No worries about hijacking, Susie, none at all! I love the way this conversation is unfolding. I have to be back at work in two minutes, but I have to say that I loved Suz's breakdown of the seasons, too. Last night, I started reading the dh closet experiment blog right from the beginning. It's quite interesting.

Hi Alana! I'm so sorry I wasn't around when you started this thread.
Yes, it seems like Jennifer L. Scott is growing her wardrobe at an alarming rate. I was reading her posts a long time ago when she was being more strict with her wardrobe. The "extras' concept popped up later, after she became a Mom. I'm not criticizing her-- or defending her. At that point she had written a book with a chapter called the Ten Item Wardrobe, so I guess it kind of stuck. Marketing ploy? Perhaps it is.

Maybe I should change the name and call my wardrobe "The Carry-On Wardrobe" or something different so people won't fixate on the numbers. I wanted fewer, better clothes and I wanted to be able to fit them all in my suitcase, lol! I have read a lot on the subject of The French Wardrobe and 333 and wanted some version of this. If I have 10 items for F/W and 10 for S/S, it works out to about 33 if you add in the shoes, scarves, jewelry, handbag, sunglasses, etc. So in a way, I'm doing them both (except I don't choose 33 items from a large wardrobe and box up the excess. Thirty-three is all I have year round). I don't wear T shirts and I don't have a special occasion capsule. The original "Madame Chic" that Jennifer Scott lived with in Paris didn't either.

I was just on one of these blogs the other day reading the comments and one woman said she had worked as an au pair in France. The woman she worked for had such a small wardrobe that she still remembered what it contained!
I wrote down the list:

black pencil skirt
navy pencil skirt
black dress
white silk T-blouse
light blue silk T-blouse
coral silk blouse
stone colored cardigan
and for Summer, all she had was a black bikini, an ethnic print sundress and a straw hat!

The question I most want answered from these exchange students and au pairs is, was most of this clothing new at the beginning of the season? Did most of it get worn out and discarded by the end? Jennifer Scott only stayed with her French host family for six months. So we don't know how long Madame Chic kept those ten items. In other words, do French/European women basically buy a "whole new wardrobe" twice a year? If so, I think I could get into that.

I'm still kind of cheating because I keep all 20 (17 right now) items in my closet at once and borrow from the off season if I want or need to. I live in a warm climate so I can even wear my Winter clothes right now in arctic A/C, if they're not too Wintery looking--and I purposely try not to buy wooly looking things so that they're more versatile. But hey! I can make my own rules--we all can. Horses for courses as Angie likes to say.

My other question about those wardrobes is what the heck do they do for laundry? Do they wash their blouse every night in the sink? I guess one COULD....but....

I just went to my closet to look at my summer things. There are two dresses that I haven't worn yet, one pair of pants that I haven't worn, and three pair of shorts. I've worn everything else at least once -- including the special occasion wear. And we've only had about 3 weeks of true summer.

And I have a LOT more items in my closet in current rotation than 10. Or even (gulp) 33.

I got all excited about trying unfancy's 37 item capsule by season....but looking at what I've actually got and what I am enjoying wearing...I don't think it would be large enough for me.

It would be large enough if my lifestyle was ONLY Mom-on-the-go or work-from-home. I guess this is to Laura's earlier point.

But considering that my life also involves a fair bit of city travel and other stuff, I think I'd really struggle.

Then again, maybe not if it were truly well planned. I think the real trick is figuring out the categories of garment that make sense for you, individually. She talks about one plain, one fancy, one in-between. And that is pretty cool. But "one" WHAT? One long sleeved shirt? Or one pullover type sweater? Or one tee (if you wear tees)? When I look at the actual clothes in her capsule I can't really see the logic beyond the more generic "tops."

This is pretty interesting to think about, though, and I do think it will help me break this all down a little better. I guess analyzing the function of the items will be the way to go. For me a crisp shirt and a silky shirt are quite different and have different functions and roles. A patterned sweater vs. a plain one are quite different, as are a fitted turtleneck vs. a cardigan or an oversized pullover.

I know I can't go as low as that French woman in the example. But I WOULD like to have the fewest possible items that make me happy. So using unfancy's guidelines might help with that.

And also breaking down my seasons really carefully.

Claire, I am a bit like you in that I would enjoy replacing stuff every year....but I think what I would like better is more like the viviennefiles idea -- a CORE (I'd go higher than 4 for my core -- maybe 8 to 10) that I do NOT replace every season (they might last from 3 to 8 years) supplemented by (let's say) 10 that I wear for up to 3 years and then replace, and 10 that I replace every season. Hmmm. That gets me to 30. Close to the 333.

Right Suz, our life situations are so vastly different. In my case it is very easy and fun to do this. You can come up with your own strategy and market it to busy women that wear a multitude of hats! You really are settling into a system that works well for you.
I certainly wouldn't want to eliminate (or even store) a single item I loved and was wearing just for the sake of a challenge. That sounds like pure suffering to me. I do like putting inferior or unworn stuff in a holding zone to see if I can live without it though.
And yes, sometimes I'm that woman that washes her blouse out in the sink at night.

ClearlyClaire is a kind of hero to me. I read everything she posts.

Someday ….

@Sterling. You make me blush!

WAIT I've got it...my plan beats them all...mine can be called the TWO item wardrobe. Almost every day I wear JUST TWO items of clothing- a top and a bottom. None of this fancy shmancy layering stuff so no "extras" for this girl; I am as minimal as it gets. And no worrying about that mix and match nonsense either....with my plan you get 2 different pieces everyday.

Now of course my total is a bit higher than 2 but still for one day you only need TWO pieces with the Susie plan. So there.

Susie, you are hilarious.

What about your bra and undies? Do those count? I guess they are in the "extras' category.....

