By Sofia Roberson, Alliance Intern from Reed College, ‘25
I have always been interested in fashion and love to express myself through the clothes I put on my body everyday. Because of this, I have managed to accumulate quite an array of clothing – a lot of which, frankly, I hardly wear. The vintage boots, leather jackets and funky printed dresses are all amazing but they are difficult to style and lack versatility. They became especially annoying when I had to pack and unpack all of them multiple times throughout my moves this past summer.
After moving three separate times, I was so fed up with the amount of boxes of clothing that I decided it was time to get serious about my clothing consumption and curate a more sustainable capsule wardrobe. This was a no-brainer for me, as I have been overrun by what my dad and I call “stuff anxiety,” which is brought on by owning too many things. Living with less clothes will help alleviate some of my stress without sacrificing my sense of style.
What is a Capsule Wardrobe?
A capsule wardrobe is a curated collection of clothing that has few, essential, quality garments that all coordinate and can be styled together easily. This concept emerged from minimalism, a lifestyle embraced by people who probably have that same stuff anxiety I was talking about earlier. Minimalists embrace ‘less is more’ as their motto. Capsule wardrobes emphasize timeless fashion looks that have complimentary color palettes, as opposed to the rapidly changing trends promoted by fast-fashion.
There are many personal and sustainability benefits to having a capsule wardrobe, such as saving space, money, time and waste. According to this study, people who have tried capsule wardrobes report feeling a sense of enjoyment of having a less cluttered closet and room, having less laundry to do, and not having to spend as much money on clothes.
Participants also reported that having the capsule wardrobe helped to develop their sense of style, strengthen their relationship with their clothes, and forced them to get more creative because they were always styling the same pieces. They also described improved self-confidence as they were only wearing clothes that they felt good in.
One of the major benefits of a capsule wardrobe is the time and decision making it saves. Psychologist Barry Schwartz’ theory of the paradox of choice says that an array of consumer choice can be overwhelming and detrimental to a person’s well-being.
By reducing the amount of clothing choices we have, getting ready is made simpler and less stressful. Also, according to Social Indicators Research, people who are less materialistic have a higher likelihood of overall life satisfaction and have stronger interpersonal relationships than those with a higher materialistic inclination.
I believe capsule wardrobes reveal that it is possible to live comfortably and fashionably with minimal clothes. It also causes us to question the normalization of fast consumption and think more critically about environmental problems caused by the fashion industry. It encourages us to value our clothing more and mend them rather than buying new.
How to Create a Capsule Wardrobe
To make things simple, I suggest you begin thinking about only one fashion season at a time. The amount of capsule wardrobe you will build will depend on where you live and what kind of weather you experience throughout the year.
Stylists generally recommend that a capsule wardrobe be 30-40 clothing pieces. If you live in a colder area, feel free to split the seasons up and do 30 pieces for spring/summer and 30 for fall/winter. A lot of people will suggest sticking with neutral colors, but I think this is unnecessary and there is no reason why you can’t coordinate brighter colors and patterns.
Step 1: Go through all of your clothes (yes, all of them!)
Focusing just on your current wardrobe, create two piles. One will be for clothes that you have not worn in a long time, and one will be for things you love and wear frequently. Do not worry about the amount of clothing in each pile.
If you are serious about the capsule wardrobe, I recommend getting rid of the clothes you do not wear frequently at this stage. You can gift them to friends, donate them to a local thrift store, or sell them at a local flea market or on a reselling platform such as Depop or Poshmark. I primarily use Depop to sell clothing I no longer wear so that I can make back some of the money spent.
If you feel like you are not ready to permanently rid yourself of the clothes yet, I suggest pausing and putting those clothes into storage instead, and then trying one of these two minimalist fashion challenges.
Project 333 is a fashion challenge started by minimalist blogger Courtney Carver, where participants only wear 33 items of their clothing over a three-month period, barring themselves from accessing the rest of their clothes. Similarly, Labour Behind the Label, a charity campaigning for the rights of garment workers, started the six items challenge where participants only wear 6 items over the span of six weeks.
These challenges are a great way to dip your toes into the world of capsule wardrobes without making the full commitment yet. Just make sure not to wear any of the clothes you decide to be off-limits!
Step 2: Get philosophical about your remaining clothing
One of the most important aspects of creating a capsule wardrobe is ensuring that the clothes you choose make sense for your lifestyle. It sounds obvious, but it is very tempting to keep clothing you think you are going to wear for that one specific occasion – spoiler alert, that specific occasion is not coming around anytime soon (I would know). Ask yourself questions about each clothing piece such as:
- Does this fit right?
- Is this comfortable to move around in?
- Can I wear this in more than one setting?
- Do I like this color?
We all own clothes that have those quirks that make it so we don’t end up wearing it as often as we thought. For example, I got rid of a flattering top that fit perfectly because it was beige, a color that washed me out.
Once your process is finished, add all of the clothes you weeded out to your pile of things to get rid of.
Step 3: Choose your color palette and accessories
Now you must decide what colors and patterns you would like to integrate into your capsule wardrobe. I suggest only choosing a few colors to work with, and make sure they are complementary. I mostly wear black, green, brown and gold, and usually stick with botanical prints.
Once you have picked out 2-3 pieces of each kind of clothing item (excluding underwear, socks and sleepwear) within your color palette, you should move onto accessorizing pieces such as jackets, blazers, scarves and hats.
I have no limit to how much jewelry I own, although I do try to buy from ethical brands with quality metals. The most important aspect of creating a capsule wardrobe is ensuring that most of your pieces coordinate. The amount of each clothing item you have will vary by season.
My Capsule Wardrobe
One of the most important things to notice about my capsule wardrobe is how most of my pieces are interchangeable. The color palette matches, and the fit of the items work well together.
To start, I decided to include three basic tank tops, two short sleeve shirts, one long sleeve, and three sweaters. All of these tops are fairly plain and will match with nearly all of my bottoms. I chose five pairs of pants: blue jeans, black jeans, brown corduroy’s, black pinstripe trousers for more formal events, and some denim overalls for work. I also included a pair of shorts, two maxi skirts and two dresses, one casual and one formal.
For outerwear, I have two wool cardigans, a zip-up hoodie, a rain jacket, and an insulated puffer jacket. Most of my outerwear has hoods for the rain because I live in the Pacific Northwest.
I did not purchase anything new for my capsule wardrobe, and I suggest you do the same! Everything shown came from my closet and was originally from a thrift store or stolen from my mom’s closet – the most sustainable way to shop, in my opinion.
Hopefully this provided you with some inspiration. I would love to hear how your experience went and any of the notable challenges or successes that came from your process. Email us at info@afors.org. Good luck and happy capsulating!