Chic in simplicity: secrets of the minimalist style. And the most important

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We load ourselves with unnecessary things and information every day, but we do not get pleasure, but only more and more stress. Minimalism as a lifestyle will help you put things in order, and we’ll tell you about it.

Editorial website We were very inspired by this idea and have already planned to sort out the junk both in our heads and in our closets this coming weekend.

What is minimalism and what does it come with?

In some cultures, the ideas of minimalism have been embedded for centuries, and they are expressed not only in attitude to things, but also in the way of thinking. For example, these are the countries of Scandinavia.

Let us recall the Scandinavian style of interiors that has gained great popularity: light, spacious rooms, “filled with air,” and laconic decor. Simplicity, modesty, respect for nature are important foundations of life in these countries.

The same can be said about the Scandinavian style of clothing: it is natural, high-quality fabrics, simple shapes, organic prints.

People were fed up with the huge assortment and for the first time in 7 years began to spend less money on clothes. What's the point of buying another fashionable sweater of average quality if you can wear it for a maximum of 1-2 seasons, and wouldn't it be easier to buy a simple basic top made of good material instead?

Many famous and successful people prefer not to waste time choosing clothes, leaving him to do business or communicate with family. A simple and clear example: Mark Zuckerberg wears the same T-shirts almost every day, and Steve Jobs didn’t really like variety in his wardrobe.

Minimalism is not saving money or being mean. Minimalism is rational and reasonable consumption, freeing space from unnecessary things and unnecessary details.

Starting with “decluttering” the house and space, many come to “unloading” their own head. Of course, this is not a panacea for all problems, but who’s stopping you from trying if you don’t lose anything?

5 reasons why minimalism simplifies life

1. It's convenient

Things are found faster when they are in their place. Extra objects distract attention and interfere with concentration; they only “load” the space. Moreover, We don’t use most of them at all.

The more things you have in your home, the more time it takes to put things in order. Do you really need a collection of figurines gathering dust on a shelf, or school diaries that you decided to pass on to your grandchildren and great-grandchildren?

Actress Cameron Diaz she once admitted that sorting out her things and wardrobe, along with cleaning, helps her take her mind off her problems, and at the same time “clear out” the thoughts in her head. Order in the house means order in the head.

2. You save time, money, natural resources

Your wardrobe will not be any worse if instead of 20 bags you still have 3-4 favorite ones, because you probably only wear them most often. By buying good, high-quality things whenever possible, you use them longer, which means you take care of the environment.

As the British say, “we are not rich enough to buy cheap things.” It may sound a little snobbish, but there is something in it. Even the Duchess of Cambridge does not shy away from going out in the same outfit.

Minimalists spend less money not because they are too frugal, but because they ask themselves questions before purchasing and make decisions rationally.

3. Things are not an investment.

Things become obsolete as soon as they hit store shelves. And even the most sophisticated car is unlikely to be a profitable investment. Of course, it’s nice when you have the opportunity to invest money in antiques and jewelry, thereby ensuring a comfortable old age somewhere in the Bahamas, but we’re not talking about these exceptions.

Among celebrities, there is at least one person who does not invest money in things: Keanu Reeves. He travels by public transport, dresses quite modestly and does not seem to care about brands at all.

The anticipation of a purchase sometimes brings much more joy than the thing itself, and the euphoria of owning it passes too quickly. Of course, this does not mean that you should completely give up the joys that are pleasant to your heart or the things that make life better. Just remember to ask yourself whether a particular purchase is really necessary.

4. You learn to enjoy simple things

Whatever one may say, memories live primarily in our heads, maximum in photographs and videos. But certainly not in things.

Colorful experiences don't always require money - what will you remember more: choosing the perfect curtains on a weekend or a long-awaited picnic in nature with old friends?

A good example of a person who correctly distributes life priorities is David Beckham. His instagram is full of photographs with children with whom he spends a lot of time: traveling, playing football with them, doing homework and even acting as a hair model for his daughter Harper.