And actually...you are not going too much over 37; with 20 outfits that is 40. Of course your 20 get you through 2 months of work days. vs. 3 months of 7 days a week (for unfancy's scheme). Still...if our seasons are really only about 2 months long (and that's pretty accurate) then what the heck?

Oh, Susie, you are so funny! And can you replace your two-item wardrobe, say, once every two weeks?

One thing that bothers me about the really small wardrobes is that even if one top may appear to go (color-wise) with your one skirt and your one pair of black pants, sometimes the proportions don't work out well, and the shirt is either too short for the pants or too long for the skirt. Is anyone else getting hung up on this? Argh.

Susie's plan wins! I'm handing in my Bozo button for the smallest wardrobe.

I saw unFancy's blog for the first time a few days ago. It's really cute, but can you believe I was a little overwhelmed with the number of items and jewelry? I'm down to just my wedding ring set, watch, and two baby gold studs that I never take out of my ears. Angie has really had an effect on me. It feels freeing not to have to come up with statement necklaces and arm parties anymore. It was fun, but I'm enjoying the feeling of less jangly stuff on.

@Gigi, I know I've had the problem with proportions you mentioned above (or just the problem that even though some things should go together in theory, I never want to wear them that way). I only have one top left that's a shorter, skirt-only top. As for the rest I've tried to mitigate the problem by switching from low-rise to mid-rise jeans (so my shirts don't have to be as long). It was easier to do that than to find extra long tops that weren't tunics. I'm definitely a "uniform dresser"--well at least I think I am. I'm going for one or two silhouettes. Skinny jeans and flats with sweaters or button front shirts for F/W and knee length skirts or dresses with flat sandals for S/S. When Angie creates a mix and match capsule, I sit up and take notice! It sounds easy, but it is really very difficult I'm finding. I think she can do it in her sleep.

GiGi--one of the "advantages" I guess, of being my size is that tops, right now, for me, can only be one length--so, by necessity, all tops go with all bottom proportionately speaking--but I do have a problem with the whole dark/light thing which I created by adding white bottoms to the wardrobe (though thank heavens I did). Or is that problem also a problem of "proportion" ie, the dark top "cutting" me in half when I wear the light bottom? lol! So much too learn.
Thanks for explaining your wardrobe to me Claire. I LOVE Suz's idea of 10 (or whatever) CORE pieces that one does not replace every season, 10 pieces that one changes out intermittently and 10 pieces "allowed" every year for "fun" and variety.

Love this idea as I build a fall/winter wardrobe.

Right off the bat, I need three capsules, though. 1) Stay-at home comfy capsule, 2) Out and about and looking good capsule (which seriously? in winter? need only be boots, a killer coat or two and some fabulous scarves, tuques and gloves and 3) the "oh gee it doesn't matter if there is paint on it" work wardrobe.

Alana, yes, I like that idea of Suz's too. I think she is steadily getting some great pieces together that will really go the distance. I need to think about that some more.

I am LOVING this thread. Susie, your idea is brilliant!!

Suz, the laundry is a huge concern of mine! I'm packing for a week-long trip. In years past, we have had horrible heat waves which don't allow for anything to be worn twice without washing, and sometimes I even have to change midday. One year I packed a capsule and I ran out of clothing! I feel compelled to pack a different outfit for every day... plus extra layers since sometimes, we're hit with record-low temps. I can't for the life of me figure out how to pack only 10 items, which confirms that an ultra-low number for my closet at home would stress me out too much! I do laundry twice a week, period. I want to have enough to wear in case I can't get to it even that often. But I also want to have little enough that I can name everything in there, give or take a couple of pieces.

Alana, you are on it! You've identified your most important capsules in a realistic way. You would not believe how big a step that is. I mean, just to recognize...um...GEE. I wear an apron 5 days a week. How to make it look less dorky? Or, in my case, it's boots and denim, boots and denim, boots and denim for 5 months of the freakin' year. Is there any way to make that feel a little bit fun after 12 weeks of nothing else? (Yup. A killer coat and toque and mitts!!)

I am quite smitten with my new idea also. 10 core (these would change out for the two BIG seasons -- F/W would be one group in my climate; S/S would be another. 10 (or 15) "extra" that would rotate on a rolling basis around every 3 years or so --- these would be my nicer mid-range pieces, modern but not super trendy, probably. And 10 that I could consider "recycle-ready" after one season --- if I wanted to. Because, after all, it might turn out that I fall in love with a trend and want to wear that piece for another season or more. Great!

There would be overlap between my seasons. So some of the Spring pieces would also be worn in summer. Some summer pieces would cross over to fall. Etc. I would rarely, if ever, wear a true winter piece in true summer. Or vice versa. But of course if the climate didn't cooperate, I could raid my own closet for what I needed.

I wouldn't get too attached or literal about titles/labels/number of items etc. - I think the point is not a number but creating a cohesive wardrobe full of things you want to wear. with her 10 item wardrobe Jennifer successfully, to me anyway, illustrates the capsule wardrobe Angie writes about http://youlookfab.com/2011/03/.....-for-less/
limiting the number of clothes really forces you to think about your what type of clothing you prefer and what is your style. if you only to have one pair of anything (trousers/jeans/lbd or whatever) how it would look like (colour/fabric/fit)? in the end you may decide to have one set of 10 items/one capsule for a season or you may have many but 10 items capsule is a great place to start

Laundry is the problem for me too - I don't want to be hand washing every day. We have one light & one dark load a week so I need at least seven days worth of clothes if they can only be worn once. Oops I'm already over 10 items. I think I'll switch to Susie's strategy but I'll have to wait till summer

Seriously though, this fab post just shows me we all have different wants & needs & need to work this out for ourselves