You already know your style – at least roughly – and you feel like making your first purchase? Shopping can easily get out of hand if you’re not clear on what you need. So in the last guide, I’ll show you how to make a compact, minimalist, capsule wardrobe plan that includes all the essentials and gives you enough clothes and outfits for every day and occasion.
What is a capsule wardrobe and what does it ideally look like? A functional wardrobe is one that allows you to dress for every occasion, every weather, and every season, contains pieces of clothing that mix and match easily (and therefore allow you to create a large number of outfits), and sticks mostly to a few colors and one style. In short, it’s a wardrobe that does its job – it allows you to dress easily and well – ideally in a way that your clothes also reflect your personality, or at least your preferences.
A capsule wardrobe is typically described as a very minimalist wardrobe in a few colors that goes with everything and is the perfect wardrobe for travel, holidays or certain seasons. But I also use its principles to create a year-round wardrobe.
Find out how to get such a capsule but complete year-round wardrobe in this guide. First, let’s go over the principles I follow when putting together sample wardrobes (and which I used to create my own). Then we’ll talk about what colors to choose and how to use them. I’ll provide you with a list of the bare minimum items for your future wardrobe. And finally, I’ll explain how to put together your first wardrobe plan and how and where to shop. Here we go. Let’s start with the basics.
Don’t worry though, you don’t have to remember all the principles right away, we’ll come back to them and I’ll show you how to work with them practically later in the guide.
We haven’t talked about colors in a while, so it’s time to change that! You hopefully already know your best and most flattering colors (if not, go find them first!), so get your palette out again and let’s get to work. The first step is to take a critical look at it and think about which colors you like best (and know look best on you), which combine best with others, which are easy to find in the store, … and with those things in mind, you pick 5 – 8 basic colors. This is probably no surprise, it was the very first item on our list of principles.
I recommend picking two colors that are neutral (usually there will be brown, beige, off-white, grey, black or navy, but there are other options). Of course, they have to be neutral colors that you have in your palette and know you look good in. Next, choose three colors that will work as accents. One should be (especially for women) romantic, usually a shade of pink, apricot or red.
The other two colors can be from the daily colors. Choose colors that you like, will look nice together (they go with each other and with neutrals) and are ideally easy to shop in. I know from experience that a light “baby” pink is a great shade because it suits many people and you can always find clothes in it. The darker pinks are more interesting, but buying something in them is a nightmare and thus takes longer to turn a wardrobe plan into reality.
Here’s a reminder – although you have 5 to 8 colors (5 is plenty, the other three are good for accessories and occasional fun), you can buy things in a color a little lighter or darker than the one from your palette. As long as it’s more or less the same shade. That’s why you can actually wear dark and light pinks, they just have to be equally muted and equally cool or warm.
We’ll have examples, of course. I’m going to use my wardrobe because it’s the most thought out I’ve had over the years.
So here are my colors:
And here are my colors for the wardrobe, a little adapted to what I have tested in reality that suits me.
It wasn’t my first choice of colors, over time I’ve found that I look better in cream than white, I hardly wear navy, I miss yellow, and most of my green and pink items could only be found in slightly different shades than those originally intended.
As I wrote in the color guide, reality always trumps the screen. Sometimes one finds they need a slightly bolder or lighter shade than they see on the monitor after determining the colors. And that’s ok. Feel free to adjust your selection as well if you need to. Just try to avoid making too many changes that will force you to throw out your entire wardrobe and start over 🙂
If I take into account the climate in my country (Central European temperate climate zone), the ideal basic minimum includes clothing for all seasons and all weather. If you live in a different climate, you’ll obviously have to adjust the list. However, think about your personal preferences as well.
There are people who wear trousers and short-sleeved shirts all year round, only adding a sweater and jacket in winter and swapping trousers for shorts in summer. And then there are people like me who wear either a tank top, a tank top with a sweater or a shirt, long sleeves, a sweater and possibly a coat and nothing in between.
So the list below is a general pattern for someone who wants a little of everything. Copy it and rewrite it to match your preferences. I’ll tell you how to do it in a minute.
Think about what clothes you wear and need the most. If you have special requirements because of your hobbies or lifestyle, think about them and add the clothes you need to the list. A keen sportsman will have more clothes for sports than the minimum required. If you don’t wear tank tops, skip them and add more t-shirts, for example. If you don’t wear sweaters, but sweatshirts, replace sweaters with sweatshirts.
