What Is a Capsule Wardrobe?

The year that I turned 30, I was at an all-time low in terms of how I was dressing. My morning go-to was yoga pants, a t-shirt and tennis shoes. On my “fancier” days I wore a tunic over leggings with Keds or sandals and tried to pretend I felt chic and put-together. The truth is that I felt none of those things, and internally wrestled with wanting to feel that way. I had a closet full of clothes, and worked in clothing retail for 4 years; I should know how to dress!The “problem” was that I was a nanny, and a nanny living in NYC nonetheless, where I average 4-6 miles of walking in a normal day, maneuver strollers up and down subway steps and spend large amounts of the time either sweating profusely in the humid city or bundled up against the cold northern winds. Spending time on looking good just didn’t seem to make much sense, especially when staring down a 2 hour a day commute, (yes, I’d rather snooze and stay in bed a little longer than get up and apply makeup!) and knowing that the kids didn’t care what I looked like anyway!

A capsule wardrobe is a carefully selected collection of clothing and shoes that will ideally last you 3 months (a season) and fall within the range of 30-37 items. It helps if the items all mix together well and make you feel incredible when you put them on. Very often many of the pieces roll over into the next season, keeping your overall wardrobe small and mixable. The premise is that when you live with less, not only do you reduce the obvious, which is clutter, but you can really develop your own personal style and make smarter decisions when investing in certain pieces.

Why a Capsule Wardrobe?

I started researching curated closets, and I set the goal for my 31st year to live with a capsule wardrobe and see if it helped change any of my habits (lazy morning dressing, excessive time spent shopping) and tastes (what was my actual style, how did I really enjoy dressing?) and to see if I could live more simply.I dove in with a frenzy, grabbing a friend to join me, donating over 2 and a half large trash bags full of clothes, and taking photographs to document my clothing. The result has been largely what I hoped for, if not quite expected; I spend less time getting dressed, understand my style better and shop more smartly. For summer 2017 I have 29 pieces including shoes in my collection.But why am I writing about this and sharing it on a parenting blog? Because I truly believe a capsule wardrobe can be a lifesaver for busy moms!Imagine, putting together a stylish outfit in 2 minutes, spending 5 minutes on your hair and 3 on your makeup. Fabulous and put together in 10 minutes? Now you have time for “me time” in the morning. You don’t have to feel confined to those comfy yoga pants, even if you’re a stay-at-home mom! Never again will you have to throw your clothes on the floor in frustration, complaining that nothing fits or looks good. Never again will you have to dig into the hamper to find your perfect shirt that is sadly dirty. Imagine having less laundry to do every week! Dressing with less will make looking fabulous every day more attainable! Imagine further that your children have capsule wardrobes too; you can get them dressed in even less time, and older kids can dress themselves with ease (no more battles over your child looking “hobo-chic” with their outfit choices) and you won’t have to spend so much money on clothes for rapidly growing children. Less truly is more!

How Can I Implement a Capsule Wardrobe?

1. The first step in implementing this wardrobe is to empty everything out of your closet and dresser and sort them into four piles:

LOVE! MAYBE? SPECIAL ATTIRE & GOTTA GO!

Don’t overthink this step – go with your gut. You know what you do and don’t love and you know what looks good on you! If it has a hole in it, it’s gotta go. Same with stains or things that don’t fit. Resist the urge to hold onto things that no longer work for you (even if you spent a lot of money on it). Clothes can hold a very emotional attachment over us, and I had several pieces I held on to until I eventually “thanked” them for the role they had served in my life and realized many of the reasons I was holding onto them was because they had been with me during a certain phase of life that was memorable. For example, an outdated cardigan that was currently a little tight but that I purchased in London and it traveled to Paris with me 8 years ago. It was time to part ways and I eventually was able to.My mantra during this phase was "is this serving me, or am I serving it?" I knew I was serving something if I was continuing to give it space in my closet, or if it looked bad on me. I was serving certain items simply because they were a designer brand (bye Paige jeans that really didn’t fit well but were suuuuper on sale!). I was serving items that people gave me and I didn’t like, but kept hanging in silent shame at the back of the closet.Clothes that served me were the ones that made me feel feminine and pretty and looked flattering on me. They were the ones I put on and felt like I was able to conquer the world. For me those clothes were mostly A-line skirts, pretty blouses, dresses and long cardigans.Be okay with what doesn’t work for you. I’m never going to look good in pencil skirts and I never feel right in overly trendy pieces or bold patterns. The special attire section is a small assortment of really fancy dresses I would wear to weddings and parties, my outerwear and work out clothes (for you know, actually exercising!)

