Embracing the Simple Life, Starting With Your Clothes

In the future, as depicted in the likes of "The Jetsons" and Woody Allen's "Sleeper," each person wears one outfit over and over again. Basically, predictors are saying that one day, fashion will be gone, and we'll all wear uniforms. (Jerry Seinfeld had a joke along these lines, in which he can't wait for the day when he doesn't have to waste time figuring out what to wear). Extrapolating from Rob Walker's "Consumed" column from the Sunday Times magazine, which covers a mini-trend of recent experiments in which artists wear the same outfit for months, perhaps a "uniform" future is arriving—and perhaps more importantly, we can all start saving money by buying less clothing.

One experiment, or "performance project," mentioned in Walker's story was in fact described by the artist as "one, small personal attempt to confront consumerism." Few people can honestly say they don't have enough clothing. Yet how many times have you heard a friend or spouse (or that voice in your head) whine about not knowing what to wear, or having nothing to wear, while staring into a closet stuffed to the gills? With fewer choices, and with less consumerism, you might be free of clothing-inferiority anxiety, and with a bonus of a fatter bank account to boot.

Many people have told me that the recession has thrown them for a loop and made them better appreciate what's truly important. What people are realizing is not important is "stuff," including clothing—particularly items the shopper picks up on a whim and wears once, if that.

As a USA Today story notes, the simpler life may in fact be the happier life. The survey stats rounded up in the story are fascinating: nearly half (47 percent) of people say they already have what they need, up from 34 percent in November 2006—a time when most people presumably had more. About one-third of people say they are spending less and intend to do so in the future, well after the recession ends.

A pastor in Minnesota challenged his congregation to a "100 Thing Challenge," in which each person would winnow down possessions, sometimes dramatically so, to 100 "things." Some people sorta cheated, calling an entire shoe collection one "thing." It's a start. But when it comes to clothing, we're in the land of plenty, especially seeing as each person really only needs one outfit.