How to Collect a Capsule Wardrobe

Most women are familiar with the situation of opening a closet full of clothes only to realize they have nothing to put on. Creating a capsule wardrobe can help greatly with this all too common scenario. A capsule wardrobe is a set of clothes with pieces that are interchangeable with each other by style and color. Normally, such a wardrobe consists of 5-12 items, excluding footwear and accessories. With a wardrobe like this, you can create many different combinations with a minimal number of items.

5-Minute Crafts is telling you how to assemble an active capsule wardrobe.

Making up a capsule wardrobe, step #1

There’s no universal capsule wardrobe that will suit everyone. It may consist of one set for a young mother and a different set for an office worker — and a third for vacation. The list of things is compiled individually, depending on one’s lifestyle, the specific outdoor climate of where they live, their dress code at work, and personal preferences.

First, draw a circle diagram before creating the capsule wardrobe and split it into different life sphere sectors. Thanks to this, you’ll see what spheres prevail in your life and what pieces you should start with. For example, if you’re a mother on maternity leave, the biggest sector of your diagram will be occupied by family and walks with the kids. It means that most of the clothes in your wardrobe should be casual and suitable for long walks. If you’re an office worker, the basics of your wardrobe should consist of an official style and formal pieces.

Step #2

Opt for one key item when you start to collect your capsule wardrobe, whether it be a formal suit or a blazer, trousers, or a skirt. It’s this one item that will form the style and color palette of your future wardrobe. In our case, the key item that will be the center of the wardrobe is a yellow pantsuit.

Step #3

Choose several top and bottom pieces, all matching the key item. In order to make the capsule wardrobe work, it should contain 5+ tops and 2 to 3 bottoms, and all of them should be interchangeable both by style and color.

We created a capsule wardrobe for an employee involved in the creative sphere or with a non-strict dress-code that contains looks for the office, business meetings, café visits, shopping trips, and walks with friends and family. Our capsule wardrobe contains 12 items. 9 of them are tops: a yellow blazer, a black leather jacket, a blue blazer, a basic white piece, black and purple turtlenecks, a white blouse, a T-shirt with a print, and a sweatshirt.

It also contains 3 bottom pieces, each of which matches the majority of the tops.

Mix the capsule wardrobe items in various combinations and create different looks. Here are some options that can be created based on the wardrobe in our examples above:

1–3. A yellow suit (blazer + trousers) + any of the 3 turtlenecks

4. A yellow suit + a white blouse

5. A yellow suit + a T-shirt with a print

6 and 7. A yellow blazer + a white (or black) turtleneck + a pleated skirt

8 and 9. A blue blazer + a white (or black) turtleneck + a pleated skirt

10. A T-shirt with a print + black trousers + a leather jacket

11–13. A yellow blazer + black trousers + any of the 3 turtlenecks

14–16. A blue blazer + any of the 3 turtlenecks or a white blouse + black trousers

17. A blue blazer + the sweatshirt with a parrot on it + yellow trousers

18–20. A black leather jacket + any of the turtlenecks + a pleated skirt