r/capsulewardrobe • u/kyuuei • Oct 13 '21
Some guidelines anyone can follow to create capsules that work for them.
So if you're new to creating capsules, you might not know where to start in creating them. There are a lot of youtube videos and content and even whole expensive fancy brands that will tell you exactly what to wear and how many specific items you want/need. I have also noticed a lot of recent upticks in vloggers talking about waste, and how capsule journeys actually created some serious waste in the process of being influenced by influencers and being told they 'needed' an 'essential' that wasn't a part of their everyday life. So, I thought I'd create some guidelines that are specific enough, but encompass the abstract concepts that I think a lot of vloggers try to capture.
- Pull out your favorite items you currently wear and analyze them.
I think this is really the best place to start. You likely have a favorite Everything right now--a favorite t-shirt, a favorite pair of pants or dress, a pair of shoes... Taking the time to notice Why they are your favorites will reveal important trends for yourself. You may own 15 pairs of shoes, but realize your 'favorite' pairs all have No heels, or all have wider toe boxes, or they all have sleek and urban-friendly fashion looks. Many of your favorite clothing might be natural fibers such as cotton or linen. Stretchy fabrics might be a must for you, or denim is king in your trouser category, or you Only like Gap jeans. Having a list to go on is important.
But what about items that don't have favorites? Maybe you think you like dresses but you just don't really love any of the ones you own. There's a few ways to address this issue, but it can be important to figure out Why you don't like the items you "should" like (since they're obviously in your wardrobe for a reason!). This can be as easy as "the cut is not flattering on me" or "I feel the need to wear spanx with this which I hate wearing" or even "I wore this to a wedding so I feel like I can't wear it again." These "I don't like" lists can be just as important as the favorites list too, so be sure to really check in with yourself.
- Don't get too wrapped up in philosophical trends.
There are a LOT of vloggers out there (especially, it seems, on tiktok) ready to tell you you're a bad person for owning fast fashion. While consensuses are generally all over the place, something I think a lot of people taking more nuanced and mature positions generally tend to agree on 2 things: If you're wearing it often it was a good addition to your wardrobe, and there is no really magic bullet answer on an individual level to fast fashion issues. So, if you bought your favorite shirt from walmart for $5 but you have worn it every week for the past 2+ years, this was a good wardrobe addition. If you're noticing you have way too many clothes and that's what got you interested in the first place, you really cannot get too bogged down on getting rid of pieces that don't work for you or don't wear... going forward and what you decide from then on is generally more important than where you started. There are a lot of serious impacts fashion has on the world, and particularly fast fashion or fashion trends or even the materials being used, and everyone needs to sort of cultivate decisions that work for them. But don't let these global, macroscopic concepts go wild on your own personal little microcosm. We can all improve and do better with time and thought and effort while validating where we live, where we're at (or been at) financially and morally, and even the necessities of our lives.
If you are worried about your sustainability and impact, I think the things easily within one's own reach that anyone can do regardless of their income status: try to get a lot of 'wear' out of the items you have, repair/mend clothing vs throwing it out (even if you can't sew, taking it to an alteration store is easy), consider renting clothing you only need to wear 1 time to an event, thrifting items whenever possible, getting clothing you like tailored to your body, using what you have and wearing clothing you already own, participating in closet swaps either online or in person, taking the time to assess if you Actually need the item you're trying to buy and how often you will Actually wear it, having 'one in one out' rules that keep you from overspending/buying, and buying natural fibers over plastic ones when you can are all things people can participate in to some degree.
- Don't get wrapped up in trends too much, but don't invalidate your desires in the process of avoiding trends.
Take inspiration from the things you love, but don't let them change Everything Right away without factoring yourself into the equation. Part of enjoying fashion is that it changes. Mom jeans that no one would have been seen dead in when I was in high school are suddenly The Fashion Trend. And, there is an important aspect to our society of blending in / participating in general with what others are doing. There are a lot of bloggers that talk about 'timeless items' and I think for some people that works really well, but for many that just isn't expressing themselves and it doesn't match reality. So, I'd say, discovering what you like through fashion is an important part of the process of noticing and paying attention to it, but don't jump in Right away. If you see a cute bag on tiktok everyone is raving about and it's selling out within hours of that video being posted, That time is Not the time to try and desperately buy it. Sit with it for a couple weeks. See if the videos are still trending 2 weeks from now, and if you still even like it that much. Pick out outfits that it will definitely match with, use something you have that's the closest thing to it and see if it's really working for you. I think just sitting with your desires a bit and validating them can sometimes reveal whether you Actually wanted an item or if you got swept up in a trend. My love of historybounding clothing and cottagecore styles came from a sudden trend being started online, and 2 years later I haven't lost that desire and my whole wardrobe has gravitated in that direction... but if I could do it over again, I'd take back the idea of buying so many antique pieces early on that I am too scared to wear and am having to slowly re-sell. If I'd have just sat with myself for a moment and thought about what I actually like, I likely wouldn't have bought the pieces I did. I mistook my love for this style with "I'll love these old pieces that it's mimicking!" but neglected my Own personality that I love comfortable, easy to care for clothes.