Therefore, it is much more promising to invest money in your own development or in impressions and emotions - after all, these are the things that are remembered best in life.

5. Less is more

Hello friends! How many things do you own??? You can write an approximate number in the comments... Very interesting. How many things do you own??? An even deeper question. I think these two numbers will be about the same. When I realized the connection between freedom and quantity, I decided to start decluttering and became quite good at it!

The path to decluttering

And it all started relatively recently. I suddenly became wedged, I woke up and realized how many unnecessary things were around me: mp3 discs, which I had collected with such ecstasy at one time; entire closets of clothes that have outgrown me (I have lost 20+ kg); books that have not been read more than once. I realized that minimalism in the life of the then Yaroslav was clearly a rejected concept. I owned things and, like a hamster, I continued maniacally storing them.

All this lay around like a dead weight, like old ballast of the past, which for some reason was so difficult to get rid of. Like, “as a keepsake!” or “it’s a shame to throw it away” or some other argument in favor of littering.

The Japanese, by the way, are especially good at this. Watch the video:

In general, one of the most important sores of modern society, driving its adherents to the point of absurdity. Its danger also lies in the fact that it is invisible to the carrier of this virus, and it seems to the carrier that everything is in order, especially compared to others. But the symptoms stick out from the sleeves: excessive accumulation, buying of the same type of things, fetishism and... consumption, consumption, consumption! And the output is tons of garbage and unprocessed material.

As I said earlier, I also suffered from this infection. But now I can look critically at my extraordinary desires and the fullness of my own closets! A kind and reasonable approach to living space.

Leo Babauta's books taught me a lot. I won’t say that I read them avidly, but I decided to implement many of his ideas. For example, I simplified the blog design and cleared out old bookshelves. It immediately became easier to breathe!

What minimalism taught me:

Stopped buying cheap consumer goods. A good thing lasts a long time, and despite the seemingly identical material costs, it works effectively throughout its entire service life (and there is so much joy in that). Afterwards, it leaves much less trash. For example, sandals: I used to buy them every year, and every year I became a source of waste in the form of worn-out shoes. This year I bought myself quite expensive, but still affordable Keen, the ease of use of which I appreciated from the first hours of use (I’ve been carrying it for more than two years and am still happy about it).
Cleared out debris in closets, donated clothes to low-income families. I was surprised at how many people there are around who are ready to take your things. Everything that I was going to give away, if possible, I tried to wash and sort through for illiquidity. Still, it’s worth maintaining respect for people!
also bore fruit. I stopped disappearing on the Internet, setting up all possible clients to notify me about letters, messages in contacts, etc. I have a list of blogs whose authors’ opinions are interesting to me, the rest is secondary. I don’t read the news, I don’t watch TV, I don’t listen to the radio. All the same, I learn about high-profile events from someone else, but reading about how and who raped whom and from which floor he jumped under which train is unpleasant for me.
I started walking more and using public transport. It turns out that this has its own charm. You can relax and listen to an audiobook without worrying about traffic lights, traffic cops and inadequate drivers on the roads.
I rediscovered running and the so-called. simple fitness (horizontal bar, parallel bars, push-ups). There is nothing easier than keeping yourself in good physical shape. People who give away money for memberships to fitness clubs make me smile slyly. I don’t find any meaning in this, other than the thrill of emergency situations.
I wanted to create more, create more, and give more. Therefore, I resumed rehearsals again with my band in an extremely minimalist lineup: bass, guitar, drums. Everything unnecessary is cut off for the sake of developing the creative potential of each individual participant, behind each of which there is a natural depth. In 2016, the group ceased to exist. But the accumulated creative material has been successfully introduced into other areas of life
Sold the car. The car, even standing in the garage, sucks an incredible amount of energy and money. You worry about her, think about her, and so on. Well, and on top of everything else, such an authority as the traffic police has disappeared from my life :) At this time, it’s easier for me to allocate part of my budget for a taxi, if suddenly I desperately need to go somewhere far away. In other cases, a bicycle comes to the rescue.
And yes, by the way, I still love reading, despite all my visits. Here is my . But even here I decided to formulate a few rules for myself. And the main one was willful ignorance. I can't know everything, and what's more, I don't want to. Things that make me bored are skipped.

