“Um… what’s a ‘capsule wardrobe’?” is a question that I was asking six months ago when a friend posted an article on social media.  I clicked the link, read some, clicked another link, read some more.

Suddenly, I was hooked.  The concept seemed so simple, yet brilliant.

While every capsule wardrober has their own rules or tips they follow, the concept of a capsule wardrobe is this: you have a selection of clothing pieces chosen by you (typically somewhere between 30 and 50, but what each person counts as a ‘clothing piece’ varies), and you interchange those pieces to create all your different outfits during a set period of time (say, three months).

Maybe a better way to boil it down is to say: less is more.

Or how about: simplify.

But it’s more than that.  Especially because for a sometime-fashion-challenged, sometime-serial-shopper, always-purging, sorta-plus-sized gal like me, it was not “simple” to create my first capsule wardrobe.  It took a lot of thought and planning.

For me, the main goals of the wardrobe capsule are:

1. Look and feel stylish and trendy in my clothes.
2. Reduce the amount of clothes / shoes / accessories that I buy, as well as the amount I discard.
3. Appreciate what I have.

That’s it.

Additional Resources

For more information about capsule wardrobes, check out these links:

• Un-Fancy.com – My absolute favorite writer on the topic, and the woman who popularized the concept.  She provides all kinds of resources for others trying to start a capsule wardrobe.
• How to Create a Capsule Wardrobe – The authors of this article mention the Un-Fancy author, because she’s a friggin’ genius.  But they also have a few helpful tips and fun .gifs that show how you can change an outfit from one look to another.
• Project 333 – Another “how to” article that includes example lists.