Capsule wardrobe, year-round edition.

March 5, 2016 8:25 PM

You have a capsule wardrobe for work and casual, and live in a temperate climate with only two seasons (HOT summers, cool-ish winters). How did you build it?

I love, love, love the concept of the capsule wardrobe and I've been doing it since last fall. I love having easier mornings, less clothes, and spending less money. Over time I've found that most people do a capsule for all four seasons, I live in a temperate climate, with temps averaging 54* in the winter, and 92* in summer. Our summers get upwards of 110* on super hot days. There's really no spring or fall. Another challenge is that most capsules are built for either work or casual wear. I want to do both, but I'd like to avoid defeating the purpose of a capsule wardrobe, which is to.... have less clothes.

I work in an office where jeans are OK on casual Fridays, but "business casual" office wear is expected every other day of the week. Skirts with leggings, boots, and cute tops are my staple in the wintertime. In my down time, however, I'm very casual. Not sloppy, but just... casual. Jeans, tees, and hoodies are my go-to unless I'm going out with my husband or friends.

I store all my clothes in one place - one small closet that I share with my husband, and 1/2 a dresser that we also share. The combination of living in a tiny space and essentially having only two seasons led me to combine everything naturally, so this time around I was conscious about it. I tried to crunch the numbers for essentially 2 seasons and here's what I have for the office, for the entire year (summer and winter):

6 pants, including leggings
7 sweaters, 16 tops
5 skirts
8 pairs of shoes
10 cardigans (I'm always cold!)
TOTAL: 52 items

Here's what I have for casual wear:
11 pr. shorts/jeans
20 tops
3 dresses
2 skirts
3 pr. shoes
3 hoodies
TOTAL: 42 pieces

I know it's for all year, but this doesn't seem very "minimalist" to me.

TL;DR: Most capsule wardrobes are built for all 4 seasons and for either the office or casual wear. I'd rather make 2 capsules, one for work and one for casual, but I'm confused about the numbers because I'm combining seasons. If you managed to create a year-round capsule for work and casual, how did you do it? Currently, in total, my capsule is 50 items for work and 42 for casual. Both numbers are year-round, but it still seems like a lot.

posted by onecircleaday to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

Best answer: Are you OK with smoothing out your overall style so it errs more on the dressed-up side, or is it important to have distinct weekday/weekend styles?

I've pared way down to a small capsule wardrobe (in a similar climate, maybe a bit colder in winter) by basically keeping one consistent style and incorporating layers. This means I wear a lot of dresses with/without cardigans, sweaters and tights. Nice jeans with blazers, both on weekdays and weekends. I don't switch out my wardrobe other than putting away the sweaters and tights in spring — I just wear pieces until they no longer fit my taste, then donate them and replace.

It means I have a very identifiable style (friends notice when I buy something new!) but it has dramatically simplified not only my mornings, but my overall clothing budget and decisions.

The website into-mind recently relaunched, it's a fantastic resource for building a simple wardrobe.
posted by third word on a random page at 9:24 PM on March 5, 2016 [8 favorites]

Response by poster: Are you OK with smoothing out your overall style so it errs more on the dressed-up side, or is it important to have distinct weekday/weekend styles?

This never really occurred to me. I used to work with young kids and dressed down all the time, so I never really had a dressed-up style. I never had a style in high school or college either. I never wanted to be fashion forward or trendy… then I started working in an office and had to find clothes fast and on a budget. I did OK, but I feel like what I wear is too conservative – not because it’s my style necessarily, but because I just go for what’s safe because I don’t really know what my style even is.

I don't switch out my wardrobe other than putting away the sweaters and tights in spring — I just wear pieces until they no longer fit my taste, then donate them and replace.

That sounds great, it’s exactly what I’d like to do. Do you have a ballpark # of how many pieces you have? As I posted above, I have about 90 and It. Feels. Like. So. Much. But then again for the folks who have 4 separate capsules, they theoretically have as much as 140 items total. But for a year round capsule, 90 pieces seems like too much.

The website into-mind recently relaunched, it's a fantastic resource for building a simple wardrobe.

I love into-mind and had no idea that they did a reboot, thank you so much for posting that!
posted by onecircleaday at 11:36 PM on March 5, 2016

I have 5 work shift dresses (3 black, one grey, once black&white patterned - the black ones have different necklines), a variety of black tights and colored tights, and a rainbow of cardigans (but they double as casual wear too), two black thermal tops to wear under dresses in winter, and a few jockeys slipshorts for summer to prevent chafing while wearing dresses with no tights. A few flat shoes (mostly black) and two pairs of boots. I didn't do this deliberately, but it worked out this way about 10 years ago and that is my work look. The cardigans and tights add enough color that I don't look like I'm wearing the same thing every day/week, but it's mix-and-match enough that I don't have to think when I get up in the morning (I'm not a morning person). I have a black suit jacket for interviews or important meetings that I've had for 6 years and doesn't get much wear, but it's good to have.

Out of work, it's jeans (x2), 3-4 black tops with different necklines, and the aforementioned cardigans. Date night is a fun dress (3-4) with a cardigan. I do have a collection of shoes and a couple of nice dresses that I can wear to weddings or other dress-up occasions. And some slob clothes for when I'm cleaning / hungover / otherwise not planning on seeing other human beings but want to be comfortable!

