The concept of the capsule wardrobe helps you to “air” and streamline your collection, selecting and arranging each item according to how much you like it and how many outfits you can build with it.
In this article, we will talk about both the advantages of such a wardrobe and how you can create one.
Contents
1. What is a Capsule Wardrobe?
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“Capsule wardrobe” is a term coined by Susie Faux in the ’70s, but this trend began to be exploited later by fashionistas around the world. Take advantage of it and compose your coolest outfits!
This means that you will only wear what you like, not what is in trend at the moment. Usually, specialists recommend experimenting with four capsule wardrobes, one for each season.
Before we find out how we can accomplish such a project, let’s analyze some benefits of the capsule wardrobe.
2. The Benefits
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It Helps You Appreciate Simplicity
If you have exaggerated many clothes, you risk wearing the pieces that you really like too few times. From time to time, we buy clothes, shoes, and accessories just because they are in trend, not because we would like them. Thus, we end up with our wardrobe suffocated by things we wear only once or twice. Because of this, we risk completely forgetting about the clothes that we really like and represent and that we did not buy under a momentary impulse.
On the other hand, a capsule wardrobe contains only what we love and want to wear as often as we have the opportunity. Moreover, with quite limited options, we will not waste time for hours deciding what to wear and how to match the clothes. Instead, we will spend more time with friends or pay more attention to other activities.
Don’t Beat Your Head Choosing What To Wear
This process consumes a lot of energy that you better use for more important things. Instead of trying on dozens of outfits every morning, hoping that you will finally find the perfect combination to wear that day, create a capsule wardrobe. This will save you from having to make decisions that give you a lot of trouble. In your closet, you will find only a few pieces of clothing. All of them are to your liking and which you can match in an instant.
Make Space
Exposing your favorite pieces according to a few rules, you keep everything tidy, without clothes and accessories thrown everywhere every morning. Giving up what you never wear, get rid of the junk boxes that load every free corner of the house. Don’t be fooled. If you don’t want to wear them in the last 6 months, their time will never come.
A smaller number does not mean limitation, on the contrary. It is a challenge to discover new approaches.
Did you know that 80% of the total clothes we have, we don’t even wear? Also, People who make a capsule wardrobe donate on average, 110 pieces of clothing?
Define Your Clothing Style
You will outline a physical and mental space that fully represents you, your personality and passions being found at every step. The first step to looking good is to identify what makes you happy. The capsule wardrobe contains strictly items that you love and that offer the best version of you, regardless of the season. Get rid of purchases that no longer benefit you or that do not express anything.
You always Look Stylish
In a consciously assembled wardrobe, all the pieces fit together, so from the start, the chances of having a harmonious outfit are much higher. It may seem a funny idea of the modular collection. Well, it really works. The interchangeable pieces ensure you elegant and multifunctional outfits, ready in just a few minutes. You will always look different without spending exorbitant amounts.
It Puts Your Thoughts in Order
Cleaning the closet simplifies your existence and gives you a feeling of well-being. Take advantage of the days spent at home to arrange everything as efficiently and pleasantly as possible. You can notice how you have evolved over time and you can get rid of anything that is not absolutely necessary. It will inspire you to be creative and to put things in order in other aspects, from a too-busy schedule to a work corner devoid of charm and enthusiasm.
3. How To create a Capsule Wardrobe?
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Specifically, when you have a capsule wardrobe, only a few dozen well-chosen pieces remain in the closet that can be easily combined with each other depending on the time of day and the occasion. Normally, you would have to renew your capsule wardrobe every three months.
Attention! Renewing does not mean replacing each piece with a new one. In fact, it might be a more appropriate term to refresh. The idea is to work with what we have and not to spend serious amounts on new clothes, which we need or do not need.
Fashion bloggers who have adopted this term and applied it in their lives say that they are very happy with the results. They have more free time, they spend less time in front of the closet thinking about what to wear. They also make serious savings on the budget, without sacrificing their personal style.
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Analyze
Take all your clothes, accessories, jewelry, and shoes out of the closet and put them on the bed. The moment you see what you have is an important one when it comes to creating a capsule wardrobe. Analyze everything well and try to identify the pieces that you will most likely never wear again.
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Sort
Divide the clothes on the bed into several categories and place each pile on the floor. Don’t think too much, let yourself be guided by the first impulse. Sort parts into the following categories:
- Love: I love these clothes. I wear them often.
- Maybe: I want to keep these clothes, but I don’t know exactly why.
- Donate: These things don’t come to me anymore or I don’t like them anymore.
- Throw away or recycle: These clothes are damaged and cannot be worn or donated.
Continue the sorting process until there are no more clothes on your bed. Pack in boxes or bags the clothes you want to donate and the ones you want to throw away or recycle. Put them in the car, in the garage, or anywhere else so they don’t confuse you.
