What counts in a capsule wardrobe?
In reality it’s totally up to you, but I tend to only count everyday wear as part of my “real” capsule wardrobe – so essentially what I wear most of the time when I go to work or what I’ll wear during weekends. I then like making mini-capsules for everything else; special occasions, workout wear, loungewear etc.
Socks & undies, practical wear (like the clothes you do gardening in) and similar usually don’t count for me, but still I try to adopt the “capsule wardrobe” mindset to every part of my wardrobe. So for bags I like making sure that I have just a few different options for different occasions like a shopper for work, a few cross body bags for going out and for weekends and then I like keeping the colour palette coherent with my shoes and belts so I can create colour coherence in my outfits. Same with occasion wear pieces, I’ll just have a few versatile pairs of shoes, maybe a dress and a skirt and some nice tops that I could also wear with my everyday clothes (depending on how dressy the event is), just so that I have a few core staples I know I can always count on and that makes me feel amazing.
When you start diving into these separate categories within your wardrobe; work, weekend, workout, special occasions, gardening, hiking or whatever activities you have in your life, that’s really what’s going to dictate how much you should have within the different segments of your wardrobe. The context is really key here. There’s no use of having an overly dressy wardrobe if you never have any special occasions to wear these clothes to. What counts in a capsule wardrobe is what you’ll actually be able to wear. That’s the short answer.
How many items in a capsule wardrobe?
I know many templates will prescribe around 35 items in a capsule wardrobe; but some seasons I can do with less, so let’s say around 30 pieces – other seasons I might have more items in my wardrobe, maybe around 40 pieces. This is all very depended on the weather and also just what I feel like wearing that season. It’s important to add here, that most of my wardrobe actually stays the same pretty much all through the year, so it’s only minor tweaks I’ll make to make my wardrobe more coherent with the season, and most of what I add is found in my storage boxes from previous seasons. Sure, my style evolves (because life isn’t static) and so I do add new things here and there, but the whole essence of a capsule wardrobe is timelessness, to learn to appreciate and (re)wear your clothes for longer and essentially buy less new stuff. I live in Denmark and even though we have 4 seasons here, the weather can be somewhat static through the year and so items like jeans, t-shirts, classic shirts, blazers and similar are items I keep out all through the year. It’s needless to say this can look different for you if you live in a different climate.
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