And recently I returned from a long stay, where with one backpack of 14 kg, including all my things and a heavy laptop, I walked through almost all climate zones. A kind of test of one's own consciousness. At the end of the trip, I realized that there were some things I wouldn’t take with me on my next trip.

The points, of course, are very conditional, and remind me very much of mine. But somehow I wanted to reveal them from a slightly different side, to throw out painful things about consumption and consumerism, to disturb our “almighty” Matrix a little.

I will be glad to receive feedback in the comments about your life optimizations in order to discuss and exchange experiences.

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Getting to know the creativity of the French studio "Gilles & Boissier" It started for me with a photo of this bathroom, which I marked as “ideal.” This bathroom is located in the apartment of Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier, studio and life partners. According to the authors, the apartment on Boulevard Malesherbes is the embodiment of their ideas about an ideal home.

1. Wardrobes look very aristocratic due to the wood of a noble gray color, vintage bronze handles and classic cornice. But these are not just antique cabinets that might be found in a 19th-century Parisian apartment. This is an absolutely modern solution: the furniture is built in from floor to ceiling and is connected to the room by a marble plinth. Lamps and marble cladding are attached to the side facades, so the seemingly massive cabinets dissolve in space and act as partitions that limit the intimate area of taking a bath and morning toilet.

2. I like it selection of materials and especially what background is chosen for wood and marble. This is an absolutely smooth snow-white ceiling (in a Parisian apartment stucco molding could be appropriate here, but it is not here) and the same smooth white seamless floor. In my opinion, this is the ideal background to emphasize and enhance the texture of natural wood and the natural delicate pattern of marble.

3. Details from different times, such as: a classic banquette, a mirror with a carved frame and a modern wall lamp. It is lined with copper on the inside, so it should illuminate the room with a warm, pleasant light.

4. Symmetry. Here the central axis (in the center of the window) is clearly visible, on which all the objects in this room are strung. Symmetry is always static, balanced and, as a result, calm, which was necessary to create in this room.

Let's look at other rooms! 19th and 21st century architecture (French floor-to-ceiling windows, stucco, doorways, floor finishing) and modern style (details, techniques, local color and art objects) have become friends here. For a couple with two small children, it was important to combine two ideas in one interior: a free, uncluttered space in which the children would feel free to run around and play, and at the same time a space that reflected the history of their country, so that the children knew their roots.

I think this is a brilliant idea! And if we take this approach, then in the conditions of today’s Moscow it is possible to create no less spectacular interiors that combine Soviet heritage (remember the beautiful stucco molding, chandeliers, furniture of “Stalinist” houses) and modern materials and details.

Kitchen It looks even more minimalist than other areas of the apartment, but is incredibly beautiful. And here I also want to highlight some unique techniques:

1. Lack of curtain facades, or rather the way they are played. We are all used to the fact that the lower drawers stand on the floor, and the upper ones “hang” above them. In this interior, the upper sections are designed as separate drawers standing on a single marble shelf. Different tectonics, different feeling.

2. "Apron", which is not finished to the marble shelf, and that's great! The resulting gap allows the top drawers not only not to “hang”, but to literally float!

3. Wood finishing. There are three different types of wood trim in the interior, and all are completely different in tone and pattern. Are any additional decorative techniques needed in this case? The answer is obvious.

Same techniques, materials and objects used by the authors in different spaces of this house, so they are definitely not random:

1. The ceiling lights are suspended by a marine rope. A standard cord would not look as tame.

2. A rope of a similar texture covers the bedside tables and stool in the living room. This technique adds some carelessness and natural character to the item.

