This is something I first read about a couple of years ago. It’s a minimalist approach to clothing.
I’ve found plenty of places that list off rules of exactly what you need to have but most of them are based on fashion. I don’t care about fashion. I know nothing about how to match clothing and if I could just fill my closet with one thing I would be fine because to me a shirt is a shirt.
But the reason I want to do this is because I have too much clothing. Most of the shirts I wear are from ensembles I have worked with or performed with and some are almost 20 years old. The other shirts I have are graphic T’s from college that are in need of retirement.
I’d like to put the sentimental clothing into long term storage and donate the rest of it so I don’t have as much clothing wasting space in my room. I know I’ll need to do laundry more often if I do this but I think it will help with my overall emotional health not having as many things. And it should be easy to get onto a regular laundry schedule if I know I only have one week of clothing to choose from.
One of the main ideas of a capsule wardrobe is that all the separate parts can be mixed and matched for any occasion and still look good. I believe had I read somewhere that the idea came from people who travel for work and need to fit a week or more into a suitcase to go on planes and carry around.
The rules I had found online are also all geared toward people who live and work in a city where they need to dress up every day. That isn’t a good idea for my job. I wore a polo to work last week because we had a customer coming in for their annual audit. About an hour into the day I had a grease stain on it from trying to fix something and forgetting I had a nice shirt on.
They usually have one or two t-shirts, a polo, a few button-ups, and a blazer for the tops. For pants they usually have one pair each of chinos, jeans, and dress pants. Then they have two pairs of shoes; casual and formal.
I wouldn’t be doing this so I can travel. I’d be doing this for what I’ll be using all year round so I’ll have more than just a few things.
I’ve put together what I would like to have for my goal capsule wardrobe and the colors of each item. It should be enough for me to have something to wear every day and still be able to do laundry while dressed. And it will give me more options to dress up for meetings and formal occasions.
Many of these things I already have but would like to replace with sizes that are appropriate for me. I didn’t know until my wife told me a year or two ago that the appropriate shirt size for me is actually one size smaller than what I’ve worn most of my life.
- 8 T-shirts: Black, White, Light Gray, Dark Gray, Blue, Yellow, Red, and Light Green
- 3 Polos: Black, Blue-Green, and Gray
- 4 Button-Up Shirts: White, Chambray, Light Blue, and Gray
- 3 pairs of Chinos: Olive, Navy, and Tan
- 1 pair of Dark Blue Jeans
- 1 Blazer: Either Blue or Black
- 1 Casual Jacket
- 1 Cashmere Sweater
- 2 pairs of Dress Shoes: Black and Brown
- 1 pair of Boots
- 1 pair of Loafers
- 1 pair of Sneakers
- 2 Suits: Black and Blue
- 1 Dark Gray Scarf
- 2 Belts to match the dress shoes
- 1 set of Yard Work Clothes which will just be an old t-shirt and old jeans
A Life, Ensnared 