More than one capsule wardrobe?

[LucyStoner]

Over the last couple of years I have been, on and off, trying to streamline my wardrobe with a capsule approach and it occurs to me that I basically have three capsules:

Out and about Mom/Accountant-like person:  clothes I wear when I run around with my kids and to most of my client meetings.  Fall-Spring this is mostly 3 pairs of jeans, 4-5 t-shirts, 3 flow-y cardigans and 3 pairs of shoes (sneakers, converse, rain boots).  My clients do not care what I am wearing when I swing by their office because of 1. it’s Seattle, 2. it’s non-profits and 3. they are happy with my work product.  I meet with clients about 15-20 hours a week over 2-2.5 days a week and the rest of the time I am on mom duty.  

Stay-at-home mom person:  4 casual dresses, a couple of skirts and a couple of tank tops + same shoes from above.  In the spring and summer I might wear a dress when running around or seeing a client but in the fall and winter, jeans and cardigans are just most practical.  But when I come home, I much prefer to change into something clean that I haven’t been wearing all day and that is basically simple dresses.   I am only home during the week about 1 day a week.  Mondays all day, Thursday school hours and Friday mornings, I am available for client meetings.  Tuesday, Thursday and Friday my younger son has a mix of classes and appointments and I drive carpool Tuesday and Friday afternoons.   So I am wearing these clothes in the late afternoon/evening, Wednesdays and weekends.  I don’t change out of them to leave the house, so they aren’t just house clothes.  

Need-to-dress up person:  I have 3 pairs of slacks, 3 sweater sets, a blazer, 2 silk shells, a little black dress + 2 pairs of nice dress shoes (one brown, one black).  While not common, I occasionally have a meeting or event for work or politics where leveling up from the jeans is good.  Plus court (for a happily married person I sure the heck spend more time in family court than I can count).  These are the clothes I’d reach for as the base of my work wardrobe if I were to look for a full-time job for a large non-profit.  I am exceedingly unlikely to go that route anytime soon but it is something I recently seriously considered and might consider again if the circumstances merited it.  I put the little black dress with this grouping, for the 2-3 dressier parties or date nights I go to/on in the year.  I suppose I could pare this down to 1-2 work outfits and the dress but it seems silly to toss a very workable classic, high-quality set of professional clothes even if they don’t get a ton of wear. 

These capsules don’t overlap except for the first two on shoes.  I have the first two in my bedroom in my dresser.  The third, I have actually moved to the closet in the tiny bedroom we use as an office because my husband’s work wardrobe takes up most of the closet in our bedroom.  Maybe the first two are one capsule?  Not that it matters much but I did find it helpful to map it out a bit when weeding things out of my drawers I wasn’t wearing and adding things I was missing.  The main thing I found helpful was realizing that I wasn’t wearing or likely to start wearing colors that didn’t coordinate with the blues/greys/black/touch of color of the first capsule.  So bye-bye brick red and brown cardigan and army green shirt etc.  

If you have a capsule wardrobe is it all one set or do you have 2 or more for different parts of your life?  Do you rotate things seasonally?  

 

Edited September 26, 2018 by LucyStoner

[TechWife]

Just in the past month or so I think have finally "arrived" at a capsule wardrobe. I have dressy clothes and casual clothes with the blouses having some overlap.

My colors are black, cream, white and light blue.

I have

3 pairs black slacks (I have to wear these at work)

1 pair cream linen slacks

1 pair white linen slacks

3 pairs jeans

1 pair black shorts

1 pair light blue plaid shorts

1 black suit (skirt and jacket)

1 ankle length skirt, cream with black butterfly design

1 ankle length skirt, white with black scroll design

1 casual black blazer with 3/4 sleeve

1 dressy black sweater weight blazer

1 black cardigan w/collar and cuffs

1 white cardigan

1 short sleeve dressy cream blouse

2 sleeveless dressy blue blouses

1 light blue wrap tank top

1 long sleeve blue t shirt

1 short sleeve blue t shirt

1 3/4 sleeve blue w/cream trim blouse

1 short sleeve black t shirt

1 long sleeve black t shirt

1 long sleeve white t shirt

1 short sleeve cream dressy t shirt (has satin trim)

1 3/4 sleeve cream dressy t shirt (has satin trim)