3. The texture of ashy and even almost burnt wood. Personally, this material reminds me of the smoke of a fire, the ashes escaping from it and smoldering logs. Found in the form of furniture and doors, this material seems to transport you to a French country house.

4. Photographs and paintings that are leaning against the walls, standing on the floor or on tables. I think that this technique says, firstly, that you don’t need to take everything too seriously, and that things can change their location depending on your mood; and secondly, that these pieces of art are important to designers in themselves, and not as an accent on a certain wall or in an empty wall opening.

Elena Minyukovich

Having come into our lives relatively recently, minimalism, which is gaining increasing popularity, has already become a trend and acquired a certain crust of stereotypes. I threw out the trash, bought a couple of plain T-shirts without prints - and, lo and behold, a new minimalist was born. There is a great risk of going to extremes such as statements that a true minimalist “should have less than 100 things”, “wear only monochrome and natural” - and in general something “should”.

In fact, this direction is much deeper than “white sheets and coffee”, and even has its own philosophy. But first things first.

Where do legs come from?

How did it all begin? In Europe, minimalism began to develop in the 20th century. Back then it was mostly a direction in architecture. A minimalist interior with its simplicity was the most rational solution in the conditions of that era: war, revolution, turbulence. There were simply no resources for luxury, excesses and elaborate decorative elements. In countries where military operations did not cause serious damage, the arrival of minimalism is due to satiety with pompous luxury and protest against the consumer society, aggressive marketing and the dominance of advertising.

One way or another, society came to calm interiors, which contained a minimum of things necessary for life. The ornateness of romance is replaced by laconic functionalism.

A minimalist interior is dominated by natural materials (as opposed to high-tech, which is largely similar, but uses artificial ones), a lot of light and free space, soft, calm colors (often predominant white, black and gray), and color accents as decoration. Household items are valued primarily for their practical qualities rather than their aesthetic appearance. And yet it is worth noting that laconic, elegant forms have their own charm, and the creator of interiors in a minimalist style must have not only a sense of proportion, but also impeccable taste so that the home does not look sterile, cold and uninhabited. Because of this impression, a stereotype arose that minimalism is mostly the style of single people, although in fact there is no reason for any restrictions.

The origins of minimalism as a movement are considered to be Japan - and, indeed, even the philosophy of the Japanese itself is in many ways similar to the ideas of this style. The same Feng Shui claims that piles of old things hinder the flow of light energy. And if it is quite problematic to test the abstract “light energy” in practice, the functionalism and convenience of such an interior fully justify expectations.

Now the leaders in the field of minimalism are designers from Norway, Sweden and other northern countries, and the style they create has received the prefix “Scandinavian”.

How not to hang a black square upside down?

Surely you know the sensational story with the black square, when museum staff hung it incorrectly.

How not to make a mistake if it is not very clear where, excuse me, this masterpiece is down and where is up? It is unlikely that such a story could happen, say, to the creation of followers of realism. Has anyone heard of the "Girl with Peaches" hanging upside down? Perhaps this story well illustrates the essence of the direction. In a way, this is even interesting - after all, such ambiguity suggests many interpretations depending on the point of view, and this is already food for thought.

In art, the origins lie in constructivism, suprematism, dadaism, abstract art, formalist painting (and many other scary words). To describe it in a nutshell, artists moved from realistic images to simplifying lines and shapes.

There is probably no need to describe each direction in art - the general principle remains the same: simplification, lightness, conciseness.

I would like to mention an interesting technique in photography: for example, the so-called “negative space” is used - empty space that does not draw attention to itself, concentrating it on the main object.

It all started with leading companies such as Apple, about which we can say that they are clear adherents of this direction. Then, on the wave of success, these ideas were picked up by others.

