I first came across the concept of Capsule Wardrobe at a 2-day training. Yes, I have a certification in personal styling. I don’t know if my style shows off that training. But the training certainly makes my wardrobe choices easier and cost-effective.

Why Have A Capsule Wardrobe?

Fashion is temporary but the style is permanent. Do not just take what is given to you. Own it. Most people blindly follow what is in trend rather than applying their own ideas. It is very important to understand what suits you and your lifestyle before making any purchase. Keeping your wardrobe organized is one step towards understanding your purchase patterns.

The benefits of clustering or creating a capsule wardrobe are:

1. You can get more out of less. Mix and match easily.
2. It saves you some money. You purchase only what goes with the cluster.
3. Reduces mindless impulsive purchasing (by understanding your style).
4. Simplifies daily decisions. Research has said that the two biggest daily decisions are – “what to wear” and “what to eat”.

How To Create This Capsule Wardrobe?

Here are few steps of creating a capsule out of your wardrobe.

#1 Choose A Center Piece

Find a source of inspiration or a centerpiece. It can be a dress with certain colors, prints, cuts, or stripes. This piece is usually a richly designed garment. It needs to have all or most of your favorite aspects in terms of color, fabric, cut and style.

#2 Build Wardrobe Around The Piece

Now, inspired by this centerpiece, pick out tops and bottoms you like. Think of 5 to 8 such items. If you prefer Indian over Western clothing, then you can make this 5 to 8 Kurtis and leggings. For lovers of western clothes, it is 5 to 8 tops and bottoms. Inspiration from the centerpiece can be based on color, fabric, cut, etc. It is better to take color as inspiration since it makes the mix and match ability easy later on.

#3 Keep It Minimal

Select clothes that go with more than one item. You don’t want to have high maintenance clothes in the capsule that are not reusable or not multipurpose. Make sure each piece is different from each other. Avoiding duplicity is a key minimalist tactic. Select a small number of accessories that go with most of the outfits in the capsule. Keep the items in a capsule under 15. Make sure it meets your daily wardrobe needs.

There are many hacks to building successful capsules. You can create multiple capsules out of your wardrobe. For example, using basics (whites/blacks) or adapting it to seasons. But the above 3 steps are sufficient if you are a beginner.

Happy Clustering! Like, comment and share if you found this article useful.