1 3/4 sleeve black w/white dots t shirt

1 sleeveless black w/white dots sweater

1 sleeveless black sweater

1 short sleeve black sweater

1 3/4 sleeve black sweater w/ruffled collar

1 short sleeve white polo shirt

1 sleeveless white polo shirt

1 short sleeve black polo shirt

1 sleeveless black polo shirt

1  black wrap tank top

1 short sleeve black t shirt w/scallop neckline

1 short sleeve white t shirt w/scallop neckline

 

For hanging around the house I have:

1 pair black gym shorts

3 pair black & grey gym shorts

2 pair long black leggings

6 short sleeve t shirts

2 long sleeve t shirts

3 sweatshirts

I still have clothes that aren't in my capsule - mainly because I like sweaters and I'm not sure if I want to get rid of the pullovers that are different colors. I thought I'd wait until it gets cooler and see what I am pulling to wear.

I love scarves and have several, but I need to go through them if I get rid of sweaters because many of them coordinate with sweaters and wouldn't really go with my capsule (browns, varied prints, etc.). I also got rid of a few blazers and the scarves I wore with them need to be weeded out as well.

For shoes, I have:

1 pair white sandals

1 pair black sandals

1 pair black flats

1 pair off white flats

1 pair white tennis shoes

1 pair black tennis shoes (for work only)

1 pair athletic shoes

I am looking for a pair of low cut black boots. I've had a lot of trouble with my feet and can no longer wear heels, so I need to replace the boots that I've been wearing for several years. Finding low heeled, low cut boots with decent arch support may be challenging, but I'm keeping my eyes open and actively shopping as fall & winter styles hit the stores.

I'd also like to get a grey blazer and perhaps a cream blazer.

 

 

Edited September 26, 2018 by TechWife

[TechWife]

I almost forgot to explain the overlap with the blouses.

I wear a lot of jeans/blouse/blazer combos in the cooler weather and use both dressy blouses and t shirts under the blazers.

 

[HS Mom in NC]

I have 2: very casual and dress casual. I've had a lot of cross over for seasons because seasons weren't very distinct where I lived until earlier in the year.  I now live in a temperate zone with mild winters (a light dusting of snow twice a year) so I think I'll be layering. I'm anticipating some cross over like putting sweater on with a short sleeved top.

I have read about people who have 3-4 capsules because they have very distinct circles in their lives, like someone who lives near the beach, attends a casual church or other casual social events, is a lawyer, and has to attend formal events many times a year.

very casual: beach wear, shorts, jeans, cargo type pants, t-shirts, tanks, t-shirt style dresses, maxi dresses, flip flops, sandals, sneakers
dress casual: day dresses, knit tops, casual woven tops, knit/denim skirt, chinos/kakhis, linen pieces, fun print flats, sandals, wedge sandals
professional: pant and dress suits, blazers, dress slacks, tailored sheath dresses, button down cuffed woven tops, silk shells, pumps, classic flats
formal: cocktail dresses, gowns, strappy heels, pumps
 

[Ottakee]

I am trying to streamline my clothes as well.  I need some for church/nicer presentations, etc.......dress pants and nice tops, etc.   Then I need work clothes which is mostly jeans and easy to wash tops/T shirts with the school logo on them (I teach special ed and come in contact with all manner of "fluids" in a day so things need to be easily washable and not expensive).  Then I have my casual at home/exercise/hiking/kayaking clothes.  Where I am lacking is something that looks nice and put together but less dressy than my church clothes.......you know, the nicer clothes you would wear out for lunch with a friend, to take the kids to the doctor, etc.

[LucyStoner]

I do have a bottom drawer of workout clothes but I don’t count those as part of my capsules any more than I count my pajamas.  I only wear my workout clothes when working out or hiking.  I’ve never been big on wearing my workout clothes except while working out or coming and going from working out (I vastly prefer my own shower to the YMCA locker rooms!)

[Garga]

I don’t have a capsule wardrobe, but if I did I think the idea of having 2 or 3 of them is excellent.  Right now I’m happy with the clothes I have and I have only one circle, really—it’s the “casual stay at home mom who likes to look nice, but doesn’t really have to worry about what image she gives off and sometimes she wears completely different things in the same week so if she had a job people would wonder what the heck she was all about” circle.

I’ll go from jeans and blazers to 1950s rockabilly dresses to Indian silk wrap skirts to sweat suits in the same week.

But if I started a job, say, and needed work clothes and could deliberately start a new wardrobe, I love the idea of a work capsule separate from my casual circle.  