Most modern websites and applications are also becoming minimalistic. Buttons, icons, images are simplified, getting rid of redundant elements. The predominance of white and pure colors, empty space for “air”, the use of sans-serif fonts. Registration forms become simpler, including just a couple of fields. The laconic design makes the products similar to each other, but allows you to shift the focus to the brand and its quality.

The interface becomes simpler, the functionality becomes more complex. And here it is worth remembering another principle of minimalism, which sounds something like this: “the less, the more.” When placing elements according to the principle of old interfaces, it would be difficult for the user to understand them, and in today's realities, where the value of speed is high, time is a very valuable resource.

It is safe to say that getting rid of unnecessary distracting details has benefited the usability and appearance of software products. After all, as they say, good design is not when there is nothing to add, it is when there is nothing to take away.

Philosophy

Let's return to the ideas of minimalism. As was previously said, minimalism is not only a certain visual embodiment, but also a philosophy. Minimalism is about order. In things, in deeds, in thoughts.

In many ways, this is really getting rid of unnecessary things - but not only material things. The idea is to cleanse your life completely - and throw away, among other things, unnecessary burdensome relationships, deeds, ideas, thoughts. We can say that true minimalism is a lifestyle.

From my subjective point of view, three main principles can be distinguished:

1) quality, not quantity

It is better to buy one good expensive thing than ten not very good ones. This solves two problems at once: clutter and, to some extent, the preservation of resources (both your own financial ones and the planet as a whole).

It is worth noting that getting rid of unnecessary things does not mean a certain number of property - things, T-shirts, subscriptions - it can be different for everyone, everyone’s needs are different, so it is important not to rush to extremes and determine this for yourself personally.

2) emotions, not things

Instead of spending money on the next thing, minimalism involves spending it on impressions, experiences, learning and the like. And, if you think about it, it really is a better investment. After all, these emotions can then be converted into memories, which will bring much more moral satisfaction than things that inevitably fall into disrepair.

3) rationalism

Another distinctive feature is rationalism. Time and its rational use are very important. The main argument in any business is the purchase of a new thing, the acquisition of new relationships - usefulness. Minimalists never do something just for aesthetic reasons or, for example, a sense of politeness. Yes, it’s important, but if it doesn’t bring any benefit and only takes up time, you should give it up. In the end, everyone will benefit from this.

Underwater rocks

Of course, minimalism is not perfect, and it also has its dangers. But forewarned means forearmed.

You may encounter the following difficulties:

1) the danger of longing for memorabilia.

It is very difficult to get rid of things that have pleasant memories associated with them. Minimalism does not call for mercilessly destroying all trinkets - if something is really dear to you, nothing prevents you from leaving it. But if there are too many of these things, this is a reason to think, because the law of quality and quantity works here: you cannot experience really deep feelings towards them all. So here it is worth thoughtfully analyzing the pros and cons. And be honest with yourself. You can put them all in a distant drawer and check: which of them will you remember over time?

2) emptiness from suddenly freed time.

It is important to decide on your goals. By giving up time killers like social media and online games, you may find that you actually have a lot of time. It’s like immortality: people dream about it and don’t know what to do in the evening. To some extent, this can be unpleasant, because the excuse about lack of time disappears, which means you can finally do what you “didn’t have enough time” for (but in fact, you were just lazy). By the way, laziness is an indicator. If you're too lazy to do something, it may turn out that it's actually just an irrelevant task that isn't necessary. But sometimes we are too lazy to brush our teeth - and there is somehow no doubt about the need for this - so we need to use this indicator carefully.

3) misunderstanding on the part of loved ones. A new lifestyle with its manifestations such as a new wardrobe and home improvement may cause harmless surprise, but there is a possibility of acute moments associated, for example, with gifts: it is awkward to refuse a person who shows a sign of attention, even though he gives another dust collector, like those from which you have been carefully getting rid of for a long time. There is a way out of such situations: you can discuss in advance what you want to receive - this is normal and will even save donors from painful thoughts and lengthy shopping trips. Or simply say that you prefer to receive “experiences” as a gift - for example, tickets or certificates for interesting events.

