3 Benefits of a Monochromatic Wardrobe

Recently, my wardrobe has transitioned from bright, colorful clothes with loud patterns to more muted neutrals consisting of black, white, gray, olive green and denim.  My current patterns are black and white stripes, one floral cardigan and these insanely comfy 70’s print bell-bottoms I can’t get rid of.

The interesting part of my wardrobe shift is that I wasn’t consciously aware of it. It just kind of happened. One morning while getting ready, I looked in my closet and saw nothing but neutrals and black & white stripes. And I really dig it. Here’s why.

Everything matches.

Not that I’ve ever been one to worry about things matching – I’ve always subscribed to the as long as it goes philosophy – when you’re working with a limited color story, everything just kind of goes together. Now, I can’t say that I don’t have a few random pieces of clothing (like those 70’s pants) that don’t really go with everything, but they aren’t part of my daily wear, so I’m not counting them.

Getting ready is a breeze.

Since everything matches, I can pick out an outfit in a matter of seconds. I’ll take a look at the weather and decide what will work well. I grab a couple of things and I’m good to go. Accessorizing is the hardest part, and to be honest, I’m not very good at that, so I usually skip it. (I count my tattoos as accessories. That works, right?)

I love every piece of clothing.

I have to be honest. I think I may have been a little misleading and made you think that since my wardrobe consists of few colors/patterns that it’s small or a capsule. Well, it’s not. My wardrobe is probably a little excessive, but I love it all. I consider myself a pretty frugal (read: cheap) person, and I used to buy things simply because they were cheap. I would wear them maybe once and then they stayed on the hanger in my closet until I donated them, which really just means I didn’t love them. Now I’m a little more conscious of my style and what I’ll actually wear, so I don’t grab something just because it’s cheap, I grab it because I love it and I’ll wear the hell out of it.

I understand that a monochromatic wardrobe isn’t for everyone. Some of you are probably reading this and thinking how boring my outfits must be, and I get that. If you had told me three years ago that I wouldn’t have anything teal (still one of my favorite colors) in my closet in a few years, I would have laughed in your face. But here I am wearing, like, five colors and loving it.

Style evolution is a beautiful thing. I’m grateful for every transition my style has made – even the really questionable punk/emo phase.

What changes has your wardrobe made over the years?