You might have heard of the concept of a capsule wardrobe. It has been around for some time.
The term was introduced for the first time in the 1970s by Susie Faux. She was always surrounded by high-quality fashion, reckoning that both her parents and grandparents were tailors for women’s clothing. Because of this, she saw how well-fitted clothing can make you beautiful and confident. In 1973 Susie Faux opened her own boutique called “wardrobe”. Her mission was to help women create style and develop confidence. She built a reputation for herself as a minimalist. In 1980, Susie wrote her first book “wardrobe: develop your style and confidence” where she introduced the concept of the capsule wardrobe and defined the concept further.
What is a capsule wardrobe?
The idea of a capsule wardrobe is that you own fewer clothing items that you wear more often. The items in your wardrobe are of higher quality and have timeless designs. To be prepared for every season you can substitute these items with seasonal pieces. Susie Faux argued that wearing these high-quality, well-fitted pieces makes you look and feel confident.
To successfully create a capsule wardrobe the idea is to bring back the items in your closet to roughly 50 pieces (excluding underwear!).
Capsule wardrobe: Sustainability
A capsule wardrobe is a solution for a sustainable wardrobe and has many benefits. The items in your closet are of high quality and have timeless designs, which means that the clothes can be worn for years. This way you avoid fast fashion, and its trends and you reduce the number of clothes that end up in landfills.
Other benefits
Next to the sustainable benefit, there are also other benefits. First, with a smaller closet, you save yourself so much time choosing an outfit. With a capsule wardrobe, you know that all clothes fit together so finding an outfit is not a problem!
Moreover, you also save yourself quite some money. You do not follow the fast fashion trends anymore so you don’t have to buy new clothes every few months. You do have to invest in some high-quality pieces, however, they will last for years so, in the long run, you save money with a capsule wardrobe.
Capsule wardrobe: how to?
Capsule wardrobe: how to?The big question is how do you create a capsule wardrobe?
The first step is to get a nice overview of all the items that you already own. Assess all the items and see what you love to wear, and which pieces are only there to catch dust. See what colors, patterns, and fabrics you love to wear and fit you beautifully.
After the first step, you can move on to planning your capsule wardrobe. How many items do you want to have in your capsule? This can be whatever you want, it does not have to be exactly 50. For the clothes themselves, choose whatever YOU like. The color scheme for a capsule wardrobe is usually very basic neutral colors such as white, beige, black, gray, and navy, however, you can add some extra colors for diversity. With a capsule wardrobe, you also want to keep your body type in mind, so you can find clothing that fits your silhouette.
Now it is time to sort out your whole closet and see which pieces you no longer want, but DO NOT throw them away. Rather give them to one of your friends or family members, sell them, or donate them to charity. If everything went okay, you now have a closet left with items that you love and want to keep. This is the moment where you can find some extra basics of high quality to add to your capsule. Make sure they have a timeless design and are not just trending. Hopefully, you will end up with a lovely wardrobe, that you can enjoy for years to come.
