How to: Create a Capsule Closet
Hello, Reader!
I’ve been fascinated by minimalism for a while and I have been making small steps towards being as minimal as possible. Obviously, it’s really hard; especially being a student with a passion for stationary. However, one area of my life I could (and wanted to) reduce was my closet. I already recognised that there were only a fraction of my clothes which I actually wore, but it’s difficult to let go of things. Despite that, I decided to get rid of a large part of my closet and I still don’t regret it.
There are a few main reasons why having a capsule closet is a blessing in disguise; all (or most) of your clothes match so it’s easier to pick an outfit in the morning! Chances are that when you pull out two pieces of clothing, they will make a cute outfit and you don’t have to spend half an hour choosing something to wear. This being the case, you become more mindful of the clothes you buy as there are more factors to consider than ‘do I like it?’ and ‘does it fit me?’. When your closet is coherent and carefully picked out, clothes shopping becomes more about filling the gaps in your closet and finding clothes that match what you already own - often meaning you’re saving money! Moreover, you avoid the issue of hoarding clothes - owning a full closet without actually wearing most of the items. The clothes you don’t wear are just taking up space and making it difficult to keep your closet tidy. A bonus for university students; there are fewer clothes to move in and out of uni, especially if you’re in accommodation that requires you to move out a few times a year.
If I’ve managed to convince you why you can (and should) cut down your closet; here’s how. First, you need to plan out the ‘categories’ your clothes divide into. For a start, you should aim for about 50 items of clothing for your base wardrobe and 20 for each season. That’s the first way to split your clothes. The base divides into 5 categories with 10 items each. Those categories will be dependent on your lifestyle. Mine are going out, lounging, workout, layering, outerwear and formal. These are the items that are independent of the seasons so ones you can wear all year. Your seasonal wardrobe should consist of roughly 10 tops, 5 bottoms and 5 pairs of shoes. If you can get it below that, that’s amazing! It is a bit tricky to figure out which pieces should go into your seasonal wardrobe. My best tip is to pick out a few of your favourite outfits and if they have items in common, all the better. Then try to pick out more items that go with the pieces within your favourite outfits. For example, I really like how one of my tops goes with my mom jeans, and so I picked out a few other tops which also go well with these jeans. Long story short, here’s a visual.
There are three angles you should consider when deciding if an item should make the cut; a) does it fit well, b) does it make you feel good, c) does it go with a lot of your other clothing items. If it doesn’t tick even one of these boxes, it has to go - you need to be ruthless. Another good indicator (especially for your seasonal wardrobe) is if you picked it up, would you wear it today. If the answer is no, you probably won’t want to wear it any other day either… so it has to go.
It can be quite intimidating to get rid of a large piece of your wardrobe, so perhaps, for now, you can just put it away somewhere for a ‘trial run’. Put the clothes that didn’t make the cut out of sight and out of reach and see if you miss them after a few weeks. If not, let someone else enjoy the clothes you don’t need! Donate them to a charity shop or sell them on depop… try to reuse them somehow so that they don’t end up in a landfill for another few years at least.
Happy sorting!
Love,
Agnes xo
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