Hello friends! This post is off topic from my normal content, but was requested by many of you as I’ve shared tidbits about the beauty of having a capsule wardrobe over the years. This will be a short series, then we’ll return to our regular content.
The idea behind the capsule wardrobe is a carefully chosen collection of clothing that can be mixed and matched to create as many outfits as possible with the fewest pieces. Usually, a capsule wardrobe has about 30 – 50 items. This includes tops, bottoms, layering garments, shoes, and purses. The average woman has 40 pairs of shoes. And that’s just shoes, not actual clothes! I first heard about this concept about ten years ago but was hesitant to try it… “Would I have enough clothes to cover every occasion?”
“How do I know which pieces to keep or to buy?” “What if I purge and can’t afford to replace something?” But there was something about these beautiful extremely organized closets that made getting dressed a breeze and saved you money. I kept reading… and researching… and dabbling at it. It wasn’t until this blog was born in 2017 that I got serious. This topic seemed like a good one to start with.
To launch a new blog with a series of posts on the capsule wardrobe there needed to be photographs for illustration! This blog has changed a lot since then, the name, the overall purpose, but the capsule wardrobe has stuck around and I thought you would enjoy/benefit reading an updated version!
Matt & I shared a tiny reach in closet in our older home. This closet held all our clothing. Every season, every occasion. There was no rhyme or reason to how it was stored and just getting the clothes for the day was a struggle. The shoes were underfoot (no pun intended) when you tried to reach your clothes, and everything was so tightly packed that once you chose your outfit it was wrinkled…
Here is where I began way back in 2017. My husband and I share this tiny “reach-in” closet in our older home. This was the chaos ~ I wanted a capsule! All of our clothes were crammed in this closet in no particular order. Summer and winter, dressy and casual clothing was mixed. Getting dressed for any occasion was not a breeze. I figured trying the capsule wardrobe method couldn’t be worse than this so I jumped in!
To start, I divided our clothes by cold and warm seasons. Then I did a hard purge on each season. Next, I stored away the off-season. Lastly, I organized the current season by category. Shirts together, skirts together, shoes together. Then I invested in some simple organizers. This took me a couple of days, but the improvement was drastic!
Fall/Winter capsule 2017. Here is the result from that first venture into having a capsule wardrobe. The difference for us in the function of daily living was tremendous! Just like I had heard and read choosing a daily outfit took minutes! Since all the colors worked together I actually had more outfits than before, and all the pieces mixed well together. My personal style gained clarity and I gained confidence in mixing and matching outfits. I no longer had that lone piece that didn’t go with anything. There was less laundry to do and without all the excess clothing our garments looked good right off the hanger -which meant less ironing! I was hooked and have been doing the capsule wardrobe method for over ten years now… I can’t imagine living any other way.
Once I had our closet purged and organized, I could then dial down and create a functional capsule wardrobe. I chose a color palette, and identified my daily “uniform” or style that I loved wearing the most. Then I considered the occasions I would need dressy clothing vs. casual clothing.
This exercise will give you the percentage of clothing you need in each category. If you work in an office full time you will need a greater percentage of office clothing. If you work part time and attend lots of community functions your wardrobe will need to reflect that. This is where you may discover a tendency to overbuy in a certain category. For me, that category is cardigans and sweaters. I love them and how they bring class and completion to an outfit! Knowing I easily overbuy in this category my guidelines are stricter in this area.
Lastly, I considered my laundry cycle and pared down, or filled out each clothing category to fit these parameters. Now that I had moved from chaos to capsule I have had a capsule wardrobe ever since ~ and I love it! Following are some snapshots of my capsules over the years in different seasons. You can see the color palette and organization over the years.
My style has changed over the years, and I’ve experienced some weight fluctuation from health issues, but the concept of the capsule wardrobe has met every season, every occasion, and every budget need.
Most of my clothing has come from thrift stores or second-hand sources online like eBay. If creating a capsule wardrobe interests you, here are the steps I followed to create my first capsule wardrobe:
Steps to a Capsule Wardrobe
- Purge – No one needs ten black skirts! If it is stained, torn, missing buttons, or does not fit well – it needs to go.
- Assess Your Lifestyle – Consider daily activities, work requirements, and personal style. Note what percentage of your week you go to work, to class, to church, play volleyball etc. Match these percentages to the clothing needed for them.
- Choose a Color Palette – You will fall into one of two categories of coloration: either warm, or cool. I have a warm based skin tone, eye color, and hair color. Therefore, warm based colors look best on me and what I choose for my capsules. Choosing a color palette to complement your natural coloring achieves two things. First, everything you wear will look good on you, and second, all your pieces will mix and match easily giving you the greatest versatility in using your wardrobe.
- Select High-Quality Basics – It is likely that once you reduce the number of items in your closet you will be able to spend more per item when shopping. For example: instead of buying ten T-shirts for $3 each, you could choose one nice pencil skirt for $30 that will go with ten different tops you already own. By choosing the high-quality skirt you will have created ten new outfits and upgraded your entire closet.
- Limit the Number of Items – Aim for around 30–50 pieces, including shoes and outerwear. At first, I found it helpful to have a number to aim for when creating my capsule. This helped me focus on the pieces I truly wore and that were the most versatile. Over time I have loosened up on the number and just kept an eye on the different categories to make sure I don’t overbuy (I have a weakness for sweaters and cardigans). Apply the “one-in-one-out” rule and ask “which cardigan will I replace with this one?”
- Prioritize Versatility – Ensure each piece can be mixed and matched with multiple outfits. The more versatile a piece is the more valuable it is. If, when shopping, you can imagine five outfits with pieces you already own, it would be a good purchase.
- Opt for Classic, Timeless Styles – Avoid overly trendy items that may go out of fashion quickly. By choosing high quality classic, timeless pieces you will maximize your monetary investment for the longest period of time. For example: Pencil skirts are a good fit for my body type and if chosen in a good, basic color from my color palette (like camel, or navy) they can be worn in every season and last me for years.
I hope you’ve found this article inspiring, or at the least intriguing… You never know where your closet might be in a year’s time if you give this a try! If you have questions about the capsule wardrobe method, or tips from your experience please comment! This post will be the first in a series ~ I’d love your feedback!
Until next time, take care,
Rachel
