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Let me set a scene here, if you will. You have been feeling increasingly overwhelmed by your clothes, specifically, the vast amount of it, and the fact that you can never find anything to wear. Each morning, you go through your closet and finally you settle on something. But you spend the day being annoyed by what you selected. I mean, it’s fine, but you don’t feel great about the complete look.

I totally get that! I basically just wrote about my own past experience with my closet. I had so much stuff but aside from a few things, most were just things that I collected, just for the sake of having a lot of clothes. Having a large closet used to be a huge area of pride for me. And I mindlessly shopped to continue that prideful feeling. Until one day when I finally looked at all the stuff I had accumulated and saw that none of it was a reflection of my style or values.

But first, what is a capsule wardrobe?

That was around the same time that I discovered a capsule wardrobe. You may have heard of this term before. But if not, a capsule wardrobe is a set number of items that you wear for a set number of time. It’s a great way to experiment with owning less clothes. It’s also a great way to discover your personal style.

A fair skinned woman stands against a light grey wall. You can see part of her black and white striped top and her left arm holding onto her white button front skirt, which can also only be partially seen.

Perhaps the most popular capsule wardrobe is Project 333, which is the brainchild of Courtney Carver. With this capsule, you select 33 items of clothing to wear for 3 months. The selection is limited to items that you would make outfits with and includes shoes and accessories. However, it does not include workout gear or loungewear/pjs. I have tried this capsule before but have been unable to make it work for me. 

My personal favorite capsule is a 30×30 capsule wardrobe. The premise of this capsule is to select clothing items to wear for 30 days. To me, this seems like a great amount of time to test out a smaller wardrobe and to determine if you really love the pieces that you selected. But it also gives you a quicker end date with the items, which I think Is very important if you’re not really digging your selections. I also find it nice if you’re somebody who, like me, lives in a place with a very variable temperature. For me, the beginning of a season and the end of a season all look very different and I find it difficult to pick a small amount of items that work for an extended period.

A light wood clothing rack holds six clothing items. From left to right, white pants, black pants, a white short sleeve top, a grey short sleeve top, an orange button up shirt and an oatmeal colored sweater.

There is also a smaller 10×10 challenge where you select 10 items to wear for 10 days. I have done a number of these challenges, which have been hosted by Lee Vosburgh of Style Bee. They’re a great way to experiment with a capsule wardrobe if you’re hesitant to take on a monthlong capsule. It’s also a great way to build some experience with selecting items for your capsule. My first 10×10 capsule was much more difficult to get through that my last one, which was quite easy!

Okay, how do I build a capsule wardrobe?

Over the past year and a half, I have done a number of capsule wardrobes. At first, I blindly pulled items and hoped for the best. Sometimes it worked out, and sometimes it didn’t. Over time I developed a sort of system.

Should you include shoes and accessories? What about outerwear? This is entirely up to you. It’s definitely a great way to test yourself!

A shot taken from above of a pair of black clog shoes on a black and white rug and a pair of white high top converse on a light wood stool. The clothing rack is partially in the background.

Personally, I do not include accessories in any of my capsule wardrobes. I also rarely include shoes. In my earlier capsules, I did but I found it to be too limiting. Either because it took away too many spaces for clothes or I felt creatively stifled. Now I just select the number of clothing items that match the capsule and I leave myself free reign on the shoes and accessories.

I also do not include outerwear, beyond items that make an outfit such as a blazer. Where I live, the winters are very cold and we get a lot of different precipitation. If in included outerwear, I fear it would take up my whole capsule ;).

How do you know what combination of items to select? Honestly, there’s a lot of trial and error involved. But, instead of randomly selecting items, I like to set a number of items in each category. This depends on the type of capsule of course, but below are some general ideas…

Warm Season Capsule

10×10 capsule (with shoes)

3 tops

2 pants

2 shoes

1 light sweater

1 dress

1 skirt/jumpsuit

The following images show how 8 clothing items can be combined into 18+ distinct outfits. Then either pair of shoes can be chosen.

