06.13.2016

0800

Zero Waste Closet = 30 Piece Capsule Wardrobe

So on my journey of living a Zero Waste life, I had to audit my closet. For many reasons, I noticed that I didn’t wear all of the close I owned. I knew I needed a more efficient system to hold myself accountable.

I discovered the concept of a Capsule Wardrobe and I was fascinated by it. The concept of a Capsule Wardrobe has been around for awhile and I’m pretty late to the game, but I was hooked. However, to get my closet to the point of a “Capsule Wardrobe” was going to take a lot of work and analysis. The first step I took was taking individual pictures of each item I owned. Yep, I spent about two days taking pictures, cropping them and then organizing them by category (ie. Tops, Bottoms, Intimates, Shoes, etc.). From there, I made subcategories such as “Tops- Jacket 1”, “Shoes- Heels 1”, etc.  As I was categorizing these clothes I did run into one problem,  and that was the fact that I have workout clothes as well as other sport clothes and I didn’t know how to fit those into this whole new system.

When I researched on what other people created when they made their capsule wardrobes, I didn’t see workout clothes included in their systems. For me, my capsule wardrobe was to be a collection  of clothes with a color scheme, style of clothing as well as the fact that all of the tops and bottoms could be mixed and matched to one another effortlessly. I ended up not including my intimates (you can’t mix and match a robe, unless you want to be THAT GUY), and I left off my running, snowboarding and surfing gear. Although I left those sport categories off, I did audit those clothes and donated quite a few pieces from each.

I started creating an outline of how I wanted to narrow down my scope of my wardrobe by defining my lifestyle, my color scheme (which included major colors, minor colors and accent colors). For me, there was a huge difference in viewing my clothes on a computer screen than in real life. There was a level of accountability when I viewed my clothes on my computer. I mean it was all there; as if my closet barfed all over my computer screen.  I was able to compare the color scheme, style and even seasonal wear of my clothes when I saw all of them side by side.

After my capsule wardrobe was created, it forced me to pay attention to the care I put forth for my clothes. I always took care of the items I owned, but knowing I had a very limited amount of clothes, it made me more aware of my limitations in clothing choices now. For example, I own two short sleeve shirts, one dark and one light, and if I were to stain the light shirt, I’d definitely have to go thrift shopping after. Eventually I started picking out “Go To Outfits” for work, casual social events and even dressy events. With a limited amount of clothes, that wasn’t hard to get done.

There are quite a few helpful outlines floating out there on the internet, but this is the one I used for the beginning of my journey Capsule Planner by Un-Fancy. I have to admit that after I put this together, my morning and evening routines became simpler and quicker. I’ve enjoyed cleaning up and putting away clothes and I enjoy doing laundry more. I actually dislike doing laundry the most out of all the possible housework tasks, mostly because it takes so much time to get it done, and I haven’t figured out how to cut down time during the process- so I just deal with it. Some people can wear every piece of clothing they own and utilize them through their lives. I am not one of those people. Perhaps I favor certain pieces more than others, perhaps I simply have held onto a piece for so long because I’ve had it for so long and it evokes a special memory for me, either way, it only adds up to clutter in my life.

The purpose of my blog is to create effective and efficient life hacks so that daily life can be simpler and less stressful. I’m continuing to learn and grow and the small and simple life hacks I stumble upon, I hope to bring to you. If you’re thinking of doing a capsule wardrobe, you might want to first take pictures of every piece of clothing item. I stuck a push-pin to my wall and hung clothing pieces on a hanger and then took pictures of each. It’s a simple set up but looking at your clothing pieces hung up verses laying on the floor creates a more realistic image for your clothes. From there, start categorizing your clothing pieces and then naming them specifically so they group together easily on the computer screen. Admittedly, it’s a bit of work to get this project started but it’s well worth it in the end. And once you do this once- you really don’t have to do this project again. So I hope this helps whoever might be thinking of creating a capsule wardrobe.

This is my new 30 Piece Capsule Wardrobe:

Accessories:
1 bracelet
1 pair of earrings
1 necklace
1 pair of sunglasses
1 purse
1 scarf

Tops:
1 gown
2 jackets
1 dressy top
2 long sleeves
2 short sleeves
3 blouses
2 sweaters
2 tank tops

Bottoms:
2 pairs of jeans
1 pair of shorts
1 skirt

Footwear:
2 pairs of boots
2 heels
1 pair of house slippers

Also, check out these printable checklists from MintLife Blog to help with the decuttering process, “How to Get Rid of Sentimental Clutter and Spend More Intentionally“.