After many mornings of pulling things out my wardrobe only to be left feeling like I had nothing to wear I knew I had to take action. Rather than buying more clothes, to have something to wear or to go with the items I had that didn’t really match anything else I decided to create a more cohesive wardrobe. I was really inspired by some of the accounts I follow on Instagram such as, Anna @somethingwhite, who shares gorgeous images of her capsule wardrobe.
The phrase capsule wardrobe was first coined by a boutique owner in London called Susie Faux in the 1970’s. She used the term to refer to a collection of classic essential items that would never go out of style.
I decided to take elements from the capsule wardrobe but felt that cutting my wardrobe down to just a few pieces might feel a little extreme. Perhaps further down the line I’ll change my mind but for now I’m happy with just making it more cohesive. I thought I’d share some of what I learned during the process.
Choose a colour scheme
This is definitely one of the key factors in creating a more cohesive wardrobe as it helps to ensure that different pieces work well together. Take some time to consider your personal style, what you feel good in, which colours suit you and what you enjoy wearing.
Before I decided what clothes to get rid of, I decided to think about what I wanted my wardrobe to look like. I started by looking on Pinterest for some inspiration and ideas for creating a capsule wardrobe. This was when I realised that I would probably find cutting my wardrobe down to 20 pieces or less really difficult. For example, I love jumpers and wear them a lot especially during the winter – the thought of only having a couple to choose from filled me with dread and I knew I would be gutted to get rid of most of the ones I have. Instead, I’ve chosen a colour palette for my wardrobe to ensure that everything goes well together. My main colours are black, white, grey and pink. There are still a few items that aren’t these colours that have stayed though, but they do still work with a few other things that I already have.
Have a clear out
This is can be pretty tough, especially if like me you’re a bit of a clothes hoarder. I’m currently in the process of writing another post (which will be up next week!) where I’ll share my tip on how to have a proper clear out.
Once I’d decided on a colour palette the next step was to clear out all of the clothes that didn’t work together, things I never wore and items that were old and past their best. Anything that was still wearable that I choose to get rid of went into charity bags and a few things went onto Depop so that those pieces can be loved by someone else.
My plan is now to try and buy less and invest in better quality pieces when I do decide to add to my wardrobe.
Make sure everything works well together
Once I’d decided on the items that I wanted to keep, I made sure that they went with other items in my wardrobe. To this I borrowed a technique used in creating capsule wardrobes where you create sections known as modules. I would choose one outerwear item, two bottoms and three tops that would all work together, this would create one module with 6-12 outfits. I found this technique was great for identifying items that I’d held onto that didn’t work with anything else I kept. It also helped me to see easily which items from one module could work in another.
Fill in any gaps
When you start to create sections of clothing and different looks, you might notice some gaps appearing. Maybe your blue jeans were really worn and you decided to put them out or you realise that you’d like to add another skirt that would work well with multiple outfits. Just remember when buying new outfits that they should work with multiple items in wardrobe and should be within your colour palette. If you’re looking for a new summer dress then check out my recent post, (The perfect floral print dress?) and find out why I think this one should be added to your wardrobe.
I decided to add a pair of white jeans to my wardrobe as I felt that they would work for lots of different outfits. I’m so glad that I decided to add these rather than just a pair of blue jeans as I feel they’re a lot more versatile.
Since creating a more cohesive wardrobe I’ve found that selecting outfits in the morning becomes much quicker. Everything goes well together and I’m much happier with my wardrobe now!
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Have you tried creating a more cohesive or capsule wardrobe?