What Is A Capsule Wardrobe And How To Start One?

With the world's focus on climate change and global warming, many of us are trying to move away from fast fashion and look for more sustainable options, so a capsule wardrobe might be the perfect solution.

What is a capsule wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a small collection of clothes that co-ordinate, can be worn in many different ways and work perfectly for your lifestyle.

You have a base collection of clothes that can be worn throughout the year and four smaller collections of seasonal items that are swapped at the end of each season or when the weather allows.

It's generally between 40-50 items which include clothes, shoes, jewellery and accessories.

This usually excludes exercise clothes, pyjamas and loungewear.

Why start one?

A capsule wardrobe will help you understand how to tailor your wardrobe to suit your lifestyle and give you a clear idea of what your style is and the type of clothing you like.

The focus is on quality over quantity, investing in pieces that you love and will get a lot of use out of.

It's also a great way to live more sustainably as you won't be buying clothes very often and can help you save money long term.

Once you've created your capsule wardrobe you will never have a fashion dilemma again as every piece you own has multiple different styling options.

How to start one?

1. Have a clear-out

Take all of your clothes out and lay them on your bed, try on every item you own and spend time deciding whether you love the item and will wear it often.

This is a long process but a vital step to creating your ideal wardrobe.

You need to be ruthless and get rid of any items that you don't love, haven't worn in ages or that don't suit you anymore.

I'd recommend sorting your clothes into four categories: keep, donate, throw out and sell.

2. Build a base wardrobe 

Next, you need to figure out what occasions your wardrobe has to work for. These might be work, casual days/weekends and special occasions like weddings.

Once this is done you can start to decide what remaining items work in your base wardrobe and which don't.

3. Make a list of seasonal essentials

Once you have your base collection sorted, you should then sort through your seasonal items and make a list of all your essentials for each season.

This will make it easier to see if there's anything you need to look into purchasing or anything else you can get rid of.

4. Buy any necessary items

Now you have edited your perfect wardrobe, there may be a few items that you need to buy but you should be careful with this.

Don't buy all of these items at once, instead only purchase the most important piece first.

Do your research before buying it and take time to find the one you love.

Spacing out these purchases is not only better for your purse but it will give you more time to decide if you actually do need each item or if you could do without it.

Creating a capsule wardrobe takes time and as your life changes so will your wardrobe.

If you were to start a capsule wardrobe what items would you include?