How to live with this?

Minimalism is often associated with asceticism, but this is not true. Yes, there is a renunciation of things, but in asceticism this is a renunciation of pleasures, while minimalism does not renounce pleasures, but only removes the unnecessary from life. And what only seems like pleasure - but in reality it is not.

This is the easy part. If you think about it, we really don’t use most of the things in our closets. It is worth admitting that most of the things remain in our apartments under the slogan “maybe someday it will be useful” - and this someday most often never comes. You can simply throw them away, sell them, or give them to those in need.

At some point satiety sets in. And then you simply admire things, without the desire for possession. You just think it’s great that it exists, realize that you can easily do without it, and move on with your life. After some time, you probably won't even remember these things.

There is a common myth that minimalism is a way to save money. This is partly true, but it is a reasonable saving. You should never buy something just because it's profitable.

Is minimalism cheap? No. Minimalism precisely rejects the idea of cheap and perishable things, and a high-quality item is expensive - but it will also last longer. And it's not about the brand. Minimalists buy expensive things not to increase their status, but because it is of higher quality, more profitable and better.

In pursuit of profit, the industry produces many things with a short shelf life, forcing people to buy more and more new products. In a sense, minimalism is a protest against this imposed consumerism.

As for personal space and home, you can add a simple rule to what has already been said: if every thing has a place, then there will be no need for general cleaning.

If you spend even a short period of time, 20 minutes a day, on cleaning/decluttering and don’t buy new unnecessary things, your home will soon become much cleaner and more comfortable.

About the Internet

Parting with things is quite easy - you can always buy new ones. Parting with information is much scarier. After all, deleting any bookmark, video, photo is almost impossible to restore or find again. You can overcome fear with the help of a simple idea: imagine that they never happened, and move on with your life calmly. This is objectively not the worst thing that can happen in your life, right?

It’s worth unsubscribing from useless mailing lists, cleaning your mailbox, bookmarks, subscriptions, contacts, audio and video recordings, documents, pictures (seriously, why do you need so many saved pictures?), feed, browser history (which actually should be cleaned every time, but If suddenly you don’t do this, then it’s time).

The time that was spent on the news feed and uninformative chat can now be used more productively: finally take care of the body, read a book.

Your consciousness will not be overloaded with unnecessary information. It doesn’t hurt for us all to remember Brodsky’s wise phrase from time to time:

“The cat doesn’t care at all whether the Memory society exists.” Or the propaganda department of the CPSU Central Committee. Also, however, he is indifferent to the President of the United States, his presence or absence. How am I worse than this cat?

This is even more difficult than getting rid of things and information.

Live

This is aerobatics. However, it is really worth the effort.

You will be able to focus on what is truly valuable. Minimalism is a way to understand what you really want and what is really important to you. Without regret, abandon outdated ideas in order to concentrate all efforts on the main thing.

Refuse people who take up time and drag you back. It's difficult, but necessary. This way you free up time and space for truly useful and interesting connections. The whole point is to set priorities. It may sound selfish, but “to become an eagle, you must fly with the eagles.” And people who are worth it will really follow, and there is nothing wrong with setting a high bar.

Before creating a new task or taking an action, it is worth analyzing whether it is really worth it, is it necessary, or can it be abandoned? Will this allow you to achieve your goal or will it only take away your strength? Of course, you shouldn’t indulge in deep analysis every time you’re just going out to buy bread.

There is one good expression, in my opinion, that suits this topic well: when you drink tea, you drink tea, i.e. you focus on a specific action and enjoy it without being distracted by anything else.

Minimalism is a careful choice. Choosing the best and rejecting distracting fluff.

There is a wide variety of literature on the topic of minimalism. The books most often recommended by minimalists are:

Dominic Loro. The art of living simply.

Marie Kondo. Magic cleaning.