Edited September 26, 2018 by Garga

[prairiewindmomma]

I do this too. 

My capsule wardrobe has evolved. It used to be a true minimalist wardrobe (like, I literally lived out of a suitcase for three months this past winter), but things wore out and it's been difficult to replace back in specific colors.  I can't create an entire wardrobe each season (or even year), so I'm keeping things centered around my base staples and I'm evolving my accents.  

Also, I like my yoga pants too dang much to wear my dressy casual capsule wardrobe every day. So, I have a separate athleisure capsule wardrobe now, which works, because I live in a casual place.

I'm re-evaluating my dressy/casual stance with this latest relo.  I need to find more dressy casual tops as my t-shirt collection dwindles....it's just $$$ and I've had no thrift store love in that area.

I wear out about 5 shirts a year (between stains, holes, and just wear).  Is that normal?  Everything is worn 1-2x/week.

[lavender's green]

I basically wear your stay-at-home mom person wardrobe, but if I had clients or needed to look more professional on occasion, I'd add another capsule or two. 

It's taken a while, but I've built up two seasonal capsules, mostly dresses. It's not strictly necessary for where I live, but I got sick of sweating in the summer and freezing in the winter half the time. My winter dresses are more neutral because I can accessorize without getting uncomfortable. My summer dresses are brighter/bolder because I'm not going to layer on scarves or anything.

[Ausmumof3]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I do this too. 

My capsule wardrobe has evolved. It used to be a true minimalist wardrobe (like, I literally lived out of a suitcase for three months this past winter), but things wore out and it's been difficult to replace back in specific colors.  I can't create an entire wardrobe each season (or even year), so I'm keeping things centered around my base staples and I'm evolving my accents.  

Also, I like my yoga pants too dang much to wear my dressy casual capsule wardrobe every day. So, I have a separate athleisure capsule wardrobe now, which works, because I live in a casual place.

I'm re-evaluating my dressy/casual stance with this latest relo.  I need to find more dressy casual tops as my t-shirt collection dwindles....it's just $$$ and I've had no thrift store love in that area.

I wear out about 5 shirts a year (between stains, holes, and just wear).  Is that normal?  Everything is worn 1-2x/week.

I do as well.  I think this is fairly typical with a minimalist wardrobe particularly with modern clothes.  I know there are some people around that have t shirts for years but all of my Ts from last year have small holes so are only good for round the house.  

[LucyStoner]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I wear out about 5 shirts a year (between stains, holes, and just wear).  Is that normal?  Everything is worn 1-2x/week.

 

 

I think so.  Some of my tees last and last (I have some band shirts that are 5-15 years old) but the solid color women's ones I buy seem to get at least 1 small hole every 6-12 months.  At that point, it's just for jammies, if I love it.  It doesn't seem to matter if it's a $5 shirt from target or a nicer one from J Jill, Land's End or elsewhere.  

[Hoggirl]

In my mind, I love the concept of a capsule wardrobe, but in reality, it just doesn’t work for me because I like clothes too much!  So, I have given up.  However, when I considered this approach, I decided that I would need to have an “occasion” capsule in addition to whatever my (imaginary, non-existent) capsule was.  The “occasion capsule” would need at least:

1) a dress or two for funerals - one black/one gray

2) a couple of dresses for weddings - different sleeve lengths/fabrics for different times of the year 

3) a couple of “fancy” outfits - for parties/NYE type things - a dressy dress or two, and a couple of “jazzy” tops 

4) Nicer church dresses 

In think a total of 10 or so item would work for occasions

[elegantlion]

I have about 3 capsule wardrobes. One is casual clothes I generally wear around the house or when I want to be really slouchy. 

The second is my grad school wardrobe and upgrade from bachelor's student wardrobe. I've had to add a few pieces this summer, rotating out a few graphic tees, adding in some better pants. Historians fall on the casual spectrum anyway, but my new school is a bit more dressy overall, so I'm trying to find balance. 

The third is business attire. I save that for conferences mostly and will occasionally pull out a piece for school.  

I have two distinct seasonal wardrobes. The temperatures are just too varied here. My school/casual wardrobe includes capris. I can't wear those here passed October. 

Shoes (summer/winter) tend to serve all capsules. I can no longer wear heels, so even my business attire uses boots and flats. 

