Capsulizing Your Wardrobe - YouLookFab Forum

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Capsulizing Your Wardrobe

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

On her thread about her ideal wardrobe and how to get there, Stringy mentioned that her ideal wardrobe would consist of wardrobe capsules. This thought had never occurred to me, but it got me thinking. Since my lifestyle is all casual, my capsules would just be by season, but writing it down helped me see so much more clearly what my ideal wardrobe would look like:

Summer- sleeveless dresses, strappy sandals, shorts, and sleeveless tops

Spring/Fall- jeans, crops, clamdiggers, micro check pants, sleeved tops/tunics/dresses, lightweight knitwear, lightweight jackets, leggings and jeggings, shoes and booties

Winter- ponte knit pants, warm tunics, boots, coats, layering pieces

I found this very interesting and helpful. I can see that for extreme weather I really gravitate to a certain uniform- it makes sense to find as many versions of it as I can. I also found it interesting that while summer is my dominant season, since I can interchange fall and spring- that is where the bulk of my wardrobe should lie.

Do you create capsules in your wardrobe?

General

22 replies

Latest reply was from chewyspaghetti

Kate

Veteran

I try to, but I think my wardrobe is much too big to count as a capsule wardrobe. A capsule wardrobe is what I aim for when packing for a trip.

There is a great website (it's actually for a business, but you can learn a lot from the website without paying) that explains capsule wardrobes at their tightest. The capsule seasons are based on color analysis, not on the season of the year, but it's easy to imagine how these capsules could change to take us though the seasons of the year.

explanation here: http://www.mycapsulewardrobe.com/page2.htm

winter visual: http://www.mycapsulewardrobe.com/page15.htm
spring visual: http://www.mycapsulewardrobe.com/page18.htm
summer visual: http://www.mycapsulewardrobe.com/page16.htm
fall visual: http://www.mycapsulewardrobe.com/page17.htm

Carole

Veteran

great way to filter this down, cheweyspagetti! Maybe that's what I need to do as well. thanks for figuring that out for us!

Maya

Veteran

Frankly I find wardrobe capsuling very confusing and headache inducing. If your lifestyle involves several very distinct, non-overlapping capsules, maybe it's useful. I'm not sure. I haven't really adopted it myself. I don't need a different set of clothes for everything I do. If an item of clothing can only work for one aspect of my life, it doesn't find a place in my closet.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Maya- I think the point of a capsule wardrobe is that you have a set of clothing for a specific aspect or season that all works together so that you can make multiple outfits, and then you mix in other pieces and can mix those pieces with your other capsules (not that all of the capsule wardrobe pieces work only for that one area, although some pieces might- ie a bathing suit).
At least, that is my understanding.

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

I do think of my wardrobe as capsules, which makes it a lot easier to see gaps, and also to see the difference between uses for particular items of clothing, especially tops in the summer. When I am sorting through clothes, I ask myself if this is appropriate for:

-work
-casual
-workout
-vacation (which is usually exercise-based, hiking and walking etc)

If none of the above, then I don't need it. If yes, then I see if there is anything I already own in that capsule that it will go with. If no, then I try really hard not to buy it. Not always successful, but thinking about it in capsule sections does help me focus.

crwilson

Veteran

I love the idea of capsules, for the same reason that I love the idea of formulas - it makes life easier when you're getting dressed. I haven't done it yet because I can't seem to organize myself well enough, but I'm getting closer. To address Maya's point: I do have pretty distinct areas that I dress for, and they don't tend to overlap that much, so maybe that's also why I like capsules.

Kate - thank you for passing on those links. I found the visuals really helpful.

medusa

Veteran

Khris, I'm glad thinking about capsules is helpful for you. I had a similar comment to Maya's - I don't really get the whole capsule wardrobe thing. At least, I wonder, how is "a capsule" different from "clothes that serve a similar purpose"? Sure, I have clothes for working out, wearing to work, wearing to dressy occasions, but does that make them "capsules"?

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

A capsule (to my understanding) is a group of mix and matchable items, Medusa. That is how it differs from items for specific things.
So, you probably want to pick a color palette, or at least a dominant neutral or two and maybe even a couple of accent colors. Think about it in terms of packing for a trip. You only have so many items that you can bring with you, and you want to be able to wear each things with as many other things as possible. You will consider color, style, and line when trying to make sure they work together.
Does that make sense?

Kate

Veteran

To add to chewyspaghetti's description (which is great!), in a capsule wardrobe all of the items are highly versatile because almost all of them work with each other. This runs counter to Angie's post about being ok with only using an item in one or two different outfits: http://youlookfab.com/2010/07/.....rsatility/

Maya

Veteran

I guess I do this intuitively to some extent. I realized recently that my struggle to find closed, sockless shoes needn't be a struggle at all. For the bulk of the year, I can wear boots, oxfords, and sandals.

I'm probably going to donate all of my ballet flats (which I can't wear anymore due to nasty foot cramps) and start bulking up my boot collection, which unfortunately is going to be an expensive endeavor. I wholeheartedly believe it would be worth it though. I absolutely adore boots. I just bought the Clarks Indigo Lyon sandals on sale and I think that will be enough for me. I wear sandals all summer but they are not my favorite type of footwear, so I don't feel compelled to own a lot.

