Capsule Wardrobes - Don't Make These 5 Mistakes!!
For the past 5 years now I have had a seasonal capsule wardrobe that I rotate out around each time the weather shifts. I went through SO MUCH trial and error to get my capsule wardrobe going. It was probably about 3 years of fussing around until I finally got it working for me.
Here are some of the key mistakes I made that you can learn to avoid:
1. Adopting a strict formula
There are several capsule wardrobe systems out there that recommend a set number of clothing. Lot of them are based on very well thought out clothing combinations that aim to maximise the number of outfits you can get out of your wardrobe and recommend a set number to curb shopping habits.
However, I am here to tell you there is no magic number that makes a capsule wardrobe come together. There is no magic combination of tops and bottoms that will make a capsule wardrobe work for you. There is no magic anything that makes a capsule wardrobe a capsule wardrobe.
A capsule wardrobe is made up of interchangeable items that allow you to maximise the number of outfits that can be created and this can be achieved by any number of clothing items. It’s your own personal taste and style that plays a part in building a capsule wardrobe. A number that works for one person will not work for everyone.
For example, someone that loves bold prints and colours will need more items of clothing compared to someone that has a more minimal, monochromatic style. It doesn’t mean the former can’t have a capsule wardrobe – it just means that the balance of items will be different.
I tried desperately to stick to 33 items each season, following the guide many adopted under Project 333 https://bemorewithless.com/project-333-challenge/. And I found myself struggling to like the resulting wardrobe. And I ended up shopping to make up for that feeling of lack.
I just couldn’t do it. But when I chucked that number out the window and let my wardrobe to be what it needed to be, I finally settled into my capsule wardrobe. And I adopted other habits or “rules” to curb excessive shopping so the endless shopping tapered off as well.
And not that it should matter but in case you were curious the number of items I keep in my wardrobe hovers around 45, varying each season.
2. Trying to adopt another person's wardrobe style
In the beginning days, I would watch a lot of YouTube videos and view Pinterest boards, chasing ideas for what needs to go into a capsule wardrobe. Again I tricked myself into thinking there was some magic, key items that HAD to be in your capsule wardrobe to make the wardrobe come together.
So I NEEDED that white shirt. Those white jean were a MUST. If I just had that blouse, maybe my summer capsule wardrobe would look more put together…
This was the kind of thinking I was hoping capsule wardrobes would help me get away from.
And I am sure it was not the intention of those that share their capsule wardrobes to sell me their style. It’s not their issue. The issue was entirely mine. But the fact remained, looking at the items of clothing that YouTubers and bloggers were sharing increased my thirst for more clothing.
So I had to build a new habit. I essentially had to unsubscribe to a few channels and stop looking at certain social media posts to finally break my shopping habit and get onto ensuring my wardrobe suited me.
3. Not taking time to understand my own style
Related to point 2 is the fact that I did not take the time to understand my own style. As I mentioned, I spent more time looking at what others had in their capsule wardrobe, thinking they had the key to its success, when in reality the opposite was true.
The key was to take time to understand my own style. What items do I love wearing? What items have stuck around for a couple of years? Is there a common theme when it comes to materials, cut and colour? Sitting down and giving that some thought would have helped greatly.
Also key was to consider what items I purchased in the past and ended up not liking after a couple of weeks. Were they from a particular store? Have a particular style, colour, pattern or materials? Keeping track of items I threw away would have helped me to figure out my style.
4. Not having any rules around new purchases
So while set rules on the number of items did not work for me, it did not mean rules, in general, were thrown out the window. One rule I found that would have helped me if I had adopted it earlier was to place a rule around new purchases. I just needed a rule in place to further combat my desire to purchase what I see on others.
The rule I eventually put in place was, if I was ever tempted by the latest trend then I need to put it on a list and wait a year to see if I still wanted the item. Yes, a whole year. It’s just a rule that helped me from stop looking at others and focus on what I really like to wear. And any new purchase would be assessed against what I knew I loved based on my own style. I could have saved myself another 3 years of wasteful purchases if I had imposed that rule up front.
5. Not making adjustments to suit where I lived
A capsule wardrobe is seasonal and I believed that must mean I would need 4 different wardrobes in a year. I was more than happy to ensure suitable items carried through into each wardrobe throughout the year (so I wasn’t having ENTIRELY new wardrobes each season) however I knew that each season I needed to change the wardrobe up.
What I really struggled with was the spring wardrobe. I started noticing that the cold snap in Sydney was coming on later in winter and during the earlier spring months it could still be quite chilly. And then there is a week or two of goldilocks perfect spring weather before the intense heat settles in.
So I found myself trying to purchase items that could somehow do double duty under two weather extremes. I ended up buying trans-seasonal items that actually never ended up working well in any situation.
Eventually, I adopted a capsule wardrobe that would change 5 times a year – as soon as the cold grey days of winter were over and there was a little warmth in the year, I would bring out my winter-spring wardrobe. It would contain several items from the winter wardrobe as well as some new items that get me excited about spring. And then when the heat settled in around October or November, I would switch to a spring-summer wardrobe. This helped me settle into the wardrobe system and keep it in place.
All-in-all that main thing I found to work was to throw away the rule book and make my own rules. I needed to make my own rules around:
(i) Number of clothes
(ii) The type of clothes and
(iii) The structure of the capsule wardrobe
based on my own personal style and the climate I lived in. Sometimes you have just gotta do you.
xxx Tahsin
