I Tried the Rule of 5 in 2023

I ended up with 12 pieces, let's hope I stick to 5 this 2024

In 2023, I came across Tiffanie Darke’s Rule of 5 Pledge and thought I’d try to limit my own shopping to 5 new fashion items. By the end of the year, I ended up with 12 new articles of clothing.

• a handwoven Tausug scarf from an artisanal fabric fair

• an APC Quilt jacket for use in Australia

• 3 joggers, 1 navy and 2 black bought before and after my trip to Australia

• 2 khaki pants from my trip to Japan

• 2 tunics from my trip to India

• 1 pair of linen drop crotch trousers, also from India

• 2 linen t-shirts that I bought to wear for a trip to Thailand

I realized, I tend to buy clothes before or during a trip. In fact, this year, from my recent January trip to Bangkok alone, I ended up with 2 things, a linen top and linen cargo pants by a Thai brand from Chiang Mai, which leaves me with only 3 things I can buy for the rest of the year.

Linen top bought in Jan 2024 from Bangkok tried on with Japanese khaki pants from 2023

I suppose buying clothes becomes an excuse when I’m not in my usual environment. The convenient excuses - “I need it for the trip” or “I can’t get it anywhere else, I might as well get it now since I am here anyway” or “This is basically my souvenir” easily takes over reason and logic.

Knowing this now, I understand my weak point. Self-control goes out the window when the above excuses come into the picture. My next trips happen when the kids go on their school break and we go on our annual summer vacation. There’s still plenty of time to build up my resolve and heighten my self-awareness so I can catch myself when I slide back to this old way of thinking that I need to get something when traveling.

Meanwhile, as I try to reflect on my 2023 purchases, I can actually edit it down to 5 key things I am glad I added to my closet, while the rest are just nice to have but I can actually do without.

• ✅ a handwoven Tausug scarf from an artisanal fabric fair

• ✅an APC Quilt jacket for use in Australia

• 3 joggers, 1 navy and 2 black ✅ black Tibi joggers

• 2 khaki pants from my trip to Japan ✅ hard to choose but I’d keep the barrel legs

• 2 tunics from my trip to India

• ✅1 pair of linen drop crotch trousers, also from India

• 2 linen t-shirts that I bought to wear for a trip to Thailand

My realizations:

• the two joggers I bought were the more affordable alternatives to the Tibi ones I really wanted. I was hoping getting them would take away my obsession but it didn’t. I still ended up getting the Tibi ones after my trip, convinced of the merits of wearing joggers

• I already have a dozen block print lounge wear and a handful of white tunics, adding two more were actually unnecessary

• I already have 5 linen t-shirts, my excuse was I didn’t have them in the taupe and beige colors I bought recently, which I realize is not really a valid excuse

With this knowledge, I know I can do better this year and mindfully stick to 5.

Let’s see!