Last weekend I took on a daunting task that I have been wanting to finish for about a year now - revamping my closet and moving towards a more minimalist approach to dressing. I had been reading about other people creating "capsule wardrobes" this year, first coming across the idea when I stumbled upon Caroline's blog, Unfancy. A capsule wardrobe for Caroline is "a 37 piece wardrobe that includes tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear, and shoes" for each season, with a lot of pieces carrying over between seasons. She blogged outfit posts showing how she combined those pieces into a ton of different outfits, proving she didn't need more than that for a fashionable wardrobe that didn't always feel like the same old thing.
For me, only 37 pieces in my closet would be a bit too extreme, but the idea of it is awesome and my goal was to pare down what I had to at least half.
I have always had a messy closet. If you asked my family, friends, especially my husband, everyone would agree wholeheartedly. No matter how many times I go through and weed out clothes, or how many moves I go through where I get rid of things, my closet somehow always ends up overstuffed with clothing of which I probably wear about 25% of. Really, though, I would say 25%.
Part of this may be because I own a vintage shop, so I am constantly on the hunt in thrift stores and garage/estate sales. This means I come across a lot of great clothing at great prices, which is hard to turn down. The problem comes when I get it "just because", even if it might be a little bit too tight, have a slightly unflattering cut, or the pant legs need to be hemmed. Even with my good intentions to work on it, it ends up sitting in my closet unworn.
My goal, along with paring it down to at least half, was to only keep what I have actually worn in the past year, what aligns with the style I have now and what actually fits well. I used this wardrobe planner worksheet from Caroline to help me. You can see photos of the trainwreck below haha, it took me three hours!
After I went through it all, I was left with a clear idea of what I had, and of what I actually needed to buy for my wardrobe to make it complete (new camisoles are top on that list). And it feels great to have a closet I can walk into and clearly see all the choices, and know they fit correctly. I highly recommend this as a fun weekend project - throw a good movie on and go for it! You'll feel great after : )
