Showing All My Minimalist Clothes | How a Salesman in His 20s Gets Through the Year with 20 Items
In this article, I, a minimalist office worker in my 20s, will reveal "all" the clothes I own and introduce the mindset and rules for getting by with fewer items.
To put it simply, with 20 items of clothing, you can get through both work and private life for a whole year.
👉 My bibles for choosing clothes are these two books
📎 10 Items Are Enough: No Sense Required, Reasonably Stylish (Shun Oyama)
📎 Clothes Are a Hassle (Shun Oyama)
■ Table of Contents
■ 1. Introduction: When I Had 30 Items of Clothing, I Spent 10 Minutes Worrying Every Morning
Before I became a minimalist, I had over 30 items of clothing in my closet.
Spring jackets, autumn cardigans, hoodies I kept "just in case I might wear them someday." Shirts I bought because they were cheap on sale. Sweaters I couldn't throw away even though I'd only worn them once.
Every morning, I would open the closet and worry for 10 minutes. "What's the temperature today?" "Is this combination weird?"
Even though I had so many clothes, I had nothing to wear.
When I realized this contradiction, I started decluttering my clothes. I let go of a large amount, mainly spring and autumn items, and before I knew it, I was down to 20 items.
And strangely enough, since I reduced my wardrobe to 20 items, I've had more days where I think, "I look pretty good today."
■ 2. My Entire Closet Revealed [20 Items]
Now, I will reveal all the clothes I currently own.
[Work Clothes: 4 items]
Dress shirts x 3
Work uniform (provided by company) x 1
My work clothes are simple. I rotate three dress shirts, mainly white ones. Since my work uniform is provided by the company, I don't need to choose it myself.
"Not having to choose my own work clothes" is actually a huge advantage for a minimalist. By reducing one decision in the morning, I can use that brain energy for other things.
[Casual Clothes: 8 items]
Uniqlo U Crew Neck T-shirt (white) x 2
Black T-shirt x 1
Blue shirt x 1
Navy cardigan x 1
Black pants x 1
Navy jeans x 1
Shorts x 1
My casual wear totals 8 items. My tops consist of 5 items: two white T-shirts, one black T-shirt, one blue shirt, and one navy cardigan. My bottoms are three items: black pants, navy jeans, and shorts.
I love the Uniqlo U white T-shirt for its thick, sturdy fabric. It doesn't look cheap even when worn alone, and the silhouette is beautiful. Plus, it's only about 1,500 yen each. It's a price that doesn't hurt to replace when it wears out.
The blue shirt is a staple for a clean-cut look. I wear it over a white T-shirt with a cardigan, or just wear the blue shirt on its own. Having an option for days when a T-shirt alone isn't enough helps expand my outfit variety even with so few items.
In summer, the ultimate comfortable combination is shorts and a white T-shirt. I rotate between black pants and navy jeans for fall and winter, and just switch to shorts when the weather gets hot. There is no need to own a huge amount of bottoms for every season.
Just by adding one turquoise bracelet, my black clothes really pop. The power of a single accessory is significant.
[Loungewear: 4 items]
Uniqlo sweat set (top and bottom) x 2 sets
Loungewear that acts as an "OFF switch" to change into as soon as I get home. As I wrote in my night routine article, the moment I change from my work clothes into my loungewear is my reset point for the day.
Uniqlo's sweat set is the best for its cotton feel and lack of constriction. Since I wear the top and bottom as a set, I never have to wonder, "What should I wear on top?"
【Outerwear: 4 items】
Summer outerwear x 2 items
Winter outerwear x 2 items (one of which is a North Face jacket)
In a previous article, I wrote that I "let go of my spring and autumn items." Now I only own outerwear for the height of summer and the dead of winter.
For the transitional seasons, I adjust by layering innerwear or using Heattech. Now that functional innerwear has evolved, I really don't need outerwear for spring and autumn anymore.
