video.
• Do something good for others – You can look for volunteer opportunities online or in your local community. You local volunteer centers or international platforms like Serve The City have approachable and easy-to-join volunteering opportunities. You can also just bake cookies for your office to take to work the next day.
• Connect with loved ones – drop a line to friends, get some photos printed and send them to your friends and family…it’s the fuzzy feeling on the inside that counts, not the fuzzy feeling of a new cashmere sweater on the outside!
• Learn and develop yourself: enrol in a Coursera, even if you only watch a few of the lectures; follow an ambitious cooking video; or google how to unclog a toilet (I had to do that myself, and won’t judge you if you call a plumber instead). I especially loved the idea of starting a challenge, such as ditching sugar or learning to meditate. Or, you know, wearing the same dress for a year!

Step two: Have fun, shop not. Repeat as needed.

What are your tips for avoiding closet boredom?