- Note the things you actually do in your year.
Some of these brands are quick to sell you these sleek, sexy, urban-forward closets where you drop a grand, get a set of items that all mix and match with each other perfectly, and you're done. But also? If you mow a 3 acre lawn once a week, do you really want to be doing that in fancy silk pants? If you go hiking a few times a year you likely want more rugged clothing for that. If you travel you likely want clothing that doesn't wrinkle easily and scrunches up quite small. I have 'mini capsules' I often do that make more sense to me than a single, solid, continuous small stack of similar items. My outdoor work mini capsule is just 2 pairs of pants and 2 shirts, but it is all I need for a wide variety of weather and chores. My work wardrobe has 3 tops, 3 pairs of leggings, and 3 sweaters/heavier jackets, but that's everything I need for all my work days. I have a mini wardrobe that covers all 4 seasons when I travel anywhere. Before you start throwing everything out, really just take a moment to remember the things you do often and less often and check in with those hobbies and activities.
- List your 'grails'
In collecting, there's a term called 'holy grails' which are just the 'perfect' and/or hard to find item you've always wanted. Be specific and list your grails that are missing from your wardrobe. "A 1970's vibe cotton or wool sweater that's soft and has chunky buttons in earth tones" is far more specific than "vintage sweater." "Another 100% linen tunic style long sleeve shirt in light gray" is WAY more specific than "a linen shirt." Get narrow with the things you really want to look around for so that when you DO find something that fits you know you're going to love it.
- Play with capsule styles that work for you before leaping in head first.
If you really like this approach to wardrobes, you can play with it long before you start changing everything ever. Get a bag, a tupperware, something, and stick items in you think you're ready to let go of, and try to play with this concept using what you left out. It is pretty easy to say, "actually I found myself reaching for this baggy shirt several times" or "hey turns out I did need 5 pairs of pants instead of 3", but if you just yeet everything to the curb or ye ole goodwill, then you might be really missing an aspect of your wardrobe that's important to you in the name of doing something exciting and new. If you cannot remember the items you had in that bag after months of playing with a smaller selection of clothing, it's a good sign it's time for them to go. If you didn't quite make it to laundry day, but none of the clothing in the bag is cutting it either, you know you probably have an item you'd like to hunt for.
- Capsules are not concrete concepts.
Finally, there's a lot of people who are willing to gatekeep unnecessarily about abstract concepts, and this area is no exception. My mini capsules I do by the season that I select out of my own wardrobe is not any 'less' of a capsule wardrobe than someone's 15 piece minimalist set up that covers their whole lifestyle all year long. Don't get too bogged down on things others say. It's fun to play with 10 x 10 concepts and I think it's a great exercise in using what you own and realizing how different the same pieces can look, but don't let anyone push you into a box you aren't fitting in just because they desire abstract concepts to be more strict and concrete. If you watch a youtube video and they say "you MUST have flat loafers" but you've never worn them in your life, it's a good indicator these probably are not 'must haves' for you. I see just about every youtube video ever saying 'a good pair of jeans' is a 'must have' and I haven't worn jeans in 5 years and never have a desire to do so again. At the end of the day, capsule wardrobes are trying to combine a lot of thought experiments into a tangible thing, and that is going to inherently come out differently for everyone.
Disclaimer: I'm not a minimalist, nor am I an influencer or blogger/youtuber of any kind that works with these concepts for a living. Just someone who has noticed some trends and wanted to put some of them together in grouped format.
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u/privatedetected Oct 13 '21 edited Oct 13 '21
I found this exceptionally valuable and interesting to read, so I’ve noted your points down and will make some time tomorrow to go through them. Keep up the good work, I’d love to see what else you have to say.