Capsule Wardrobe Organization | Do You Need More Than One?

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Want to know in what ways you can organize your capsule wardrobe and how many capsules should you have? This post is what you’re looking for!

I researched a lot before starting my capsule wardrobe and usually, the first step recommended is a brutal closet purge. In my experience though, while this is super important it’s not the first step you should take, you need an organizational plan first.

As a general rule, it’s possible to organize a capsule wardrobe in four seasonal (3-month) capsules or two (6-month) capsules. Capsule wardrobes are remarkably customizable, depending on your lifestyle you can determine how many capsules and how many items.

Since just knowing you have to choose between the number of capsules you need is not very helpful, here’s everything you need to know to develop a great plan to organize your capsule wardrobe properly.

In this article

1. Before you start capsule wardrobe planning
2. How to come up with the perfect plan
3. How to execute your plan flawlessly

Basically, it’s super important to plan for your capsule wardrobe before you start taking any action. In this article, we will go in-depth on how you need to actually plan.

As a general rule, to organize a capsule wardrobe you need a detailed plan. Planning is the basis of the organization process, take advantage of apps to annotate every item you may need. Once you know what you want the process will flow more easily.

Before you start capsule wardrobe planning

Why you should plan first

Okay, we established you need a plan but why would you actually need one? Isn’t it easy to buy clothes?

Hmm, I’m sorry to break it to you but building a functional capsule wardrobe is not necessarily effortless. You will find it can actually be pretty confusing at times, surprisingly it gets trickier the more you research about what should be in a capsule.

Having a clear plan will make the process flow easily and it will give you guidelines for purging your closet, otherwise, how would you know what to keep and what to let go of?

Do you need more than one capsule?

Having more than one capsule wardrobe is not mandatory but I suggest you do. It will be definitely easier to plan and shop.

There are two main ways to organize a capsule wardrobe. You can either have two capsules, one for Spring/Summer and one for Autumn/Winter, or the alternative is to have 4 capsules total, one for each season.

Personally, I have decided on two 6-month capsules. This works great for me since I had my closet already divided in two: Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer. This is perfect for Italy’s climate and the way that I dress.

Naturally, the way you organize your capsule wardrobe will be custom to you and your life. For example, if you live in a place where summer is super hot but spring can still be chilly you could go for four seasonal capsules.

To decide what’s best for you, start by thinking about when you do your seasonal wardrobe change. If you do it just once a year, when you transition from winter to spring, you will likely prefer two capsules best.

Either way, it’s important that you decide before you start planning. This way you can start shopping for the season you are in at the moment, so you can style new and better outfits from the very beginning.

Identify your style

How to come up with the perfect plan

Basically, building a capsule wardrobe consists in buying interchangeable clothing pieces that complement each other.

This is why planning is key to this process, if you don’t decide on what items you need it’s way more complicated to make sure they all go well together. This is the whole point of having a capsule wardrobe though, so you can’t get it wrong.

How do you actually plan then? You should start by deciding on your color palette. Since we’re building a capsule the colors must be neutrals such as ivory, taupe, gray, and black even.

This will make sure you can create outfits with your non-capsule wardrobe (i.e. your own clothes and statement pieces).

Next, you should make a list of every basic you might need from a tank top to white sneakers.

Actually, before creating your list there are some steps I suggest you take. If you want to follow the complete step-by-step process you can find it here.

Once you have every item written down, add what colors you need to purchase them on your list. Based on if you decided to use a phone or pen and paper it should look somewhat like this:

Honestly, I think using a phone list is way better, this way when you go shopping you will always have it on hand. You could also write your checklist on a computer and then save it as a PDF so you can access it from your phone too.

If you need some inspiration on what to include here’s the complete process to write and shop for your capsule wardrobe checklist.

How to execute your plan flawlessly

At this point

• You know what your style is
• You gathered some inspiration and have a complete Pinterest board on what you want your closet to look like
• You have your own capsule wardrobe checklist

Now, all it’s left to do is buy all of these things. In my opinion, you should buy your clothes following a method, this will ensure you can create a lot of outfits even in the beginning.

By following this method you will save time and money, also you will be able to enjoy lots of other benefits.

Let’s get to it! Essentially I suggest you should shop in five phases

1. Buy capsule pieces
2. Buy capsule pieces in different styles
3. Buy non-capsule pieces (i.e. add some statement pieces)
4. Experiment with new colors, fits, and fabrics
5. Maintain your closet by adding new clothes and replacing old ones

Naturally, you don’t need to buy everything at once, I actually used 2-3 months for each phase.

This post was all about capsule wardrobe organization and planning.