So, as you know by now I started A Simple Life Project this week on a mission to simplify, slow down and savor what really matters in life and today I’m looking at all the shoes… and clothes… and I am asking myself, “Do you really need all those shoes and clothes?” And the answer is a wincing “No.”

Now I realize this one may hit so close to home it hurts… but ladies, we must get real here… we just don’t need all of this. It’s wasteful and it’s taking up time, space and is causing stress whether we realize it or not. We need to be willing to take a good look at how addicted we may be to buying clothes and shoes and collecting them and holding onto them.

When I moved out of our 10 year family home I gave away two large garbage bags full of my shoes that either hurt my feet, never get worn, were worn out or just out of style. That was 42 pairs of shoes. It was ridiculous. Want to know what’s even more ridiculous? I still have shoes all over my house. We don’t wear shoes in the house so we take them off by the doors and leave them there or carry them to the closets. We have 6 doors to the outside of our house. And ever door has shoes next to it. Some of them are my daughter’s and my husband’s but most of them are mine. It’s absurd. So, today I’m going to have a sit-down with myself and my shoes and decide which shoes I really need and give away the ones I can do without.

And let’s talk about clothes. I have so many clothes that the laundry is never done. And this after giving away thousands of dollars worth of donated clothes last year when we moved. I know I’m not alone in this ladies! Do we really need all these clothes? I counted. I have 19 pairs of black yoga pants. Granted I pretty much live in yoga pants but do I really need 19 pairs? No. Time to purge.

So in my mission to simplify so I can slow down and savor what really matters in life I am going to boil down the wardrobe to 3 dressy dresses (which are worn maybe once/year) with 2 pairs of dress shoes, 4 casual dresses, 4 skirts, 14 blouses, 7 pairs of yoga pants, 10 tshirts, 2 blazers, 3 vests, 2 pair of clogs (I love clogs. Don’t judge me), 2 pairs of nice flip-flops, 1 pair of pool/beach flip-flops, 2 pairs of dressier sandals, 2 pairs boots, 1 pair of Tevas, 1 pair of water shoes and 1 pair of athletic shoes, 14 pairs of undies and 3 nice bras. Maybe 1 shaper just in case.

Because that’s all I need to be clothed and fashionable. My closet will have an echo and my laundry hamper will finally be empty.