This was a WONDERFUL exercise, thank you to Angie for suggesting it and to all the other Fabbers who have been posting their edits, your posts have been so inspiring to me.

I am a big KonMari fan (as the pictures attached to this post will make obvious) and for the past couple of years I have been very focused on EDITING. So the big a-ha moment for me here was that it is also important to make a plan to purchase or replace items to make my basics capsule truly functional. Now I’m well on my way to doing that, hooray!

Photos:

1. Clockwise from top left:

-Silk scarves.

*A story for another day. Just orienting you to the picture.

-Bras, slips, thermal tops.

*Bras: 4 (2 nude underwire {regular and strapless}, 2 pullover bralettes {white, black}). I can’t remember the last time I wore any of them tbh! However they seem to be in good shape so it seems prudent to keep them. No action needed here.

*Slips: 1 nude half slip (I sometimes wear it with summer dresses. It’s a bit too long. Try chopping it at the hem?). 1 black full slip (I don’t love it — it rides up — but attrition has reduced my winter dress collection to 0 (!) so I will just hang on to this for now and consider replacing when I come across a winter dress or dresses).

*Thermal tops: 5. Recently started wearing Uniqlo’s heat tech long sleeves. These make my simple skinny-jeans-plus-sweater-tunic outfit formula feasible (I need 2 layers of long sleeves in the winter). YAY. I have now purchased multiple colors, and an extra warm in black. I don’t need any more for now.

-Socks (2 bins, includes both summer and winter socks, ~30 across all categories.)

*I edited these when we switched bedrooms so this collection is pretty tight.

* Will revisit summer socks/anklets when the season rolls around to make sure I have what I need.

* Could use another pair of Smartwool invisible socks. I have 1 pair and sometimes find myself digging them out of the laundry hamper.

*I notice that I am not wearing my “fun” socks very much these days, I think it’s related to my current “feel polished while working from home” quest — the plain black and gray crew socks work better with my house shoes. Allow “fun sock” collection to reduce through attrition and do not buy any more unless I start wearing them more again.

*Relatedly, lately sometimes I experience laundry bottlenecks with crew socks, particularly black. Purchase a few more pairs of black socks and possibly also gray.

(Side note, I just went to the Gap website where I buy my plain crew socks and immediately started checking out their “fun” socks! No, no no!)

*Consider purchasing festive-dressy socks (see Date Night Footwear thread). Crew-length nude and sheer black stockings? Fishnet anklets?

-Camisoles (I wear them daily)

*Just swapped out a bunch of terribly worn out, sloppy camisoles for heattech ones. Swoon! Have 4 black and 1 white, will consider adding a couple more in different colors (stock was low when I ordered). Also have a couple other random older camisoles, keeping for now to see if I will still wear them. If I don’t reach for them, I’ll pass them along in a few months.

*Have also purchased an Airism camisole, which I will try out on a warm-weather trip next month. If I like it, will purchase additional Airism camisoles in multiple colors in March or April so that I am prepared for summer.

-Knickers

*I have about 2 weeks’ worth, mostly plain black and nude. Amount is ok, condition is ok though should consider swapping in a few new pair soon. Just noticed that Gap has added a logo to the outside of these, ugh. It think I will wait a few months to order and see if they come to their senses.

2. Tights

*These are not getting much wear, due to lack of winter dresses (and skirts) in my current wardrobe. All seem to be in decent shape (I edited back in September). Will keep for now and re-evaluate when dress/skirt options expand.

*I’m keeping this box tucked on the top shelf of my wardrobe. It’s fairly easily accessible but out of the way.

3. PJs/Loungewear

The situation here is pretty dire. I have a serious lack in some categories and in others what I have isn’t exactly what I want to wear, but I can’t get rid of what I have until I find replacements. Here is my ideal PJs/loungewear capsule:

*3 pair long PJ pants for winter (Have 0. I can make these, I have tons of fabric, what’s holding me back is that I haven’t quite perfected the pattern. However, I have 1 pair almost finished and it will be wearable).

*3 pair PJ shorts for summer (Have 1. As above — I can make these have fabric but am not totally satisfied with pattern, although the existing pair that I made last summer is wearable.)

*6 tank tops for sleepwear. Lately I seem to like to wear tank tops to sleep in regardless of the season. Have 2 currently but both are ill-fitting and worn out. I need to find a reliable source for soft, fluid-fit knit tank tops and begin to build this capsule. I also kept 1 long-sleeve tee for sleeping just in case I should want something warmer.

*2 pairs winter lounge pants. These should be soft enough to lounge in but presentable enough to wear to and from the gym. (I swim, so I don’t need these items to be actual workout gear.) Have 1 but it is not in great condition or great quality.

*2 pairs summer lounge pants. Lightweight and/or cropped. Same use case (lounging + to and from gym) as above. Have 2 but 1 is wearing out and the other is poor quality.

*2 sweatshirt-like tops or casual pullover sweaters to wear with lounge pants. Have 2 but 1 is showing wear.

*2-3 tanks to wear for lounging/home from gym. Have 3 but not sure they are exactly what I want. I need to think on this further.

*1 or 2 longer-length open cardigans to wear as a robe. Have 1 but it is showing wear. Note to self, these need to have proper sweater cuffs, not loose/bell sleeves!

*1 pair true slippers for winter (I don’t feel “right” in my nice, polished-looking winter house shoes when I am wearing loungewear/pjs.)

*As I build this capsule I need to pay attention to colors/patterns. For the past several years I’ve been mostly thrifting my PJs and some loungewear, and the result has been a real hodgepodge — I’d like it all to coordinate better.

Outdoor gear review:

(Some gear is shown in photo 3 on the right side of the drawer. Not everything listed below is pictured.)

What I have:

-3 pr merino leggings. (I used to wear these to/from the gym but I don’t prefer this formula right now. Am keeping all of these however because they are in good condition and still useful as gear.)

-1 merino thermal top

-1 lap-swimming suit (just got a new one), goggles, swim cap

-1 “bathing” suit

-1 pair waterproof/rain pants

-1 short puffer

-1 short waterproof jacket

-1 pr fleece gloves, 1 pr heavy waterproof gloves

-1 pr SUPER thick smartwool socks

-1 pr tall wellie boots, 1 pr ankle rain boots (don’t love them but in retrospect I’m not sure I really need them), 1 pr gear sandals (Tevas), 1 pr slip-on athletic type shoes (these desperately need replacing!)

Overall, this capsule is adequate for my lifestyle and the only need I see is replacing the slip-on athletic shoes.

Thanks for reading, any comments are most welcome!