Reflections on a Capsule Wardrobe

 

We are just a handful of days away from the end of 2024, and that will conclude my year-long capsule wardrobe project. It’s been over a year when the bloggers at Thrifty Wife, Happy Life, Clothed in Grace, and (especially) Penny Pincher Fashion convinced me to give a full-year capsule a try.

            I have learned so much this year about what I love and don’t love in clothing, about mixing and matching, and about how to do more with less! I’ve been asked if I’m going to continue this project next year, and the answer is yes and no. I’m going to continue using what I’ve learned and living with my own version of a capsule wardrobe, but I’m not going to continue documenting daily like I did this year. (Perhaps I’ll pick something else to document instead. Maybe I won’t have a theme at all!)

            I’ve enjoyed the accountability of this documentation, but when days come that I am home all day and don’t have to get ready, I won’t miss trying to throw together an outfit at 11 p.m. just to document it! (Or putting it all back on at 1 a.m. because I realized I forgot to take the picture!)

            But I wanted to close the year by sharing with you specifically some of the things I learned in this beautiful year-long project I completed.

            I’ve learned so much about the colors and clothing fits I love and don’t love. I’ve really narrowed down what colors I want to own in my closet and the general styles of clothing that do and do not work for me. I’ve struggled to understand the answers to those questions for most of my adult life, so I am thrilled to finally feel like I have a handle on both. This is probably the greatest gift that has come out of this project for me!

            I’ve learned to mix and match. I’ve put together layering projects that I might never have considered if I hadn’t been doing this project. I’ve learned you can mix and match even more than I thought! That has been a gift.

            I’ve found “my” stores. It is my goal to thrift as much as possible when it comes to my wardrobe. I have found three stores I particularly love for thrifting. One is a Goodwill in another town (where the people discard great stuff!), one is a local thrift store, and one is a local consignment shop. Those three stores have provided nearly everything I added to the capsule this year. The prices are great, the quality of the choices is great, and I feel good about giving another round of life to something the original owner no longer wanted.

            Those are the main things I’ve learned, and here are the things I want to continue to work on (though not in a documented way) in 2025.

            I want to learn to “elevate” my daily outfits more. While I think Kate Middleton is absolutely stunning at all times, I don’t think my own personal style can be accused of mirroring hers in any way. (I’m not that classy…we probably all know that.) But I did read something the other day that said Kate does six simple things every day to elevate her style, regardless of what she wears. I can’t find the piece now, but the ones I remember specifically were that she always wears fitted clothing (not only clothing that fits, but pieces fitted to her silhouette, not baggy), she always wears jewelry, she always wears lipstick, and she always wears perfume. You can’t see that last one, of course, but I’m sure feeling confident in a scent you love goes a long way in exuding confidence in the way you present yourself.

            All that said, one of the things I need to work on next year is evaluating the jewelry I own and making sure the pieces are ones I can enjoy wearing on a daily basis. The consignment shop I love often has great (and super affordable) jewelry pieces, so I will probably start there. Also…a couple of years ago, after a trip we went on, I lost all my rings (except my wedding ring, which I never remove). They were in a box that apparently got left behind where we stayed. I have missed having rings to change out with outfits, so I’d especially like to build up that collection again. With the exception of my wedding ring, all my jewelry is in the $5.00 range, so it shouldn’t be too hard to update this part.

            I want to do better with my casual wear. Most of the lounge clothes I own are retired regular clothes. The collection is made up of shirts and shorts that were part of my main wardrobe collection, but alas, they started to get dingy or baggy, so I retired them to the workout/lounge collection. I’ve decided that just wearing “grubbies” at home doesn’t mean I should look sloppy. Those clothes deserve to have the same opportunities as my main clothing: colors and fits I love. So I want to work on that this year too.

            I want to continue finding shoes I love. I did a great job over the last year, adding shoes I really love to my wardrobe rotation. Because I did get so many new ones in one year, I probably won’t need too many more in the really near future, but I do want to continue making good choices in this department. I want to find shoes that feel comfortable and fit with my clothing choices.

            I also want to continue finding clothing pieces I love. I don’t want to add a ton of clothes to my wardrobe. The beauty of our lake cottage is that I don’t have unending amounts of room for clothes. Ryan and I share a reach-in closet, and I have one additional drawer in which to store clothing. So I can’t add wild numbers of clothing pieces. But I’m not married to a limited number of pieces. If I find something I particularly love, I’ll get it! As I move into this next year and see how my needs for clothing change, I will adjust the wardrobe accordingly. I also have a few things I’d like to update (don’t totally love what I have) or add because I think I would enjoy having the option in my wardrobe.

            So that’s my recap on the capsule wardrobe. Thanks for traveling along with me this year as I explored new ideas. It’s been one of my favorite adventures of 2024!