Why I Got Rid of Most of My Clothes

WHAT IS A CAPSULE WARDROBE?

A capsule wardrobe is a minimalist approach to your closet. There were two sources that I got a lot of information from. I first heard about it from Project 333 which defines their capsule wardrobe as 33 pieces for 3 months. While I was still trying to create my own (getting started is harder than it looks!), Caroline of Caroline Joy Photography started a blog Unfancy and created a super helpful tool to creating your capsule wardrobe. Caroline’s wardrobe capsule consists of 37 pieces. You can decide exactly what works best for you. I wouldn’t go much higher though because part of the challenge…is that it’s challenging. ; ) It forces us to think smarter about our closet. It forces me to not keep a bunch of pieces that I might one day get around to wearing.

WHY HAVE A CAPSULE WARDROBE?

I have always taken more of a minimalist approach to our lifestyle since our space has been limited. Every few months we get the urge to purge big time. Including the closet. Lots of clothes to me, clutter my mind and overwhelm me. I see it as more stuff to wash and more time to pick out an outfit. The capsule wardrobe is more than just getting rid of things you don’t need. It’s about CRAFTING a wardrobe that will fit your lifestyle. Too many things (specifically clothes) can control us instead of working for us.

Having had a baby 7 months ago, my closet has been unavoidably full overflowing with clothes that were pre-pregnancy and didn’t quite fit and pregnancy clothes, which thankfully didn’t fit either. 😉 But that means nothing fit and it made me sick every time I had to put on something other than yoga pants and my big chambray button-down.

MY TAKE ON A CAPSULE WARDROBE

With this “mom body”, I needed A LOT of new pieces for my capsule wardrobe. Some of my old clothes fit, but I felt so uncomfortable in them. For me, the idea of a capsule wardrobe is to only have pieces that look great on and that you feel confident and beautiful in. If everything in your closet has that effect, getting dressed should be no problem! Which this new mom is all about!

Because I live in South Louisiana and the temperature doesn’t vary much from April – September, I am keeping my capsule wardrobe for two seasons. I may switch out 2-3 pieces but other than that, it should stay the same. I’m also doing this since I had to buy so many new pieces for this season. They need to last! 🙂

I am not getting rid of EVERYTHING. I got rid of a ton, but I did keep pieces that I thought would fit a future capsule wardrobe. It is boxed up and put away though ready for me to pick for the next season. If I don’t include it in my next capsule, I’ll probably get rid of it since it clearly isn’t a favorite piece if it doesn’t make the cut a second time.

HOW TO CREATE A CAPSULE WARDROBE

Download this PDF from Caroline’s blog. It is super helpful to know where to start and to know how to build a wardrobe. The worksheet will walk you through the following areas:

1. What activities is your life made up of? This helps to know what items of clothing you need and how much. There is no reason to buy a fancy ball gown if your life is divided into working from home, errands, church and a few date nights and weddings.

2. What should your color palette be? What colors look best on you? I used to force myself to buy things because I didn’t have them but some colors will just never look good on me! I’m sticking to what works.

3. What are your current favorite pieces? You know what looks good and makes you feel good. If you do need new pieces use these as inspiration for what to get.

4. What are your go-to outfits? Caroline calls this “outfit recipes.” You don’t want to buy a million shirts that go with a certain type of bottom that you don’t even have in your wardrobe.

5. What do you need to purchase?

6. What is your budget? If you have trouble budgeting like I do for clothes, I’d even suggest doing this in the beginning. I had the urge to increase my budget based on what I thought I “needed.”

Wednesday I’ll share my worksheet answers and Thursday I’ll share my capsule wardrobe pieces!!

Photo by Caroline