I do small-scale capsules - like my 18 piece summer one from last summer, an evening one & a travel one.

For travel it is really important for me to have a core of basic clothes that actually work well together - if I don't do the work (i.e. create the capsule) before I travel then my trips are not as enjoyable.

For summer (my least favourite season) I'm still exploring dresses. I've stopped wearing dresses at any other time so I don't want to overspend in this area - yet I want to feel & look good so fewer & better is good for me.

I don't actually set out creating capsule with a particular number. I just pull out my favourite most appropriate bottoms & shoes & mix & match tops & outerwear with them. It's odd though, the numbers (for a week no washing) usually end up around 18 to 20 depending on the time of the year

Caro makes a good point: the best 'capsule thinking' develops organically from personal likes & dislikes, and serves an underlying need, like the space limitations imposed by travel or the dress codes imposed by work. Otherwise, as Shevia noted, it can just feel like a lot of bother about nothing. Capsules can be extremely helpful at either extreme of building up a wardrobe from scratch or pruning back an overly large & undisciplined one. If you are already at your own purely subjective happy place, well good on you! I naturally gravitate toward a small wardrobe. Why? Well, once I have a few things to wear that I really like, I'm happy. I first came to YLF realizing that what I was buying was not always what I really liked or worked on me. Unpacking that conundrum was a lot of work, but it got easier the more I paid attention. In the intervening time I realized a good wardrobe is like a good pantry, it needs ongoing monitoring & replenishment. Sometimes things go 'stale' and replacements must be brought in; sometimes new 'recipes' call for previously unfamiliar ingredients; sometimes something new is tried & promptly disliked, and should be abandoned. I think the capsule can be very instructive for the type of person who owns many clothes but never feels they have anything to wear. Usually that person has other unmet needs in their life and simply needs some discipline imposed in their closet whilst they peer beyond that tiny horizon toward where other larger issues loom. My critique of the current capsule mania would lie in the obsessive planning and churn required in some. Clothing is a utility, a beautiful & amusing utility, but still it should remain secondary to a beautiful & amusing life. We live in a society where waste and over consumption have been baked into the cake, so to speak. I am suspicious of 'simplification' disciplines predicated on consumption.

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. I acquired a head cold on the plane back from Seattle (I think -- no one else around me has it) so am not thinking as clearly as I might, but I'll try anyway.

La Belle Demimondaine, thank you for the links. The piece about going for a look and a lifestyle that we can't duplicate, is why I think I overshop for my smart casual capsule. It was re-assuring and made me smile to think I'm not the only one who needs plane tickets and more glam in my life to wear my clothes. I'm not a SAHM but I have needs for a SAHM capsule.

To those of you more critical of the concept, here's my thinking. I believe unfancy's capsule approach is geared towards someone who craves newness in her outfits yet also does not want the stress of having to look at a huge closet with the feeling of nothing to wear. I completely relate to this; I tire so easily of even last year's silhouettes, let alone something from 2 years ago. So I like her solutions. And I believe that, even though she photographed the outfits all at once (how honest that she revealed that fact), why would you think she doesn't wear the outfits she had planned. The outfits looked great in photographs, I would repeat those outfits. If you look back a few posts you will also find a posts where she lists her mistakes, which was just as interesting as looking at the outfits if not more so.

She mentioned somewhere that she will start photographing the outfits more in real time starting with this season. She comes across as a blogger with integrity much like our own Angie and I think that is why she has become popular so quickly and why many YLFers enjoy her.

As for myself, I am going to continue to try to create capsules but perhaps with a list of what I want and then to shop around it gradually. As well as to leave room for some wild cards as Adelfa mentions earlier. It feels very stressful to me to have to come up with everything during a 2 week period. I don't have the stores around me to try things on and honestly I don't have the resources to buy a lot at once.

Marley I had to laugh when you thought her capsule was minimal because I completely agree! I tried a 34-item capsule for 34 days and was itching to introduce more pieces. Mo I see your point about putting things away for the sake of putting them away, but I believe she does it because the visual excess troubles her and makes it harder to get dressed. Here's where I see her point. When traveling to Seattle, it was so easy to get dressed because I had a suitcase capsule, just a few things to pick from. It felt good, and I felt really happy with my wardrobe.

Ironkurtin I found myself nodding along to what you said about keeping it only if it's perfect because I already have so much. I need to always remember to be PPP! Did someone else say that too? Sorry if I am not acknowledging everyone!!

Thimbelina your point about simplification based on consumption is excellent and one that some brands are entirely based upon (hello Container store and Simple magazine). Personally I am not anti-consumption as I believe it fuels the world economy and is what is advancing the living standards of many in less developed nations. However I am not that familiar with the environmental impact of the apparel business.

