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I don’t want to walk into my closet and feel like I am shopping at a store.
I’ve always been a huge Sex and the City fan, and Carrie is my favorite because of her eclectic fashion and hard core dedication to personal style. That being said, I never want a closet that looks like hers in either apartment!! Even that fancy one BIG built for her.
This seems like it would be every shopaholics dream right? Hear me out. I don’t want that many options. One, so many choices feels WAY too overwhelming for me. Two, not everything in a store is made to look good on my body. I want my closet to be a place that has been CURATED to fit my body and makes getting dressed EASIER.
That’s why I have a single rack of clothing (as seen below). I don’t come close to being any kind of minimalist, but I do believe in building a wardrobe that plays nicely together so your closet doesn’t have to be busting at the seams in order for you to have LOTS of outfit options at your fingertips. That’s where a capsule wardrobe really comes into play for me.
What's a Capsule Wardrobe Anyway?
I think the term capsule wardrobe has become pretty common these days but I think it can look different depending on who is talking about it. Here’s my definition: A collection of clothing that fits your body, lifestyle, has maximum mix and match capability and brings you JOY! The reason they are so appealing to me is because they really do take the drama out of getting dressed IF they have been designed in a way that actually shows you the steps required to move you from frustrated and overwhelmed to streamlined and confident. That requires more than simply showing a collection of items and how you can make outfits with them.
If you haven’t already downloaded my free resource, How to Figure Out Your Personal Style, do that now! It will walk you through 2 essential steps of this process (editing your closet and figuring out your body type). Once you are armed with that knowledge, you’ll be an educated shopper and you can build a functional, lasting wardrobe!
In my opinion, there are foundational items that belong in every closet if you want it to serve you well. These are those items. Some of these items have stars next to them and that means I believe they are worthy investment pieces.
Tops
5 casual tops (Ts, button downs etc)
5 dressier tops (blouses, or Tshirts with fun details)
3-5 Sweatshirts
3-5 Great Sweaters *
Bottoms
straight leg jeans*
wide leg pants/jeans*
skinny pants/jeans
joggers
flare denim*
flattering cut offs
high waisted shorts
Faux Leather Leggings*
Linen pants
Shoes*
statement sneakers
booties
Mules
Flat sandals with fun detail to dress up or down
Wedge Sandals
One pair of heels
Layers
Blazer
Denim Jacket
Chambray Shirt
Neutral Coat*
One Piece
Tshirt dress
Jumpsuit and/or romper
LBD*
The way I approach my wardrobe in a sustainable way is to first use the list above to ensure I have the right pieces in order to be able to mix and match basically everything in my closet. The other thing that is critical for me is to stay within a reasonable budget. I like to tell people I am a shopaholic with a SINGLE rack of clothing in my closet. ONE!! That is part of how I keep myself in check. The other way I do that is by choosing strategically where I invest. These are the retailers I shop at the most and they are the ones I go to when I am building my capsules. They are a healthy mix of higher end price points and super budget friendly.
How my Capsules look in practice:
When done well, the Capsule helps you build a base and THEN go from there. A wardrobe capsule is all about quality over quantity. It takes a set amount of pieces, let’s use 20 pieces as an example, and SHOWS you how to build tons of different outfits from just those pieces. It is most certainly not about buying a whole new wardrobe every season. No one needs to do that. It’s not sustainable nor does having a over-full closet help you when it comes time to actually decide what to wear. A wardrobe capsule helps you remove the noise when it comes time to get dressed in the morning because you have less to choose from and you know which pieces play nicely together. Sounds like a dream doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be heavenly not to stand in front of your closet thinking you have nothing to wear? I promise it’s not an urban legend.
Let’s put this idea into practice shall we? When you choose quality, versatile pieces for your wardrobe (which is what I try to do with every piece I include) you should be able to find TONS of different outfit options using that single piece. I typically like to build out 4 outfits for each top in my wardrobe capsules, but this really is just the tip of the iceberg! Here’s an example for you:
Ready to really LEARN more about how this all works and how to achieve personal style with ease? A good place to start is checking out my page on my Style School Membership - it's where I take my teaching out of the classroom and into your closet!