Enough - my life as a minimalist

It is 1970, and I am working at my first waitressing job at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I am wearing the classic black maid’s dress, complete with white apron and frilly white cap. It is the first time I have ever worn a uniform for a job, and I like it. During the day I wear my faded bell-bottoms and one of a number of colorful shirts, and on the job I have my uniform. Bliss. So blissful am I that I find myself making lists on my 3 by 5 inch notepad. They look like packing lists for a trip, but they are really a plan for my ideal wardrobe – one that is ENOUGH but never TOO MUCH. I don’t have the lists today, but remember the basics:

• 1 pair old jeans
• 1 pair new jeans
• Skirt
• Black turtleneck
• Blue work shirt
• White dress shirt
• T-shirts (How many? One laundry span plus a couple of extras, so 9?)
• Pretty shirts (How many?)
• 1 pair sandals
• 1 pair boots
• 1 pair loafers or oxfords
  
• 2 sweaters (one pullover, one cardigan)
• 1 coat

The only ominous thing about this fixation with the minimalist wardrobe is that I was, at the time, a fashion design major.

Fast-forward to my life as a retired professor in 2019. Most days, I wear comfortable casual clothes, usually jeans and one of several turtlenecks or tees I own in different colors. I have six linear feet of hanging clothing (half for cold weather, half for warmer months), 12 pairs of shoes, one winter coat and one bathrobe. Am I in possession of enough, or still in its pursuit? 

Stay tuned for more.