So my goal will be:

-7 pairs of boots/booties: flat waterproof, heeled booties, slouch boots, heeled dress boots, equestrian style OTK boots, mid calf boots, lace up ankle boots. So far I have 4 out of 7. I'll need to look for OTK boots, lace up ankle boots, and most importantly flat waterproof boots as my go-to pair. I would definitely be willing to invest in those and can't wait to see La Canadienne's fall range.

-5 pairs of sandals. Check.

-One pair of oxfords. Check, though I'd like to replace them with a sturdier pair but it can wait until my current ones expire.

-Two pairs of elasticized ballet flats, one that's fun and one that is more basic. I can only wear the styles with the elasticized topline. All other styles cause my toes to scrunch and I end up with horrible cramps at the end of the day.

-3 pairs of pumps (only because I already own them).

If I can get my shoe wardrobe to that point, I would feel it is "complete." There are some things I enjoy shopping for like dresses and accessories, but I have never really loved shoe shopping. I would love to get my shoe wardrobe to a point where I don't have to think about it anymore, just like I did with my denim wardrobe. That is my goal for the next year.

taylor

Veteran

I capsule exactly like Kristen:
Work - Salon
Work - Ann Taylor
Day's off
Vacation

They are all a part of my general wardrobe, but I wear different clothes for each.

Megan

I capsule in a similar way to Kristen and Taylor

- Work- teaching days
- Work- lab days
- Work- office days
- Weekend casual
- Weekend going out

londonkiwi (now back in NZ)

Veteran

I probably should capsulise more as it would make better use of my small wardrobe space. The problem that I have is that my work wardrobe is smart casual / business casual and a lot of those same items overlap into weekend wear.

My list of capsuals would be:

Work day
Work evening functions - I am a fundraiser and I need evening attaire
Weekend casual
Weekend going out (covering events like the opera, theatre, restaurants and bars)
Active wear

At the moment I really only feel satisfied with my work evening and weekend casual parts of my wardrobe. My work day wear still feels like it is all over the place and I need a few key items like jackets to pull it together.

Maya - I like your strategy for shoe shopping. I do not enjoy shopping for jackets and trousers so I think narrowing down what I really need in those areas and focusing on them for the rest of the year may be a good strategy.

stringy

Veteran

I glossed over the idea of capsules in that thread before, but yeah, I think that they'd work very well for me. But everyone is different! I reckon the less-minimalist people wouldn't really need them as such.

My going-out clothes are just inappropriate for work, and vice versa. But by trying to make my clothes go everywhere, I was ending up with weird gaps in my wardrobe and too many orphans that are beautiful but not suited to my lifestyle.

When I keep focused on what the dress or top is for, and where I think I'm going to wear it, I end up with better stuff that actually matches what I already own.

The more I think about it, the more I think it's just about putting the places I go into groups based on what I'd wear there.

Mamapicklejuice

Veteran

Although my wardrobe development is still in the nascent stages, I have a couple of casules established, or at least, planned:

Workout gear - one trip to Lucy, and I picked up coordinating tops and bottoms for a great mix and match gym outfits

Church - Skirts and dresses, ballet flats or nice heeled sandals

Every day (summer) - walking shorts, a nice (ATL or J Jill) tee and well thought out accessories (bangles, statement necklaces), ballet flats or flat leather sandals (sometimes water shoes!)

The biggest gap in all the wardrobes is the jacket or sweater layer.

Lisa

Veteran

This has been a very interesting thread. If I think of my wardrobe as capsules, I only have 3. Work, weekend and working out. This must be why when I go out I am always scrambling to put together an outfit. And my wardrobe is very heavily weighted to work clothing as the most items. I have been trying to find more dual purpose items for both work and weekend to cut down on the wardrobe size a bit.

chelle

Just wondering...those of you who have your capsules sorted out, do you keep a certain number of items in each capsule? If there is a lot of sharing of items between capsules, how do you organize them in the closet?

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I don't have capsules together in my closet, I organize by item and color (all the dresses together in rainbow color order, all the short sleeve tops together in color order, etc.).

chelle

I organize item by item as well, but then forget what I have for, say, casual wear!

Ariadne

Veteran

Hmm, I think these would be my capsules:

MOTG (casual) - playground, at home, etc.

MOTG (smart casual) - shopping downtown, coffee, etc.

Church - also smart casual but I can go a bit dressier/less practical here since it's a short block of time

Dates and evening outings

Camping

Loungewear

Exercise

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

My capsules are pretty distinct so they often have their own drawers/areas (jeans and shorts in one drawer, athletic shoes separate from regular shoes, etc). What I did find to be a godsend was to separate out my tops: my workout and pajama ones are not in the same drawers as my casual or dressier work tops.

I think, actually, that this is the impetus for people to start looking at their clothes as part of capsules, particularly I think for SAHMs or people who don't have distinct delineations between parts of their lives. It's really easy when you are home (oh, I have been there!) to just throw on whatever the first shirt you grab in the drawer. But if you literally separate out your smart casual clothes from your housecleaning and your workout stuff, suddenly you start raising your game without any real effort!

Same goes for students as well; I remember in college I would just put on whatever was clean and in front of me. But once I start separating out my pajamas from my regular clothes, I wore them much less often to the library. ;-D

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Well when you put it that way Kristen- I do separate the capsules! I have a drawer for loungewear and a drawer for workout wear, and those thigns are not worn as clothes. The rest of my wardrobe is really just all casual.