I had my wardrobes pretty well "encapsulated." Starting a new school forced me to reevaluate all my pieces. I've also had to invest into some better shoes because of the amount of walking and standing I do now. 

I tend to have core colors, black, grey, olive green with some brighter sweaters in dark teal and burgundy. 

My capsules are not super minimal, yet I'm working on that this year as I didn't bring all my clothes to school and most of my pieces go with most of the other pieces. 

[lavender's green]

Count me as another former wardrobe minimalist. I just kept winding up with a small wardrobe of dingy clothes! I'm trying to face up to the reality of modern clothing, and I'm forcing myself to buy more than I think I need, just to spread out the wear/tear over more items.

[TechWife]

7 hours ago, Seasider too said:

I haven’t read through all the replies, but from what I did read, all your “capsules” seem to contain a lot of clothing! I remember traveling a month overseas on business and I think my capsule was literally ten total coordinating clothing items (for a nice number of outfits) and two pairs of shoes. Of course that was born of necessity, but considering the original question, I think more than one capsule is fine IF each capsule is small. Otherwise you still end up with a very full closet. 

I just returned from spending 8 days traveling in France. I had one carry on suitcase. I took 2 pair of jeans, four tops, 1 pr. dress slacks, 1 dressy sweater and two pairs of pajamas. I did do laundry part way through the trip (that was planned). Travel wardrobes are different than capsule wardrobes in my experience.

I don't think of capsule wardrobes as minimalist, though. I think of them as contained, defined & coordinated. It's probably one of those terms that has a few different meanings.

Edited September 28, 2018 by TechWife

[LucyStoner]

9 hours ago, Seasider too said:

I haven’t read through all the replies, but from what I did read, all your “capsules” seem to contain a lot of clothing! I remember traveling a month overseas on business and I think my capsule was literally ten total coordinating clothing items (for a nice number of outfits) and two pairs of shoes. Of course that was born of necessity, but considering the original question, I think more than one capsule is fine IF each capsule is small. Otherwise you still end up with a very full closet. 

 

I don’t truthfully see why 10 for one month is appreciably less than 22 (capsules 1+2) for basically the entire year.  This isn’t what I pack, this is all there is to wear out of the house.  ?

All together, my clothes take up less than 1/2 of a tiny closet rail (loosely hung) and one not-large dresser, with half the used space in the dresser taken by socks, underwear, PJs, linergie and 1 drawer of work out gear.  My dresser is also about 1/2 full when all items are clean and put away. 

Capsule 1 is 3 jeans, 4-5 T-shirts and 3 flowy cardigans.   Which is enough to get through the week without doing laundry.  Even with 3 pairs of shoes (one dictated by the rainy climate) it totals 14 items.  It would all fit in a carryon that fits under an airline seat except for the rain boots with room to spare.  Capsule 2 (4 simple dresses, 2 tank tops and 2 skirts) takes the item count to 22 between the two. It’s also not a month’s worth of clothes, it’s a full year’s worth if only I never needed to dress up.  ?

Capsule 3 is it’s own thing and is 15 things inclusive of dress shoes.  It’s a very basic professional/dressing up base.  If I didn’t have to dress up, that would be 1 dress and 1 pair of shoes.  I’ve wondered about integrating my dress clothes with my casual everyday clothes but I just travel in a very casual circle and I’m not going to, for instance, pair a silk shell with jeans and the blazer for everyday. 

This is both more and less clothing that I used to have.  ?  More than I used to wear and less than I used to have because my drawers were full of not quite right thrift finds, colors I wouldn’t wear or not the right fit.  

 

 

 

[Pam in CT]

"both more and less than I used to have"

8 hours ago, LucyStoner said:

...All together, my clothes take up less than 1/2 of a tiny closet rail (loosely hung) and one not-large dresser, with half the used space in the dresser taken by socks, underwear, PJs, linergie and 1 drawer of work out gear.  My dresser is also about 1/2 full when all items are clean and put away. 

Capsule 1 is 3 jeans, 4-5 T-shirts and 3 flowy cardigans.   Which is enough to get through the week without doing laundry.  Even with 3 pairs of shoes (one dictated by the rainy climate) it totals 14 items.  It would all fit in a carryon that fits under an airline seat except for the rain boots with room to spare.  Capsule 2 (4 simple dresses, 2 tank tops and 2 skirts) takes the item count to 22 between the two. It’s also not a month’s worth of clothes, it’s a full year’s worth if only I never needed to dress up.  ?

