How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe for Who You Are Right Now

The new you doesn’t want your old clothes. I’ve been thinking about this statement for two weeks now after hearing a woman on Instagram talk about how your closet feels empty because you aren’t the same person who bought the clothes hanging in it. And isn’t that the truth?

It feels true of me right now, especially as I continue to explore my creative era and follow the little sparks of joy that come up for me when I see or do something I want to be doing. I’ve built a capsule wardrobe for myself before, but that was years and several dresses sizes ago, so I figured it was time to build a capsule wardrobe for who I am right now instead of continuing to wear the clothes of the person I used to be.

Taking Stock of My Existing Wardrobe

The thought of having to take all of my clothes out of the closet and determine which ones to keep or toss made my head hurt. I don’t love trying on clothes, and I especially don’t love trying on clothes that I think I don’t like anymore. But instead of approaching this project with dread, I thought about it from the perspective of choosing pieces that spoke to me right now. I thought of it like shopping in my own closet.

Shopping in my own closet meant I didn’t have to keep something just because it still fit. Or because I’d only bought it last year. Or because I’d only worn it a couple of times. I’m re-writing the rules in my life these days and with that in mind, I took one piece at a time out of my closet. I know myself enough to know the pile of potential that could have filled up my bed was just going to overwhelm me so I started slow.

Purge As You Go to Build A Capsule Wardrobe

I grabbed a bag to put anything I wanted to donate aside. It didn’t take long to fill the first bag because I’d had some worn out sweaters, hoodies and jeans that were just hanging around. They weren’t even “donate” quality. They needed to go in the trash. The second bag was clothes that I decided I didn’t want, or by chance, didn’t fit. I didn’t get upset or frustrated if something didn’t fit. It probably hasn’t fit in a while, if I’m being honest, so there’s no point in hanging on to any of it.

The point of this project was to dress the body I have now and reflect on the person I am becoming. There’s no point in worrying about the person I used to be. That means not waiting to lose 20 or 30 pounds before I give my wardrobe a makeover. A girl’s gotta cover her ass in the meantime, amiright?

Plus, I’m not entirely sure I want to lose weight right now. I’ve been on my fair share of diets and at this point in my life, I’d rather work on being comfortable in my own skin than trying to figure out if something I want to eat is in my calorie count for the day. I know there’s more to diet and healthy lifestyle than that, but I’m working on one part of my life at a time here and right now, overhauling my wardrobe seems more important. And fun. Obviously.

Working with the Basics to Build a Capsule Wardrobe

I’ve got a pretty plain-Jane style when it comes to choosing clothes for myself and that’s something I’ve been wanting to improve for a while now. But when you go out and buy a shirt here or a pair of pants there, it can still feel like nothing fits together. So as I was sizing up my closet, literally and figuratively, I was also setting aside pieces of clothing that would help make up a new capsule wardrobe. I thought about color, fabric, shape and of course, function.

Because I run my own company and work from home (or wherever), I’ve developed a routine of showering and getting dressed in the morning pretty early on. It’s a rare day when you’d catch me lounging in my sleepwear, despite not being thrilled about getting dressed everyday. I did that to establish a system for myself where I was ready to leave the house at any time, even if I didn’t have to.

It made me feel better to get dressed in the morning and be ready for the day, even if nobody was going to see me, but me. And so when I’d picked clothing pieces in the past, everything I owned paired well with a pair of jeans. If I wasn’t wearing jeans, I was wearing a dress. And that’s my basic formula. Pick a nice top, put on a pair of jeans, and get on with the day. There’s just something about wearing jeans that makes me feel like I could take on the day. And with the exception of a black-tie event, there’s not too many places you can’t go in a pair of jeans.

What Stays and Goes

Prior to deciding to clean out my closet, my “leaving the house” style has mostly consisted of long-sleep tops, jeans, boots and a vest of some kind. At one point, I’ve owned 8 or 10 vests because it’s all I’d wear in the winter instead of wearing a jacket. It was a style formula that I felt comfortable wearing and it was easy to mix and match sweaters, jeans and vests.

But it’s not actually the kind of clothes that make me feel good. It’s functional. It’s easy. And it’s predictable: I can’t tell you how many inside jokes my friends and I have about how I’ll be ready for the next apocalypse with all my vests. I can carry anything. It was even funnier when I owned a Jeep. But these days, I’m more interesting in learning to express myself rather than just cover myself.

And it turns out, I’ve got no idea how to do that. So it makes sense to start with the basics. And boy, do I have basics.

By the time I finished cleaning out my drawers and my closet, I wasn’t left with much. But honestly, I knew I could do a lot with what I’ve got and that means I don’t need to run out and buy anything new just yet. Which is a good thing because we’re experiencing a heat wave here right now and I don’t want to have to do anything involving being outside or wearing an outfit that doesn’t involve a bathing suit or a tank top and shorts. You just can’t care what you look like when you’re sweating balls all over the place because of inescapable heat.

What Made the Cut to Build a Capsule Wardrobe

Here’s what I was left with after I cleaned out my closet. I’m going to share photos with you so you can see how I piece some of these outfits together from what I’ve got. Keep in mind, most of these outfits are fall/spring/winter outfits because I don’t imagine I’m going to veer too far from my tank and shorts formula all summer.

1 sundress

1 formal short dress

1 formal long dress

1 printed shawl

1 printed scarf

1 denim jack

1 leather jacket

1 vest

2 pairs skinny jeans (yes, I will die in these jeans, move along.)

