How to Plan, Organize and Shop for Your Capsule Wardrobe
A capsule wardrobe is the best way to organize your wardrobe because it will give you a lot more outfits with just a few pieces.
Just imagine:
- With six clothing items, you get six outfits.
- With nine clothing items, you get 24 outfits.
- With 12 clothing items, you get 48 outfits.
- And with 30 clothing items, you get up to 950 outfits!
This goes to show that if you make a plan before you go shopping, you will save money! You don’t have to go to the mall and buy cheap quality clothing, but you can just invest in a few key quality pieces and get way more for your money!
Let me show you how to create a capsule wardrobe.
1. Determine the dress code for your career and work lifestyle.
In a full week, how many hours a week do you work? How many hours a week are you doing leisure activities outside? How often are you going out to dinner or parties? For each major activity, you want to assign an estimated amount of time that you do that activity and your dress code.
Amanda’s Career and Lifestyle (Example)
Career (40 hours): Business Professional
Leisure goes to the movies, dinner dates, parties (7 hours): Smart Casual Night
Run errands, grocery shopping, workout ( 10 hours): Active Gym Wear
*Note: For every 20 hours of each activity you should have one capsule. If it is 10 hours or less, create a half a capsule.
So using this example, Amanda should have two business casual capsules, 1/2 smart casual capsule, and 1/2 active wear. This is simply the minimum. Also, remember that you should do this for each seasonal change. Create capsules for cool weather (fall/winter) and one for warm weather (spring/summer).
2. Include your Personal Brand or Theme for your Capsule Wardrobe
When you create a capsule wardrobe, be sure to stay within the same theme. Your theme includes your best colors and your personality style. This will ensure that every item in your closet will always go together, and it prevents mismatched items.
For this example, Amanda’s theme is a Spring Seasonal Color Palette with a Romantic Personality Style.
3. Start putting your plan together
Example Capsule Wardrobe:
- 1 Over piece
- 3 Tops
- 2 Bottoms
- Shoes, Purse, and Accessories
Example Half Capsule Wardrobe:
- 1 Over piece
- 1 Tops
- 1 Bottom
- Shoe, Purse, Accessories
Look in your closet to see if you already have an item to fill in the gaps. If you don’t have all the pieces that coordinate then add it to your shopping list. Remember, every item within the capsule should be a part of the same theme and have the same dress code level for everything to go together.
4. Step back and Assess your Capsule Wardrobe
Ask yourself:
- Does everything match with everything in this capsule?
- Are the colors and themes consistent?
- Are all items within the same dress code?
Take the Personality Style Quiz!
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