Today I would like to talk about creating a capsule wardrobe. Because ever since I discovered this method of organizing clothes, it has completely changed my life. It may be a little dramatic to say that it has changed my life, but it has made my life much easier and brought me so much joy.
I have to throw my hands up and admit that I don’t know any “rules” when it comes to capsule wardrobes. Some say a capsule wardrobe requires a precise amount of items, the exact ratio of shoes to handbags is important, and you need to square that number and multiply by 4 to calculate the number of jeans. Some people emphasize that. Some people make things too complicated!
For me, a capsule wardrobe is simply a collection of my favorite clothes. I like to display my capsule wardrobe in a way where everything is easy to see and it’s easy to choose outfits without being overwhelmed by the choices.
Interestingly, the fewer clothes you can use, the more clothes you’ll actually wear and the less you’ll have to shop.
When you have a lot of clothes, they tend to crumple in drawers or get crushed on rails. You can barely see your own clothes, and when you dig deep into the drawers, the items you find are always wrinkled. Therefore, you end up wearing the same thing over and over again. I don’t want to look around for something, so I usually wear what I like the most. There are items in the cupboard that I completely forgot about, and two drawers are filled with things that won’t fit. Why are size 6 jeans and old maternity dresses cluttering my bedroom!?
Unlike some people who create capsule wardrobes, I haven’t gotten rid of all the clothes that don’t fit into my current clothing collection. Even if I did go to a charity shop, it would be such a waste, so I put most of my clothes in a storage box in the attic and only keep a small portion outside.
Is a capsule wardrobe for you?
If you answered yes to some of these questions, a capsule wardrobe is for you!
- Do you ever get confused when choosing clothes?
- Do you have a lot of clothes in your wardrobe but feel like you have nothing to wear?
- Do you regularly go shopping because you think you can’t find any clothes that suit you?
- Not sure what your signature style is?
- Are you concerned about the impact of fast fashion on the environment?
- Are you an emotional shopper, buying new clothes to relieve your emotions or just for a quick pick-me-up?
- Tired of wearing the same thing over and over again?
- Do you look at other people and wish you were just as neat as them?
- Do you regularly change your clothes multiple times before deciding what to finally wear?
- Do you want to spend less money on clothes, but are still buying things that you don’t wear often?
- Do you want to look better while spending less time and money on clothes?
- Don’t you wish your mornings were easier and less stressful?
- Do you wish your home was more cluttered?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, a capsule wardrobe is for you!
Where do you start with creating a capsule wardrobe?
Let’s start really, really minimally
Honestly, my capsule wardrobe isn’t really minimalist now, but it was the first time I went minimalistic, so I recommend doing the same with your first capsule wardrobe.
If you have a lot of clothes and can’t imagine living with just a few items, try this to find out that it’s better to have less!
Once you realize that “less is more,” you can never look back. Honestly, this is a game changer and you’ll want to apply this minimalist theory to every area of your life.
You will feel much calmer, more grounded, and life will seem much simpler. Therefore, aim for a capsule wardrobe of around 25 items.
Over time, you will evolve and understand what you need and don’t need, and what you realistically need in your lifestyle. I currently have a baby and two young children with my girlfriend so I definitely can’t get by with a really minimal wardrobe at the moment as it gets messy and needs changing often.
Take out all your clothes and put them in a pile
Most people start by putting all their clothes on the bed. Yes, everything. We have coats, bags, shoes, activewear, workwear, loungewear, pajamas, and more.
Personally, I don’t organize my underwear in capsule wardrobes, but now might be a good time to get organized and throw away the ones you no longer wear.
what to donate
Once you’ve got all your clothes out, you can start looking for and sorting through the clothes you no longer wear so you can send them to charity shops, sell them, or give them away.
How do I decide whether to donate?
- If you haven’t worn it for over a year
- If it doesn’t fit
- If you don’t feel good wearing it
Be ruthless! Come on, it feels good.
you don’t have to remove everything
I think we should be ruthless, but I also don’t think we need to exclude everything. Now I’ll add a step that most people don’t mention. It’s all about keeping all the unknowns in storage.
Six boxes of clothing are stored in the attic. I don’t love them 100%, but I don’t hate them either. This is where I keep seasonal clothes, clothes for occasions, and clothes that I used to keep because I don’t have the space right now.
I love storing things in the attic. Because doing so will make your capsule wardrobe more ruthless. I’m not afraid to make my capsule wardrobe really minimalist because I know I have a spare wardrobe in the attic!
But realistically, taking things out of the attic is a hassle, so we almost never do it, and we don’t need extra boxes with clothes. It’s just a safety net and I like that.