Capsule 3 is it’s own thing and is 15 things inclusive of dress shoes.  It’s a very basic professional/dressing up base.  If I didn’t have to dress up, that would be 1 dress and 1 pair of shoes.  I’ve wondered about integrating my dress clothes with my casual everyday clothes but I just travel in a very casual circle and I’m not going to, for instance, pair a silk shell with jeans and the blazer for everyday. 

This is both more and less clothing that I used to have.  ?  More than I used to wear and less than I used to have because my drawers were full of not quite right thrift finds, colors I wouldn’t wear or not the right fit.  

 

I aspire to get to this place... I wear the same things over and over but some irresistibly powerful gravitational force prevents me from getting rid of things I haven't worn in years.  I dunno what that's about, but my rather spacious closet bulges with things I have not worn in 10+ years.

I have a warm weather uniform (skirt just above knee, fitted T, cotton unconstructed jacket, flats) and a cold weather uniform (pants, fitted T, cardigan sweater, large scarf, low cut boots) that I direct up or down casual-professional-wise.  And a handful of sheath dresses and sheer stockings and Real Shoes when I have to go to an event; and workout/paint the bathroom/mess around in the garden clothes/associated shoes that are only for those functions.  

That is all I *ever* wear. In principle I should be able to get rid of 4/5 of what's in my closet.  So far not.

[wintermom]

Yes, multiple "capsules" are required for some people. Yes, some parts are seasonal because our temp change between summer and winter is over 120 F. Some work-out "summer" clothing I need in the winter as I exercise indoors. So my biggest issue for clothing is storage - and I have no money to buy clothes. ?

I'm also struggling with work shoes and shoes to walk to the bus to get to work. I NEED runners for the walking, but also need to change them when in the "work" environment. I don't have office space and will have to carry all shoes with me. Runners take up a lot of space. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Wintermom—have you tried Dansko or some of the higher end (usually euro branded) shoes? 

[Epicurean]

I’m trying to pair down my closet to this list!

[wintermom]

9 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Wintermom—have you tried Dansko or some of the higher end (usually euro branded) shoes? 

Thanks! I'll look into that. Did I mention I have no money .....  ?

[wintermom]

On 9/26/2018 at 2:06 PM, LucyStoner said:

I do have a bottom drawer of workout clothes but I don’t count those as part of my capsules any more than I count my pajamas.  I only wear my workout clothes when working out or hiking.  I’ve never been big on wearing my workout clothes except while working out or coming and going from working out (I vastly prefer my own shower to the YMCA locker rooms!)

That's where you are lucky. My workout clothes over-power my other stuff.

My workout clothes "capsule" has to include enough specialized tennis shorts with pockets, sports bras and tops so that I can play tennis everyday and not have to do laundry everyday; biking shorts that are longer length than tennis shorts; shoes for tennis, running and biking (laces can get caught in the gears). That's summer. Then winter I need long-sleeved tops and pants so that I can ski, walk, snowshoe, etc. These can sometimes be washed less frequently as I may not sweat them out after a single use.  One drawer doesn't cut it for storage space. 

Edited September 29, 2018 by wintermom

[prairiewindmomma]

5 hours ago, wintermom said:

Thanks! I'll look into that. Did I mention I have no money .....  ?

Yeah, I have that problem too.  The good news is that you can usually get several years of wear out of one pair, even with heavy use.  

I'm saving up for these next (but won't get them in black): https://www.zappos.com/p/naot-kirei-black-suede-leather-combination/product/7563148/color/446797

[LucyStoner]

On 9/29/2018 at 5:44 AM, wintermom said:

That's where you are lucky. My workout clothes over-power my other stuff.

My workout clothes "capsule" has to include enough specialized tennis shorts with pockets, sports bras and tops so that I can play tennis everyday and not have to do laundry everyday; biking shorts that are longer length than tennis shorts; shoes for tennis, running and biking (laces can get caught in the gears). That's summer. Then winter I need long-sleeved tops and pants so that I can ski, walk, snowshoe, etc. These can sometimes be washed less frequently as I may not sweat them out after a single use.  One drawer doesn't cut it for storage space. 

 Yep.  No tennis clothes here.  

It’s my fullest drawer for sure.  I do pack away the winter gear/anything that is too warm for hiking and working out in the spring and summer so that help.  I need to start pulling out the winter stuff soonish.