I would keep some clothes out of sight but in reach until you give the capsule a reasonable test. I am the opposite of a capsule dresser, but in reality tend to cycle through a subset of my clothes for a period of time and then move on. If you don't need to move on, or the change of season does that for you, it is worth a try!

When I worked in an office my wardrobe was similar in size to that - perhaps two more pieces. I would definitely do this again if in that situation - my job is casual now so it merges together.

Wear is subjective and I am trying to pick items that I am happy to wear with signs of age. I don’t always get it right though.

Tangent: I definitely wear through jeans, maybe not in a year, but sometimes, and easily in 2-3. It’s always the inner thighs that wear through. I have a cheap pair right now that I’ll only wear at home because after about 75 wears, they’re looking threadbare there, and I know they could go at any time.

Wear tangent: Ditto what Jenn says. Remember, she and I wear our jeans HARD. The worst case was within a season -- pair of jeans from J. Crew. They wore out in inner thighs. They weren't even tight. I had purposely sized up. Who knows. Maybe that was the problem?

When my kid was a toddler, I always wore through the knees -- sometimes after only a few months! Especially one knee. Why? Because I was always getting down on the ground to be at eye level. Yes, I patched them. But patched jeans are not really consistent with my style. Luckily, that doesn't happen so often any more.

I've also worn through at belt loops (fixable, to a point) and sometimes it's the rear that starts looking thin. Once my cat got his claws in a pair and made a kind of run in them -- or at least a very obviously pulled thread, and this in turn weakened the fabric overall. And sometimes they just fade too much. I don't mind some fading -- that's fine. But I tend to like at least one dark rinse in rotation so if all of my jeans are on the light side I will be looking for a darker pair to add.

I have lots of jeans, too. It's not like I wear the same pair all the time. But I do favour certain ones. I'll easily wear my favourite 2 pair more than 150 times each per year.

Who knows, right? Some people are just harder on stuff, I guess. I have friends who go through tops a lot faster than I do-- they perspire more, I guess, or stain/ spill more. That is rarely my issue. For me, it's footwear and jeans all the way, with knits a close contender for wear -- in fact, I probably hang onto most of mine somewhat past the "best by" date just because it infuriates me that they tend to look tired so soon!

I know this is a tangent, but I’m also fascinated with the varying experiences with jeans wearing out. I have jeans at the ranch that are still not quite “worn out” even though they are ten years old. I think there is even a pair of David Kahn’s (remember that look? Low rise and bootcut with frayed hems in the back from being long enough to walk on?) that must be 12 or so years old. Granted they are not worn frequently anymore.

But in my closet here at home are some Paige and AG jeans I have had for easily 6-7 years that are going strong. Also my Gap and Lucky bootcuts. I do have quite a few jeans, so maybe I’m spreading the wear out enough that it takes a long time to wear them out.

But back to the original questions, I agree that this is a very personal preference. I work for myself and have a very casual life, so I don’t need to compartmentalize my wardrobe into “work” wear, but I would be bored to tears after two weeks if I tried to rotate a tiny wardrobe of workwear. And I *am* hard on my clothes at work (or was, but I was a graphic designer and frequently did comp work so had to build mockups of publications and products so I was working with adhesives, x-acto knives, etc.).

I would try simply putting some lesser-loved pieces away and try operating with this smaller selection to see how it feels. You can always give away unloved stuff later. Please tell us how it goes!

Yes, I think it’s possible, and I do something similar in the summer...but my summer is only 2.5 months, so it works because I wear the heck out of my clothes.

I have actually done a minimalist wardrobe in the fall/winter too (8 months). I didn’t think about fashion that much in these months, so it was ok. However, fashion and clothes are now a bigger part of my life, so wearing the same thing all the time would no longer work for me.

So the “set it and forget it” aspect of your plan will only work if you can truly “forget” about your clothes.

Uniform dressing is very freeing, and most men are uniform dressers and it works for them, so why not? And if it is only for work outfits, even easier because you get to have some variety in your casual wardrobe.

very late to this post...but....

Em, you ask if it can be done...of course it can...but I wonder why you don't ask should i do it?

assuming that you have tried all 18 outfits on, and they work IRL and not just on paper...

are you in a client facing job? and if so, do you see the same clients regularly? then you might want to create a chart to insure that you are not wearing the same outfit each time you see the same client...because yes they probably will notice....

would this kind of dressing being within the norms of your office? or would this be something that others will notice and/or comment on? if they do notice and/or comment on it, will you be comfortable or will you feel awkward or will you not care?

interesting in what you decide to do, please let us know...

and i'd love it if you would share the 18 outfits you've created

I think it is doable even if those numbers seem a bit too limited to me, a small-wardrobe fan. But you can make an experiment and then let us know!

My clothes wear out because I wear the heck out of them. The clothes I end up donating are basically mistakes or very old items that by their nature didn’t get worn as much (suits, party dresses).
So when I suggest to someone that they should consider wear and tear, it’s not because I don’t wear out my clothes?!? It’s precisely the opposite - I’m a former under buyer who once cried because my husband shrank one of two pairs of decent-enough work pants in the dryer. Of course he offered to replace them, but I hated clothes, my body and shopping so much at that point that the idea of having to find new pants in a hurry was not appealing.
That was obviously a very personal low point, but basically I had to learn how to keep enough clothes in my closet to make my life easier. It’s ongoing as I recently realized I should duplicate my winter skinny jeans, rather than wearing out a pair every year and constantly wishing they weren’t in the laundry (I don’t wash them every time I wear them. But they do get dirty and require washing every 2-3 wears! In cold water and hung to dry as much as possible! And yes they actually wear out, to a very thin and unflattering degree!)
Excuse my rant I fully understand how everyone’s experience is different, but the idea that people who don’t want clothes to wear out too quickly don’t wear their clothes enough is a bit ironic to the person who has literally worn favourite items to shreds and had to learn it was ok to spend money on myself to make my life easier. I’d caution anyone thinking of going from a large to small wardrobe to consider how often they want to do laundry and shop.

Try your small capsule for work for a month and see how it works and how you feel. I suspect that if you love the outfits and they fit perfectly, you will be fine with them. You could even pack the rest of your work wardrobe into a holding zone so that you don't see it.

Of course it's do-able! If you work five days a week, times four weeks in the month, that number of 18 outfits from your work wardrobe covers all but two days without repeating! As long as you select well for YOUR style: silhouette, color, pattern (or not), and fit. Simplicity is very liberating.