Well friends, it’s about time that I properly show you my winter capsule wardrobe. Even though I’ve been dressing from this capsule since January 1st, I am only now getting the time to document it for you properly so that I can show you all of the items that I have selected to be a part of this season’s capsule.

I am big fan of capsules for a number of reasons. Having a limited number of clothing available saves me time in the morning, enables me to get more wears out of my items and has helped me to refine my personal style. Having a capsule wardrobe has also helped me to shop less…as a former shopaholic, this is one that I wish I had realized much sooner!

I’ve done quite a few capsule wardrobes over the past few years, some shorter term ones and some longer term ones. Some I have been very successful at and some I have failed. I’ve also used capsule wardrobes when traveling (here + here).

My most recent failure at a capsule wardrobe happened this past fall. For whatever reason, still unbeknownst to me, I did more shopping than I care to admit. I found myself visiting local consignment shops on a regular basis and walking away with a few purchases at a time. I found myself ordering things from the Real Real.

Even though all of the purchases that I made were secondhand, they were unnecessary. I had more than enough clothing. And buying more meant that I had to make room in my wardrobe, so I was sending items back into the secondhand market. In essence, my shopping was creating more waste. And when I really though about it, I was slipping back into my old habits. I was using shopping to scratch some itch or fill some void. I didn’t want to go back there. And the worst part, I wasn’t even wearing the things that I had bought…a behavior from my fast fashion days that I also did not care to revisit!

This sickening feeling led me to recommit to a winter capsule wardrobe. So, for the next 3 months, I will be styling outfits from 31 items. I will also be committing to a low buy year to help reduce my clothing consumption, which is the area that I struggle with the most.

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Winter Capsule Wardrobe

I decided on 31 items in total. I had planned to choose only 30 items but in the end, I felt like this was a good selection and there wasn’t any one item that I felt like I could cut. If you’re interested in how I build my capsules, check out this post!

I did not include coats, shoes or accessories. One reason is that it is winter where I live and temperatures can range from cold to extremely cold. The second reason is that I don’t like how it limits me in my creativity. A lot of my clothing is pretty neutral and I’m afraid that I would get bored over a 3 month period if I included these items in my winter capsule wardrobe.

Dresses / Jumpsuits / Vests

I feel like I’ve selected quite a few dresses this time around. This is pretty different to how I was dressing last winter when I primarily wore pants. But I’ve been enjoying adding dresses back into my life lately. In total, I have 8 dresses, 2 jumpsuits and 1 vest.

The following list is a breakdown of the items in terms of the item description, brand, and number of wears as of the start of the capsule.

The list also corresponds to the above picture order – if you look at the pictures on the top row from left to right, then the second row from left to right and so on, the items will correspond to those on the list from top to bottom.

Jackets / Blazers / Shirts / Tops / Sweaters

I feel like I kept this section a little on the light side. Since I had added quite a few dresses, cuts had to be made elsewhere.

I’m happy with this selection. I’ll also give the illusion of having more tops by tucking some the dresses into skirts or pants. I’ll also layer dresses under other dresses. I find dresses to be one of the most versatile items in a wardrobe, now that I’ve figured out different ways to layer and style them.

Pants / Skirts

I’ve included 6 pairs of pants and 3 skirts. I debated not adding the tan silk skirt, as denoted by the ? mark I forgot to erase in the following list, since I was trying to make it an even 30 items. But after I got to thinking about it, I really love it and it was one of those pieces that I bought at the end of fall and hadn’t gotten much wear out of, so into the capsule it went!

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I’ve summarized the clothing and provided a key to denote the clothing that I purchased new, items that were new and gifted, items that were secondhand and gifted, and then items that I purchased secondhand.

I am really really proud of the fact that 74% of my winter capsule wardrobe was purchased from the secondhand market! This seems huge to me. I used to do some thrift shopping when I was in college, but I was definitely a slave to the mall and did most of my shopping at fast fashion brands!

It wasn’t until I became interested in sustainable fashion that I realized the importance of shopping secondhand. When it comes to clothing consumption, the best way to reduce our carbon footprint is to firstly, buy less, and secondly, buy secondhand.

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Low Buy Year

As I mentioned earlier in the post, I wasn’t comfortable with the amount of clothing that I was buying last fall. As a result, I have decided to do a low buy year.

If you read my previous post, “A Good Time for New Habits“, you may remember that I’ve set a goal to only buy 12 items this year, which averages out to one purchase per month. This will be the first low buy year that I have participated in.

I believe that by limiting the number of items that I buy, I can reset the way that I think about purchasing items, even if they are primarily secondhand. If I don’t need it, it’s a waste of time looking for it, a waste of money buying it, a waste of space storing it, and it leads to more waste generation in the long run. But by allowing myself the option to purchase “something”, I’m not setting myself up for failure.

The way that I plan to accomplish this goal is to remove any temptation.

+ I have unsubscribed from marketing emails.

+ I have removed shopping apps from my phone and shopping websites from my computer favorites.

+ I will not take any unplanned trips to local consignment and thrift shops.

+ I will plan out purchases. For example, I know that we are taking a vacation in March while the kids have a school break, so I will save that month’s purchase for the trip (and maybe February’s too).

+ I will not add any new clothing to the capsule. I can purchase shoes, coats or accessories to wear with the items in the capsule but no new clothes can be added. I can purchase ahead for the next season’s capsule.

+ I will not allow myself to borrow from a future purchase. For example, if I buy something in April but then come across something else I like that month, I must wait for May to purchase it (at which point I’ll probably forget about it anyways ;).

+ I will invest time into other hobbies and areas that I’m interested in, such as reading, learning to play drums, and/or learning another language.

+ I will care for the clothes that I already own, and when I need a little inspiration, instead of shopping, I will use Pinterest or play dress up in my own closet.

+ I will permit myself to replace things such as makeup, hair and body products when they need replacing. This is not an area where I experiment. I have my tried and trues and I stick to them.

+ I will keep myself accountable on here by posting a monthly summary including what I bought in that particular month, as well as on instagram where I will be styling the above items from my capsule wardrobe.

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Have you ever done a “low buy” or “no buy” year? If so, do you have any tips that would help me over the course of the year? If not, are you doing one this year, or would you do one in the future?

Until next time,

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