How to Start a Capsule Wardrobe - the 5 Step Process
As covered in my last blog post, when I started on my capsule wardrobe it was a hit and miss affair. I adopted a process that did not work for me and it was only 3 years after starting on my capsule wardrobe that I finally hit on a method that worked.
If you want to start a capsule wardrobe for the first time, I recommend the following steps:
1. Rationalise what you own by removing items you are unlikely to wear
2. Use storage boxes to store away items likely to be worn in other seasons
3. Put items for the current season back into your wardrobe
4. Keep track of what you wear during the current season
5. Repeat the process for all other seasons
In the end you should have four capsules that you can rotate between, depending on the season.
I adopted a capsule wardrobe to curb excessive spending and become more deliberate and considerate in my wardrobe choices. I was able to stop the waste produced from chasing the latest trends and I was finally happy with what I had already.
If you want the same thing when it comes to your wardrobe, follow these 5 steps:
1. Rationalise what you own
As covered in this blog post, rationalisation is a process of getting rid of unnecessary items so your life can run more efficiently. This process, when applied to your wardrobe, looks like this:
* Pull out everything in your wardrobe and drawers and any place where you keep clothing. By everything, I mean all items you want to be considering in your capsule wardrobe. Generally, this means tops, bottoms, jackets, knits and dresses. It generally excludes sleepwear, gym gear, swimwear and underwear – although if you want to include these in the decluttering/rationalisation step go ahead.
* As you are pulling things out, try to keep your clothes grouped into like items. So tops in one area, knits in one area etc.
* Then go through each item and decide if you are going to keep, donate or discard it.
* Of course I encourage you to declutter responsibly. So if you have items you want to donate or discard, consider some of the options mentioned here.
* For the items you have decided to keep, give each category of clothing a final look over to ensure you have held onto what you use or love.
* As you are pulling things out, try to keep your clothes grouped into like items. So tops in one area, knits in one area etc.
* Then go through each item and decide if you are going to keep, donate or discard it.
* Of course I encourage you to declutter responsibly. So if you have items you want to donate or discard, consider some of the options mentioned here.
* For the items you have decided to keep, give each category of clothing a final look over to ensure you have held onto what you use or love.
This would be the most time consuming and mentally draining part of the process. There is a lot to consider when deciding what to keep, donate or discard and some guidelines on this will be covered in the future. Rest assured, when this step is over, the hard work is done.
2. Store away items to be worn in other seasons
Next, it’s a matter of getting the skeleton of the seasonal wardrobe going. I recommend getting three storage boxes (I use the Smalla box from Ikea) and use them to store items that you tend to wear in the seasons that do not relate to the current season. For example, if it is summer, store away items you tend to wear in autumn, winter and spring into each of the three boxes.
There are going to be items that cross over between the season. If that is the case, place the item in the box for the earliest season. For example, if there is a knit you would wear in autumn and winter, place that item in your “autumn” storage box.
It’s okay not to know what to put into each box now – there is no getting it wrong at this stage. As you move along throughout the year it will become clearer.
The aim of this step is to store away items that you don’t need to see in the current season, allowing you to focus on the next two steps.
3. Place items for the current season back into your wardrobe
Once your seasonal items have been stored away, place all remaining items to be worn during the current season back into your wardrobe.
To help you track what you end up wearing, leave space next to where you store items.
For example, in your wardrobe move all the clothes to one side and leave a gap in the wardrobe. For clothing stored in drawers, have your items stored in one half of the drawer but keep the other half free. It should be possible to do this if you have decluttered your wardrobe and stored away seasonal items. This helps for the next step.
For example, in your wardrobe move all the clothes to one side and leave a gap in the wardrobe. For clothing stored in drawers, have your items stored in one half of the drawer but keep the other half free. It should be possible to do this if you have decluttered your wardrobe and stored away seasonal items. This helps for the next step.
4. Keep track of what you wear during the current season
Throughout the current season, wear what you like. Once you wear the item, place it in the empty space created in the last step. So if you pull out a top from your wardrobe, after you wear the top store it back in the empty space you created in the wardrobe, as a way of keeping track of what has been worn.
At the end of the season take stock of what you have worn – the items used form part of the current season’s capsule wardrobe going forward. At the end of the current season, take these clothes and store them away. You won’t see them til the following year, at which point you will reunited like long lost friends 
One important note – not everything you wore gets stored away. If there are items that you would like to wear in the next season, then keep it in your wardrobe for the next season. You will find that most basic items will remain in your wardrobe across all seasons – they don’t get stored away for a year.
Following this, take note of what has not been worn and reassess whether you should be holding onto these items:
* If you are ready to let them go, denote or discard the item.
* If you think the item would be better served if worn during a different season, add the item to the boxes created earlier for the other seasons.
* If you feel you would have worn the items during the current season, add it to the current season’s capsule wardrobe box along with the items you actually did wear. However take note of this item (on your phone or a notebook). Next year, you can repeat this process of tracking what you wear and see if you fail to wear the item once again. If you have not worn the item two years in a row, it really should go to someone who will get more use out of it.
So at the end of the season, you should have packed away items that will be that season’s wardrobe next year. Congrats, that’s the beginning of your capsule wardrobe.
At this time you need to bring out the clothes you had stored away for the next season. Pull those out and hang them in your wardrobe.
5. Repeat for all other seasons
And then you will repeat the previous step (step 4) for all other seasons, utilising the storage boxes to stow away the previous seasons clothing.
The approach I have detailed here is a year-long process – there is no other way around it. A capsule wardrobe is typically seasonal so it does take a year to fully develop.
And it may take a couple of years of going through this cycle before you really feel settled in your wardrobe.
Accept this as part of the process and enjoy the ride – by adopting this method you are shopping your own closet and by extension getting to know your own style. As mentioned in my last blog post, knowing your own style – what you really love to wear and what you feel comfortable in – is the key to building a capsule wardrobe that will last. And that is what we are aiming for here – not a wardrobe that you replace every 3 months but a wardrobe that rotates throughout the season and is built to satisfy you for many years.
You will also notice there are no rules around the number of items you need in your closet, for reasons explained here. However, if you feel you need rules to help curb excessive shopping then I would recommend a shopping ban during the first year you are building your capsule wardrobe – if you have quite a bit of clothing already, you should have more than enough in your wardrobe to clothe you adequately for a year!
If the idea of a shopping ban gives you cold sweats then please don’t place a shopping ban on yourself! Instead refer to some other ideas in this post: Break the shopping habit in 5 steps.
There is so much more I could cover and this process is a difficult one to detail in writing. So if you have any questions or want some personal assistance, let me know though my contact form.
xxx Tahsin