Going forward for me. When I first did the August capsule test I combined everything into 34 pieces but now would like to create a work capsule (in my case a simple uniform inspired dress code of 25 pieces), and a casual/smart casual capsule, with the numbers around 50 so I can get my desired variety. My fancy capsule doesn't need a capsule as I have so few pieces in this category, it's already a minimal capsule.

That sounds like a great solution! Feel better... xo

I really like this idea, Denise. I think I will emulate you and have a work capsule and a smart casual capsule. Otherwise I end up wearing clothes that I feel blah in on my days off.

I have read some of her blog but not the latest. I will check it out. Her approach does not work for me because I shop when I am in the city (Toronto or Montreal) when we go there for a shot of urbanity. I do not shop online. Also, our weather is not neatly organized into categories. Right now I wear shorts in the daytime and jeans in the evening. We have frost at night. This is fall in Muskoka. It will get cooler and some days I do wear jeans with a topper. Next fall could be totally different. How could I shop in August or September?

Thanks for sharing the links.

The separate work and casual capsules sound just right for you, Denise. I'll be interested to hear how that amount of variety works out.

I agree with Alasse. I was very much hoping to hear you'd let yourself have the flexibility of not trying to include your work "uniform" in your Fall capsule this time. I wish you the best of luck with your experiment. I'm doing something similar, except I feel kind of naturally limited rather than having a set number, but it comes out to be very similar to a combo of several people's methods. Using Claire's qualifiers (tops and bottoms count, dress capsule and layering pieces and toppers and shoes don't) I'm coming out with 16 pieces for f/w, 5 toppers, 3 dress tops, 3 dress bottoms, and 5-6 shoes -- or 32 total. That said, my 32 doesn't count my layering tees or my layering sweatshirt, or the one blouse I would like to wear but is a winter orphan. I also am not feeling pressured to limit the capsule just to those items. Since the dressy part of the 32 just gets pulled into service for gallery openings, work events, and funerals I will happily limit it to what I currently have, but feel like my everyday capsule could expand by a few pieces and I would still feel happy about it.

Denise, I have had this post up on my computer since yesterday, waiting for a time I could distill my thoughts and write something coherent.

First of all, it was such an honor meeting you; you are YLF royalty and I was so lucky to sit beside you at breakfast! I could have talked with you for hours. You are so generous and kind. Thanks for the coffee. I was supposed to get you back, but then we wound up in two different shopping groups. Next time, my friend, and let's make sure there is a next time! I loved your chic black and white look. The white button front shirts really suit you. You are built very much like Angie, no? You lucky duck--and SO stylish!

As for the unfancy wardrobe capsule idea, I think it's great! It's still a bit maximal for me, but I'm thrilled that you and so many other YLFers like it. If doing the experiment makes fashion more fun, then I say go for it. Some of us just love to get into our closets and play with different combinations of clothes, sort and catalog things. Others like to crunch numbers (that's you Mo!) and some build elaborate spreadsheets and use fashion aps. It's a fun way to nerd out over our collective passion. I'm glad you are allowing yourself a separate work capsule, and if you want to change the rules to allow a complete capsule switch-out every month, that might give you more variety and enable your creative side to build a new grouping of clothes more frequently. There is some great inspiration out there in the blogosphere, but you can always tailor the rules to your specific situation. It makes me happy that you're having fun with this, and I hope you feel better soon!

Wow - this has been such an interesting read this morning. Don't tell anyone, but while I am supposed to be hard at work at my desk, I have read every single post and response here

The capsule approach has been intriguing to me, but has aroused lots of negative and emotional feelings in my own head - all toward myself and my feelings of not being able to achieve this order and control. A big part of me has been trained to believe control and order = success, and so when it doesn't happen, I feel like I have failed or am not as good a person as I can be. Sound dramatic and way too emotional? It's what clothing and being dressed well do to my head - and one of the reasons I joined YLF - to try to mitigate that. This has been so so helpful to realize that not everyone succeeds with the capsule system, and that it's maybe ok to be less disciplined.

cocolion - Awesome subject and one I've been thinking about a lot. I really like un-fancy's website and ideas. I like into-mind too. I think the point is I would like a carefully curated, well integrated, versatile wardrobe. Alot of three season clothing with some extra very cold/hot items. That's the ideal. I use these sites for inspiration on how to do that. My issue is I get caught up in looks that I like on others but IRL they don't feel like me. Or, worse yet, I think an item with be versatile and it does not pan out. Of course, not being able to find exactly what I want is an issue too!! I make less mistakes than I did in the past but it's a work in progress. I think the important point is to take inspiration and help in any way, shape or form it comes without getting caught up or feeling you must adhere to a system. But I love these types of blogs, they make me think. What I've really taken away from Un-fancy and into-mind is that okay is not good enough. Right now I'm trying to part with things in that group and to hold myself to a higher standard for future purchases!! At least that's the plan!!