I mean... one person's capsule will not be the same as another person's. Like someone already listed a starting point that works for them but personally i wouldn't include a single item of theirs in my capsule. (Well, maybe good quality jeans, but I suspect my jeans would differ wildly from theirs based on the other items.)

Start by looking at your current wardrobe and identifying what you wear most/dont want to give up and build from there by seeing what gaps you have.

Just start with the things you use every day already. I cleaned anything out I wasn't excited to wear daily and I suddenly had a capsule wardrobe

Our friends over at r/capsulewardrobe would be a good place to start! I think they’ve got a decent wiki in the about section to get started.

Look at your favorite, most worn items, replace them over time with quality versions

remove things you don’t like

I'm not sure I have a capsule wardrobe tbh but I do borrow from that realm of thought.

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• Consider which clothes you own that you actually wear (and enjoy wearing) in a month and go from there.
• Keep your preferences in mind when researching, and take advice with a pinch of salt. I literally don't own a white t-shirt (a common basic), but a white cardigan-top is a frequent item in my rotation. If you strongly prefer skirts, don't bother right away trying to find the perfect pair of jeans.
• For colour, think first of which neutrals you wear most. Then think about what colours the items you actually wear are. It might even surprise you. I wear a lot of light blue, but never considered it a colour I was drawn to.
• If you'd like more colour variety, I would aim to buy colours that go together. My wardrobe is mostly black, blue, white, lilac, pink. I can easily add in most cool-toned colours.
• Think about the silhouettes you like. Do you prefer tailored pieces or flowy? Do you like slim shoes or chunky? Do you always wear a certain style trouser? Stick to that as much as you can.
• Another way is to just pick one; colour or silhouette. Lots of young women wear the "big pants, tiny top" uniform and if 90% of your wardrobe is that, colour doesn't matter as much. Similarly, having no preferred silhouette but everything you own being 3 cohesive colours is also easy.
• Style is another factor. It can be hard to work out what style you really like and there's no need to stick to one, but it's helpful to know. Making a pinterest board can be a good way of doing this; just pin all the outfits you might like to wear and you'll see a pattern. Remember the difference between thinking an outfit is cool and wanting to wear it; lots of people wear genuinely amazing outfits I still wouldn't ever wear.

Read the Curated Closet by Anushka Rees, watch some YouTube videos about dressing for your life by Hannah Louise Poston and check out Allison Bornstein AB closet organizing system for some ideas about your closet and what you might want in your intention for your closet. A color palette, some favorite silhouettes and slow additions will be the best plan of attack

As mentioned by others, start in your own closet. Make note of what you actually wear, your favorites and try to identify why.

Join Vivienne Files. She breaks down outfits (and you can scan her articles with keywords like bracelets/colors/shoes, etc)

My example: I seem to really like orange and turquoise/teal. Occasionally red. I used The Vivienne Files to see how she puts those colors together. Also use it as a reference to be more mindful with my purchases.

I highly recommend digitizing your wardrobe. It’s very time consuming, but by doing this you can also declutter clothing that you don't even want to take photos of. You may notice that you have too many clothing pieces in some categories and also declutter it as you go. In addition, you will get the real number of clothes you own. If you use it long enough, you'll also get more analytics about your wardrobe. In the app, you can create outfits, wish lists and capsule wardrobes, divide your products into categories or seasons, and even let others style you.

I use Indyx, but there is also ACloset, Whering, Stylebook and others. You can choose based on the functionality for yourself.

Step 1 is not shop beyond your closet at first. Figure out what you wear and like (check your laundry basket) and what you might wear by trying out outfits in front of a mirror. Then note: what tops, bottoms, outfits do you like? Figure out what silhouettes, colors, and vibes you like. For example, I realized that I like shirts with a collar unless they are simple shells to wear under blazers. I discovered that I like large geometric patterns but am very choosy about florals. So if I find a great piece that’s floral and the right price, I remind myself that I don’t wear a bunch of stuff that’s floral! So I put it back. On the other hand, I love stripes so I know get mileage out of striped shirts, etc . Then you can see what you need based on what lack. There’s a bunch of videos on YouTube on how to shop your closet and how to build a capsule. Think basics, neutrals, and things you can mix and match. Shoot for building ten different outfits from each mini capsule—and shop for the pieces that allow you to do that.

Color scheme, find what shapes flatter your figure , lifestyle needs and wants . Then shop your closet . Check out Pinterest.

https://www.minimizemymess.com/blog/mmm-capsule-wardrobe

This guide is super.

Start with your own clothes! No need to buy a entire brand new wardrobe- take a look at your current clothing and figure out which ones you wear the most. Do your most used tops go with your most used bottoms? Do you have a jacket or two that matches all your tops? If so, you already have a capsule wardrobe, and you can box up everything else that you don’t wear as often and keep it somewhere else in a “purgatory box”. You can always go back to the box and take out something that you end up wanting back in your wardrobe.

