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I'm doing the same thing with my jewellery- I want to strip it right back & actually wear everything I have in my wardrobe (so much just sits there taking up space).
How do I go about creating a capsule wardrobe?
I love these questions....
Here are my thoughts!
Full disclosure, I have a uniform but not a capsule. The difference is I buy similar shapes in different fabrics, colors (as long as it is black[emoji16]) and weights and so I have a distinct look or uniform. A capsule collection in my definition is buying to maximize the utilization of a certain set or subset of pieces.
First, do you know what you wear most often and whether you have a uniform or distinct look? Your capsule should be based on that. I use a closet style app to assess what I wear a lot of and how I put outfits together.
Second, consider parameters - do you live in a four season climate or single season? You may need climate specific options
Third, consider why you want to build a capsule... if the psychology is misinterpreted or falsely stated for you then you might not keep to the capsule. Remember your prime objective as they say in Star Trek
Four, I would build around a core look and then consider how many variations I wanted to make on the same set. Remember I start with a goal of varying my uniform rather than maximizing my outfit utilization
Ex. Long black skirt plus oversized black sweater plus shoe or boot plus bag plus accessories can become multiple factorial options depending on, for example, if you have two black skirts; four sweaters and 6 shoe options.
It adds up really quickly.
Five, recognize few people but you will truly know how often you wear something. When I graduated from school decades ago and got my first job I wore all black all the time. Even if the outfits had variation I wanted people to get the vague impression of whether they had seen me in xxx Monday VS Wednesday and limit the visual memory hook [emoji3]
Six, decide what can be excluded - I think socks, under garments and t shirts are excluded
Have fun!
What about dresses that arent for everyday. Such as when you go to weddings, birthday parties, NYE, etc. How does this fit into a minimalist closet? I have so many items I purchased wore once and never again. I want to revamp my closet as well and just have items I actually use and am having such a hard time!
Well what I would do is take out all of those pieces, put them on and even take a few pieces pictures. If you are like me you will realize that a bunch looked good in your imagination but not in real life and can be consigned, donated or binned. This is at least a start.
Then put the rest in categories aka little black dress for winter, little black dress for summer, etc., and get rid of lesser duplicates.
Finally phone a friend and get them to accompany you in doing this. Their eye is more dispassionate
Besides separating wardrobe by season, how do you divide it by occasion? I have different clothes for work vs going out vs gym/causal running errands. I'm going to be purging my closet this weekend but want to make sure it doesnt over-fill again because of all these different categories of clothing.
I wouldn’t worry about parsing too much to start. First cut should be what looks great and makes you feel awesome when wearing. Second cut should be for things you wear the most. For example, I wear leggings and an oversized sweater, sweatshirt, top 75% of the time so give myself more leeway in those categories.
If you still want to do lifestyle, think about how much time you spend and where - work, casually coach potatoing, parties, teas, or sports and whether your wardrobe is roughly proportional. This is what I would do