Creating my capsule wardrobe has made my life SO much easier. I can now pack for a weekend trip in minutes, easily decide on clothes to purchase when I’m out, and put together outfits without any stress. I can’t wait to share my top tips to help YOU create your dream capsule wardrobe!
If you aren’t familiar with what a capsule wardrobe is, head over to read my first post in my Capsule Wardrobe series here. Otherwise this post might not make sense!
So… how do you start a capsule wardrobe? It can be so overwhelming, but once you get started I promise things will get easier!
Step 1: create your dream capsule wardrobe vision
This is the most fun step in my opinion! When deciding on the direction to take your capsule wardrobe in, there are a few things to consider.
stick to a color palette
Putting together outfits is 10x easier when your clothes all match. You don’t necessarily have to stick to a few colors but I found this to be super helpful when creating my own capsule wardrobe. If you don’t know what colors to choose, I would recommend first taking a look in your closet and seeing what colors are the most prevalent. For me, it’s pink, white, black, tan, gold, with a little bit of blue mixed on. I also know there are a number of colors I avoid, like brown, orange, red, yellow, green, and maroon.
What you may think of when hearing “capsule wardrobe” is a lot of boring neutrals but I am here to tell you you DO NOT need to stick to neutrals to create a capsule wardrobe. A capsule closet is unique to each person and will always vary. Neutrals can be a good starting point if that’s what you mainly wear.
Here are a few ideas for color palettes:
cool tones (blues, greens, neutrals)
warm tones (pinks, reds, oranges)
jewel tones (emerald green, dark purple, maroon, navy, dark pink, gold)
neutrals
pastels
bright or rainbow colors
create a vision board
Picking out a color palette may be enough to get your started on your capsule wardrobe. However, it can also be helpful to create a vision board. My favorite tactic for this would be Pinterest. You can browse my account here. You can create your own board and title it “capsule wardrobe” and just repost whatever you see that you like. It doesn’t eve have to be clothing – can be flowers, certain colors you like, or or really anything that just speaks to you. Have fun with this and don’t think about it too hard. This part should just come together!
Pick out your favorite items
IF you are still struggling to get started on your capsule wardrobe, I would suggest going back to your closet. Which items are your favorite, and why? Is it the print of the item, the cut of it, how comfortable it is, etc. Pick out a few items or even outfits you wear frequently and go from there.
step 2: Go through your closet and remove items
Since I started focusing more on keeping my closet coherent, I have no trouble going through my bedroom and removing items I no longer wear or that don’t align with my capsule wardrobe vision. However I know that is not the case for most people. Before I started I did have trouble deciding what to keep and what to get rid of.
There can be so many reasons why we hold on to certain items. I get it! We all been given clothes as gifts that we just don’t like. Clothes that might fit us “one day.” Items we keep for sentimental reasons. Special occasion things we wore once “but might wear again someday.” Clothes that were never worn or still have the tags on. And lastly, the expensive items you don’t want to let go of because “they cost so much!” But I promise you: you’d be surprised how much happier you can be with your closet once you remove the clothes you don’t love!
If you’re not sure what to do with the items you want to let go of, here are a few ideas:
- Sell them! You can sell both unused and used items on postmark, mercari, FB marketplace, or local secondhand places like Uptown Cheapskate.
- Donate! To be honest I’m not sure of good places to donate but Uptown Cheapskate will donate the clothes they don’t take for cash.
- Give away! This could be in a clothing swap, or given away as gifts! I have given friends my barely used clothes after they have helped me take photos etc! Clothing swaps are also fun and you have an opportunity to add to your capsule closet!
step 3: identify your basics
Capsule wardrobes are typically centered around several basics. I will get into this in my next post when I’ll share my personal capsule wardrobe must-haves. This is going to look different for everyone. For example, I wear scrubs to work so I don’t have a lot of business attire. I wear a lot of comfy sweatshirts/leggings because that’s what I’m most comfortable in on my days off and when I am working on my blog.
Also think about basic items that are versatile. For me, I would say my Spanx leggings, white sneakers, a good white tee, pink sweatshirt, good pair of jeans, etc. They all match everything!
Once you identify your most staple pieces you can grow your wardrobe from there. If you find any gaps in your closet (Think… If I had a pair of white jeans I could wear xy and z a lot more frequently) and create a physical list. That way when you go shopping, you can look at your list and see what you need and don’t need.
Check back next Tuesday for my next Capsule Wardrobe series! It will be called “What’s in my Capsule Wardrobe” and will include a lot of my personal basic necessities in my closet.