Greg McKeon. Essentialism. The path to simplicity

Leo Babauta. How to stop procrastinating in life

Leo Babauta. Important little things. How to achieve more with little

Fergus O'Connell. Do less. How to get rid of the desire to do everything

Marla Seeley. FlyLady School. How to bring order to your home and life

Richard R. Powell. Wabi-sabi - the path of simplicity

John Maeda. Laws of simplicity

P.S. The above thoughts purport to be my thoughts only. Like any idea, you can accept it or not, based on how it fits your life and is close to you personally. Everything written is not the ultimate truth and can be modified according to needs.

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The preppy style of clothing comes from private colleges, which are considered elite educational institutions. Such children are prepared from an early age for a comfortable life and are instilled with strict taste preferences in the choice of clothing. It became most widespread in the 50s.

Key Features

Despite the simplicity of the cut and discreet colors, preppy style clothing is very expensive due to the quality of the materials from which it is made.

Preppy thus emerged as a type of clothing for wealthy students at one time. But later, preppy style clothes became incredibly popular all over the world.

The main distinctive features of this style are discreet wardrobe items that exclude flashy colors, vulgar necklines, perfect manicure in pastel shades, barely noticeable pleasant scents of perfume and, of course, cleanliness and neatness. The range of colors used in the outfits of this style is quite limited. The main ones include black, white, brown, dark blue, beige and other colors and shades.

Shoes must be comfortable

The comfort of shoes is more welcome in this style than anywhere else; high heels are completely excluded. For example, loafers (similar to moccasins, but with a hard sole and a heel), moccasins (shoes without fasteners and laces) - order the perfect preppy style moccasins at http://occasion.ru/catalog/polo-ralph-lauren/, boat shoes (shoes with thick, grooved, white soles), oxfords, ballet shoes (shoes with flat soles and rounded toes).

Restraint of hairstyle and accessories

Preppy hairstyle should be no less restrained. The styling is classic, the hair should be a natural color.

minimalism as a lifestyle

Alternatively, you can also do a French braid or a high ponytail.

The most important sign of successful makeup may initially be excellent skin condition. Therefore, a preppy girl, and any other girl, should regularly visit a beauty salon. If your skin is in perfect condition, makeup in calm shades will be very appropriate and will highlight the girl’s natural beauty. Accordingly, light powder, a small amount of blush, a little mascara and lip gloss are used here.

Basic prints

The favorite prints of this style are mainly geometry - diamonds, checks, stripes. Often the clothing resembles golf attire. This could be a knitted sweater, pullover, cardigan, polo shirt, tapered trousers, Bermuda shorts, etc.

Preppy-style accessories are also not vulgar and pretentious and consist mainly of stud earrings or miniature pearls. You can complement the look with a small handbag to match the overall set.

And the most important!

Preppy style is, first of all, based on good manners, tact, neatness and neatness. Thus, it emphasizes the original individuality of an individual person, without distracting from serious life goals.

We invite you to get acquainted with the thoughts of Brett McKay, who has his own special view of minimalism.

Minimalism is a lifestyle/trend, and like any phenomenon, it sometimes gains popularity and sometimes declines. Minimalism has become popular in the last few years. On the Internet you can find many articles entitled “100 things you need to get rid of”, which are in great demand.

Even I wrote about minimalism a couple of times on my blog and in general I have nothing against it. There is something inspiring about the idea of living a life without excess, and it definitely has its benefits.

This will help you avoid becoming a weak-willed consumer, there will be no truly unnecessary things in your life, your brain will not be overloaded with useless information, you will be able to be mobile and travel light, save money and focus on what is truly valuable.

But, despite all the advantages, not everything is so rosy.

Excessive minimalism is the prerogative of wealthy people

The first thing that made me look more critically at minimalism was an article I read in The New York Times a couple of years ago. It started like this:

“I live in a studio apartment that is 420 square feet. I have a transformable bed. I have 10 small vessels that I use for preparing salads and main courses. When I have guests over, I take out my folding table. I don't have CDs or DVDs, and now I only have 10% of the books I used to have."