No one knows better than you what pieces of clothing are extra and you’re not using and what you’re desperately in need of. Maybe you need to add a corset. More jewelry. Two pairs of pumps (but I recommend sticking to ten with the shoe count, and five is good enough in my opinion). Adjust your list to your liking, but try to stick to fewer things to start with and add later.
The goal of creating a capsule wardrobe is not to restrict you and forbid you everything. But if you start small, you’ll have a wearable wardrobe ready faster and you’ll be able to test if it works or if you need to change something about your plan. You can always add on, but you won’t get your money back if you spend indiscriminately.
Once you’ve bought your bare minimum and it suits you, you can start adding things like tops in other colors and generally things you feel are missing. You’ll usually find out quickly if you need something warmer, can’t keep up with washing your shirts, or don’t have running shoes. Don’t be afraid to buy what you need, but always make sure it’s in your colors and goes with the things you already have – and plan to have. The next step is to make that plan.
If you’re really sticking to your best colors and shapes, it’s usually time to stop adding the moment you realize you’re looking at things you already have 🙂
A small demonstration of what the first set of clothes in your wardrobe can look like. A few tops, sweaters, skirts or pants, two dresses, a handbag, a coat, shoes and accessories.
This amount of clothes wouldn’t be enough to suffice as a wardrobe, but it’s a good base to test if you’re going in the right direction.
I usually save things that catch my eye on a special Pinterest board. I keep everything I’m thinking of buying there. But there’s no need to also shop where you find photos for your plan. Sometimes they won’t be your size, the color will be different in reality, you’ll decide to go to a seamstress or find a cheaper alternative… it’s just important that the style and color of what you buy matches the garment on the plan.
It’s a good idea to start by choosing versatile pants or skirt. I recommend choosing this piece of clothing in a neutral, timeless cut (one that suits you, of course), such as an A-line or midi skirt, straight leg pants, etc. Ideally without a pattern and in one of your neutral colors. And then shoes, chosen according to similar principles. And then a matching blouse or shirt and sweater. This basic set should be in your colors, cuts and style (though it will be more or less neutral and appropriate for different occasions) and together it should be an outfit you can easily wear to an interview, exam, work meeting, … or just out on the town. And it will reflect something of you – it won’t just be the usual black trousers and white shirt combination that everyone else wears.
For example, it could look like this:
Nikdo neříká, že “univerzální” musí také znamenat barevně nebo stylově nudné. I tento základ by měl být osobitý.
You will then add more things from the list in the same way. Only add things that go with the clothes you already have. Tailor your color choices, but also your styles. Remember the principles? All tops should match the skirt/pants you already plan to wear. So don’t add anything that doesn’t go with them. Conversely, when you add more pants, make sure they go with the tops you already have planned. Also, this way you can easily see in front of you which colors keep repeating and which ones are hardly in your plan at all. Try to add things in such a way that the ratio of colors from your selection (the main five) is more or less balanced. Less important colors may appear less frequently, perhaps only on accessories. Or not at all. But if it’s all brown, it’s hard to put together an interesting outfit in multiple colors.
It’s okay if you switch out some pieces during the wardrobe planning process because you realise they don’t combine that well. It’s great to find this out in the planning stage, before you hang the item in your closet. You can add things to your plan that are already in your closet at home, are in your colors (your palette, not necessarily just your main selection) and style, and go with at least something from your new plan. If you can use them, it’s better to incorporate them than to throw them away. But if they would look out of place in the plan, don’t put them in.
P.S. You probably won’t be able to find an exact photo of what you already own on the internet, just put something very similar.
When you’re done with your plan, it should include enough items so that you have no problem getting dressed for every day and season, it should have all of your main colors, it should match in style and tailored to what suits you, and it should look harmonious and flattering together. If it doesn’t, keep playing with your plan until it’s to your satisfaction. Like I said, try to work out the kinks in the planning stage, not the shopping stage.
After all, expect that even if your plan works for you now, you’ll still change it in the future. And a lot.
Since I shop mostly online, I save photos of almost everything I buy, and if an item I order doesn’t meet expectations and I end up buying another, I’ll swap it out in my plan so that there are items as close to what I actually own as possible. The reason for this “extra work” is simple – when I want to add something, I always add it as a picture first and try to see if it fits with what I already have. Having my wardrobe like this in the palm of my hand is a huge advantage. You can see right away what you have, what’s missing, if the new thing will go with everything or if you need to look for a slightly different piece. In the time I’ve had my plan, I’ve tweaked it probably a hundred times. After almost every purchase… and sometimes even before.
