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This post contains affiliate links. 

You had 30 minutes to get ready.

You’re now standing in your closet, 5 minutes before you need to leave, with no idea what to wear.

Your husband is dressed and watching TV on the couch.

Does this sound familiar? I’ve been there all too often. My husband likes to say if I have 30 minutes or 10 minutes to get ready, I’ll still be ready at the same time😂

Enter the solution to your problem: a capsule wardrobe.

What Is A Capsule Wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a small collection of well-loved clothes that changes with the seasons. You maintain a base wardrobe (undergarments, outerwear, lounge and workout clothes, etc.), but your capsule wardrobe of shoes, pants and tops changes a few times a year.

The idea is that at any moment, you should be able to grab a top and a bottom from your capsule wardrobe and feel like a rockstar. It will take you all of 30 seconds to decide what to wear.

Sound good?

Excellent. Let’s continue.

Why Start A Capsule Wardrobe?

You need a capsule wardrobe if any of the following apply to you:

• You often find yourself staring into your closet wondering what to wear
• When getting ready to go out, you create a pile of rejects every.single.time.
• You don’t like spending 193483 minutes getting dressed.
• You have a lot of clothes but seem to wear the same 3 shirts (guilty)
• You find things in your closet that you’ve never actually worn

Did you nod your head to most of those bullet points? Hi. Welcome. We’re all friends here.

Is this capsule wardrobe starting to sound like a good idea? Let’s talk about how to make it happen.

How To Start Your Capsule Wardrobe

First, you need a formula. You don’t get to keep everything in your closet, otherwise this wouldn’t solve any of your problems. Here’s a basic guideline for most capsule wardrobes:

I know. You’re already thinking, “Seven tops?!”

But if you really think about it, you know you have your go-to’s that you know you can grab without a second thought. That’s what we’re aiming for here.

Step 1. Go through what you have

Before you even start thinking about what tops and pants to pick, go through your closet and decide what you don’t need. This is hard to do, because what if you need that one top in case you had a themed party you had to go to? I’ll come back to this later. Here are some general rules of what to get rid of:

• Anything you haven’t worn in a year
• Anything that doesn’t fit correctly
• Anything you wouldn’t put on today
• Anything that doesn’t make you feel good.

I’ll pull a page from the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (affiliate link).

If you hold it up in front of you and it doesn’t bring you immediate joy, it’s got to go.

I know that sounds silly, but when I pick up my favorite pair of skinny jeans, I immediately feel good because I know they fit me well. Your capsule wardrobe items will make you feel this kind of way.

For the handful of things you just can’t part with, just move them to another room or another section of your closet. Once you see that months go by without touching them, you’ll be ready to let them go. (Or, you’ll find you actually really do wear them!)

Step 2. Build your capsule

Doing one category at a time is the easiest thing to do. Pull out all of the tosps you kept after going through your closet and lay them out on your bed. Go with your instinct here- you know which tops you wear the most. Think about these things

• Does this fit me right now?
• Does this go with my lifestyle right now?
• Does this pair with other items in my wardrobe?

Here’s an example: I had a sparkly black top that I just knew would be perfect with heels for a New Years Eve party. I saw myself with a glass of champagne in one hand and a party hat atop my curly hair. Let’s be realistic. I want to wear this item for one specific event, with a certain pair of shoes, at a certain type of party. Nope. It’s got to go.

Pick out your favorite seven tops, four pants and five pairs of shoes. This doesn’t have to be exact, by the way. The wardrobe capsule police will not come to your house and take your extra items. The idea is that you pick out items that you would throw on and go. If you have a few (or a lot) of things you just can’t part with, you can start by making your capsule wardrobe a section of your closet.  You know if you grab from that area, you’ll love what I put on. This is a great way to ease into it if you’re not ready to do a full  clean sweep.

Step 3. Fill in the gaps

A word to the wise- don’t do this right away. Try to go with what you have and see if you really have a need to add more. If you find you’re really missing things, write down what you need t ocomplete your capsule on a post-it  (for example, new brown riding boots, a plaid top, and some basic tees). Stick it on a wall in your closet, or tuck it in your wallet. When you go shopping, you know you have to buy something only if it’s on the list. You can save a lot of money by focusing on what you need instead of what looked good while shopping that day.

By creating a capsule wardrobe, you’ll find that you can get ready quickly, feel good, and love what you put on! The days of standing in your closet with the deer-in-the-headlights look are so over.

Hop on over to your closet and get capsuling!

Have y’all tried a capsule wardrobe before? Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading,