Now that it is the New Year, I have officially completed my 2nd capsule wardrobe. With my fall capsule, I did things a little bit differently than the first time. Every time I create a capsule, I want to be learning and changing. You can use what I learn to create your own capsule wardrobe.
Changed My Total Number Of Items
For my fall capsule I decided to lower the number of items from 36 to 33. I did this to give myself a bit of a challenge without restricting myself too much by adding shoes and accessories into the mix. With each capsule I like to challenge myself a little bit more.
For my winter capsule, I included outerwear and in spring I will include shoes in my capsule count to really push myself.
You might be thinking, why would she want to make this whole capsule thing harder. The reason is that the more restrictions I put on the capsule, the more I need to be thoughtful about what I add into it. This process makes me think analytically about each piece I am adding, and what I actually see myself wearing.
Switched Out Items I Wasn’t Wearing
About halfway through my capsule I decided to take out anything I didn’t think I would wear and replaced it with different items. I did this because I figured if I hadn’t worn it I probably wouldn’t. By replacing the unworn item with a new piece, I am able to really see what works best in each season. However, if something gets bumped out of the capsule for multiple seasons I need to think about why it’s not working in my closet.
This system has worked pretty well. In my fall capsule there were still a few pieces in my wardrobe that I wasn’t reaching for, but definitely fewer than if I had left those original pieces in the closet. This process is about seeing what I actually wear as opposed to me choosing to keep pieces because they are pretty to look at or that they would be great for my fantasy self.
Kept A Clothes Log
For this capsule I decided to keep a tally of how many times I wore each item. This was really handy for a few reasons.
One, I wanted to see what my most worn items were (spoiler alert, they were all jeans), as well as showing me what just sat in my closet the whole time.
Second, I will be hanging on to this list for my next fall capsule to see what worked and what didn’t within my wardrobe for that season.
Finally, it’s really cool to see how many times you are wearing pieces in a three-month period. This really puts into perspective how many clothes you really need. I only had 33 pieces in my capsule, and most times that I wore one item was 12 times which would equal out to wearing it once per week. On the other hand there were pieces in my closet that I didn’t reach for at all. This allows me to look at why I wore certain pieces a ton versus the pieces I didn’t wear at all.
Overall with this fall capsule I learned that 33 pieces is more than enough for a three-month period, that I love re-wearing my favorite pieces, and learning what you wear takes time and practice.
Do you wear the same pieces over and over again in your wardrobe? What’s your go to clothing item? Let me know in the comments below!
Want to see how my first capsule compared? Make sure to read all about how I created my summer capsule and what I learned from it. If you want even more capsule goodness, make sure you check out how I created my winter capsule!