If your most worn items don’t necessarily all go together, that’s when you can start figuring out what items you’re missing. And when you do buy a new item, like a jacket, or another pair of pants, try to buy things that match with the rest of the ‘most worn’ items that you’ve picked out.

Great question and I’m following for answers. One thing I’ve noticed on different blogs etc is that so many capsule wardrobes contain as many items as my entire closet, so maybe I’ve sorry got one but just not full of pieces I love.

The open wardrobe app (free) has videos about capsules made by stylists.

Oh Jesus. I feel you. Something so small shouldn't be so hard right?

Step 0

First give yourself the leeway to ignore all those random ass lists, quizzes, people's private blogs, Instagram content churning nonsense that makes even the sanest of people want to join a nudist colony.

Then give yourself the leeway to fuck up a little and not make it perfect. I'm prone to analysis paralysis when I get a bug up my ass to do it the right way(TM). It's a great way to never start anything.

Step 1

Determine your average weekly to monthly needs for outfits without special occasions. Don't worry about your loafing around the house clothes/pajamas if you tend to change as soon as you get off work. It makes things too complicated. Just focus on what the public sees. Same goes for undergarments.

This may look like: 5 days of business casual for work. 2 days of casual over the weekend

Then consider your outfit changes (not pajamas) that you have during the week. Examples

• Do you work out at the gym or go on runs? How many times a week?
• Do you meet colleagues or friends for drinks after work on a regular basis? How many times a week/month?
• Do you like to wear something different for dates?
• Do you have a hobby that you engage in regularly that requires a different dress code?
• Do you need to layer up outside for the weather? What's the range of temperature extremes you'll potentially face?

You're going to end up with a list of outfits per month.

Now divide your monthly needs by your laundry cycle.

You like doing laundry every week and nothing will break your resolve? Fine. You only need a week's worth of clothing. You need some room for human error and want two weeks? Whatever speaks to your habits, you build your capsule on that.

You have a list of outfits. Example for 2 weeks.

10 outfits that are business casual, 4 outfits that are casual. 6 workout outfits, and 2 going out date/drinks outfits.

You've got a pretty good picture of what you need for a business casual work outfit? It's top+bottom, or dress. Additional layer for cold office or elevating formality. Write out the numbers. Let's say, 4 dresses, 6 bottoms and 6 tops. 10 opportunities to layer a cardigan.

Review your laundry cycle again. Be honest...how often do you rewear something before washing. You wear your pants 3 times, let a cardigan air out for 3 days before wearing it again, but never repeat a top or anything that directly hits your pits? Well, you now only need 2 bottoms, 3 layers, and 6 tops in addition to 4 dresses.

How many shoes do you need? Same rules apply.

Do this for your other outfit needs. You have now completed step 1 and have a shopping list.

Step 2

Pick a color palate. Online quizzes can sort of help a little here if you don't know your season. But you likely know what colors you're drawn to.

You don't have to limit your palate to a certain number of colors, but the more simplified the palate, the more combinations you have.

Step 3

Now raid your closet. What fits your body, your list and your colors? Fill the ranks with what you already own.

Consider what you own that you often wish wasn't in the laundry. The black shirt that goes with everything. Give yourself permission to update the shopping list with the same thing a couple of times. If you like it, let it be a uniform.

Step 4

You now have a shopping list. Hopefully much shorter now. Buy your stuff.

I’d also go watch Hannah Louise Poston‘s videos on levels or formality and how to make a wardrobe that actually aligns with your life before you start doing any shopping.

Fundamentally a beautiful and functional capsule is about getting crystal clear on your actual needs and what you really love and feel good in — less about shopping.

The curated closet by Anushka Rees might help … there is also a workbook

Pull out all your fall and transitional clothes and lay them out. See how they mix and match and what’s missing. Make sure new pieces are intentional pulling you towards an overall look you are aiming towards

Here is the strategy I used. I have had a ton of fun learning about my own style; I hope this is a fun project for you too.

Shop your closet first, making up complete outfits you enjoy wearing now. If that's not enough outfits for the current season of what you need (work, weekend, out, events, sports, etc) create a few more sets that are earmarked for future retirement. (Different colored hangers or sections of your closet are good for this. ) Challenge yourself to wear as much of your stuff as possible to help you decide what feels like 'you' and what is not going to make the cut.

Meanwhile, plan out your next few purchases by collecting a folder of looks you aspire to add to your closet, including hair color, haircut, makeup, shoes, bags/ totes, jewelry, etc. This helped me be very intentional and to avoid the trap of impulsive shopping or "it's on sale" thinking.