My favorite is the North Face jacket. It has high windproof and cold-protection performance, and it looks simple too. The peace of mind of having one item that I can wear whenever I'm in doubt is something I didn't have back when I owned many pieces of outerwear.
■ 3. Three rules for "getting by with 20 items"
To reduce my wardrobe to 20 items and maintain it, I'd like to introduce three rules I've decided on.
Rule 1: Limit colors to three—black, white, and navy.
Basically, my closet only contains these three colors.
Black, white, and navy. With these three colors, you can't go wrong no matter how you combine them.
The anxiety of wondering if your outfit's colors clash disappears completely. From the moment I open my closet in the morning until I leave the house, the time it takes to choose my clothes is less than a minute.
Rule 2: Strictly follow the 'one in, one out' policy.
When I buy a new piece of clothing, I always let go of one I already own. By strictly following this, the total amount of clothes in my closet will never increase.
Furthermore, by thinking about which item to let go, I can ask myself: **Do I really need this new piece of clothing?** It also acts as a brake on impulse buying.
Rule 3: Build your wardrobe based on recommended items from books.
The resource I refer to most when choosing clothes is the work of stylist Shun Oyama.
“10 Items Are Enough: No Sense Required, Reasonably Stylish” and “Clothes Are a Hassle”. I use the 'basic 10 items' written in these two books as a reference and arrange them to fit my own lifestyle.
The key is to "not rely on your own sense of style."
The less confident you are in your fashion sense, the faster it is to simply acquire the "foolproof items" chosen by professionals. Rather than thinking for yourself and failing, it is much more efficient to copy the correct answer and make minor adjustments.
Being a minimalist isn't just about "living with less," it's also about minimizing the time and effort spent choosing things. By basing my wardrobe on a list from a book, the hesitation in choosing clothes has become almost zero.
■ 4. Two books that changed how I choose clothes
Finally, I'd like to introduce the two books that built my closet.
"10 Items Are Enough: No Sense Needed, Reasonably Stylish" (Shun Oyama)
The concept is that "you can create a good impression with just 10 items." This book specifically explains the 10 necessary items—such as a blue shirt, black set-up, gray pants, white knit, and black down jacket—and how to combine them.
After reading this book, I became convinced that "reducing clothes" and "becoming stylish" are not contradictory. In fact, having fewer items makes it easier to create a clean, polished impression because you don't have to worry about coordinating outfits.
I highly recommend this to any man who thinks, "I'm not interested in fashion, but I don't want to look unstylish."
👉 10 Items Are Enough: No Sense Required, Reasonably Stylish (Shun Oyama)
"Clothes Are a Hassle: Deciding 'Good Clothes' vs. 'Bad Clothes' in 1 Second" (Shun Oyama)
Even more beginner-friendly than "10 items are enough." This is a book for people who think, "I don't even know what criteria to use to choose clothes in the first place."
What resonated with me most in this book was the idea that **"there is a correct answer to choosing clothes, but no sense is required."** If you know the patterns for the correct answer, you won't have to worry about "what should I wear" every morning. It was exactly the same as the minimalist philosophy.
👉 Clothes Are a Hassle (Shun Oyama)
■ 5. Conclusion: When Your Closet Shrinks, Your Morning Changes
What changed when I reduced my clothes from 30 to 20.
The 10 minutes of "what should I wear" every morning disappeared. The anxiety of "is today's outfit okay?" disappeared. Opening the closet became a little more fun.
When you have fewer clothes, you develop an attachment to each remaining item. It's not "this is all I have," but the feeling that **"if I have this, it's enough."**
Minimalist clothing selection is not about giving up on being stylish. It is about creating a system where you don't have to hesitate.
Limit your colors to three. Use a list of books as a reference. Let go of one item for every one you buy. With just these three rules, your closet will become surprisingly tidy.
How many items are in your closet right now? If you have too many to count, start by trying to count them.
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