Capsule wardrobes are intentionally designed and carefully curated to be simple, sustainable, and stylish. Normally made up of anywhere from around 30 to 50 pieces of clothing, capsule wardrobes nip excess consumption in the bud in favor of buying a smaller number of longer-lasting high-quality items.
Fast Fashion vs. Sustainable Fashion
Representing the antithesis of fast fashion, which is responsible for 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, according to McKinsey, capsule wardrobes not only help to reduce decision fatigue when getting dressed in the morning but also have a huge net benefit on society at large. In other words? They’re a win-win for you and they could help you leave a better world in place for your children or grandchildren.
Here at Anthony’s, we’re all about doing good and simplifying wherever possible. Maybe you’ve already read our piece "Val's View: Simplify Your Packing with the 54321 Method”.
You can think of building a capsule wardrobe as a more extensive version of the 54321 method aimed at simplifying your entire wardrobe instead of just your suitcase.
With that in mind, let’s explore how to build a capsule wardrobe for women so you can decide if this approach is right for you.
How to Create a Capsule Wardrobe in 3 Steps
Modern Minimalism offers an extremely in-depth blog post on this very topic aptly named “The Ultimate Guide: How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe”. In it, the author, Elle Poser suggests taking the following steps:
1. Declutter: The first step to building a women’s capsule wardrobe is to take stock of your current closet. Are there items you wear again and again that have plenty of life left in them? If so, it’s probably best to keep those. Next, consider donating or re-selling the rest. Not sure if you should keep something? Check out Amanda Lauren’s RealSimple article “Throw Out, Donate, Or Keep? Here's How To Evaluate Your Wardrobe”.
2. Choose Essentials: Once you’ve streamlined your wardrobe down significantly, you may find that you need far less than you thought. On the other hand, it could be the case that you’re only consistently wearing a few outfits, and you need to buy more versatile high-quality wardrobe staples to round out your capsule wardrobe. (This is the case for most people). In generating capsule wardrobe ideas and choosing essentials, it may be helpful to either:
a. Use the 333 method, wearing just 33 articles of clothing for the next 3 months before getting rid of anything as a trial run; or
b. Choose 37 wardrobe items that you can mix and match into countless outfits
3. Build 10 Outfits: Once you’ve intentionally designed a wardrobe with between 30-50 items (WikiHow suggests 30-40), it’s time to build outfit ideas. Note that creating ten outfit ideas is just a suggestion; you can make more or less if you like! However, we suggest making between 10-20 outfits to reduce decision fatigue, which is one of the major benefits of building a capsule wardrobe in the first place!
Note: Accessories like hats, gloves, scarves, earrings, and even shoes do not count towards your total number of items! But we recommend paring down those too, if possible.
Build Out Your Capsule Wardrobe Starting Today
There’s no time like the present to simplify and streamline your closet by creating a capsule wardrobe! If you’re like most people, when you go through your current selection of clothing, you’ll find a lot that’s outdated, too big or too small, worn out, etc.
All of this clothing will need to be donated and if what’s left is minimal, then you’ll likely need to search for high-quality long-lasting new pieces. Thankfully, you don’t need to go too far to do that.
At Anthony’s our collection of brands includes something for every woman 50 and above, from the sun-seeker looking for advanced UV protection to the cost-conscious woman in search of quality.
Not ready to buy? No problem; head over to our blog main page “The Sunny Style Report” to explore more fashion topics and lifestyle pieces!
