Create a Capsule Wardrobe With Clothes You Own

August’s Monthly Focus is closets, and there’s no better place to start than your own and with the clothes you already have. This post on how to create a capsule wardrobe is one of our most-loved stories (and one of the most-commented!) because it’s proof that a calmer, more functional wardrobe doesn’t require a shopping trip.

Are you frustrated by the clothes in your closet and looking for a simpler way to organize your clothing and keep your options to a minimum? A capsule wardrobe might be just what you need to minimize your options and declutter your closet.

What is a capsule wardrobe? A capsule wardrobe is a limited selection of clothing that is interchangeable. Multiple pieces that can be worn with different separates creating endless combinations. The capsule wardrobe isn’t a new concept, it’s been circulating for years and is especially popular in minimalist circles.

While a traditional capsule wardrobe might include an arbitrary number of items and very specific amounts of each item: 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of jeans, 5 short sleeve shirts, 5 long sleeve shirts, 2 sweaters, etc., I am concentrating more on minimizing options and keeping what I love wearing.

How to Create a Capsule Wardrobe (with the clothes you already own):

I started by removing any quick edits – anything that I knew didn’t fit, was damaged, or wasn’t a favorite. I started with my fall and winter clothing, but you can do this with all your clothing or separate it out by season like I did. I keep a basket in my closet for donations and used that to put the clothes in while I edited the collection.

QUICK TIP: If you’re unsure of any items, turn the hanger around and if you don’t use it within a month or two, let it go.

Next, I pulled out all of the prints and separated them from the solids. This is helpful just to see what you have and assess the best and must keeps. This also helped me see how many striped shirts I have, how many florals, etc. I don’t wear all of these shirts and circulate through my favorites so seeing them grouped together was helpful.

clothes hanging in a closet with baskets in the background

I did the same thing with the solid colors and then refined it down further by grouping like colors together. Now I can see how many white shirts, blue shirts, black shirts, etc. I have when they’re all grouped together. Doing this also helps you see a color theme that you can use to formulate your capsule wardrobe.

Once I had everything separated out by prints and solids and grouped by color, I did another quick sort of those two categories and let go of a couple more shirts in each category.

At this point I paused on the shirts and went through my pants and jeans, put them in color order and tried each pair on. Anything that I didn’t love the cut or fit, I put in my donation basket.

The last big step: decide on a color theme for your capsule wardrobe. This can be super specific like white and black or it can be a little more general – neutrals, cool colors, or warm colors. My theme is cool colors – whites, blues, greens, grays, blacks. Not everything will be interchangeable but there are plenty of combinations to choose from. Do I have a couple non-cool color options? Yes, but they are neutrals – like beige and cream – and will fit right in with my interchangeable capsule wardrobe.

Now that I have my color theme decided, I went back through AGAIN and removed a couple more items from the selection.

Now comes the fun part – putting the capsule wardrobe together. I put the prints and solids together in color order – whites, pinks, greens, blues, grays, blacks. You can decide how you want to arrange your capsule wardrobe but this makes the most sense for me.

A few of you have asked how I approach shoes and boots — and honestly, I keep this part simple too. I stick to one pair of workout shoes, two pairs of dress shoes, two pairs of sandals, and two pairs of boots. The same edit-and-group method works here: pull everything out, be honest about what you actually reach for, and let go of the pairs that don’t fit the life you’re living right now (we all have that one pair we keep “just in case”).

Accessories can follow the same rule — if you haven’t reached for it in a season, it’s probably not part of your capsule.

Do You Need to Rotate Seasonally?

Not everyone needs to rotate their closet by season — and that’s okay! If you live somewhere with mild winters or long warm stretches, your capsule might stay mostly the same year-round with just a few swaps (a jacket in, sandals out). The method is the same either way: edit, group, choose your colors, and keep only what you love wearing. Your closet doesn’t have to look like mine to work for you.

I was motivated to go through my spring and summer clothes too – I followed the same method and process.

Here’s my completed capsule wardrobe for fall and winter – some basics, some fun prints, and everything fits and will be rotated through. The best part? This was free! I didn’t have to purchase any new items, I was able to simply sort through the best clothes in my own closet.

Have you tried a capsule wardrobe? Would you try this method? Let us know in the comments!

This capsule wardrobe method came straight from a conversation in Homekeeping Society — and closets are exactly what we’re digging into this month. HKS opens on August 6th → join the watilist and let’s tackle your closet together, one small step at a time.

How to create a capsule wardrobe graphic

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