I sincerely hope you aren't over hearing me talk about this capsule wardrobe. Ha! I also sincerely hope it won't take 3 whole blog posts to write about in the future. I could've written about it in one, big, monstrous blog post but I didn't want to put anyone, including myself, through that.
I do have a lot of thoughts on all this, especially since it is the first capsule wardrobe I have ever done.
Looking at my closet when it was all over, I had two first initial reactions.
1) Wow! Look at all this space I now have. Now my husband doesn't have to dig through one jam-packed closet for his own stuff and can spread out a bit.
I was able to fit all of my wardrobe into the two sections of closet that I have. All of the shirts and sweaters and skirts in one section and the other section that also is housing all my fancy dresses and coats that I'm not storing away also houses my two wardrobe dresses, my pants, and my shoes. This means that my dresser houses none of my capsule wardrobe except my shorts. Otherwise it has my pjs, workout clothes, basics, undies and socks, and the few camping essentials I stored in there. And one measly little drawer for my poor husband. But anyway, this is a huge victory.
2) There is a style, and it looks good. Looking at the clothes I chose all hanging next to each other I could see a very consistent style. And, for once looking at my closet it looked cohesive and like a wardrobe I'd envy if I saw it posted up on the internet. I have a lot of browns/beiges, white, blue and grey. And just a few pops of color here and there: red, orange, and yellow mainly. Everything falls into the more Gap preppy style. The basic, casual look mainly. Now that I don't work in an office I really don't need any professional clothes. The one thing it is lacking a bit is my more bohemian style. That exists only in accents like a possible sweater or my jewelry which I have started to notice lately reflects my style much better than my wardrobe does and I know I'm much pickier when I select jewelry.
Now that I have worn this wardrobe a bit there are a few things I have noticed.
1) Why did I choose 3 shorts and 2 short skirts? I initially thought about not counting shorts as part of the 37. And to be honest, it's not like I'm pissed they are taking up precious space because even with them there I still have plenty, but I live in the Bay Area. C'mon. I don't think I have EVER worn shorts here. I own shorts specifically for the times when I am not here. Like when we go camping, go to Southern CA, go on other some sort of warm vacation. It is very unlikely shorts will ever be a part of my normal wardrobe while living in the Bay Area. The sad thing is the 3 pairs of short were narrowed down from something like 6 pairs of shorts. If I only wear shorts when I'm on vacation, why do I need so many? Well, I'm not prepared to just toss them all but I am thinking shorts MAY not make it into the 37 in the future or if so, only just for summer if I tend to be vacationing a lot (like I am this summer).
2) It's not so hard living with this few clothes. Especially since most days I am not even choosing anything out of my wardrobe but just wearing workout clothes or if anything, a shirt from my basics with jeans. Right now, in fact, I'm wearing a workout shirt with jeans and flip flops.
3) As great as my style looked at the beginning, now I feel a little "eh". I wish maybe I had tried to make cohesive outfits with everything so I knew what looked good with what. I realized this as I was trying to pack for a weekend away. I still find myself throwing things together that even though they are nice items that I picked for my wardrobe, they don't necessarily go well with each other. I still don't feel as "put together" as I would like. But I think this is a little bit of me starting to fine tune my tastes with this project. I realize as much as I have all these basics, that I need maybe a little more flavor in there. As I mentioned before, I do have some plans on buying some new things here and there to add, and they are very pre-meditated purchases. Being able to shop for and fulfill all these pieces at the beginning of the wardrobe season may not be a reality for me until Fall or maybe Winter. Anyway, as I mentioned before, I believe that in the meantime or maybe even for a full year my wardrobes will be very experimental as I try to work things in my wardrobe and quickly toss them when they didn't get worn once in a season, but...
4) I do notice there are a few things I haven't worn yet in the few weeks that I have been with this wardrobe. I don't know if I will be so quick to toss them. They may need to make it through a full years rotation to know for sure that they aren't right. One shirt I'm thinking of in particular. Well maybe the weather just hasn't been right or I didn't integrate it into a wardrobe with the best items to accompany it. It's all a learning process and as you can see, I'm up for it, have a lot of thoughts on it, and am very ready to do it my way anyway. :)
What I do want to say though is that I would recommend people to try this. It is amazing how little you can live in. I do wonder if I worked at an office where the same people saw me every day, if this would be a lot harder, and it very possibly could be. But I would want to challenge myself even then and see if I could just realize that looking good every day but rotating stuff more often is better than looking half thrown together but with something different to wear every day of the month.
