Let's talk about clothes. Have you ever peered into your closet and thought, "Wow, this is a mess"? Have you ever tried to look for a certain piece of clothing but didn't find it because of all the clothes in your closet? Have you ever fallen into a laundry basket while trying to reach for a piece of clothing at the basket's bottom (nah, me neither... pshhh).
Before moving to go to uni, I filled my entire life into a few suitcases. By the end of my freshman year, I amassed enough stuff to fill double the number of suitcases I brought to uni. I have less than a month left until I go back to uni for my sophomore year, and today I've decided to tackle the giant pile of clothes on my living room floor.
My favourite definition of "capsule wardrobe" was written by Caroline Rector of Unfancy:
"It’s a mini wardrobe made up of really versatile pieces that you totally LOVE to wear."
Pretty simple, no?
Caroline documents her minimalist style on her blog and owns 37 clothing pieces. Yes, 37. She inspired me to take a look at my own closet and really think about the pieces I wear the most often. During my first semester of uni, I enjoyed buying new clothes at the malls and would empty my pockets on pieces that I only wore a few times or even just once during the whole semester. Looking back, I could have saved that money or spent it on other things, but there's no use dwelling in the past! Let's focus on the future, shall we?☺
If you want to make your own capsule wardrobe, there isn't a set of strict rules to which you can refer. You don't need to use 37 pieces -- find the number that works best for you! For me, I chose the number 50. Why 50? It's an even number and I can fill an entire suitcase with 50 items (and with room to spare!). Caroline changes her capsule wardrobe every season to mix things up, but since the country I live in doesn't have extreme season changes, I'll probably change my capsule wardrobe every semester.
Before deciding what to include in my capsule wardrobe, I checked Caroline's site to see whether she includes items such as jewellery or workout clothes in her wardrobe.
Since this post is longer than I thought it would be (what can I say? I like typing away!), I have divided it into two parts. Part 2 will show you what I included in my final 50 pieces list!
If you want to make your own capsule wardrobe, there isn't a set of strict rules to which you can refer. You don't need to use 37 pieces -- find the number that works best for you! For me, I chose the number 50. Why 50? It's an even number and I can fill an entire suitcase with 50 items (and with room to spare!). Caroline changes her capsule wardrobe every season to mix things up, but since the country I live in doesn't have extreme season changes, I'll probably change my capsule wardrobe every semester.
Before deciding what to include in my capsule wardrobe, I checked Caroline's site to see whether she includes items such as jewellery or workout clothes in her wardrobe.
I'm excited to own a capsule wardrobe because it will encourage me to be creative with what I wear. I'm no outfit repeater -- my plan is to use Polyvore to plan my outfits and number each set I make to help me keep track of which outfits I wore and when I wore them (a post about that will be up on the blog soon!). With a capsule wardrobe, I'll avoid unnecessary spending and spend less time shopping and thinking about what to wear next to focus on more important matters to me. Even if you don't want to own just 50 pieces in your wardrobe, challenge yourself today and clean your wardrobe a bit -- use clothing pieces you haven't worn in a while and donate anything you know you won't use anymore!☺
