Cleaning out a closet is always the most therapeutic thing in my opinion. Spring cleaning, the switch between seasons, it’s always nice to take stock of what you have, find items you forgot about and just have that closet-sorting-and-try-on-Carrie-from-Sex-and-the-City-moment. Now let me tell you, downsizing a wardrobe with the idea of a capsule wardrobe in mind is less that and more like that scene from Devil Wears Prada where Anne Hathaway’s character gets chastised for her cerulean sweater except instead of feeling like one character, you feel like all of them. Picky like Miranda (read Meryl Streep), creative like Nigel (the soul of the movie), dramatic like the girl with the two belts and panicked like Andy.
The backstory
Capsule wardrobes have always been fascinating to me. And the people who have them, even more so. I mean how do you live with so little clothing??? Let’s backtrack a little – someone who had 400+ items in their closet (🙋) couldn’t imagine that life. And recently instead of bringing me joy (I blame Marie Kondo), having so many things started bringing me absolute dread. I didn’t get it at first. How does that kind of change happen? Does it happen overnight? Do you start to slowly not like more and more things in your closet? Putting on your own clothes and feeling somewhat imposter-like is not a vibe. Then one day I awoke (after several therapy sessions) to the uncomfortable truth that I had been using clothes and different aesthetics as a crutch for the past 10 years to make up for my lack of knowing who I was and the crippling social anxiety I used to have. Being a chameleon was way easier than unpacking all that shit.
Now. Using a capsule wardrobe guide after that realisation can totally be seen as kind of extreme. It’s also not something everyone needs. I mean if you start reading advice on how to make a capsule wardrobe, you’ll find crazy talk like you need to cut down to 60 items total or only have 3 pairs of shoes or narrow down to having only two colours. But sometimes I think we’re held back by the amount of stuff we have and we don’t even realise the energy these physical things take from us because we think they’re important. Really taking inventory of what you have and whether it’s important to you can be super beneficial because sometimes you have to have shifts from the outside in.
The action
So that was the ultimate goal: downsize the wardrobe to less than 100 clothing items. And oh my god. It was so fucking hard. This is when we return to that Devil Wears Prada moment. I was in a vicious cycle where I would start off feeling confident and being picky about what I actually need and what I don’t. I’d have these bursts of creativity where I’d think of all the new outfits I could make. And then I would start spiralling. Bring on the drama: which almost identical white button up do I keep? (they’re so different) do I keep this black sweater with a white graphic or a white sweater with a black graphic? From here, I was either able to bounce back or spiral further into an abyss of panic and have to physically take myself out of the room and not think about or look at clothes for a good 20 minutes.
The thing with clothes I think is that there are so many items tied to specific memories, you know? You find yourself in a situation where something tugs at your heartstrings and you think “oh what’s one item to keep for the sake of nostalgia?” and quickly that one item turns into 200+ items of memorabilia you will probably never wear.
There’s also the fear of regret of getting rid of something: what if you want to wear it again, what if one day you wake up and wish you had this item, what if this is going to be the hottest trend next year? So a good question I found to guide you through sorting a closet is “Is there someone out there that could use and be grateful for this item more than you?”
Getting rid of clothes that no longer serve you but in retrospect are mad cute is the hardest part but if you think about someone else enjoying the item to the extent you did once, it makes it better. At least a little.
So after 7 hours of back and forth, I finally did it. Now I’m clearly no capsule wardrobe epitome. I left out my shoes, bags and hats from the chopping block. So 103 items of clothing is what I have left and honestly, the breath of fresh air I was able to take after seeing everything I own fit on one 7 foot Z-rail rack and not stuffed in random drawers and overflowing all the closets in my apartment was so fucking nice. Now I’m in a place where I know that no matter what items I put on, I’ll actually feel like myself.
The Ultimate Cheat Sheet
Now that I’ve painted you a picture of what downsizing a wardrobe looked like for me, let’s get to the real stuff. Here are some hot tips (that I wish I knew) when downsizing:
★ Have an entire free day with no other meetings or work that needs to get done asap
★ Do a meditation (I’d recommend one that’s specific to get rid of stress or to focus)
★ Remind yourself that this process will be uncomfortable at times but you can do it – focus on your breath when things get tough
★ Categorise your clothes and start with one category (ie outerwear, tops, bottoms – you can even get specific and do comfy bottoms versus lux bottoms / short bottoms versus long bottoms / etc)
★ When picking an item, try to remember the last time you wore it – if it’s been too long, ask yourself “Is there someone out there that could use and be grateful for this item more than you?”
★ Keep repeating this until you feel like you’re in a place where all your clothing makes you happy, comfortable and better showcase who you are
Bonus:
★ If two items look-alike/are very similar – do a poll with friends on which one you should keep
★ Do 20 minutes on/20 minutes off – step outside, drink some water, stretch, watch a short episode show like Schitt’s Creek, New Girl, Friends or The Office
★ Don’t burn out!
★ Play some music – upbeat in the beginning to get you going and then at about halfway, slow down the tempo to not get overwhelmed
★ Donate/sell/host a clothing swap with the clothes that you’re getting rid of (sometimes having a friend take an item I had makes me feel better because it’s almost like it’s staying in the family)
★ Have fun – try stuff on, FaceTime a friend, post-IG stories to share with your community and remember - they’re just things, you will have a lifetime of things that is yet to come
What are your opinions on capsule wardrobes? Would you consider creating one? Do you hold on to clothing that reminds you of certain times in your life? Do you relate to having less or more than 100 items of clothing? Drop a comment below!
Thanks so much for reading and I hope this shed some light on your own relationship with clothes~
Until next time,
Be present in the now and find a better home for one item from your closet~
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