What is a capsule wardrobe and why would I want one?

 A capsule wardrobe is a term that was first coined in the 1970’s. The idea of a capsule wardrobe is much in line with the ‘slow fashion’ and the ‘minimalistic’ movements. In fact, it refers to a wardrobe that takes forethought in stocking your closet. Instead of stuffing your closet full of things you may only wear once or twice, you take time to solidify in your mind the things you want. To ask yourself what are the classic and basic pieces you want and need. So in leu of a garment taking room in your closet for a few years before throwing it away, it will be the pieces that are treasured for years. The average capsule wardrobe has between 25-75 pieces that focus on quality and timelessness over the microtrends that have us spending money and getting very little use out of the item we buy.

 There are a number of reasons people lean towards capsule wardrobes but primarily they are due to lifestyle or moral and ethical reasons.

 The lifestyle choice of simplicity and decluttered or more commonly known as ‘minimalistic’ has a lot going for it! It is acknowledging that a clean organized space gives room for the things that really matter. If this lifestyle of less chaos is appealing to you, then a capsule wardrobe may be just the ticket!

The moral and ethical dilemma facing our closets today is the idea of “fast fashion” or fashion that is made to only last a few wears because the producer expects you to have bought something new to replace it quickly with a new trend. Thus, the quality and price are both extremely low. You will see this a lot of large box shops. The price is low but so is the quality, thus having a quick turnaround into the rubbish bin while you are out spending your money on the next item. Not only are people becoming more aware of the pollution fast fashion causes our environment from the amount of textile waste left in our dumps to decompose and leak our chemicals - information about human enslavement that occurs in the fashion industry is becoming more widely known. There is a movement called #whomademyclothes that is dedicated to bringing to light the human cost of the fast fashion industry.

The easiest way to make our clothes cheap is to not pay or pay poorly the ones who made it.

 By buying into the idea that the people who make our clothes are important, you are one step closer to considering quality over quantity and a capsule wardrobe may interest you!

 A capsule wardrobe usually consists of the things that do not go out of style. They can be paired and styled through jewelry/accessories and variation of wear to give you a variety of outfit options.  Usually represented are one or two of everything in a few different styles or colors.

For instance instead of 10 pairs of jeans that don’t fit well and take up all the room in your closet, you instead, buy one pair of perfectly fitting and ethically produced black jeans and one of blue jeans. The same thing goes for the a blouse. Instead of having three white blouses, pick the one of the highest quality that fits you the best.

Building a capsule wardrobe is not a once off. You must first decide why it is you would want one and to what level. There are individuals out there that have one piece of each and are major fashionistas due to their abilities and vigilance to styling are able to make countless different looks with only a few items.

Others may feel inclined to slowly pair back they full closets to only the things they actually wear. What you want out of a capsule wardrobe matters!

A capsule wardrobe is a beautiful way to start engaging more with your creativity, a great way to begin to declutter our full lives, and can be a great step into a more ethical closet!

Good luck to you!!

#choosebeauty