When it comes to simplifying your closet and creating something that’s more functional, having a capsule wardrobe is ideal. Capsule wardrobe planning ensures that you’ve got key items that are highly versatile with other pieces in your closet, as well as having the staples to pair them with.
A capsule wardrobe is a small selection of clothing pieces which are interchangeable, essential and timeless. These items are easy to mix and match to create many different outfits.
The key to capsule wardrobe planning is to hone in on your unique style and colour preferences, while taking into account your lifestyle and climate needs.
A capsule wardrobe is typically between 25 – 50 pieces, which includes clothing, shoes and accessories. But you don’t have to focus on the numbers, unless you want to stick within that parameter. The idea is to pair your wardrobe down to items that you love and are highly versatile.
Capsule wardrobes eliminate the stress of opening your bursting closet and thinking, “I have nothing to wear!”
No longer will you have items that don’t fit you or serve you any more. By the time you’ve gotten to the end of this post you’ll have a clear idea on how to plan your own capsule wardrobe and never have to worry about what to wear again.
Don’t forget to print out your Free Capsule Wardrobe Planner sheets to help with your planning.
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Capsule Wardrobe Planning
Everyday Essentials
I don’t include everyday essential clothing items in my capsule wardrobe, but I still stick to keeping only the items that I actually wear all the time.
Everyday Essentials include:
- Activewear (gym pants and tops)
- Underwear (socks, bras, undies)
- Loungewear (track pants, leggings, PJs, oversized jumper, dressing gown)
If there are any everyday essentials that are shoved in the back of the drawer or cupboard because they don’t fit well or you don’t like them – ditch ’em!
Store your everyday essentials separately to your capsule wardrobe. Either in drawers or on shelves is a good idea.
Identify Your Style
First up in capsule wardrobe planning, you need to identify your style. Look through your closet and pull out the pieces that you love the most.
Are you happy with your current style, or do you want to go for something different? Is there a main theme that’s woven through your favourite pieces?
What is it that makes you love those items the most? Is it the vibe, the colours, the fabrics, the way they sit on your body?
Write down some words to describe your style (this will help with the next step).
Print out the Free Planner below to help with your planning.
DETAILS: 2-Page Planner [FREE]
- 10 Categories to fill out
- Printable PDF (print as many pages as you like)
UPDATED: September 2022
FORMAT: PDF Word document (instant download)
Identify Your Colours
When it comes to capsule wardrobe planning, knowing which colours suit your skin tone is going to help you choose pieces that are the most flattering.
If you’re not sure whether your skin tone is cool or warm, here are a few ways to find out.
IS MY SKIN TONE COOL OR WARM?
| COOL Skin Tone | WARM Skin Tone |
| – Underside of arm has pink/ rosy undertone – Blue-tinted veins – Suit silver jewellery – Burn easily | – Underside of arm has golden/ apricot undertone – Green-tinted veins – Suit gold jewellery – Tan easily |
WHICH ‘SEASON’ IS MY SKIN TONE?
- COOL skin tones – summer or winter
- WARM skin tones – spring or autumn
The colours get broken down into four seasons, with most people fitting well into one season’s colouring (although some people may suit multiple).
| Summer | – Soft pastels with blue undertones – Light blue, pink, yellow – Grey & blue hues |
| Autumn | – Earthy colours – Rich red, burnt orange, bronzes & browns – Olive & dark green |
| Spring | – True brights – Red, salmon, coral – Beige & ivory hues – Dusky pink, soft green, light grey |
| Winter | – Rich blue-based colours – Vivid blue, red, yellow – Scarlet red, royal blue, emerald green, deep purple – Black, charcoal grey, crisp white |
Create Inspiration Boards
Next up in your capsule wardrobe planning, it’s time to head to Pinterest and create some inspiration boards. This is the fun part!
Pinterest is a fantastic visual search engine where you can search for any style you like and you’ll be greeted with a never-ending feed of ideas. As you scroll, you can ‘Pin’ the images that you love onto personal boards to create your own tailored look/s.
If you haven’t used Pinterest before, go ahead and create an account (it’s free). Once that’s all done, start searching for different styles that you’re drawn to.
Here are some styles ideas:
- Vintage
- Casual
- Grunge/ Goth/ Punk/ Witchy
- Classic
- Chic
- Boho/ Hippy
- Sporty/ Tom Boy
- Trendy
- Street/ Urban/ Skate/ Surfy
- Preppy/ Nerdy
- Flamboyant/ Vibrant
Once you find an image that you really love and want to save, ‘Pin It’ to your relevant board/s to start putting together your ideal style. If you’ve never saved a pin before, follow the steps bellow.
How to save a style or outfit that you like on Pinterest:
- Click on the image.
- In the top right-hand-corner, click on the ‘down arrow’ next to save.
- Click on ‘Create Board’ at the bottom of the options that pop up.
- Name the board with the style (e.g. ‘Boho’) & hit ‘Create.’
You can create multiple boards for a variety of different styles, or you can simplify things by just creating one board called ‘Capsule Wardrobe.’
Other places to get style inspiration is in magazines, on Instagram and with google images.
