Hey friends! If you caught my Instagram Live from this morning (watch the replay HERE ) then you heard me chat about how to transition your closet to a capsule wardrobe! I wanted to do a little recap here because I get this question all the time! It’s not as hard as you think, but it will take some time and mental energy. I promise once you are done it’s all going to be worth it! I’m going to go through the steps with you below!
Your first step is probably the hardest, and my least favorite- but you have to clean out your closet. I don’t mean doing a quick skim through and tossing a few things. I mean taking EVERYTHING out of your closet- literally everything- and separating it into three piles. You aren’t going to try to make your capsule yet. We are just going through what you have at the moment. The three piles you’re going to make are: TOSS, MAYBE, and SPECIAL ITEMS. If you haven’t worn something in a year- TOSS. If an item is something you currently love and wear- MAYBE pile is where it will go. The SPECIAL ITEM pile is for things like a sequin top or a really expensive pantsuit. No you don’t wear them everyday or even regularly, but they are items we can all have in our closet and pull out for special occasions. Don’t get crazy with your SPECIAL pile. It’s for items that are truly special and never go out of style. I also want to say that you are going to have emotional attachments to items, but that doesn’t justify keeping them! If you have a special item, keep the photos of you in that item or even take a few in it, but unless you wear the item regularly, TOSS it.
Your next step is to make a list of what types of clothes you need. If you teach a spin class regularly or work out a lot you obviously need workout/athleisure items. Do you work at a business type office job? Are you a stay at home mom? Do you go on regular date nights? You want to make a list, but try to keep it simple and narrowed down to your top three-four categories. For me, if you subscribe to my monthly capsule you know I mix in casual lounge wear, dressier items for date nights, and everyday pieces. Then I mix and match the items to make outfits to have something for all of my different needs.
Now- take the items from you MAYBE pile. You will want to go through every single one and ask yourself some questions to help decide which ones to keep and which add to your TOSS pile. Will this item fit into any of your categories of outfit needs? Is this item a classic/staple item like a white button up or a trench coat? Can this item be used to make multiple outfits? Does it fit right now- not in six months or two weeks after you diet? We spend way too much mental energy thinking we might or will fit into something again when really it’s taking up space in our closet and then when we don’t fit into it at our allotted time, we just beat ourself up over it. If the answer to any of these questions is no- the items go into your TOSS pile.
Now, you can finally start filling in the gaps in your wardrobe! The easiest way to do this is to subscribe to my monthly capsule since I’m doing all of the work for you! It will help you see what items to add in based off of what items you already have. I also come up with tons of outfit combos from each of the items in the capsule. You don’t have to purchase all of the items every single month, but you can scroll through each month’s capsule and pick and choose what items work for you based off of the looks you want and the items you already have. You can subscribe to my free monthly capsule HERE.
I hope this helps you in the process of switching over your closet! I know it can be super overwhelming, but once you have your closet switched over it saves SO much time and money! It also takes the guesswork out of getting ready each morning.
Keep me updated on your closet switch overs and send me any questions I can help you with!
xoxo,
Lindsey
