Why Eliminating Colour From Your Wardrobe Makes You A More Conscious Consumer

When time is of the essence, standing in front of a wardrobe full of clothes and feeling like you have nothing to wear is our ultimate nightmare. What has made our lives easier over time, as we found our less-is-more style, is the removal of clashing colours.

Going neutral is not only easier on the eye, but a way to streamline your style and your shopping decisions, as everything is interchangeable and is able to be worked back with each other.

Here are our three main reasons why you should remove colour from your wardrobe, and how this will ultimately make you a more thoughtful shopper.

Written by Meaghan Woodhouse

Allows You to Focus on The Detail

By reducing your wardrobe to the classic colour palette of black, white and neutrals you’ll find yourself noticing the texture, tailoring and craftsmanship of each garment and the design details that you may have overlooked in the past.

Eliminating colour eliminates distraction, allowing you time to assess if all the garment details make this the right purchase for you. By not being defined by the colour that’s currently trending and moving away from print focused purchases you move your focus on fabrication, texture and the silhouette of the garment.

Allows Your Wardrobe To Work Harder For You

By adopting a neutral colour palette you will discover that less colour options ultimately provides you with more outfit combinations.  With no clashing colours, your wardrobe becomes harmonious, and you can get away with having less, buying less, yet the items you do have work harder for you.

Our tips for building a capsule wardrobe and saving time deciding what to wear in the morning.

• Streamline your wardrobe by investing in interchangeable staples starting with five foundation pieces: a crew neck white tee shirt, blue wash jeans, leather slides,  kitten heel mules and a statement earring
• Dress for your body shape and never underestimate good tailoring for the ultimate polished ensemble
• Plan your outfits on a Sunday for the week ahead. Seperate your outfits to a different part of your wardrobe so they’re easily identified each morning.
• Utilise jewellery and other accessories to elevate your looks

You Become A More Conscious Consumer

With the fashion industry now the world's “secondary main pollutant,” a capsule wardrobe free from colour is not only beneficial for a decluttered living space (and mind) but is more environmentally friendly.

Colour, though beautiful, requires vast amounts of dye at the cost of freshwater systems with 20% of the fashion industry's pollution comes from textile treatment and dye, and each year 200,000 tons of dyes are added to our waterways due to liquid waste. It’s never easy to digest the devastating environmental impact, however, there are always things we can do as consumers to help the environment and lower our impact.

Our quick tips;

• Choose natural fibres
• Find out who made your clothes. Research the brand and their stance on transparency
• Make your purchasing decisions ones that last. Before purchasing something ask yourself, will I wear this in a year? Is it going to pair with garments I already own?

The Greek philosopher, Socrates once stated that the secret to happiness is the capacity to enjoy less. Though the philosopher was most likely not referring to the overflowing wardrobes of the ancient greeks, it is a sentiment that holds true in the modern world, particularly when faced with the catastrophic effects of the fashion industry. Eliminating colour to become a more thoughtful shopper will not limit you, rather, it will be the catalyst for your style revolution and a more simplified life.