Examples of Capsule Wardrobe Pieces
Remember, the idea of a capsule wardrobe is to have a smaller amount of clothing that you can mix and match to create a large number of outfits.
Here are some examples of how many different ways a single item of clothing can be worn.
Multiple ways to wear a shirt
- With jeans, shorts, skirt or pants
- Over top of a dress
- Jacket, cardigan or jumper over top
- Boots, heels, sandals or sneakers
- Dress up with scarf, belt or necklace
Multiple ways to wear a dress
- In summer with sandals, belt & necklace
- In winter with tights, boots or ballet flats and a long-sleeved top underneath
- Cardigan, shawl, jumper or jacket over top
- Sneakers, sandals, heels or boots
Multiple ways to wear jeans
- Tuck top in or leave it out
- Mix and match shirts, blouses, cardigans, jumpers & jackets
- Scarf or necklace
- Boots, sneakers or sandals
Go Through Your Exisiting Pieces
Now that you’ve got a good idea of either what your style is or what style you’re aiming for, the next step in capsule wardrobe planning is to go through what you’ve already got.
Pull out each item, one at a time, and honestly assess every item. Consider some of the following questions to help you decide on what has a place in your capsule wardrobe and what doesn’t.
- Does it fit my style?
- Does it flatter my body shape?
- Is it in good condition?
- Is it a versatile piece?
- It is comfortable and easy to wear?
For each item that you do want in your capsule wardrobe, put it aside on your bed.
WHAT TO DO WITH CLOTHES YOU’RE GETTING RID OF?
As you’re sorting through your clothes you’re going to be faced with decisions on what to do with each item. Here’s what I recommend.
- Store away – If you have some items that you just can’t let go of or you think you’ll use them at some point, store them in the top of the cupboard or under the bed in a bag.
- Donate – Create a bag or box for all clothes that are still useful and can be donated to a thrift store, friends, family or advertise for ‘free’ on Marketplace.
- Rags – Anything that is torn or stained are perfect as cleaning rags for around the house, shed and garage. Cut them into squares and remove buttons and zips.
- Sell – Any items that are of high quality, you could sell on eBay, Marketplace or find a local consignment store (particularly good for designer labels).
Organise Your Clothes
Now that you’ve culled what needs to go from your wardrobe, it’s time to organise what’s left.
I recommend hanging your entire capsule wardrobe in the closet, rather than having pieces stored in other places. You need to be able to see all of your items easily and in one place. This includes all shoes together on the floor of the closet if possible.
Organise all of your like-items together. Jackets and jumpers should go together, moving down to long-sleeved tops, then short-sleeved tops. Next, progress to shorts, skirts, pants and dresses.
DETAILS: 2-Page Planner [FREE]
- 10 Categories to fill out
- Printable PDF (print as many pages as you like)
UPDATED: September 2022
FORMAT: PDF Word document (instant download)
Fill in the Gaps
The next step in capsule wardrobe planning is to print out the FREE Capsule Wardrobe Planner PDF above. Using the printable, you’ll be able to write a list of every single item that you’ve now got in your capsule wardrobe.
This will help to visually see what you’ve got in each category. Plus, you’ll be able to see where the gaps are (if any) and decide on what items you still need to get to complete your capsule wardrobe.
You might decide on:
| 9 x Shirts 2 x Blouses/ dressy tops (for dates & nightwear) 3 x Pants (jeans, slacks, harem pants) 2 x Skirts (one short, one long) 1 x Shorts (denim or tailored) 2 x Dresses (one short, one long) 1 x Cardigan 2 x Jumpers 2 x Jackets 5 x Shoes (slides, sandals, boots, sneakers, heels) |
Remember, that is very basic capsule wardrobe list. You don’t need to stick to any particular number of items or be that minimalist, unless you want to.
What items you choose to have in your capsule wardrobe really depends on your lifestyle and the type of climate that you live in.
Create an Outfit Planner
Once you’ve got all of the items sorted that you want for your capsule wardrobe, it’s time to create an outfit planner. You can either use your phone’s gallery for this or use an outfit planner app.
This task can be quite time-consuming, so set aside a few hours. Once it’s done though, you’ll save so much time on planning outfits during your day-to-day life. Totally worth it!
Create an ‘Outfit’ album on your PHONE:
- Standing in front of a full-length mirror, try on as many different outfit combinations as you can come up with.
- Take a photo of each outfit and save them to an ‘Outfit’ album in your phone’s gallery.
- Create as many albums as you like, based on season or article of clothing (e.g. ‘Winter’ or ‘Dresses’).
Create an Outfit Planner using an APP:
There are loads of apps around these days, which are dedicated to keeping your outfits planned and organised.
Generally you’ll take a photo of each individual item in your wardrobe, then upload those photos to the app. You can then group your items based on colour and style. From there you can create lists, outfits and play around with combinations. You can even keep track of how many times each item gets worn – very handy for decluttering in the future.
Outfit planner apps to try:
Now that you’ve found your style and colours, gathered your inspiration and printed your free capsule wardrobe planner, it’s time to get started!
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