My current wardrobe plan, or visual list of things I already own, looks like this:
All I’m missing now are sandals, a pink sweater and about two dresses that I want to buy.
And yes, some pieces of clothing are “repeated”, like the brown knee-length skirt, because I have a winter version in polyester and a summer version in viscose. I just found that even though everything looks great in the picture, I can’t stand wearing the polyester skirt in the summer and even the long ones get too hot sometimes, so I sewed the summer versions. As I’ve written before, reality changes plans quite often and don’t worry at all about making mistakes and figuring some things out after the fact. It happens even to the more experienced, obviously 🙂
If you need more guidance through the wardrobe creation process, check out my series of articles where I create sample wardrobes in several styles. I’m not using the list written here, but I’m basing it on a guide I found once, during my first attempt to create a capsule wardrobe.
Do you have a plan that you like and looks like it will work? Great, time to start shopping. I’ve mentioned some shopping tips earlier in this article, but we’ll repeat them just in case. Start with neutral, totally basic stuff. Only get things that go with other things you already own. Stick to your colors, fits, style and plan. I recommend uploading your plan and palette to your phone so you have it handy whenever you’re browsing the shops. I also recommend saving things from e-shops in one place, comparing them to things in your plan to see if they fit stylistically, and possibly taking time to think before you buy something. I also recommend e-shops that have easy free returns. My strategy is to order multiple pieces at once and return most of them again after trying them on.
It’s also a good idea to go through your wardrobe before you make your first purchases and donate or, if you can’t do otherwise, throw out anything that isn’t in your colors and style. If you’ve completely changed colors, of course wait until you have enough new stuff to take this step.
The sooner you limit yourself to wearing only things in your colors and style, the better. If you already have a few appropriate items in your closet, add the necessary pieces from your plan and wear your style every day, as much as possible. That way you’ll quickly find out what works for you and what doesn’t, before you spend too much money on things that may not work for you in the end. Mistakes are inevitable in the beginning, you just need to learn from them. For example, I’ve found over time that I don’t like long cardigans, anything too tight under the arms (especially short sleeve shirts), polyester in the summer, etc. I’ve already had to donate a few new items from my closet because of this.
Shopping is also a good source of information in itself. You’ll soon find that something looks good on paper (in the plan) but not on you. At the same time, you’ll also learn to more accurately guess what will fit you in reality. I’d also like to add that it’s ideal to try new things at home, to everything you already own. Again, an outfit may look good on paper and not so much in reality. Maybe the blouse is too loose and doesn’t look good tucked into the skirt. You don’t know that in advance. And if even after trying something on you’re hesitant to keep it or return it, give yourself a few days to think about it, and even then, if you don’t know, return it. I’ve usually ended up getting rid of things I wasn’t sure about to begin with and should have returned.
It’s also often worth trying something new, something you don’t think will fit. Or that it’s not quite right. Especially if you have a free return option. A few of my favorite pieces looked pretty questionable in the photo and now I’m glad I tried them on. Conversely, a lot of the great stuff in the photo disappointed me. So I’ll allow myself to take a bit of a risk when ordering and trying things on, but once it comes down to whether to keep the item or buy it, the pickiness is spot on.
Final tip: Start with cheaper items and once you’re sure you love something, buy a similar piece in a higher quality, pricier option.
For example, a decent wool coat, cashmere sweater, silk blouse, leather shoes, ball gown (if you go to balls regularly), tailored suit for men, etc. Such things, if you get them in the right color and fit, will last for years and are worth the price. So once you’re sure you know what you need, go for it. You can also pay extra for a favorite brand, eco-friendly or fair trade manufacturing, … and you can often find decent pieces in thrift stores and outlets, but you probably already know that. Unfortunately, there’s the risk that the item won’t fit and you won’t return it, and resale eats up a lot of energy for a few pennies, which is why I don’t use things like Facebook marketplace that often.
So how do you go about successful shopping? Stick to your colors, fits and plan. Be bold and try things on, and judge strictly whether to keep something. Take the time to find out what really fits and suits you before you spend too much money. And try to enjoy it anyway, that’s what it’s all about in the end – having a cool wardrobe that makes you happy.
Are you unable to put together a wardrobe plan that works for you, are you having trouble working with graphic programs, or do you have another problem? Email me at info@yourfashionself.com or through the contact form and I’ll do my best to help you.
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