2. Parting doesn’t have to be such sweet sorrow!

A good strategy for clothing that you’re unsure about is to place it in a box, seal it and put is somewhere that you can’t easily access for the 3-month period. If you miss an item or have some regret over potentially not including it in your capsule, you can get it from the box. I have literally only ever regretted parting with one thing; an amazing olive green trench jacket from my former days at LOFT. This is a gentle separation technique. If at the end of the 3 months you haven’t thought of or touched the box, it’s time to donate!

3. Establish your rules for what you will include in the curated closet. My rules were as follows:

A. No yoga pants!B. Keep it under 33 items, shoes includedC. No shopping! (So, I did “break” this rule to add in some staple pieces my wardrobe needed, like a skirt, a basic v-neck shirt and a white blouse. I also allowed myself to buy an investment piece for the season; for the spring it was a blush bomber jacket), but the intent behind this was to keep me away from alluring sale signs in windows, stop mindless shopping and shop with specific purposes in mind. And if something wasn’t perfect for me, it made it easy to pass on.D. Document. I wanted an easy way to keep track of my clothes and plan my outfits so I didn’t repeat outfits too much or feel overwhelmed with the thought of not having enough.E. Relax! I wanted this to be a fun experiment, not an exercise in rigidity or being too staunch about things. On a day when I had physical therapy after work and didn’t have time to change, I wore workout clothes that day. Did I feel my best? No. But was the whole system a failure? No, it was just one day and the next day I wore a cute outfit to compensate.Whatever your rules are, write them out and incorporate them into your daily rhythm.

4. Put your off-season clothes away. Don’t let these take up space in your closet. It leads to further crowding the wardrobe so you can’t see what you have. I further divided my LOVE! pile into the 4 seasons and stored the 3 I didn’t need in space bags.

5. Have fun with accessories. This has really been a great benefit to this experiment; I’ve been able to play with jewelry in fun colors and I’m wearing scarves I’d forgotten about. Accessories can really make or break the outfit, so throwing on a fabulous cheetah print belt or a bold red necklace can add to the classiness of your outfit (turning clothes into an outfit and an outfit into style!)

Where Do I Go From Here?

As you begin to create your perfect curated closet, I have included this handy chart for you to begin mapping your style and creating outfits for yourself. I have also made a sample capsule wardrobe to share with you, using only 9 pieces of clothing and 3 pairs of shoes. From this, I put together 20 outfit ideas to get your creativity flowing and show you what's possible. I used items that are likely in many of your own wardrobes already, and in no way am I advocating to go out and buy these pieces. Simply take what you have and use this as a launching pad to start your own capsule.I specifically had moms and and nannies in mind when I designed this comfy yet classy collection that is suitable for both stay at home moms and moms who may work outside of the home in a non-corporate setting. The goal is to help you see that it’s possible to work with children on a regular basis and still look put-together and to shake off the misconception that moms only dress in athleisure wear.Finally, everyone has a different style, and while mine is certainly infused into these outfits, I’d love to see how you’ve made a capsule wardrobe work for you! Capsules can be made with athletic clothes for those who have an active lifestyle, a corporate wardrobe, a more colorful or edgy wardrobe. This is not a guide for you to conform to MY style, but to show you how having less doesn’t necessarily mean you will be bored with what you have and will allow you some room to mix and match your own closet in a new way!

Wishing you the best on your style journey and sending you joy,

Handy Graphics For Inspiration

Below is a sampling of 12 items (including shoes) that I have chosen to combine into 20 different outfits. Again, this is not an experiment in trying to find these exact same items, or even similar ones, but to see what kind of possibilities are available with selecting specific pieces carefully that fit well and mix together and make you feel amazing!

 Outfit #1

Outfit #2

 Outfit #3

Outfit #4

Outfit #5

Outfit #6

Outfit #7

 Outfit #8 (style tip: leave the chambray unbuttoned over the shirt!)

 Outfit #9 (style tip: tuck the blouse in for a put-together look)

 Outfit #10 (style tip: tie the shirt up to meet the waistband for a more fitted look)

Outfit #11

 Outfit #12

Outfit #13 (style tip: leave the chambray open over the dress to look more like a cardigan)

Outfit #14

Outfit #15

Outfit #16 (style tip: Leave the chambray open!)

Outfit #17

Outfit #18

Outfit #19

Outfit #20

Get more context with PremiumGo Premium to view notes, articles, and people related to what you're working on.

Go Premium

Hide