Take another look at the piles of clothes in the love categories and maybe. Try on clothes you don’t know why you want to keep and ask yourself the following questions:
- If I saw this item in the store now, would I buy it?
- Will I wear this coat for the next 3-6 months?
If the answer is no, but these clothes in place with the ones to be donated.
Take into account the 3 attributes that make the difference between essential and whim: quality, versatility, durability. Keep only the well-tailored models, which dress your conformation best, thus having the advantage of timelessness. You will never have to give them up depending on the trends, especially when they have accessible colors. It will be enough to add a few prominent elements from time to time, for variety.
Avoid what is called fast fashion – it gets old-fashioned or easily damaged, forcing you to constantly invest. No matter how beautiful that dress in the showcase is, don’t give in to temptation when the fabric doesn’t seem to withstand more than a few washes. Consumerism promotes fast and cheap fashion, but the buyer always has the opportunity to pass the offer through the personal filter.
4. Rules for creating a capsule wardrobe
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The principle is simple. In order to have complete and totally different outfits every day, you need to have a few essential pieces of clothing that never go out of style.
Only after you have these basic things, you can add to the wardrobe a seasonal item of clothing or accessory from the latest collections.
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Set a color palette
Make a list of the essential pieces in easy-to-mix colors, to which you can add some new products every season, to give them flavor. Opt for white, beige, gray, navy blue, black, khaki, tones that you will combine infinitely with each other, but also with statement pieces. For example, how are the prints. This formula works precisely because it is based on the chameleon character of neutral items, on their ability to reinvent themselves from one moment to the next with a simple change of accessories. In general, we consider basic clothes that go with five others, in different styles. If you tend to load the collection with a strong palette, you limit your options.
Harmony and balance are the defining factors. Minimalism will always allow you impressive style exercises, instead, the excess of accents will deprive you of sophisticated simplicity.
Do a simple exercise. Close your eyes and choose 10 hangers. If you can’t find at least 2 things that go together, you bought on impulse. Smart shopping helps you avoid clothing dilemmas and chaos in the closet. Choose smart.
Respect the rule of 5
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- 5 t-shirts – white, gray, black, blue, with a remarkable print. You will wear them with jeans and sports shoes, but they will look just as good with a tapered skirt or a blazer.
- 5 shirts – indispensable at the office, ultra-chic worn with jeans and red lipstick. You need a white and men’s office shirt, a striped shirt, a denim shirt, and a piece on top.
- 5 pants – black and beige tapered, a pair with straight cuts, culottes, a leather or velvet pattern for special outfits.
- 5 skirts – a pencil skirt, an A-line piece, and a flared, a pleated skirt, and something with a special design. How about the spent pattern, buttoned monogram?
- 5 sweaters – 3 briefcases (beige, gray, black), an oversized sweater with anchor or rolled collar, a fine cashmere cardigan.
- 5 dresses – black dress, a conical dress and a flared day dress, a printed dress, a special dress.
- 5 blazer – fit, boyfriend, oversized, with structured shoulders, striped or checkered.
- 5 jackets – a wool coat, a sweater, a leather jacket, denim, a parka.
- 5 denim pieces – jeans, skirt, jacket, overalls, dress. I am a state of mind and a declaration of youth, refreshing your style in any season.
- 5 bags: a shopper bag, a classic portable and office purse, a chic baguette-style model, a remarkable piece for going out, a precious envelope.
You will build on a simple skeleton. A pencil skirt and a flared one, high-waisted cigarette pants, jeans, a structured blazer, the eternal white shirt with men’s cuts, some briefcases, and basic tops, dresses in classic lines, a coat that fits flawlessly.
Choose only quality materials
Choose only quality materials. The idea of a capsule wardrobe is to be able to use it as efficiently as possible, for as long as possible. Therefore, it is very important to buy only clothes made of high-quality materials. You will build on a simple skeleton. A pencil skirt and a flared one, high-waisted cigarette pants, jeans, a structured blazer, the eternal white shirt with men’s cuts, some briefcases, and basic tops, dresses in classic lines, a coat that fits flawlessly. What we put next to the basic parts differentiates us. The variety of materials helps you discover interesting combinations. Cotton, fabric, leather, some precious pieces of silk or satin, lace.
Buy only classic pieces
Of course, each season comes with its own trends and brings new prints, cuts, and fashionable shades. However, if you want to have a cohesive and coherent wardrobe, it is recommended to limit yourself to those classic pieces, which will not go out of style after two months of purchase.
Use this guide to guide you in creating a capsule wardrobe. You can change the process in some places, making it more suitable for your needs. Next time you go shopping, follow the rules above, and create your own capsule wardrobe.
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