A capsule wardrobe is when your wardrobe consists of around 33-35 pieces, including clothing, accessories, jewelry, and shoes to encourage you to wear your favorite pieces every day (Not your trendiest or most stylish things, your FAVORITE THINGS)! There of course is no set-in-stone number of items in a capsule wardrobe, but a good rule of thumb is to aim for 40 or less, or whatever *feels* right to you! Remember, the point of a capsule wardrobe is to minimize your wardrobe down to only the essentials and be able to easily pick out outfits for any occasion. Let’s look at why we you should build a capsule wardrobe…
- It creates SPACE
Even if this isn’t something that’s important to you, creating an environment that you see and interact with every day that is well organized and de-cluttered can really help clear away stress. Even if you thrive on chaos like I do, having a little air to breath never hurt anyone!
- It makes deciding what to wear EASY
If I could get back all the time I’ve spent deciding on what to wear… shit! I’d be 10 years younger! Not to mention all the times I might have actually showed up ON TIME to things instead of half an hour late…having a closet that is smaller and holds only your favorite and most essential pieces makes getting ready in the morning an absolute breeze! The point of a capsule wardrobe is to be able to grab any key items from your closet blindfolded and putting them together to make a super cute outfit simply because you love every item you decided to keep in your wardrobe.
- It helps you figure out what items MATTER the most
My rule is, if you haven’t worn it in the past year, you don’t need it! This is a great way to break down your closet and go through all the clothes you’ve hoarded over the years (It’s OK, we all do it…) and get rid of the stuff you no longer wear or like.
I know, I know, it can be tough to get rid of clothing! We’ve all formed weird sentimental attachments to that one t-shirt we wore in high school that one time we did that thing we can’t remember. Guess what, that’s OK! It’s natural to be hesitant to change something, like your wardrobe, that you feel defines you in some sort of way. Here are a few tips to make the process a hell of a lot smoother…
- Put your ENTIRE closet out in front of you.
This helps you see exactly what you have and how many of each type of item you own. This step makes it 100x easier to get rid of shit when you can physically see it laid out in front of you. My sneaky trick is to put it all on your bed. Yup. Your bed. It makes it 9000000x easier to get it done because all you’re gonna want to do at the end of the day is crawl into bed, but that won’t happen with a mountain on clothes on it (JK…as if I haven’t slept on a laundry pile before. If it’s good enough for the cat, it’s good enough for me).
- Don’t feel like you HAVE to get rid of something.
Just because you haven’t worn it in a while doesn’t mean you should toss it. Remember the point of this is to keep your favorite things! There are plenty of reasons not to wear something you love, whether it be your lifestyle, or that you just haven’t worn it recently…easy as that. Just remember to be VERY honest with yourself and keep in mind that you can’t do that with every article you come across. Pro tip: if you forgot you had it, YOU WON’T MISS IT.
- After you edit your closet, don’t rush to fill it back up.
This is KEY! Part of this exercise is to become comfortable living with a minimalistic view on fashion. This gives you a chance to rock what you have for a while and learn which pieces you really need in your wardrobe! I promise you, you’ll be surprised with how FEW items you actually wear regularly.
So, when you’re done editing down your wardrobe, you can begin to add more pieces to your perfectly small collection. This is your opportunity to invest in clothing that you LOVE and that will LAST! My goal as a new builder of a capsule wardrobe is to eventually have all my pieces be sustainable and ethically made. This doesn’t have to be everyone’s goal, but in the long run, having clothing that is made to last will help you avoid having to do this whole thing over again!! Phew!