Every item I own is black. When I started to reduce the number of things I own, I thought it makes sense to keep everything in one color.
I decided on black for a variety of reasons. Some of them I thought of back then while other reasons became clear once I owned only black things. Here are the most prominent ones:
1. Fewer decisions to make
Besides reducing the number of things I own, I also wanted to reduce the number of decisions that I make about non-essential things. I’ve had systems to eliminate those decisions for things like my diet and exercise regimen already and felt that I wanted to expand into more areas of my life.
I decided to go with black as almost everything is available in black. That means, once I decide I want or need to buy something, I don’t have to make another decision on what version or color I’m getting. The only other color that provided that benefit to some degree was white – which was just not a color I saw myself wearing.
2. More transparency
I don’t like the idea of wearing a masquerade and I feel that that’s often what clothing is for some people. I don’t like the idea that my attire changes the way people perceive me – for the better or worse. I think that ideally, people notice me and not my clothes. That’s why I decided to go for unbranded, plain clothing. I feel that black is less of a masquerade than any other color – but this may be up for discussion.
3. Style
Very simple – black and black goes very well together. All my clothing pieces mix very well. There’s not one thing in my possessions that I can’t wear/use with any other piece. I might not wear my suit jacket with my bath short – but that’s not because of the color.
4. Easy Maintenance
Most things, especially clothing, need to be cleaned regularly. Having it all in black makes it easy to wash only once. Due to the few things I have, I need to wash once weekly. Being able to do it in one go makes this much more efficient than if I had to go for two or more rounds. An added benefit is that black things don’t look dirty as quickly as other colors.
5. Easy packing
While travelling I often stay in hotels and rented apartments. 95% of the time, the bed sheets are white – along with the towels and other amenities provided. Owning only black item makes it much easier to pack everything without leaving anything behind. I have indeed lost white shirts in the past because I had left them on the hotel bed. I have not left a single black item behind in the past two years.
Conclusion
Ultimately, owning only black things and wearing just black simplifies my life and allows me to spend less time on maintenance, picking things or looking after them.
