Closed wardrobe doors barely close because of all the clothes you have to wear, but still nothing to wear? The capsule wardrobe will come in handy! A capsule wardrobe is a great way to create a minimalist but easy to mix and match and attractive set of clothes and accessories that will fit into any life situation and alleviate everyday style headaches. In this article, we'll take a look at how to create a capsule wardrobe - choosing the essential clothes and accessories that will form the basis of your outfit.
What is a capsule wardrobe?
A capsule wardrobe is a minimalist wardrobe made up of a limited number of garments that can be combined in a variety of ways, giving versatility and flexibility to your outfit. The capsule wardrobe concept emphasises the quality rather than the quantity of clothing and accessories and promotes a sustainable approach to fashion, ensuring a long-lasting and versatile use of clothing. This is especially true nowadays, when fast fashion trends often lead to low-quality garment production and ever-changing fashions lead us to buy new garments.
A capsule wardrobe usually consists of basic clothing such as jeans, shirts, blouses, dresses and coats, and additional accessories such as belts, handbags and jewellery, which can be mixed and matched with the main outfit to give it a more varied style. This model of dressing saves time and money, reduces the amount of excess items in the wardrobe and reduces the ecological footprint.
How to create a capsule wardrobe?
It will be easier to set up a capsule wardrobe if you understand its basic principles. Below are some tips to help you create your own capsule wardrobe.
Start with a review of your existing wardrobe
When creating a capsule wardrobe, you certainly don't have to give up the clothes you already have. Take a look at the clothes you wear most, the number of clothes and accessories you have, and which ones go together more or less easily. Knowing exactly what style pieces are waiting in your wardrobe will help you choose what to wear every day.
Choose a neutral colour palette
If most of your clothes are neutral colours, it will be much easier to mix and match them. Neutrals are colours such as black, navy, grey, brown, beige, cream, white or any shade in between. Go through your wardrobe and note which neutral colours are most suitable for your skin tone and body tone.
If you still want more expressive colours, add 1-2 accent colours that you like. These colours can be easily combined with neutral tones, but they will add interest and character to your capsule wardrobe.
Choose timeless, functional and versatile clothing and accessories
When planning a style capsule, it is also important to focus on how durable, functional and versatile each garment is. Timeless garments will stand the test of ever-changing fashion trends, so you can wear them for a long time. For example, a bright white button-down shirt, a classic blazer and straight jeans will never go out of style. Don't forget to consider the functionality of your clothes. Consider the fabric, length, silhouette and how easy it is to clean and maintain.
Versatile clothes will be easy to combine with other clothes or accessories. You can style them in different ways and wear them on different occasions. Think about whether you will be able to wear each garment in different situations, events or over several seasons.
The following questions help you compose your capsule wardrobe:
- Is this garment/accessory comfortable and practical and does it fit my current lifestyle?
- Is this garment/accessory easy to wear, clean and maintain?
- Will it fit easily with other items in the wardrobe?
- Can it be stylised in different ways, made more ornate, more casual?
Don't get attached to a specific number of clothes/accessories
There are no hard and fast rules about how big or small your capsule should be. Avoid limiting yourself to one specific number of items - give yourself the flexibility to choose how many of each type of detail you will need. To get a better idea of how many and what kind of clothes you will need, you can tick them off on a list and plan what type and colour of clothes and accessories you want.
If you don't get the perfect capsule wardrobe right away, don't despair, let the creative process happen naturally. Over time, it will become easier and easier to see which clothes or accessories go together more easily, how to combine different fabrics and textures.
Essential clothing in the capsule wardrobe
After the wardrobe audit, it's time to start selecting the key elements of the capsule wardrobe. Start with your favourite garments in each category, for example, if you have a favourite pair of black jeans, add one or two more jeans in other colours/textures to the jeans category.
Depending on the season, where you live, your lifestyle and what you like to wear, the number of clothes in your wardrobe can vary. Below is an example of how many and what kind of clothes are useful to have in a capsule wardrobe:
- 2-3 pairs of jeans
- 2-3 trousers
- 2-3 shorts
- 1-2 skirts
- 5-8 T-shirts, blouses
- 3-4 jumpers
- 1-2 dresses
- 2-3 jackets, coats and blazers
- 3-5 pairs of shoes
With so many clothes, you can certainly create many outfit combinations and mix and match items.
Essential accessories for the capsule wardrobe
Accessories are an equally important part of a capsule wardrobe, as they can add accents, vitality and functionality to your style, such as handbags, clutches and belts. Here are the accessories we recommend to have in your wardrobe:
- 2-3 handbags
- 2-3 belts
- 2-5 pairs of earrings
- 1-3 neck ornaments
- 2-3 scarves, scarves
- 1 sunglasses
When choosing accessories, also consider how easy it will be to mix and match them. We recommend choosing handbags for different purposes - work/casual, to go with a smart outfit, a smaller casual handbag. It is worth investing in good quality handbags, such as leather ones, as they will last for many years if well cared for. The same goes for other accessories - good metal jewellery will be more durable and won't lose its shine, while silk scarves will flatter the skin and give an outfit a unique charm.
So knowing how to build a capsule wardrobe is not only a good idea because it will make it much easier to match your clothes, but it will also contribute to sustainability and ensure that every new purchase you make is well thought out and of high quality.
