One Black T-Shirt
  One pair of pants, one pair of shoes,
one pair of socks and underwear
- and one black t-shirt.
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Many people are familiar with the legend that Einstein had a closet full of matching suits. The legend persists because it neatly illustrates the concept of reduced cognitive load - by limiting the thought required for daily tasks you give yourself more time and attention to attend to other things.

It's also appealing because it sounds totally crazy - and, to some small part of most people - damned convenient. Who wouldn't like to be able to open their closet and pull out any set of clothes and know they'll look and feel good that day?

We've all heard of the 80/20 rule - 20% of your clothes (or whatever) are used 80% of the time. I'm going to try an experiment to see how much I can limit my clothing while still looking and feeling good. This last bit is important - there's no sense in not thinking about what you're wearing if you spend the rest of the day feeling like an idiot.

Moreover, I want as few items as possible. I'm not interested in maintaining a catalogue of clothing that I can mix or match to produce nuanced statements for every situation. Sure, if it's a special occasion I think it's important to have the appropriate clothes on hand to look good and respect the context, but for day to day I'm more interested in reliability, appropriateness, and comfort. So I decided to try keeping only what I wore regularly (in enough quantity that I wouldn't run out of clean clothes).

After a month I hope to know what clothing I really like and why I like it, and also to know what I'm missing and why I miss it. Along the way I'm going to experiment with some of the new fabrics out there (like Uniqlo's hollow-thread thermal t-shirts, the new milk- and corn-based fabrics, Exofficio's fast-drying travel cloth, etc.) to see how they compare to the usual cotton. Beside being more sustainable there's a good chance these new materials will be more water- and stain-resistant as well as potentially more comfortable.

In one month's time I may be completely sick of my black t-shirts, but I'm also likely to know exactly what I do and don't want in my closet. If I'm able to make good choices based on what I learn I'll be able to limit my clothes to exactly what I enjoy wearing - and it'll be that much less to think about.

 

    3 pairs of shoes:

  • Black boots; Army Navy suplus - sturdy enough for hiking but with enough shine to wear them in the office. Waterproof, warm, and they never wear out. $75.

  • Black converse; These work for all but the most formal events and are equally good BBQing in the backyard. $30.

  • Black wingtips; Sometimes nothing else will do. Given how infrequently I use them I expect them to last a long time. $75
     
    3 gray sweaters:

  • Thick gray wool; layered over a t-shirt and under my softshell jacket this keeps me cozy walking around in snowy weather. $40

  • Light green wool; a good compromise for heavy AC or chilly fall/spring days. $40

  • Mid-weight black cotton; summer travel wear - breathes extremely well. $35
    3 pairs of pants:

  • Pair of jeans; casual. $40

  • Pair of gray Dickies slacks; semi-casual $30

  • Pair of tailored black slacks; formal $150. (I dislike businesswear enough to pay to make it comfortable.)
     
    9 pairs of black boxers;

    Uniqlo, $4.50/pair. I sampled Calvin Klein, 2(x)ist, the Gap, Banana Republic, H&M, and a few others. Uniqlo's are the most comfortable, durable, and breathable. Plus they're the cheapest by a wide margin.

    9 black t-shirts;

    American Apparel, $15/shirt. I tried shirts from American Apparel, Uniqlo, H&M, Paragon, street vendors in Queens, and more. These fit the best, felt the best, and had the added benefit of being made by fair labor.

    9 pairs of black socks;

    Uniqlo, $10/4 pairs Interestingly enough, these socks have held up better than the high-end boutique socks I ended up buying at airport shops.

    1 black softshell jacket;

    Red Cliff, $65. From what I can tell most mid-range softshells all are about the same. This one is black with a classic cut and keeps the wind and rain out admirably. It's also lighter than my sweaters, so it's easy to carry in place of same.

    Wool gloves, cap, and scarf;

    Army-Navy surplus, $15. these things never die (although I invariably lose them in the spring), keep me warm even when wet, and the green color matches pretty much everything.

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