A few weeks back I shared with you my all seasons capsule Summer wardrobe update. I was extremely brief in that post (Lord do they take forever to put together!) and explained that I would be giving you more of breakdown in a later post — well friends, this is that post.
- Just to overview, in this post I will be sharing with you:
- how I’ve chosen what to put in my all seasons capsule so far
- how I’m currently housing and storing my clothes
- what I’ve chosen to hold onto versus get rid of
- and what’s still on my “master list wish list”
How I’ve Chosen What to Put in My All Seasons Capsule So Far:
Previous to pursuing a year round minimal wardrobe I practiced a seasonal capsule wardrobe as outlined by Caroline over on Unfancy for an entire year. I can say without a doubt that this process allowed me to hone in on my own personal style and thus able to dream up an ideal year round wardrobe at all. As I write this I’m realizing just how involved answering this part really is… Definitely deserving of blog post entirely in itself. I will shoot to share that one with you next week? In the mean time I will point to you back to my thoughts when I originally started this process. Hopefully you’re not all “psh, well gee thanks” right now… ;)
How I’m Currently Housing and Storing My Clothes:
A while back I had a question about whether or not I was storing any clothes or if they were all hanging in my closet. One of the characteristics of a seasonal capsule wardrobe is that you have all pieces that are out of season stored away and not in plain sight. In short, all items in my all seasons capsule are hanging in plain sight in my closet.
I’ve chosen to do things this way because of two important reasons:
1.) My climate allows for wearing almost all types of clothes all year round — with really the only exceptions being shorts in the winter (I own one pair, hopefully two in the future) and wool sweaters in the summer (I own three that only get worn in the winter). Everything else is fair game. Thanks Ohio.
2.) I’m not a believer in many fashion rules. Like wearing white after labor day. I want to have “summer” clothes available to me to remix with layers in the fall and winter. Previously with a seasonal capsule I always felt the need to pare down as much as possible and often those pieces didn’t make the cut. I didn’t feel like that subtractive quality resonated with the overarching mantra I was in search of, so I booted this arbitrary rule when I was ready to loosen the reigns a little.
All that said, I do have a few things in storage. More and more I think of the word season to have a different meaning than that of fall, spring, winter or summer. I think of it more as a time in one’s life: mine currently being motherhood. And maybe more specifically childbearing and postpartum. I’ve developed the current version of my all seasons capsule to be as maternity, postpartum and nursing friendly as possible — but I obviously am not going to keep my favorite maternity jeans in my closet if I fit back into the jeans who’s place they were holding, right? And since I’m up in size right now because I’m only 4 months postpartum I wanted to hold onto my favorite pair of Levi white jeans (who also have a postpartum placeholder) because I’m likely to fit back into them next year. They are of good quality and were bought for the long haul a long time ago. I’m not interested in willy-nilly buying, getting rid of and then replacing clothes I know align with my style and will eventually wear again simply because they don’t fit into my current season of life right now. To me those kinds of actions do not fit into my goal of minimizing the stuff in my life AND the amount of waste I throw out into the world. Of course, as always, I’m a work in progress… Does that make sense?
Currently, in my one under the bed storage container, I have: 4 pair of maternity pants, 2 maternity sweaters, 6 maternity tops, 1 pair of white skinny jeans, 1 pair of cognac riding boots, and 1 pair of black slouch boots.
15 items in all? Not bad.
What I’ve Chosen to Hold Onto Versus Get Rid of:
I may have rambled on long enough in elaborating on the bit above enough to answer this question as well… oops. But simply stated, if something is a staple piece, classic and timeless or aligns with my personal style — I’ve chosen to keep it. Even if it doesn’t fit into my current season of life (note the things in storage). If it doesn’t? Well those are the pieces that have gotten the boot!
And What’s Still on My “Master List Wish List”
This is the tricky one. I feel like this list is still evolving a little. Maybe even a lot. And if I ever say, start working full time again or not at all I expect that it will change again — per my season of life.
I currently have 67 items in my closet, and I still have several items simmering on the back burner right now, but I know that there are definitely a few more staple pieces I’m missing and will definitely be adding to my closet in the future. These are those pieces:
moto jacket/ black short sleeve blouse / tan short sleeve blouse / marled turtleneck / taupe wedges / rain boot
And that’s a wrap.
What other questions do you have?