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Why I Don’t Use Seasonal Capsule Wardrobes

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Why I don't use capsule wardrobes for each season.

You might be surprised that I am not a fan of capsule wardrobes.

I am all about simplicity and only owning what you use, need, and love.

The goals of a capsule wardrobe is to have a closet full of clothes that you love and that go together that you change out every season. I’m all about having clothes that you love and that go together, I’m just not about the “changing it out every season” part and I’ll tell you why.

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What’s a seasonal capsule wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a mini-wardrobe of versatile pieces that can be mixed and matched and worn for a season. A lot of people aim to have 30-40 pieces in their capsule wardrobe, usually including shoes.

Each season, you re-evaluate and create your new capsule and store most of your previous capsule for next year.

I can absolutely see some of the benefits of this system:

  1. It’s like pulling out new clothes each season because you’ve been storing most of your wardrobe instead of looking at it all year.
  2. It’s easier to get dressed in the morning when you have less items of clothing and they all go together.
  3. It forces you to pare down and only keep out what you love and will wear often.

Although I understand the benefits of creating capsule wardrobes, I don’t use this system. Here’s why:

I Don’t Store Clothing

I’ve never been one to store off-season clothing. I honestly just don’t like the idea of storing things. I feel like if I don’t need it for most of the year, maybe I don’t need it at all. Obviously, there are exceptions to that, but it’s generally how I feel about storing things.

In Michigan, there are times that I wear my fleeces in the summer and I wear sleeveless blouses under cardigans in the winter. The weather here can be crazy and if I stored winter stuff, I think I’d be digging into it on colder days in other seasons.

Here’s the closet my husband and I share with all of our clothes (except for a dresser of undies and such):

closet

I Want Everything in my Wardrobe to go Together

Instead of creating mini wardrobes that go together, my goals is for my whole wardrobe to go together.

I buy mostly solid colored clothing so that there aren’t too many prints to work around. Plus, I think it helps to “pick a neutral” so that I always have shoes that can go with my clothes. My chosen neutral is black. I try to make sure that my clothes and shoes all can match with black. I mostly buy black shoes because other colors would only work sometimes.

I want as many things to go together in my closet as possible.

Related Posts:

7 Tips for Simplifying Your Wardrobe

My Minimalist Shoe Collection (I only wear 8 pairs!)

I Want My Wardrobe to Work For All Seasons

As much as possible, I want most of my wardrobe to be wearable for most of the year. Obviously, this isn’t completely doable because there is no way I’m going to wear shorts in the winter when the wind-chill is -15.

I wear dresses in the summer by themselves and in the winter with leggings, boots, and a sweater. The same goes for skirts. I still wear pants in the summer on cool evenings. When it’s cold in the winter I layer fleeces over long sleeve shirts. When it’s cool in the summer I layer a long sleeve shirt over a tank top. I wear the same PJs all year round.

I Treat My Entire Wardrobe as a Capsule

Basically, I want my entire wardrobe to be like a capsule that all goes together and can be worn for all seasons.

I am constantly paring down my wardrobe to only the pieces that I love and wear. My goal is to have a small and functional wardrobe that works all year long.

I’d rather have a 50 piece wardrobe that works for the whole year than multiple 30 piece capsules that I have to store and switch out multiple times a year.

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⇒ Have you tired a capsule wardrobe? What works for you so that you have clothes that you love and that work well together?

Why I don't use capsule wardrobes for each season.

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Annie

Tuesday 11th of January 2022

I keep a "mini" capsule wardrobe for seasons. I keep all my sweaters, jeans, long sleeves, and tank tops out all year round for layering or on chilly summer nights. However, I do pull the obviously unusable year round piece. For example, my shorts, sun dresses, and rompers will not be used in the winter so I put roughly 10 pieces in a storage case underneath my bed. This has my sandals and swim suits. That way it keeps my closet small, but doesn't require me to buy a new sundress every summer.

Erin | A Welder's Wife

Tuesday 28th of June 2016

This is a great "food for thought" article! I agree to an extent with both sides. You have to do what works for you. When I started downsizing, I wanted to work with a seasonal wardrobe to experience the full effect of my clothing. When I switched from fall/winter to spring/summer, I only switched out a few pieces. I would like to one day have a year-round wardrobe, but I am still working on developing my style as the "minimalist" me versus the "I love this and that" me.

Christine

Tuesday 28th of June 2016

Thanks Erin! I know you use capsule wardrobes and they work for you which is awesome. I really think it's important for everyone to find what works for them.

Amanda- LivingFullyandFree

Tuesday 21st of June 2016

I really like your suggestions about getting a neutral color to build around. I am terrible at this though because I really like patterns and things that kind of "stand out" I guess. So this is a hindrance to my being able to mix and match a lot of items. However, I don't store things away for winter and my husband and I share a closet as well. I just simply arrange things differently on the rack and in my dresser when the seasons change.

Amanda

Christine

Tuesday 21st of June 2016

Hey, if you love patterns and pizzazz-y items, go for it! If you want things to mix and match more, maybe just buy patterned tops so that you can at least wear any of your bottoms with each top? Just a thought.

Carly

Tuesday 21st of June 2016

I totally agree. Although I am in arizona so there arent really "seasons". Its hot... And noy as hot. I keep all my stuff out year round! It just makes more sense to me.

Christine

Tuesday 21st of June 2016

Haha, I'd love some "hot, and not as hot"

Sanchari Das

Monday 20th of June 2016

Capsule wardrobe is really difficult to stick to but it does help me dress quickly . https://freshfashioneveryday.wordpress.com/

Christine

Tuesday 21st of June 2016

That's great it works so well for you!

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