I've basically been in replace mode for a few years now - doesn't mean I don't splurge occasionally on something new and fun, but generally, this is my wardrobe! I don't know if it qualifies as a "capsule" wardrobe, but the mix-and-match element works for me.

Hope this helps!
posted by finding.perdita at 12:03 AM on March 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

You seem to have more pieces in your casual wear than you need if you only wear it 2-3 days a week. I have about the same number of pieces in my wardrobe and I wear it 7 days a week (very casual workplace).

Since I cut back the number of colors that I buy, it became much easier to mix and match things and have fewer items in my closet - for example, I have one cream/blue cardigan but it can be worn over almost every shirt I have. Most of my clothes are shades of black/grey/white/blue with the occasional red accent piece.
posted by asphericalcow at 12:34 AM on March 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

You are going to want to look for fabrics that have wonderful textures and are really good quality, and are built to last. I also would always invest in really good, smart pants that can be dressed up or down and are very, very comfortable. I really like Land's End's offerings, which is business casual and smart casual all in one. Women's 7 Day Trouser Pants.
Ponte Knit Trousers - another optimal word is 'ponte knit trousers' and it wouldn't have to be at Nordstrom, you just would want to look for that particular look and fabric.

This also may not work for you, but I'm just gonna give it as a possible suggestion - have you thought about joggers, or tapered sweatpants? I wear tapered sweatpants from the men's sections at Marshalls/TJ Maxx/Ross. They are of very good quality and tailoring, and look more hip than jeans. If you can find them in a work appropriate fabric, they'd be really awesome, there are a few articles about people making joggers work for work.
posted by yueliang at 1:45 AM on March 6, 2016

I have a lot of short sleeved shirts that work well for both work and home; tops that are worn on their own in the summer and layered under something else in the winter; and skirts/ dresses that are worn alone in summer or with tights/ sweaters in winter.

What you might want to change though depends on your goal. If you're content with how your current system is working, you don't need to adhere to any particular minimalist goal. I suspect based on your numbers that you just have a lot of clothes you really like and don't want to get rid of... 10 cardigans and 7 sweaters suggest that. :) And that's not a bad thing! Enjoy them and love them! But if you're wanting to save closet space, cut back by figuring out which ones make the most good outfits. There's no reason you NEED more than three pairs of shoes to work with your office clothes, but if you enjoy having eight, keep at it.
posted by metasarah at 5:34 AM on March 6, 2016

Response by poster: Yes I could definitely cut back on my sweaters and cardigans : ) One of the issues I have is that I'm 5'0 and very petite, but finding pants is very hard. I'm between a 0 and a 2, and pants are either too big or too small in the seat of the pants...always. I used to be able to fit into Express (the Editor line) and Banana Republic, but they've all gotten bigger in recent years, and they're too expensive for me to take them to the tailor and basically have re-made. The pants that I have now, I got them before I did the capsule wardrobe, and they have prints that don't always match what I have. But they fit. So for now I'm kind of stuck as far as pants go.

But yeah, I can definitely cut down on the number of tops and sweaters. Thank you for all the suggestions, they are great!
posted by onecircleaday at 12:26 PM on March 6, 2016

But they fit. So for now I'm kind of stuck as far as pants go.

Consider looking for something a little more forgiving. Knit pants. Jeans that are 5% spandex. Leggings. Anything where it will just accommodate the body you do have.

Also, I think the number of items that works for a specific person is influenced by a great many variables. My mom washes every single day, so I could literally wear my favorite pieces every other day and they were actually clean. I have heard stories of this getting someone accused of wearing dirty clothes because people could not imagine anyone washing that frequently. And I remember Oprah saying something like she had a lot of clothes because if she wore the same outfit on her show twice in two months, people snarked about it.

But, a lot of people wear their favorite hoodie so often that it is almost like a comic character with one outfit. Plus, I know from firsthand experience that if you have six pair of jeans and wear a different one every single day, some people will go "why do you wear the same pair of pants every single day?"

So, there may be factors like: you see the same people a lot and they will comment, or you grew up with certain ideas about what is appropriate, or you do not own a washer and dryer so you go to the laundromat once a week, thus you need to get through the entire week before washing it and rewearing it.

If you think through some of those factors and identify a sticking point, maybe you can solve it? Like hand wash some things and hang them to dry over the bathtub (if the issue is no washer and dryer, for example).

If you can find a path forward for shrinking the wardrobe further, you may need to adjust your mental relationship to clothes. One thing that might come as a surprise is that if you wear the same items constantly, you will literally "wear them to death." If a garment will last two years when you wear it once a week, you may find it comes apart at the seams after a year or so if you wear it twice a week.

I actually concluded that was a feature, not a bug, because while I hate clothes shopping and can't stand spending time and effort on getting myself together in the morning, I love fashion. So, it is an excuse to update my style more frequently, without blowing the budget and without feeling guilty about my environmental footprint.
posted by Michele in California at 1:44 PM on March 6, 2016 [2 favorites]