My spring capsule wardrobe is complete! I think I put more thought into this capsule than all the others I’ve done, combined. I also think this is my most practical capsule yet! 

I’ve moved a little away from curating my wardrobe over the past few years. I was content with that I had for the most part and, like the rest of the world, I had a lot of other things to deal with. But I feel fully ready to embrace a minimalist wardrobe again which has given me a sense of clarity that I’ve been missing for a while. I also feel like my creativity has been stoked again.

What Steps Did I Take to Build My Spring Capsule Wardrobe

Step 1: Pull my favorite clothing items.

My first step when building any capsule wardrobe is to pull my absolute favorite items from my wardrobe. These are the items that I’m most excited to wear.

I’ve learned through a lot of trial and error that you have to be excited about the items you put in your capsule wardrobe. If you’re not, the likelihood giving up on your capsule increases.

Step 2: Fill in the rest of the capsule wardrobe with the “rule of 5”.

I’ve been experimenting with what I call the “rule of 5”. Basically, I choose up to 5 items from each clothing category, such as 5 tops, 5 pants, 5 dresses, etc.

This helps me to get started with pulling items and makes the capsule feel balanced. Once I’ve done this, I go back through each category to see if there’s anything else from each category that I want to add.

Sometimes I end up with less than 5 items in each category and I’m fine with that.

Step 3: Using each item in my spring capsule wardrobe, make at least 3 outfits.

Whenever I consider adding an item to my wardrobe, I try to think of 3 outfits that I can make using the things I already own. I find that this keeps my wardrobe cohesive and stops me from making impulse purchases (most of the time at least).

Since I find it so helpful when shopping, I also use it when I put together my capsule wardrobe. The majority of my wardrobe pairs well together and it’s usually pretty easy to make at least 3 outfits with each piece, but it has helped me identify a few that don’t work so well. It also helps me identify items that may need to be removed from my wardrobe altogether.

Step 4: Define the capsule wardrobe color palette.

This is a new step for me. In the past, I haven’t paid much attention to the colors that I wore. I felt really good in most colors, but since letting my hair transition to grey, I’ve been finding that some old tried and true colors don’t make me feel like the best version of myself.

My cooler hair tone means that some of the warmer tones that I used to wear don’t look as good so I’ve been trying to pinpoint the colors in my wardrobe that make me feel great when I wear them. I’ve concluded that I feel really good in black, dark grey, blues, greens, deep pinks and certain whites.

What’s in my Spring Capsule Wardrobe?

I started with my first round a few weeks ago and kept adding/subtracting pieces until I got to my final selection. I’m still not 100% sure about all of these pieces but that’s the great thing about a capsule wardrobe…it puts a spotlight on the items that you don’t wear as much and gives you a clearer idea of what you want your wardrobe to look like. If there’s an item that I don’t end up wearing, I’ll be letting it go. 

I ended up with 38 items in total. I have 5 jackets, 5 pairs of shoes and 28 clothing items. In the past, I haven’t included jackets and shoes but I decided to add them this time. I want to identify the items in my wardrobe that I truly love to wear. My thinking is that if I don’t really want to add them to my capsule, then maybe I don’t really need to keep them.

Here’s the clothes, including jackets…

Here are the shoes…

I’m not sure how I feel about these converse anymore. I tend to like a chunkier sole and these are pretty flat. I may replace them at some point.

What’s the clothing item breakdown?

The 33 clothing items included:

• 4 Shirts/Blouses
• 6 Tops
• 5 Jackets
• 4 Pants
• 4 Sweaters
• 2 Jeans
• 5 Dresses
• 2 Jumpsuits
• 1 Vest

Of the 33 items, 24 were secondhand additions, 5 are items that I’ve made and 9 were new additions at some point in the past; 6 were purchased by me, 3 were gifted. All “new” items are over 2 years old.

Final Notes

I’m implementing a “3 strike rule” with each of the items in my capsule. If I attempt to wear an item 3 times but it never works out, it’s outta here! I put on my black short sleeved jumpsuit a few days ago but ended up taking it off because I didn’t feel great in it. That’s 1 strike. Maybe it had more to do with me than the actual item which is why it’ll get 2 more chances. 

I haven’t included any links to the items in my capsule or links to similar items. As always, this is a space for me to share my process and if you feel inspired to simplify your life with a capsule wardrobe, I am beyond happy about it. I don’t want to contribute to our consumerist culture; quite the opposite in fact…

We don’t need more. We need to want less.

Gillian, Uncomplicated Spaces

And if you want more information on building a capsule wardrobe, especially if it’s your first one, check out this post full of examples!

Visit this post and this post for past spring capsule wardrobes.

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