With how stressful and, well, terrifying the world is right now, you might be thinking about pivoting to a minimalist lifestyle as a way to simplify your daily grind — and the one area of your life that probably needs a pare-down most is your closet.
We feel you. The residual anxiety from having a closet crammed with clothes yet nothing to wear is palpable.
“Having too many clothes to choose from can make you feel all of these super-negative emotions around style,” says New York City-based personal stylist and shopper Cassandra Sethi. “Frustration that you can’t easily put an outfit together, overwhelm because you don’t know where to start, disappointment because it’s gotten so out of control, and even guilt for spending money on so many items you’ve only worn once.”
This could explain why capsule wardrobes are continuing to gain in popularity. The buzzy-yet-effective method of dressing involves paring down the number of items in your closet to a strategically select few.
The result? A concentrated wardrobe of high-quality, timeless essentials where every piece works seamlessly together — and there isn’t one item hanging in your closet that you don’t love to wear.
It’s easy (and understandable) to assume that switching to a capsule wardrobe will limit your personal style. But when your closet consists entirely of highly compatible pieces, the number of stylish outfit combinations you’ll have to choose from are endless — unlike your usual routine of spending all morning deciding what to wear, only to end up hating your decision five minutes later.
The process of getting dressed — for work, for a night out (remember those?) — will be less tortuous, something to look forward to. “When a person has 20 items they genuinely love and feel incredible wearing, the process of getting dressed becomes a ritual of self-love, rather than a moment of insecurity and unnecessary stress,” says Los Angeles-based fashion stylist Jenni Lee.
There’s one mistake you’ll want to avoid when you streamline your closet
It sounds counterintuitive, but the one thing you shouldn’t do when piecing together a capsule wardrobe is obsess over defining your personal style.
“Creating your own signature look should be rooted in the colors, shapes, proportions, and scale that look best on you,” says New York City-based certified image stylist Elizabeth Kosich. “Taking a scientific approach to dressing enhances your unique attributes and ultimately transforms you into your best self.”
Building a capsule collection is more about setting up a fuss-free system of dressing, so that should be your primary focus. Honing in on color, items, and fit will get you 95 percent of the way to creating the right wardrobe for you. You can then have fun blinging it up with accessories, trends, or anything else you want to try — but you need a strong foundation first.
How to build and maintain a capsule wardrobe
The capsule wardrobe formula is gender-neutral, ageless, and 100 percent inclusive. Even though there are many recommendations out there as to the number and types of pieces you should include in your wardrobe, what’s more important is the functionality of it as a whole.
However many pieces your particular lifestyle and routine require (and how each individual piece makes you feel) trumps any specific capsule wardrobe formula, though limiting the number of garments should always be top of mind.
“Keeping the clothes streamlined lets you amp up the accessories — jewelry, purses, shoes, outerwear — which is where I encourage clients to add bold pops of color, sparkle, prints, and texture,” says Kosich. “When done right, every outfit combination will look original and fresh.”
The process of how to build that all-important foundation varies from person to person, but there are several steps experts feel are paramount to getting the job done.
Consider an image consult
If you’re leery about revamping your wardrobe for fear of wasting even more money on clothes that don’t suit you, Kosich recommends starting with a comprehensive image analysis with a certified image consultant.
“Understanding what looks best on you (colors, shapes, styles) will help you make fewer mistakes with wardrobe additions and subtractions,” she says. You can search for one in your area through the Association of Image Consultants International directory.
If you’re confident about the shapes and styles that suit you, but not as confident about what colors look best with your skin tone, you can find out which suit you best by scoring a free color analysis.
Prep for your purge
“If you want to be able to create outfits easily, feel confident in your clothing, or even pack quickly, you have to put in the time to make sure you have the right items in your closet to begin with,” says Sethi. “Without this step, the rest of the process won’t flow properly.”
In the closet clean-out phase, make sure you have the right tools at your disposal to get the job done, such as uniformed hangers and bags to fill with donations. It’s also helpful to pre-sort your clothing by category and color. “This will make the actual clean-out much smoother, and maybe even enjoyable,” says Sethi.
Edit your closet
Sift through every item of clothing in your closet, keeping only what suits your natural aesthetic. “Try to detach from emotions during the purging process, since a sentimental approach often ends in bad decisions,” says Kosich. “Only keep the pieces you truly adore.”
Though keeping certain pieces as mementos isn’t out of the question, as they’ll get stashed away as souvenirs instead of a part of your wardrobe.
“Put them in the back of your closet, accepting that you won’t be wearing them and that it’s okay to hold onto them for emotional reasons,” says Lee, so long as the emotions are positive ones.
Fill in the blanks
Once you’ve decluttered, take the time to experiment and style looks from the remaining pieces in your closet. “This exercise will help discern precisely what you need to purchase to fill in the blanks of your capsule wardrobe,” says Lee.
Make a shopping list so you know exactly what pieces (in what colors) you’ll be shopping for that will make your capsule wardrobe cohesive and optimize all possible outfit combinations. Decide ahead of time what stores you’ll be buying from and what your budget’s going to be so you don’t get overwhelmed — or carried away.
“Filling in your capsule wardrobe makes shopping so much more fun when you know exactly what you’re looking for,” says Shari Braendel, North Carolina-based fashion expert and creator of 27 Hangers, an online capsule wardrobe course. “I call this shopping on purpose and not on impulse.”
Shop with purpose
All pieces that you shop for should support your lifestyle (leggings over skirts if you’re sporty, for example) and flatter your shape. The fabrics and styles you choose should be seasonless and trend-proof, and should also be easy to launder.
“I recommend sticking with two basic colors, plus two to three pop colors — shades that you love and ones that love you back,” says Braendel.
Most importantly, make sure you adore everything you buy. If you have even the slightest hesitation about buying an item or stop to ask yourself if you love it, you don’t.
Curate your accessories
Now comes the fun part — choosing accessories (outerwear, shoes, jewelry) to define your personal style. These picks can be chosen and purchased at the same time as the rest of your capsule wardrobe, or piece by piece, depending on your overall budget.
Be as selective about your accessories as you are with your capsule wardrobe, and choose items based on how you want to be understood by others, suggests Kosich.
Let your personality shine through
If you want to be viewed as authoritative and strong, for example, go for darker, solid colors, structured suiting, smooth, crisp fabrics, and clean lines.
Or, if approachable and soft is more your thing, choose light, printed colors, casual separates, draped, flowing fabrics, and curved lines.
Always remember: “Less is more,” says Kosich. “One bold color or print goes a long way.”
Do a seasonal refresh
Having fewer pieces means you’ll wear them more often, which will inevitably increase wear and tear. “Make sure you stay spiffy by upgrading pieces whenever necessary,” says Kosich. “A capsule wardrobe that looks tired and frumpy defeats the purpose.”
Keep a great tailor on standby for repairs. Subscribe to your go-to brands’ newsletters to take advantage of sales and promos when replacing or upgrading key pieces. Donate unwanted pieces to your local Salvation Army, Goodwill, or Dress for Success charity.
Adding to — and subtracting from — your capsule wardrobe on a seasonal basis (say, swapping out crop tops for sweaters and sandals for boots) means there won’t be a day of work or play (or weird weather) you won’t be able to conquer in the most stylish and authentic way possible.
Krissy Brady covers women's health and wellness.
Get Shondaland directly in your inbox: SUBSCRIBE TODAY
