Trendiest trender on the block...
So, the capsule wardrobe.
Every one in the world is doing it. (Yes, those are all separate links.)
And the idea fascinates me. I spent most of yesterday (whoops) going through Caroline's blog, and then clicking follow on Bloglovin' as fast as humanly possible because, wow, what a genius idea.
I've complained to David probably 20 times since we've been married that we really need to pare down the clothes we own. And wowza, has it gotten bad. Currently between us two adults, we have 4 (FOUR) storage bins - the big size - full of unworn clothes in the basement, one closet stuffed to the brim between the two of us, and another closet practically full of other clothes we sort-of-sometimes-wear but not really. And it just getsbigger worse every day.
That up there is the parsed-down version. My side of the closet starts from the gray sleeve on the right-hand side...yep. Still overwhelming at 27 items in there right now.
I really resonated with Caroline's motivations to pare down her wardrobe, as well as her mentality around shopping bringing her happiness but not really (I can't find the post now, but basically she - and I - found a lot of joy in buying things but kept them only because she felt guilty, not because they were good pieces or fit her well).
Then Kendra wrote a killer post about it, and I was hooked. So I'm in the midst of a big purge. I'm not committing quite yet to a capsule wardrobe, per se, but I am in the mindset of getting rid of any clothes that I know I won't wear.
The 2 biggest things holding me back previously were sentimentality and sizes.
Sentimentality: I own tons of dresses that I wore for special occasions, some up to 6 or 7 years ago, but didn't want to part with because they reminded me of that time in my life. I also had shirts and skirts that reminded me of so many things: our honeymoon, high school clubs, etc. etc. that I was realistically never going to wear again but was emotionally attached to. I made myself think: would I ever choose this item over a piece I currently actually wear? If the answer was no, it went into the get-rid-of pile.
Size: Since I'm still pretty post-partum-y, this was another big factor in keeping some of those clothes in my closet. I'm not quite back at pre-pregnancy size yet, so I had this vision in my head of getting back down there and then eventually using all these clothes again. That was obviously made up because, hello - losing weight isn't going to make 4 year old dresses suddenly come back in fashion. So I asked myself: if I was me now at the smallest I've ever been, would I wear this again? The answer was no for 99% of the clothes I was hoarding. Yeah, it was sad.
Now, I'm not super far into this capsule wardrobe thingy, like I said. Right now I'm focusing on getting rid of clothes I KNOW I'm never going to wear again. That is going to involve a heavy Sunday of trashing or donating almost all the clothes in our basement, and another big purge with David - if he's on board.
I'm not going to be completely unrealistic about this all either. I still love shopping, and I'm constantly changing sizes so I won't trash everything. Some will definitely go into the hopefully soon-to-be-empty bins in the basement. I'll send another shipment to ThredUp (again, I know I still haven't posted about my opinion of both it and Twice) and then see how it's going.
I know I'll never include workout/lounge clothes, underwear, bras, or undershirts in this thing (Caroline doesn't, so that's good enough reason for me...plus, laundry). But I might be ambitious enough to really get my style figured out and invest in some good pieces that I love with this capsule wardrobe thing. Or since our "style" budget is basically $0 right now, I might just pare down what I have until that's a little more feasible.
Let's be honest: I already do this subconsciously. There are only certain items in my closet I like anyway, so I really only wear 20 items in my closet (that's an exaggeration) right now anyway. If I saved more money on items I don't really love and put them towards items I DO love, it would probably be more like 40.
But. But. I want to find clothes that I love, that are good quality, that fit me well, that are things I will really love and want to wear over and over, that are my style. Whatever that is, I haven't discovered yet.
I'm still in the process and discovering how far I want to go with this thing. I am sure I'm going to post about this again, but in the meantime...what are your thoughts on a capsule wardrobe? What do you do to keep down the mass of clothes that builds up?
HG
Every one in the world is doing it. (Yes, those are all separate links.)
And the idea fascinates me. I spent most of yesterday (whoops) going through Caroline's blog, and then clicking follow on Bloglovin' as fast as humanly possible because, wow, what a genius idea.
I've complained to David probably 20 times since we've been married that we really need to pare down the clothes we own. And wowza, has it gotten bad. Currently between us two adults, we have 4 (FOUR) storage bins - the big size - full of unworn clothes in the basement, one closet stuffed to the brim between the two of us, and another closet practically full of other clothes we sort-of-sometimes-wear but not really. And it just gets
That up there is the parsed-down version. My side of the closet starts from the gray sleeve on the right-hand side...yep. Still overwhelming at 27 items in there right now.