A collage of 4 photos showing various clothing items and how each of the items can be paired to make a number of outfits in the capsule wardrobe.
Each of the 3 tops and light sweater can be worn with either of the pairs of pants. This makes 8 outfits!
A collage of 4 photos showing various clothing items and how each of the items can be paired to make a number of outfits in the capsule wardrobe.
Each of the 3 tops and light sweater can be combined with the dress and jumpsuit to make 8 more outfits (and that’s just with the items worn outside…there are even more possibilities is you layer a top or sweater underneath). Then you can can wear the jumpsuit or dress on its own for 2 more outfits!!

10×10 capsule (without shoes)

3 tops

2 pants

2 dresses

1 light sweater

1 skirt/jumpsuit

30×30 capsule (with shoes)

10 tops

5 pants

5 shoes

5 dresses/jumpsuits

3 skirts/shorts 

2 light sweaters

30×30 capsule (without shoes)

12 tops

6 pants

5 dresses/jumpsuits

4 skirts/shorts 

3 light sweaters

Cold Season Capsule

10×10 capsule (with shoes)

4 tops/sweaters

2 pants

2 shoes

1 blazer/cardigan

1 dress/skirt/jumpsuit

The following images show how 8 clothing items can be combined into 32+ distinct outfits. Then either pair of shoes can be chosen.

A clothing rack displaying clothing items for a cold weather capsule wardrobe. From left to right, there is a pair of grey wool pants, a pair of light blue jeans, a cream mock neck long sleeve top, a grey sweater, a cream colored sweater, a plaid blazer and a caramel robe. A pair of black boots sit on the floor and a pair of brown suede boots are on a wood stool next to the clothing rack.
Each pair of pants can be combined with either of the 3 tops to make 6 outfits. Each of the 6 outfits and be layered with the blazer or the duster to make 12 new looks. So, from these 7 items, one could make 18 interesting outfits.
A clothing rack displaying clothing items for a cold weather capsule wardrobe. From left to right, there is a cream wool v-neck jumpsuit, a cream mock neck long sleeve top, a grey sweater, a cream colored sweater, a plaid blazer and a caramel robe. A pair of black boots sit on the floor and a pair of brown suede boots are on a wood stool next to the clothing rack.
Similar to the previous image, the jumpsuit could worn alone with either of the 3 tops, the blazer or the duster to make 5 outfits. It could also be worn with either of the tops layered underneath the blazer or the duster for 6 additional looks. It could also be worn with the mockneck top layered underneath it for another look or with the blazer or duster over top for 2 more looks. So, these 6 items provide a selection of 14 different outfits.

10×10 capsule (without shoes)

3 tops/sweaters

3 dress/skirt/jumpsuit

2 pants

2 blazer/cardigan

30×30 capsule (with shoes)

10 tops/sweaters 

6 shoes/boots

5 pants

5 dress/skirt/jumpsuit

4 blazers/cardigans

30×30 capsule (without shoes)

14 tops/sweaters

7 pants

5 dress/skirt/jumpsuit

4 blazers/cardigans

+ For a Project 333 capsule wardrobe, add an additional 3 items to any of the categories.

These are a few examples of how you can select a combination of items to make you a great capsule wardrobe. Of course, If you prefer to only wear tops and pants, you can add more to those categories and take away from the lesser worn items. Likewise, if you prefer to wear dresses, by all means, add in more dresses and take way some of the tops and pant. Capsule wardrobes are as unique as the individual wearing them, so make it yours!

Some Extra Tips

+ Pick items in which the colors work well together. Mixing and matching is key!

+ If you have a lot of the same tones, include items with different textures or fun elements like embroidery or tassels.

+ Once you’ve picked your items, see if you can quickly put together 5 (if doing a 10×10) or 15 (if doing a 30×30 or Project 333) outfits that you really like.

+ Include an item or two that you haven’t worn in a while. There’s a reason that you haven’t been reaching for it. Make it earn that space in your closet or get rid of it. If at the end of the capsule time period, you didn’t wear it or you didn’t like it much when you did wear it, get rid of it. Otherwise, enjoy that newly discovered piece!

+ Have fun! A capsule wardrobe is meant to be fun. It’s meant to make getting dressed, and thereby, your life easier!