One of the things about simple living is the few things we own can be “nicer” because we don’t distribute budget across extra items.
Instead of six or seven pairs of sixty dollar shoes we can have two pairs of two hundred dollar shoes. And if we shop at Nordsrtom Rack, that’s two pairs of $400 dollar shoes. Those are nice shoes!
Same with shirts, jackets, anythng.
While higher quality goods tend to last longer anyway, I like to do what I can to make them last as long as possible.
The hardest thing on clothes is washing. Machine washing. So don’t. Learn how to hand wash everything you can. You will be amazed how long good quality clothes last if you hand wash them.
But how? Isn’t that a major pain in the ass? Actually, not really. The first few times may be challenging if you haven’t done it before but I quickly got used to just doing it.
You’re going to want a bucket of some sort. Nearly anything will do. A cleaning bucket, an empty paint can, a roasting pan, anything. Since I travel so light right now I use a medium sized OR dry bag. Yes, a bag. Works a treat.
For socks and unders, just take them into the shower with you. Two pairs of socks and two pairs of unders and you always have clean ones.
I have traveled with one pair of trousers and one shirt. I wash them before going to bed and put them right back on in the morning. On St Thomas or in Playa del Carmen, this worked great.
When I was van dwelling with a health club, I would wash everything in the shower at the club, burrito roll them in a towel and put them right back on. In southern California they were often dry by the time I got back to the van. Certainly by the time I got to the restaurant. But I have done this in Seattle, too. Both my shirt and my trousers are nylon so not only do they last an eternity they are warm wet and dry quickly, too.