1 pair of wide-leg jeans

1 pair black leggings

3 t-shirts

1 sleeveless top

2 printed dressy tops

2 tank tops

1 hoodie

1 pair of denim shorts

3 long sweater jackets

1 wrap-style sweater

1 pair of boots, booties and canvas sneakers

In total, I kept 26 pieces of clothing not including shoes, a winter jacket and a formal dress jacket not pictured here.

Pictures of My Paired Down Capsule Wardrobe

Here’s the pictures of the pieces that made the cut. This doesn’t include clothing I kept for workouts, camping, or doing work like painting or home renos.

Outer Wear

Sweaters/Wraps

T-Shirts, Tanks and Tops

Bottoms

Accessories/ Miscellaneous

Making Old Outfits New Again to Build a Capsule Wardrobe

Once I had all of the pieces picked out and the rest of the clothing bagged up and ready to go off to the donation bin, I enlisted the help of ChatGPT to take the photos I’d uploaded and create several outfit formulas for me. I love looking at inspiration outfits and I asked it to give me a “style” based on what it knows about me. It called me, “earthy, creative, and a little bit witchy” which I didn’t understand at first, but then totally understood in the recommendations it was making for additional pieces to add to my wardrobe, including linen, flowing, off-the-shoulder tops. Here’s a few examples of the outfits ChatGPT came up with as inspiration for my style.

Here are a few examples of the outfits Chat GPT made for me using my own clothes based on the recommended aesthetic above.

And here’s what those outfits look like on me just in case you’re thinking that lay flat images don’t really to clothes justice.

Adding Pieces to Build a Capsule Wardrobe

Much to my surprise, I didn’t hate cleaning out my closet. Because I had a clear goal in mind to build a capsule wardrobe with what I owned, or at least, to create the building blocks of one, I had a direction to go in. In previous attempts to clean out my closet, I would just keep anything that fit, but because I’m working to be intentional in all areas of my life, I want to own clothes that also have intention.

I started out thinking I didn’t have a “style” to speak of, but once I’d run all my clothing items through ChatGPT and it spit out a bunch of examples for me, I realized that I do have a comfortable, earthy style that I naturally gravitate toward. I think I was discounting my style because it doesn’t feel like I’m putting any effort into how I look, but the other way to look at it is that my style is actually effortless. In other words, how I look is authentic to how I feel. I just wasn’t given my clothes enough credit.

It was validating to discover that much of what I owned would form the basis to build a capsule wardrobe and so I can make a list of items I want to buy over the next few months and add into my wardrobe as I go.

Don’t Rush Out and Buy New Clothes All at Once

In previous attempts to build a capsule wardrobe, I made one key mistake. That mistake was that I replaced almost my entire wardrobe from top to bottom at the same time. Sure, it’s super fun to go out and buy a bunch of new clothes, but you know what happens when you have a closet full of new clothes?

For starters, the clothes all wear at the same rate. That means that my three new pairs of jeans that are worn in serious rotation start to look worn, and not in a good way. The arse of them starts to wear thing and the shirts I’ve purchased all start to get pilling on the fabric from washing regularly. I do make a habit of never putting any of my clothes in the dryer so it does help to give them a longer life, but not by much. Once every few months, I have to go through and sheer off any pilling or toss something entirely because it can’t be salvaged.

That’s just a waste of time and money. I’m not saying you have to go out and buy expensive clothes. I don’t tend to do that either. But I know from experience that buying pieces in a staggered way means you get more out of your wardrobe over time.

Make a List of What You Want to Buy

Years ago, I created a list of clothing items I wanted to buy to build a capsule wardrobe. I kept that list on my phone and whenever I was out shopping, I made a point to look for any of the items on the list. For example, I searched for the perfect pair of leopard print flats for almost two years. When I finally found them, they were definitely out of style, but you’ll notice I haven’t mentioned trends at all here. I don’t lean into trends too much. I buy pieces that I can wear for years. Or at least, lather, rinse and repeat for years. So when I finally found those leopard print flats, I was ecstatic! I wore them home from the store.

It also took me over a year to find the perfect denim jacket. I tried every denim jacket on that I came across in that time frame and it didn’t matter that it was going to take me so long to find it. Because I knew once I found it, I’d have it for a long time. The same is true of my leather jacket. I rarely buy something like a piece of outerwear on a whim. I want to know that I’m going to get a bunch of use out of it.

The item it took me the longest to find was a long-sleeved white shirt. Every white shirt I came across was either made of sticky fabric, which drove me crazy, or it was see-through. Not exactly ideal for obvious reasons. I was well over two years of searching for the perfect long-sleeved white shirt before I finally found it. So I bought two.

Adding Items to the “To-Buy” List to Build a Capsule Wardrobe

Here’s a list of items I’d like to purchase in the next few months to complete the capsule wardrobe I’m trying to build for fall and winter. I can re-evaluate in the spring. And summer? Well, you know the drill: give me shorts and tank tops.

Brown leather shoulder bag

White tank top

Grey or black v-neck sweater

White or Linen embroidered top

White tennis shoes

Floral top

Cargo jacket

Here’s the image ChatGPT did up for me when I gave it my list of shopping items. It’s great to have something handy to offer inspiration on the go!

I’ll continue to add to this list as I gather items and decide there are other things I want, but the best part about doing this exercise was realizing that I’ve got enough clothes to do me for some time so I can really have fun trying to find the exact pieces I want to add. It really does pay to be patient and kind to yourself when shopping for clothes, especially when you want to build a capsule wardrobe. The pieces you choose will last you a long time and offer a variety of wearing options if you choose what you love and actually wear it.

If you’re looking to inspire some creative projects in your own life, consider joining my 5-day Creative Challenge. It will offer you some tools and steps to follow to dig into what you could turn your attention to next to add some creative flair to your life.