What is a Capsule Wardrobe?

By Lucy French

A capsule wardrobe is a method that encourages users to cut down on their clothing consumption and make fewer and higher quality purchases to reduce the environmental impacts of the fashion industry. People who follow this method try to avoid trends, or micro-trends, opting instead for timeless pieces that can be dressed up or down. Users tend to maximise their wear of the same clothes but with a few styling differences. A capsule wardrobe usually comprises of 10 to 20 items.  

My Experience  

At the beginning of the year, I was stuck at home doing jury service. For two weeks, I had little else to do but turn up in court and come home each day to my increasingly overcrowded bedroom. Wanting a project, and curious to see what I would find at the bottom of my drawers and wardrobe, I turned out all of my clothes. I was shocked by how much I found. I hadn’t realised how many clothes I owned and how my wardrobe had slowly and covertly amassed under my own nose. There were items I hadn’t even seen for years and some I even forgot I still had. Realising that I wanted a change, I started to think about ways in which I could cut down my wardrobe.  

However, as I saw it, the traditional capsule wardrobe had some limitations. Namely, I didn’t like its emphasis on versatility over function or style. In many of the guides I read, it advised users to find wardrobe staples, such as a ‘classic black t shirt’. Its basic advice was to choose neutral colours that are less likely to clash with each other. While there’s nothing wrong with this itself, it didn’t really fit with my own sense of style and I felt that having such a reduced wardrobe, with so few options, was unrealistic. I was also concerned about the environmental impacts of a capsule wardrobe. With only 10 items say, users would be forced to wash their wardrobe far more often which in itself is ecologically unsustainable.  

Matilda Djerf, Instagram.com

My Version of the Capsule Wardrobe 

After some thinking, I started to realise what I wanted from my wardrobe: 

• To cut down my clothes without having to compromise on style 
• To reduce the amount of time it took me to get ready in the morning
• To only wear clothes that made me feel confident
• To last as long as possible

My plan came together, and, in the end, I decided that rather than styling the same few items, I would have 6-8 different outfits which I would wear on a set rotation throughout the week. This would allow me to considerably reduce my wardrobe, but also mean I would only wear outfits I was really happy with. I also decided that the outfits would have to be devoid from trends, so as to last me as long as possible and only once I had actually worn through an item was I allowed to buy something new. Everything I then bought would have to be good quality and likewise sustainable.  

Pinterest, hubpages.com

The Guide

Creating your wardrobe is a long and laborious process - I am still in the midst of creating my own. However, by following this, I have managed to reduce my wardrobe of around 150 items to just 32. Here’s how I did it! 

Step 1  

Look at your wardrobe in its entirety. Pull out everything you own.  

Step 2  

Start piecing together outfits, relying on what you already know you like to wear. You don’t have to make any concrete decisions yet. Split these outfits into seasons, I decided just to do winter and summer, but you can do more if you prefer.  

Step 3 

As you’re going through your clothes, you’ll have instinctively picked out items that you realise you no longer wear or particularly want. Start making a pile of these. It’s important not to feel rushed in this decision, so don’t immediately start getting rid of everything in that pile. Chucking out everything you own isn’t a great step as you might regret your decisions. Ultimately? creating a slimmer wardrobe is a long process.

Step 4  

Start by wearing the outfits that you picked out on a regular basis. How do they make you feel? Are they practical? Do they work for most weather in that season? You’ll start to work out what you like to wear and why.  

Step 5 

If you haven’t already, start thinking about getting rid of the clothes you no longer want. I sold over 50 items using EBay, Vinted and Depop. It was a good way to make some money and I also liked that these items were going somewhere to be wanted and used. These do, however, have their own environmental impacts with postage and delivery, so it’s worth looking at donating some things to local charity shops if this is a concern. 

Step 6 

As I said, creating your wardrobe is a long process and the first few steps might have taken you weeks or even months. My aim was to get to 6-8 outfits, but you can go for as many as you would like. Write these down and start wearing on a regular basis.  

It’s important to choose outfits that you can see yourself wearing for a while. If you only find 3-4 outfits from your preexisting wardrobe, then don’t panic. 

After you’ve reduced your wardrobe, you can plan a few more outfits to bolster your wardrobe. My advice would be to put this off for a bit. Obviously, you don’t want to just replace it again and undo all the hard work you have done. If you do decide to buy a few more pieces, make sure they are considered: plan what you want and don’t settle for something that is almost right. If you want some advice on making sustainable fashion choices, see the blog post “A Comprehensive Guide to Shopping on Vinted” by Raeann Lim.