I really resonated with Caroline's motivations to pare down her wardrobe, as well as her mentality around shopping bringing her happiness but not really (I can't find the post now, but basically she - and I - found a lot of joy in buying things but kept them only because she felt guilty, not because they were good pieces or fit her well).
 |
| via Unfancy blog |
Then Kendra wrote a killer post about it, and I was hooked. So I'm in the midst of a big purge. I'm not committing quite yet to a capsule wardrobe, per se, but I am in the mindset of getting rid of any clothes that I know I won't wear.
The 2 biggest things holding me back previously were sentimentality and sizes.
Sentimentality: I own tons of dresses that I wore for special occasions, some up to 6 or 7 years ago, but didn't want to part with because they reminded me of that time in my life. I also had shirts and skirts that reminded me of so many things: our honeymoon, high school clubs, etc. etc. that I was realistically never going to wear again but was emotionally attached to. I made myself think: would I ever choose this item over a piece I currently actually wear? If the answer was no, it went into the get-rid-of pile.
Size: Since I'm still pretty post-partum-y, this was another big factor in keeping some of those clothes in my closet. I'm not quite back at pre-pregnancy size yet, so I had this vision in my head of getting back down there and then eventually using all these clothes again. That was obviously made up because, hello - losing weight isn't going to make 4 year old dresses suddenly come back in fashion. So I asked myself: if I was me now at the smallest I've ever been, would I wear this again? The answer was no for 99% of the clothes I was hoarding. Yeah, it was sad.
 |
| some of the donate/sell pile |
Now, I'm not super far into this capsule wardrobe thingy, like I said. Right now I'm focusing on getting rid of clothes I KNOW I'm never going to wear again. That is going to involve a heavy Sunday of trashing or donating almost all the clothes in our basement, and another big purge with David - if he's on board.
I'm not going to be completely unrealistic about this all either. I still love shopping, and I'm constantly changing sizes so I won't trash everything. Some will definitely go into the hopefully soon-to-be-empty bins in the basement. I'll send another shipment to ThredUp (again, I know I still haven't posted about my opinion of both it and Twice) and then see how it's going.
I know I'll never include workout/lounge clothes, underwear, bras, or undershirts in this thing (Caroline doesn't, so that's good enough reason for me...plus, laundry). But I might be ambitious enough to really get my style figured out and invest in some good pieces that I love with this capsule wardrobe thing. Or since our "style" budget is basically $0 right now, I might just pare down what I have until that's a little more feasible.
 |
| love this palette for my wardrobe? |
Let's be honest: I already do this subconsciously. There are only certain items in my closet I like anyway, so I really only wear 20 items in my closet (that's an exaggeration) right now anyway. If I saved more money on items I don't really love and put them towards items I DO love, it would probably be more like 40.
But. But. I want to find clothes that I love, that are good quality, that fit me well, that are things I will really love and want to wear over and over, that are my style. Whatever that is, I haven't discovered yet.
I'm still in the process and discovering how far I want to go with this thing. I am sure I'm going to post about this again, but in the meantime...what are your thoughts on a capsule wardrobe? What do you do to keep down the mass of clothes that builds up?
HG
I've been reading these posts, and I find them interesting, but I think it's so funny because I have NO fall/winter clothes. (Four winters in Florida and then last year I was gigantically pregnant, so... yeah.) It is helping me think intentionally about what I'm buying to supplement the abysmal 'drobe I already have. Though I am blinded by my supposed need for a puffy vest.... priorities.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this idea. And of course it would take off at the time in my life when my wardrobe is about to not fit for several months. :P So I feel like I need to hold off for now. I did do some closet purging during Lent and a friend gave me a good tip. Turn all of your hangers around, facing them the wrong way. When you wear something, turn the hanger around to face the normal way. A year later, if you still have hangers turned the wrong way, those are clothes that need to go!
ReplyDeleteA few months ago I went through and got rid of lots of sentimental items and things I just couldn't see myself trying to stuff my body into postpartum, even if I were to get back to my original weight eventually. I think I was in a bit of a nesting mood so it was easier to be harsh about it; I compare purging to ripping a bandaid off because it's hard at first but I don't think I've regretted getting rid of a single thing yet.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest issue with having an actual capsule wardrobe is exactly what you mentioned above: "regular" size clothing, different stages of pregnancy clothing, postpartum/nursing clothing. That's so many different sizes, and that doesn't even factor in the season changes! Still reflecting on all of that and hope to come up with a solution :)
Hannah, you make such good points here about being sentimental about clothes! This was really good for me to have in mind as I pared down. Some stuff just has to go, even if I went on a date in it thirteen years ago. (Yes, I had some of that.) I did keep my wedding shoes though. Even though I'm pretty certain I'm not going to need them.
ReplyDelete