First of all the well-bred Texan in me feels the need to apologize for our messy bed situation. I actually, right after I took this, bagged everything up and deep cleaned our entire room because looking at it through a camera lens kind of freaked me out. True story!
Last week I inched my way into this whole “dressing like a grown-up” thing and shared a little bit about my most recent StitchFix box. I talked about how my changing body from pregnancy and back again has made this whole wearing clothes thing hard for me. And I also mentioned that I’m a little fed up with my gym-rat wardrobe, which basically means I need to wear workout clothes to workout in, pajamas to sleep in, and real clothes the rest of the time.
Friday afternoon I sat back and realized that I had worked really hard to catch up on emails, posts, sponsored content and the like and decided to devote a little time to my closet. A few weeks ago I did an initial purge of all the stuff I haven’t worn in years, were out of style, fell into the sentimental-but-I’ll-never-wear-it-again category (with a few very important exceptions). I gave myself a few weeks to kind of figure out what I wear the most often, and then Friday I purged even more of the things I knew I didn’t love and knew I wouldn’t be wearing again. I think the thing that helped me was realizing that other people will be blessed much more by these items than I was. And you know what? When I dropped those clothes off at the donation center there was a very freeing feeling that came with it!
Now here’s the thing: I’m not getting rid of a bunch of stuff just to get a bunch more stuff. What I really want out of all of this is to have a very limited selection of clothes I love, that fit my timeless style, and that help me to feel more confident when I’m wearing them. On that note, Mary Beth wrote an amazing post about clothing and vanity and confidence – HIGHLY RECOMMEND. I don’t need clothes to make me confident in who I am, but I do want clothes that emphasize that. Knowing that the end goal is better and more Heather-esque outfits has been so freeing!
As of this moment I have exactly 38 articles of clothing (not counting underwear/bras/socks/shoes) and I’ve never felt more confident in my options. Just the knowledge that I really do like everything in my closet has made getting dressed not only easier, but more fun! There’s no more trying something on just to see if it changed shape to fit me, and then being disappointed when it didn’t. Also, fun fact: we’ve been in the South for just under 2 years and still the majority of my clothing is for winter. As time wears on I want to have more pieces that I can layer up or down depending on the season, but it’s just so nice to be at a place where it feels OK if I don’t have everything I want in a wardrobe right this second.
A couple of resources for anyone who’s wondering what it means to have a capsule wardrobe:
- Hayley’s book The No-Brainer Wardrobe (I own it and love it)
- Madison’s post on creating a capsule wardrobe (plus her whole Fashion page)
- Lindsey’s take on the capsule wardrobe and her wardrobe page
- Un-Fancy: A Minimalist Fashion Blog
- Kendi Everyday’s 30×30 Remixes
- A version (that’s ethically made, locally designed and sustainably produced) for kids!
What do you guys think about the capsule wardrobe? And how do you feel about major purging your closet to prepare for a better wardrobe?
Purging a wardrobe is always one of those ideas where the pros will end up outweighing the cons. Props on going for it.
Love that you’re doing a capsule wardrobe! I have really liked it, although lately with feeling bloated and generally chubby I have added a few additional pieces to my closet. 😉 Keep us updated!
Embrace the chubby bloated feeling – what’s on the other side is so amazing 🙂
Hey Heather… we miss you guys and hope you’re doing well. Lauren and I can relate to this post… we are in the midst of re-assessing our own closets and, thanks to my lovely wife, are getting into the “capsule wardrobe” concept. See also, black trash bags of clothes all over the master bedroom…
Hopefully, we’ll blog about that soon as well. But I agree it already feels freeing to see my trimmed down wardrobe. Hoping it stays that way!
REED! We miss you too! Oh yes, the black trashbags. I am well aqcuainted with those at the moment 🙂
Oh my goodness, this totally cracked me up: “There’s no more trying something on just to see if it changed shape to fit me, and then being disappointed when it didn’t.”
BAHahaha — how many times do I do this?!??? SO MANY TIMES! I want to read those links you sent. I’m currently pregnant so now probably isn’t the time to do a big purge (actually, we just moved and gave a bunch of stuff away) — I really don’t know what will fit/how I’ll feel postpartum. But I’m finding this series very interesting 🙂
Oh girl, it totally applies even now! I purged stuff when I was pregnant too…but just the stuff that I hadn’t worn for the year leading up to pregnancy. Congratulations momma!