Capsule Wardrobe

Capsule Wardrobe: a set of clothing which can be mixed and matched to create a wide variety of outfits

Clothing Chaos

The concept of a capsule wardrobe is one that has interested me for a while now because of the many benefits that occur from dressing this way. After putting a capsule wardrobe together, the amount spent on clothes is very low, things are replaced when they are worn and only a few special items bought each year. Everything in your wardrobe works together, so no more clothes that never get worn! The benefits for the environment are great, because of purchasing less clothes, but even greater if the items in your capsule wardrobe are also ethical. And by having less good quality items, that fit together to make so many outfit combinations, you are guaranteed to always look stylish!

As I want to lighten my load, live more ethical but also stay stylish, it's become clear that this is the way that I would like to go. I want a wardrobe that works hard, gets me through every season and is timeless, stylish regardless of current trends! However, it has also left me wondering, how will this work for me? And how many items should I have in my capsule wardrobe? I decide to do a little bit of capsule wardrobe research to give me some ideas...

Mary Porta's talks of the three most important items for a woman's wardrobe: a 'wear-anywhere' dress, a beautiful pair of trousers and a great shoe. Great key items for a capsule wardrobe, but you'd obviously need to build on this.

Susie Faux invented the term 'capsule wardrobe' in the 70's. Her blog Confidence Tricks has great ideas for the modern capsule wardrobe. Susie's capsule wardrobe consists of 2 pairs of trousers, a dress or a skirt, a jacket, a coat, a knit, two pairs of shoes and two bags. My stomach turns when I think of this few clothes. I would not cope! So I look for a capsule wardrobe with more clothes...

In a great article for Red Magazine (which actually sparked my interest in the capsule wardrobe), Anna Berkeley wrote of 38 items for your capsule wardrobe which would result in over 400 outfit choices. This consists of: 4 coats, 2 jackets, 6 dresses, 4 tees, 2 knits, 3 tops, 3 shirts, 4 pairs of jeans, 5 pairs of trousers, 3 skirts & 2 shorts. For me this would be a bit bottom heavy, I'd prefer more tops, and I'm not sure if 38 would even be enough clothes for me...

My reading about capsule wardrobes start to get like maths. I read somewhere else that 15 items can make over 50 outfit combinations. And I'm not sure if any of the capsule wardrobes I'm reading about would suit me and my needs. So I go to one of my favourite books for inspiration: Green is the New Black by Tamsin Blanchard. Her idea of the capsule wardrobe is not prescriptive, it just gives ideas of what can be/should be included, so you can work it out yourself (without going too mad on the amount of clothes). In fact, she talks of having 41 dresses in hers (although she doesn't condone this), which makes me far less worried for thinking that 38 items is too few.

This article over at Ethics Girls, has also been a great help to me!!

So I guess I will just have to work out my (ethical) capsule wardrobe myself... More to follow!!

Another wardrobe example. My friend L's three rails of clothes! However, much tidier than mine!