I found my style evolved a bit from what I thought I wanted to where it is now. Leave yourself room to learn. (Don't buy a lot of new poeces all at once- this is a process!) I really prefer to hang my clothes in complete outfits, often following the template of bottom, tank and 3rd piece for WFH/ weekend, and pant, shirt and jacket/ cardigan for work. My reason for adopting a 2 season capsule was to address a large weight loss (and the need to replace everything except socks) and also to make getting dressed easy. Know your reason, that helps. My shipping requirements as a thin person are wildly different now, where before my idea of 'fit' was "Does it do up? Yes, it fits." Now I am learning the importance of proper fit and that having the right length is the better judge of most pieces, as a tailor can make adjustments. This is helpful if you're a thrifter- buy brands you already know you like and when in doubt buy the next size up and plan for alterations to perfect the fit.

To my surprise, some of my very carefully chosen sets would still be pristine on the hanger at the end of every 2 week cycle. I learned that I will 100% avoid choosing anything that does not have a very soft feel against the skin on my upper half. I might love the idea of a crisp blue buttoned shirt, or a linen v-neck tunic, but they are going to live their lives on the hanger while I reach for cotton or washable silk tanks, cashmere cardigans, and cozy hoodies. My most versatile pieces are my cardigans, since I wear them every day.

Enjoy the process and take as much time with it as you like. This will also spread out the shopping a bit so you can catch sales for items for next year.

The Vivian Files!

The Community Info on this sub has some good references.

Thank you for sharing this insight, I have been struggling to understand what is a capsule wardrobe is or how to navigate. This definitely has given me a better insight on how I was feeling especially taking trendy items and realizing it’s just not for me.

It also took me a really long time to figure out what I wanted out of my wardrobe, and I'm still probably never going to completely get there in the end. I think because life is life, you are just always evolving and learning new things, getting rid of old ideas and refreshing your perspective etc. But I do think over time there are some fundamental lessons to be learned as well.

Here's some of my takeaways:

1. You wear your clothes surprisingly little, especially if you have a high inventory in a certain category. Adding an item means taking away wears from other items you would have used instead.

2. Don't get too caught up in aesthetics. If you go too far down the rabbit hole you will never be satisfied, and always be searching for the next best thing or what will "complete" your wardrobe. It will never be complete, there is always something better if you go looking for it. If you stop looking, you will be more content. Also, aesthetics are just another micro trend farm.

3. Better to buy new and return it than buy secondhand and be stuck with it. And when you buy new, don't keep it if it has any flaws, even minor. "Making it work" never works, it always gets decluttered.

thanks. very good points!!

- I'll add one thought that I've learned over the years. Alterations. Most of us don't have bodies that align perfectly with the clothes we want to wear. Get the skirt hemmed, the sleeves taken up, the waist in or out. etc

Probably depends on the job but if I find pants I like then they become what I focus my wardrobe around because pants are so damn hard to find a perfect fit for. It’s not that I want a capsule wardrobe but I kind of grew one for work because I hate having to decide and I hate having too many choices. This is how I keep it simple:

I basically rotate black/navy/grey/olive pants and then my top is usually a neutral color tank/top and a cardigan. I have a lot of cardigans (these are great for thrift finds) because I used to be a teacher so that why that’s easy for me. And I mostly got rid of any that won’t fit in the pants color palate.

I still have a lot of clothes but this makes it easier to choose a “work uniform” daily.

Try r/capsulewardrobe - there are lots of tips there!

Step one: every day, try on three of your existing shirts that you think might be ok in your new job.

If there is anything about the shirt you don’t like - it itches, it’s too tight, the color isn’t great on you - put it in a bag to leave your house. Where it goes is up to you. Might be the trash, might be a donation like a DV shelter or thrift store, might go to a friend. Does not matter as long as it doesn’t stay in your home after your first day of the new job.

IF, and only if, you have tried on 15 shirts and not a single one passes muster, then you can take stock of what you DO want. This color but that fit. This fabric but never these colors.

Once you know what YOU want, then you have my permission to buy THREE shirts. Take at least three pairs of your work pants with you to the store so you will know they fit well TOGETHER. Yes, it will be a pain in the ass to change your pants that many time. But LESS of a pain in the ass than filling your closet with clothes that are not quite right.

I basically wear only professional looking jumpsuits and dressed. One piece of clothing daily is so much easier than finding tops and bottoms.

I did this once and I’ve been chasing the high ever since. I feel like my two biggest tips are: 1) don’t try to pare down everything you own, build your capsule from what you own and stick everything else in bins, out of sight for now. That may mean limiting yourself to X number of items. There was a blog back in the day where the woman did 4 seasonal capsules of 33 items each season. I could never sort DOWN to 33, but if I mentally put everything in storage and took OUT 33 coordinating items, it becomes much easier. Like packing for a trip. 