The best part of it though is that if we were this intentional and conscious about our likes, our dislikes, our style, what we bought, and what we selected in our wardrobe, it would not only save us time and money in the long run, but also would create a whole lot less textile waste on our planet. That is something I have been a huge advocate for for many years. I guess this is just my new experiment in that arena.
I do have a lot of thoughts on all this, especially since it is the first capsule wardrobe I have ever done.
Initial Reaction
1) Wow! Look at all this space I now have. Now my husband doesn't have to dig through one jam-packed closet for his own stuff and can spread out a bit.
I was able to fit all of my wardrobe into the two sections of closet that I have. All of the shirts and sweaters and skirts in one section and the other section that also is housing all my fancy dresses and coats that I'm not storing away also houses my two wardrobe dresses, my pants, and my shoes. This means that my dresser houses none of my capsule wardrobe except my shorts. Otherwise it has my pjs, workout clothes, basics, undies and socks, and the few camping essentials I stored in there. And one measly little drawer for my poor husband. But anyway, this is a huge victory.
 |
| Section of Closet for Dresses & Coats |
 |
| Pants & Shoes |
 |
| Boots - C'mon, Uggs don't count towards my 37 :) |
 |
| I got style! |
Delayed Reactions
Now that I have worn this wardrobe a bit there are a few things I have noticed.
1) Why did I choose 3 shorts and 2 short skirts? I initially thought about not counting shorts as part of the 37. And to be honest, it's not like I'm pissed they are taking up precious space because even with them there I still have plenty, but I live in the Bay Area. C'mon. I don't think I have EVER worn shorts here. I own shorts specifically for the times when I am not here. Like when we go camping, go to Southern CA, go on other some sort of warm vacation. It is very unlikely shorts will ever be a part of my normal wardrobe while living in the Bay Area. The sad thing is the 3 pairs of short were narrowed down from something like 6 pairs of shorts. If I only wear shorts when I'm on vacation, why do I need so many? Well, I'm not prepared to just toss them all but I am thinking shorts MAY not make it into the 37 in the future or if so, only just for summer if I tend to be vacationing a lot (like I am this summer).
 |
| Those dang shorts, kickin' it in my PJ drawer |
3) As great as my style looked at the beginning, now I feel a little "eh". I wish maybe I had tried to make cohesive outfits with everything so I knew what looked good with what. I realized this as I was trying to pack for a weekend away. I still find myself throwing things together that even though they are nice items that I picked for my wardrobe, they don't necessarily go well with each other. I still don't feel as "put together" as I would like. But I think this is a little bit of me starting to fine tune my tastes with this project. I realize as much as I have all these basics, that I need maybe a little more flavor in there. As I mentioned before, I do have some plans on buying some new things here and there to add, and they are very pre-meditated purchases. Being able to shop for and fulfill all these pieces at the beginning of the wardrobe season may not be a reality for me until Fall or maybe Winter. Anyway, as I mentioned before, I believe that in the meantime or maybe even for a full year my wardrobes will be very experimental as I try to work things in my wardrobe and quickly toss them when they didn't get worn once in a season, but...
4) I do notice there are a few things I haven't worn yet in the few weeks that I have been with this wardrobe. I don't know if I will be so quick to toss them. They may need to make it through a full years rotation to know for sure that they aren't right. One shirt I'm thinking of in particular. Well maybe the weather just hasn't been right or I didn't integrate it into a wardrobe with the best items to accompany it. It's all a learning process and as you can see, I'm up for it, have a lot of thoughts on it, and am very ready to do it my way anyway. :)
What I do want to say though is that I would recommend people to try this. It is amazing how little you can live in. I do wonder if I worked at an office where the same people saw me every day, if this would be a lot harder, and it very possibly could be. But I would want to challenge myself even then and see if I could just realize that looking good every day but rotating stuff more often is better than looking half thrown together but with something different to wear every day of the month.
The best part of it though is that if we were this intentional and conscious about our likes, our dislikes, our style, what we bought, and what we selected in our wardrobe, it would not only save us time and money in the long run, but also would create a whole lot less textile waste on our planet. That is something I have been a huge advocate for for many years. I guess this is just my new experiment in that arena.
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