| | | | | |

How to Create Your Wardrobe Capsule: Step 1 and Step 2

A couple of days ago, I shared on Facebook that I was interested in creating a wardrobe capsule for myself, and wanted to know if anyone wanted to tag along and create their own too. The response was great and even more was how eager everyone was to get started. Like right now. Let me first start out to say that I am not a fashion blogger. I’m probably one of the least fashionable people you will meet. Every once and a while, I’ll knock an outfit out of the park, but not on the regular. I will however try to point you in the right fashion direction once we are finished. My whole purpose in doing this wardrobe capsule, was to keep with my whole “living intentional” mindset that I spoke about earlier. Ā That being said, let’s get this party started!

Capsule wardrobe
How to start a capsule wardrobe.

Closet organization, storage solutions, organization
Before- Lots of stuff that doesn’t belong and plastic hangers.

Naturally the first question I get is “what is a wardrobe capsule?”. Ā The quick response: it’s a limited amount of clothing items and accessories that coordinate within a season. This concept has actually been around since the 70’s and through the years, has had different interpretations of what this wardrobe capsule should look like, and what it includes. The unanimous number one reason why people want to create a wardrobe capsule, is because they just have too much. Closets are packed, storage areas are packed, clothes are starting to migrate to closets outside the master bedroom… you get the gist. Before we can jump into the capsule, there’s a few things we need to undress. Yep, that’s right, undress.

Step 1- Identify the problem

How did we get here?

For me, shopping was therapy, it felt really good. If I had a bad day, retail therapy to the rescue! Every special occasion needed a new outfit. Don’t even get me started on my “goal clothes”. Despite the volume of clothes that I had, I always migrated towards the same pieces of clothing. Ā I also always had this feeling that I had nothing to wear, when standing in my closet staring at the racks of clothes, clearly I had enough. What I found is that I spent a lot of money trying to fill emotional voids. Even after the tags were ripped off, I didn’t feel any better. Clothes that I had saved for “one day” either didn’t fit right because my body had changed, or were not in style anyway.

Your turn, how did you get to this place? Does your story sound similar to mine, maybe a few other unique situations to add to the mix? The fact that you’re reading this tells me that you want to do something different. And something different we will do! But you have to make a promise to me, until we finish this capsule, you cannot buy anymore items of clothing, accessories, shoes, and so on. I have already had the question: “what if I ordered something and it’s on its way?”. Ā I’ll let it slide. Nothing else though… pinky swear???

Once you have identified why and how your closet got to this point, hopefully we can ensure that it doesn’t get to this point again.

Step 2- The purge

With every great organizing project, comes the infamous purge! We will do this in a few different ways, but these are to pull out the “no” clothes in your closet. And storage area. Ā And any other space where your clothing is currently residing. Don’t forget your shoes.

  • Quick Sweep: This is where you look at every piece of Ā clothing and pull out anything you know for a fact you don’t like, is too badly damaged to fix, or just overall doesn’t give you a good feeling when you wear it. (Give yourself about 30 minutes.)
  • Dressing Room: No lie, this will be tiring, but stay with me. You will need to try on EVERY piece of clothing. I’m not even kidding, every piece. Why? Because if it’s something you’ve only worn once or twice, you may discover you don’t like the way it fits now. You may realize that it’s really not all that flattering. Or even that it’s not in style. For me, I also discovered that I really like gray v-neck shirts and I picked a couple of favorites and got rid of the rest. Remember the goal clothes I told you about? I had a pair of jeans I could FINALLY get back into, but guess what, not only were they not a style I am into, they are also way too long. For this part you may want to enlist the help of your spouse, significant other, or even your children. Just like what you would do if you were out shopping. If you do decide to call in some help, remember not to kill the messenger, they’re only there to help. (Give yourself about 2 hours.

    The look of progress!

Once you’ve gone through everything, take the NO pile and either donate it, sell it, or toss the really bad stuff. I’ll leave this up to you. You’ll probably notice that you have some “maybe” items and that’s ok. Actually, pull them out as well, but separate them from the definite yes clothes. We’ll talk about the maybe clothes next time.

For right now, these are your first two tasks:

1- Identify why there’s so many clothes and why you want to change your habits.

2-Complete the purge.

Next up I’ll help you identify your style and what to keep, Ā and finally I’ll give you helpful tips on how to maintain your capsule wardrobe.Ā 

That’s it for right now! Ā It’s been my experience with my organizing clients, not only are these two steps physically demanding, but they take an emotional toll. You may also find that as we go along the process, you will add more to the “no” and “maybe” pile, completely normal. In the mean time, if you have any questions, please feel free to message me!

 

XOXO,

Brooke

Let's connect!!

Stay connected for all your DIY and organizing needs!

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

Similar Posts