Capsule Wardrobe Update: Month One

I shared about a month ago that I was going to start a capsule wardrobe. I had been feeling pretty disenchanted with my clothes and frustrated that I didn’t really feel good in anything I had, so I decided it was high time to change it up a bit. So, where am I at with my capsule wardrobe? So far I love it! I can honestly say I don’t miss anything that I’ve pulled out of my closet and I find it so much easier to get dressed in the morning. I haven’t had a single day where I’ve had to try on multiple outfits before leaving the house (which used to be a very regular thing for me!) and I feel good in what I’m wearing every day.

Now, that being said, I also had an interesting revelation about this project – I don’t intend for this to be a forever thing. I don’t know how much thought I had put into that before starting this whole thing, but I think all along I have subconsciously been thinking of this as a year-long project. I want to go through each season with a capsule, but after that I think I will go back to a “regular” wardrobe. I see this as a fantastic opportunity to really pare down my closet, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to having as many clothes as I did before, but I don’t want to limit myself to a specific number forever. If nothing else, this project is just a really amazing opportunity to “re-set” my closet back to only clothes I love, and from there I may build it back up a little bit and allow myself to be more free with it, but I don’t ever want to go back to buying clothes I don’t absolutely love!

Another interesting (and surprising) thing has been how much I actually use the clothes that I didn’t count in my official number. As a high school teacher, there are lots of themed spirit days, football days, and other events where I have specific t-shirts to wear that I wouldn’t wear any other time. So, while I guess it’s technically cheating, I find myself pulling from that section of my closet at least once a week, sometimes more. But once football season is over, that will be dramatically reduced, so I still feel like they shouldn’t be counted in my actual number (plus, I wouldn’t really choose to wear them if it wasn’t for work – it’s almost like a work uniform!).

Also, I find it interesting how loose I tend to be with the rules. I’ve learned that when rules like this are self-imposed, I’m less likely to follow them strictly because I know there’s no consequence for not following them! That doesn’t mean I’ve been pulling from my storage for clothes to wear, but it does mean I’ve swapped a couple of things out since I started and haven’t hesitated to grab something if I need it. For example, I didn’t have a pair of sneakers in my wardrobe and on the first day my class went to bowling practice for Special Olympics, I knew I would need some. So, I pulled them out. I also am seeing a few holes in my capsule (like for shirts that I can wear with leggings to school…have to be fingertip length!), so if I find anything that works I won’t hesitate to purchase it and swap out a shirt in my closet for a new one. It’s not supposed to be about restricting myself and making things miserable, it’s just about challenging myself to build a better wardrobe – so if there are ways to improve as I go, I have no problem with that!

So as a whole, one month in, I can say that I’m still so incredibly glad I decided to try this out and I haven’t once missed my bigger wardrobe. It’s been so freeing to let go of all the old clothes that I don’t really love (or that didn’t fit right, or that were just in bad shape) and only have things in my closet that make me truly happy. I’m still a little concerned about how it will all work out once it starts to get colder…Texas weather is so unbelievably unpredictable that it’s basically impossible to know if I’ll need more cold-weather clothes or if what I have will suffice. I guess we’ll see in the next few weeks!