2. Use some sort of visual planner to help you pick which items to use. Everything should go with everything as much as possible, which means you don’t have to make any decisions later on. Don’t throw in a wildcard, stick to the colors you wear most often and things that are relatively non-descript so you can repeat them as much as you want. For example: A blue button down is easier to repeat than an orange plaid flannel shirt. Nobody will look twice at the blue shirt even if you wear it on Monday and Thursday the same week.

 

I have TONS of clothes also. I have gotten rid of quite a few things but what helps me is creating mini capsules out of what I have.

Imagine going on a two week trip but only bring able to pack in a 7 day carry on.

Live in that capsule for a month. Put away or simply don’t wear your other clothes. You will begin to see what is comfortable for you. What types of items you like to wear. And you can start getting rid of items that are similar or that you wouldn’t wear over the other similar one.

I was forced into this because I travel for work and lived with the same outfits for shoot 3 ish months and I realized that at home I truly had decision fatigue. I came back home and got rid of soooooo much.

I highly recommend this video. It sounds like you don't know what you need and to what extent, so it will be crucial to figure out how much and what type of clothing you need for your lifestyle. There's no magic list of must-haves as it largely depends on your preferences, but having a rough idea of ​​the number of clothing types and formality levels will help you make one. After creating it, it is worth first focusing on what you already have and try to find the pieces on the list in your own wardrobe, and only then fill the gaps with purchases.

If necessary, you can ask more questions, I will try to answer 😊

Use Indyx to start ! Document everything, sort into files that don't fit but need a replacement and stuff that you only hardly worn. You'll have a direction on where your wardrobe gaps are, if any. You might not really even need to shop but I always prefer shopping second hand to Amazon.

I second what others are saying. Try a wardrobe management app to get a better feel for how you're currently dressing. Once you know what you actually wear day to day its a much better starting point to make decisions!

I would try the Vivienne files she does step by step capsule wardrobe advice in a variety of color palettes. Otherwise I might suggest looking for an influencer( I like you tubers since I like longer form videos) that have a similar style and values to yours and hopefully they have advice about where to find the items you are looking for.

I felt the same way when I decided to make a capsule wardrobe two years ago. Still working on the style part but I took a lot of online quizzes to figure out I fit into “classic style”.

• I took everything out of my closet and sectioned things by how often I wore them (rough guesstimate) to see what I gravitated toward that I already owned.
• I created a mood board on Pinterest for combined seasons - spring/summer and fall/winter and figured out color palettes. For me I stuck to black, cream, navy with compliments of camel, sage and pale pink.
• I loosely followed some Cladwell capsule checklists to see what pieces I could add.
  • Because of my previous office role I could only wear long pants for safety but in my new role I had more freedom to wear skirts and dresses.
• Build out the basics. Start with a pair of blue jeans and a pair of black jeans, some classic colored tshirts.

Think about what you do on a daily basis. Do you work remotely or in office? Do you meet with friends for drinks? Do you workout? All of these can influence what your personal capsule looks like because it is definitely not one size fits all!

The Vivienne Files website has a number of creative ways to start a capsule wardrobe - start with an art piece that moves you, or a scarf you adore. She includes a number of sources for clothing as well.

You can also start with your favorite clothes you wear the most, they should be indicative of your style and what you like to wear and you can build from that.

I recommend starting exploring with just seeing what outfits in your current wardrobe you like wearing the most and make you feel best. Then start planning around that.

For me part of getting over the overwhelm was realising that this is a slow project. For me at least it was not going to be complete in a year. It's an iterative process of refining what I have.

There were a few ways I tackled this problem:

• I broke up my wardrobe into seasonal clothes & packed away everything not in that season.
• at the start of each season I went through all my items & donated anything I no longer wanted
• during the season I kept an eye on what I liked wearing and created a Pinterest board of a "wish list" of clothes I was craving/colour combinations I loved etc
• I did a lot of reading about colour pallettes, styles, etc. All of which I now ignore, but it has given me a vocab for my searches.
• at the end of each season I went back over all those clothes and donated anything I didn't wear.

Due to being a broke student in the middle of a lockdown I managed to get through nearly a full year before I could afford to buy anything/was in a shop, and I feel in a much better position to buy things now - I'm upgrading/replacing what I own with a better idea of what I like to wear. Buying high quality clothes for a capsule is expensive, doing it slowly is also helping keep me in budget.

Things I found helpful:

• Use Less - she has both a YouTube channel and Instagram
• Some form of seasonal colour palette quiz
• The style quiz on the vetta website (they are totally trying to sell you stuff but it helped me a little)

Good luck!

You’ve put in some serious work. In addition, you can try creating a color capsule for your wardrobe - just for fun. Who knows, it might even help you with something. I actually did it using Picture to Palette on colorwise.me - it was really interesting!

What is SCA ?

That is so visually pleasing! Love it. What do your capsules contain?

Well done! That's a huge accomplishment.