The Capsule Wardrobe

For at least once in your life, you probably thought there was a monster in your wardrobe, or closet. A big, green, icky creature you know is there but you just could not see. It gives you shivers, it gets you anxious, it overwhelms you in fear, and so you end up crying out for the closest adult in the house to come save you from this stupendously nightmarish terror.

Fast-forward to the present and the monster in your closet is still there, only it isn’t an imagined entity you sense is watching you in your sleep, no – it is more discreet. Instead of making you cry, it sucks up all your money, makes you late for work and other scheduled outings, and it may even spur an identity crisis first thing in the morning (in some days at least). What is this horrific monster in your closet haunting you even in adulthood?

It is none other than your clothes. Limbs of fabric creeping out of the corners and edges of your closet, creaking at the sheer volume of items inside it, ready to spring out and question your life decisions.

Why is it so preposterously difficult to pick clothes to use today, tomorrow, and the days after that? Why do I have so much clothes when they are such a pain to launder and organize? Why do I still buy more when I’m tight on budget and live in a cluttered place?

Luckily, there is an easy vanquisher to this sort of monster: the capsule wardrobe.

A capsule wardrobe is a term coined way back in the 1970s by London boutique owner Susie Faux. To her, a capsule wardrobe is made up of significant and timeless pieces, like well-fitting jeans and a comfy white top, and generally contains 30 items or less.

You might be thinking, “Wait. 30 items? I can’t survive on that!”

As a matter of fact, you can.

Think poetry. Though concise, poetry manages to delicately craft and encapsulate a particular event, feeling, concept, or individual with just a couple of complementary words. The equivalent of this in fashion is the capsule wardrobe.

By applying complementary color schemes and purchasing the necessary pieces, the capsule wardrobe becomes a smart, versatile, and highly-personalized fashion strategy. The idea is to keep a streamlined closet of just enough thoughtfully picked out clothes in order to solve the issue of wardrobe malfunctions and consumerist urges.

Less is more when everything works with everything. In this way you get to save money, closet space, and time, while also developing your own sense of style. No longer will you be overwhelmed choosing clothes from a flooded closet, lose yourself in fleeting trends, or tire from hauling a ginormous laundry bag from home to laundromat.

With such an efficient way of organizing closets, the capsule wardrobe hit the waves and became a craze. There is even a Be More with Less fashion challenge for it called Project 333, wherein you are tasked to dress with 33 items or less for 3 months straight. Started by Courtney Carver, Project 333 was featured in The Today Show website, an issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, and a BBC article.

According to Carver, “Be more with less means: Be more you. Give yourself all the space, time and love to remember who you are.”

Creating a capsule wardrobe may sound a bit self-indulgent, but it is anything but. Apart from all the benefits listed above, a capsule wardrobe also cuts down on the environmental ramifications of fast fashion. High-quality, well-crafted, long-lasting pieces over cheap and easily disposable items any day.

Adopting this minimalist fashion lifestyle may be difficult at first, but overall, it is better in the long run.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll find Narnia in there somewhere with less pieces hanging around.