My Easy Hacks for Creating a Minimalist Capsule Wardrobe

1. Taking inventory

Bring everything out of your closet and drawers: all of your shirts, sweaters, pants, dresses, and skirts. We will begin by sorting out your items into three piles.

The first pile is for essentials that you love. This pile is going to have everything that you love to wear, those things that you are constantly reaching for, the things that you happen to find in your laundry basket every week, and the things that really make you feel good. These are also the things that fit your daily lifestyle most.

The second pile is our maybe pile. It is for all of the things that you still like but do not really reach for very often. Even though they are not your favorite items, you still kind of want to hang on to them.

The third pile is the let go pile. It consists of everything that you no longer wear. The reasons may vary: perhaps it does not fit you or does not match your current style, or maybe it is no longer relevant for the climate you live in.

Once we have sorted all the items, let’s go back to the maybe pile, taking each individual item and asking yourself a few questions. Do I like the color, fabric, and fit of this item? Does it go with my lifestyle? Does this item go with at least three other items in my love pile? How many outfits can I create using this item? Is there an occasion that I absolutely will need this item?

Let me give you an example. I love camping, but I do not camp year-round. I own a flannel and hiking boots, and I do not wear those often in my daily life, but I absolutely need them when I go camping and hiking.

This means that they would be in my maybe pile, but I would keep them as they would be very valuable for me every summer when I go up into the mountains.

2. Identifying your favorite pieces

As you look at your closet, specifically the things that you absolutely love now, you may start to notice a similar pattern and your personal style really shining through. Maybe you like mostly solids or patterns, or you see a particular color scheme repeating itself in your wardrobe.

Personally, I am always drawn to solid colors of a neutral tone, such as creams, whites, light gray, green, and some tan. I also really enjoy having natural fabrics like cotton, linen, and wool.

Many of you have asked where I purchase my clothes. My t-shirts usually come from either Banana Republic Outlet or Nordstrom Rack. My wide leg linen pants, linen shorts, cotton skirts typically come from J. Crew, Nordstrom Rack, and Amazon.

When I purchase clothing, I try to be very aware of what I am buying and get items that are timeless and classic. I usually go for things that I can mix and match within my wardrobe capsule.

The purpose of a capsule wardrobe is to have clothes that we love, that we feel amazing, confident and beautiful in, and that fit our everyday lifestyle. With a wardrobe capsule, getting ready in the morning is so easy and very simple.

3. Creating outfit combinations

For inspiration I turned to Pinterest, creating a folder and saving the pictures I loved. After doing it for a few hours, I could definitely see the trend of style that I really liked.

Building outfits is really very fun, and you can get super creative. Now that you have all of your clothes that you love and you have some ideas of how you might want to put together some different outfits, this is your chance to let your creativity flow and piece together as many different outfits out of the clothes that you still have in your wardrobe as you can.

Be sure to create outfits for all seasons that you live in. I live in a climate that has four mild seasons, so I typically take a base outfit for the warmer weather and then layer sweaters, scarves, hats, jackets over top of this outfit for the colder months. That way, I can wear all of the pieces in my wardrobe throughout the year.

The look of our wardrobe does not have to be boring. It is pretty impressive how many different looks and styles I can get out of just one shirt.

4. Filling in the gaps

Now that you have your favorite items and some fantastic outfit combinations, it is time to start creating a wish list of a few items that you would like to add to your capsule wardrobe.

This is something that you can start to build over time, so do not feel pressure to go out on a crazy shopping spree and buy everything at once.

On the contrary, do it slowly, and be very intentional in your shopping, looking for specific things instead of impulse buying.

Minimalist capsule wardrobe

I hope I have inspired you to start building the capsule wardrobe to fit your minimalist style. Remember there is no right or wrong way to do this, so just choose whatever you feel best in.

What are your favorite versatile items in your wardrobe that you can make most outfits with? Share in the comments!

Next, check out these 20 Easy Ways to Simplify Your Life.