Next, the author of this note, Graham Hill, talks about how his life today is fundamentally different from the one he led before. Having become rich in the 90s, Hill began to buy himself not at all cheap things and at some point discovered that his life was literally littered with all sorts of expensive junk.

Everything changed when he fell in love with a woman from Andorra: he simply packed his things in a backpack to follow her around the world. Traveling light, he reconsidered his attitude towards things and now consciously lives light.

After Hill's story, I came across a short essay by Charlie Lloyd.

“Wealth is not a number of dollars or material possessions. Wealth is the ability to choose from many options and the ability to take risks.

If you see a person on the street who is dressed as a member of the middle class (say, in neat jeans and a striped shirt), how will you know whether he is lower middle class or upper middle class? In my opinion, the best indicator is how he carries himself.

Recently I could classify myself as lower middle class. I understood this especially clearly when I had to deal with my backpack. I have my old laptop in my backpack, which is already three years old, and it barely holds a charge, so I carry the power supply with me. It also has paper and pens if I want to write or draw something, but that rarely happens. In addition, in my backpack I still have a charger from my old phone, chewing gum, and sometimes food for a quick snack. If it's summer, sunscreen and a bottle of water appear in my backpack. If it's a cold season, wear a raincoat and gloves. Sometimes I take a book with me to avoid boredom.

If I were rich, I'd carry a MacBook Air, iPad mini, and wallet. Go outside and take a closer look - I bet you'll notice that rich people carry very few things with them.

The same applies to the lives of rich people in general: they have very few things at all.

When rich people talk about learning to live lightly, they often mention that wealth helped them achieve this lifestyle. That is, to get to this, you need to go through wealth.

If you buy food in bulk, you need a large refrigerator.If you can't afford to have your car repaired at a dealership, you'll have to carry a bunch of tools with you.

Being rich is a good way to rid your life of a lot of junk."

In general, minimalism is the prerogative of wealthy people due to the fact that their wealth is a kind of airbag. If they get rid of something that they might need in the future, they will simply go to the store and buy it.

They don't have to carry a lot of things with them, just a wallet: if they need something, they'll just buy it on the go. No problem. However, if you are not that rich, you will have to carry a lot of things with you.

Minimalism still puts things at the center of your life.

It's ironic: on the one hand, the goal of minimalism is for you to stop paying so much attention to things, but on the other hand, minimalism continues to put things at the center of your life.

A materialist is focused on how to acquire more things, while a minimalist is constantly thinking about how to get rid of those things. They both end up focusing on things.

This is well illustrated by the following example. There are two people: the first suffers from gluttony, and the second suffers from bulimia. The first one loves food and is constantly eating something. The second hates food and himself for what he eats, as a result of which a ritual of “purification” then follows - a person induces vomiting in order to get rid of food. The first one loves food, the second one hates it, but they are both obsessed with food.

First you are happy when you buy a thing, and then you are happy when you get rid of it. It's funny, isn't it?

Moderate minimalism

As I mentioned at the beginning, I believe that minimalism is a great thing when it is not reduced to extremes. A person should have a healthy attitude towards his property: he should think about it, but he should not make it the goal of life.

Most of the great people I admire knew what they needed. They bought things for their practical use or simply because they enjoyed them. They bought high-quality items that do not require constant repair and will certainly serve their owner for a long time. They did not accumulate unnecessary rubbish and did not surround themselves with a variety of garbage.

They didn't make things the center of their lives - they could find much more worthy goals to pay attention to.

They didn't have time to worry about whether their library was too full of books, that their studio was cluttered with art supplies, or that one of their rooms was filled with so many hunting trophies that they were taking a toll on their psyches.

But they were minimalists where necessary: they did not waste time on useless things that could prevent them from creating the great thing that they left us as a legacy.