Every time I recreate my seasonal capsule wardrobe, I pull these boxes out of the attic. As it became clear that many of these items would never make it back into the capsule, I found it easier and easier to donate more and more to charity shops in my wardrobe.
What do you want to include in your capsule wardrobe?
OK, so now you should have a pretty small pile of clothes, and what you wear, how you wear it, when you wear it, and what you’re happy with right now and what you’re dissatisfied with. It’s time to think seriously about it.
Think seriously about what clothes make you happy. What do you think feels good? What makes you feel great? And be realistic about what you’re doing. Since I work from home, I rarely need formal clothing, so I have to take this into consideration when putting together my capsule wardrobe.
Not a shopping opportunity
Remember that creating a capsule wardrobe is not about creating an opportunity to buy new clothes, but about reviewing what you already have and finding new ways to combine items.
It’s tempting to think, “If only I had one perfect pair of blue jeans, I could get rid of these four old ones….’
stop it! You don’t need anything more.
Combination of seasonal and layered capsule wardrobes
Some people like to create a new capsule wardrobe for each new season, while others keep the same capsule wardrobe all year round and layer items differently depending on the temperature.
There are three reasons why I love seasonal capsule wardrobes:
- I get bored easily so I like to change my capsule wardrobe every 3 months
- For my capsule wardrobe, I like to have themed colors that reflect the season
- I never wear skirts, dresses or short-sleeved T-shirts in winter, so I don’t have to clutter my wardrobe
Create the basis for any outfit
The theory behind a capsule wardrobe is that you can create the framework for any outfit using just a few staple items. Some of these items will be worn frequently, so they need to be of high quality and fit perfectly.
For me, the framework for almost every outfit I wear always starts with denim and a vest. This is the base of almost all my outfits. I have three pairs of jeans that I love, and he has seven white vests. I have a few denim skirts, but I almost always wear jeans.
Everyone does this part differently, but I find it easiest to start with what you wear on your lower body and use this as a base. Make sure you have 4-5 great bottoms, including pants, jeans, skirts, and shorts. And from there, make sure you have 10-15 tops that you can rotate between just about any bottoms.
Accepting my style uniform + creating a capsule wardrobe that matches your lifestyle
A uniform of jeans and a white vest is not very exciting, but this is my style of uniform. It took me years to embrace my uniform style. She wanted to be one of those girls who wears flowy dresses and bright skirts, thinking that wearing jeans every day is very boring. But every time I wore a floaty dress, I felt uncomfortable and wished I had my favorite pair of jeans.
From there, you can add T-shirts and shirts, light jumpers, cardigans, chunky knits, and more.
It can be heels, flats, trainers, or boots. You can also carry a backpack or shoulder bag, or add bold jewelry or a simple necklace.
color palette
I think it’s easiest to decide on a color palette for each season. This is mainly to keep accessories to a minimum so that your bag and shoes go with any outfit combination.
For me, I usually choose a neutral + another color.
As you can see, I chose neutrals + fall colors for fall.
In the summer, I often chose blue and white.
Neutrals for me are black, white, and denim.
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Display your capsule wardrobe clothes nicely
For me, it is very important to display clothes in a way that is visually appealing and everything is visible. This means putting everything on clothes rails and putting it out where you can actually see it instead of storing it in a walk-in closet.
This makes it even easier to see everything in one place and choose your outfit each morning.
The rotation of clean clothes
I’ve never seen anyone else do this, but I think it’s genius if I say so myself!
If you get rid of a lot of clothes and display everything on the rail, you might be left with some empty draws. If this is the case, I highly recommend doing this…
Fold all clothes that come out of the laundry and put them in a drawer. I don’t take everything out of the drawer until I’ve worn everything on the rail.
This means I don’t keep wearing the same thing over and over and use all the clothing in my capsule wardrobe.
I have enough clothes to last me about two weeks with new clothes. So every two weeks I take everything out of the drawers, steam the clothes, hang them out to dry, and clean them again to make sure everything is back in its rightful place.
Also, I hate ironing, so steaming everything at once is much better than steaming several things at once.
I have this clothes steamer and it’s one of the cheaper ones on Amazon, but it’s great.
My capsule wardrobe staples
mom jeans
Black t-shirt
White t-shirt
comfortable cardigan
statement coat
everyday coat
white sweatshirt
belt
“Going out tops’
comfortable heels
extra
7-8 top
1-2 other jeans
1-2 skirts
2-3 bags
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To summarise how to create a capsule wardrobe
If this seems a little redundant and complicated, basically you just put 80% of your clothes in storage and the other 20% on the clothes rail.
It’s actually very simple!
Once you create your capsule wardrobe, be sure to share your photos on Instagram!
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