Capsule Wardrobe 101

A capsule wardrobe is a minimalistic approach to your clothing-- it pares down your wardrobe to 30-50 timeless pieces that can be mixed-and-matched, that will see you through the seasons, that make you feel beautiful and comfortable, and a few extra pieces that infuse personality into your wardrobe.

A capsule wardrobe is a great way to save time, money and prevent waste. Picking outfits out will be simplified, you won’t feel the need to constantly be adding to your collection and the clothes you do have will get sufficient use.

There are many ways to build a CW-- I’m going to walk you through one way to do it, but feel free to research a little more on different ways!

The Basics

The goal of this capsule method is to find 30-50 pieces that can work for you all year long. (Others choose to create capsules with fewer pieces seasonally, which is also an option). These 30-50 pieces include everything from tops, bottoms, shoes, outerwear, swimwear, and accessories.

How To

The first thing to do is to empty out your closet and drawers. Gather all of your clothing, shoes, accessories, etc. and sort it into 4 piles-- love, like, sell/donate, and recycle. Once you have your “love” and “like” piles, go through those items again and choose 2-3 pieces for each of the below categories.

TOPS

Tees

Nice Tops

Sweaters

Blazers

Dresses

BOTTOMS

Pants

Jeans

Skirts

Shorts

SHOES

JEWELERY

ACCESSORIES

Sunglasses

Bags

Etc.

OUTERWEAR

SWIMWEAR

It’s best to choose items that you absolutely love, that fit you well at the moment, and that are easily transformable meaning they can be dressed-up or dressed-down.

Once you have your basics covered, continue adding a few pieces from your love + like piles that add personality until you reach your set number of pieces. It's best if these pieces can be mixed-and-matched, so some common color scheme This is your capsule wardrobe!

The items that you don’t choose (from your “love” and “like” piles) for your capsule can be stored in bins and looked through after some time. A capsule wardrobe is definitely a trial-and-error type of thing, so if something isn’t working for you, you can always go back to your love + like options and find something else that might fit in better.

Have any of you ever done a capsule wardrobe? I’d love to hear your experience!