I got rid of 70% of my clothes and now I have a capsule wardrobe. Pray for me….

Thinking of trying a capsule wardrobe? Here’s the story of how I started mine…

When it comes to capsule wardrobes, I wrote the book. No, I mean that literally: there is a book. I wrote it. No, you wouldn’t really think it of me, would you?

This is the woman who once bought three identical pink satin skirts, after all, when most sensible people wouldn’t even have bought one. The woman who used to take a separate bag just for shoes every time she travelled. The woman who has an entire room in her house just for clothes. People ask to come in and see it. One time my husband brought the Tesco delivery guy and his wife in for a tour of it. I really wish I was making this up. (Or that my husband would stop inviting random strangers into my home, because that would work for me, too.)

So, having a lot of clothes has kind of been my thing, really. (And also the Tesco delivery guy’s wife’s thing, as it turned out.)

But no more.

Because last weekend, I got rid of at least 70% of what was left from my last big closet clear-out (Which was just two weeks ago, but it’s amazing how much I still managed to weed out), which means that I now have a capsule wardrobe. A real one, I mean: not just one of those “capsules within my wardrobe” things that I used to bang on about, as if people wouldn’t know perfectly well it was just an excuse to buy MOAR CLOTHES.

Ahem.

This is what I was left with:

Or, OK, this plus all of my sports/leisurewear which lives in the closet in my room, and which is what I actually wear at least six days out of seven.

(And some puffer coats that live in the cupboard under the stairs…)

(And obviously the clothes I was wearing when I took the photo. I have no idea why I’m acting like you’re going to come over and go through my house to make sure I’m not cheating here, though, so moving on…)

I feel like this still looks like quite a lot of clothes when you see it all together, but it feels like almost nothing to me, compared with what I had a few weeks ago: and what I’ve been living with for, well, my entire adult life, basically.

Right now, I only have a single pair of jeans, for instance: I got rid of the rest, because I hated them. None of them fit properly, or looked good on. None of them were particularly good quality. None of them “sparked joy”, as Marie Kondo would say. They were just things I’d bought because I thought I should have a pair of jeans/trousers/whatever, and they were the best I could find at the time. And the same goes for (almost) everything else in my wardrobe, too. I’d bought it all because I have to wear something every day, but last week I suddenly realised that if it all went up in flames overnight, there was really nothing I’d particularly miss or want to replace.

And yet, still I kept shopping. Still I kept buying more and more of the things that were just okay, or that would have to do, and, honestly, I’ve had enough of that.

What’s the point of having a closet crammed with clothes I don’t really like? Why am I spending money to feel like crap, when I can feel like crap for free?

Why not just… get rid of it all, and start again from scratch?

And, I mean, that’s the dream, really. In an ideal world, I would quite literally take everything in my closet (minus my handbags and shoes, which I do love, although I don’t use most of those either these days…) and sell or donate it to someone who’d actually use it. Then I’d start again with a completely empty closet, and take my time filling it with only the things I absolutely love, and know I’ll wear until they fall apart.

But this is not an ideal world, sadly. And I don’t have the money to replace anything much right now, let alone my entire closet. So, instead, I’ve done the next best thing, which is to get rid of everything other than the absolute basics, and then try to gradually fill the gaps or replace things over time. I’m mostly going to be using Vinted to do this, because, as much as I hate it sometimes, it’s still cheaper than buying something new, then realising I hate it after a single wear. Which, let’s face it, is what normally happens.

(Oh, and I’m going to be using Vinted to sell some of the stuff I’m getting rid of, too. Most of it will be donated, because I just can’t afford to sell stuff for £3, which is all most people are prepared to pay over there, but I’m not “getting rid of it” in the sense of just sending it all to landfill, so don’t come at me.)

Why start a capsule wardrobe?

 I decided to move to a capsule wardrobe for most of the same reasons anyone else does:

• to simplify my life
• stop me obsessing over what to wear all the time
• to make it easier to get dressed in the morning

Most of all, though, I’m doing it to try to curb my shopping addiction by making it a rule that I don’t buy things if I don’t actually need them. Because otherwise I’d just keep on buying more and more clothes I can’t afford, and not only will I end up in the debtors jail at this rate, the likelihood is that I still won’t really love any of it. And what’s the point of that?

So, capsule wardrobe it is, then. And it’s only been 3 days, but already I feel SO much better for it. I love getting up in the morning and not having to spend ages wondering what to wear. I love walking into my dressing room and being able to see everything I own, without having to rummage through piles of stuff I hate. I don’t love all of my clothes yet: but I’m working on it. And while I’m working on it, I’m really enjoying having some space in my head that was previously taken up by thoughts about what to buy, and what to wear.

Will this capsule wardrobe phase last, though?

Honestly, I have no idea. While I figure it out, though, here are a few of the items I deemed to be “wardrobe essentials” which have earned a place in my capsule wardrobe, and how I’ve been wearing them so far:

Now, these are not the most interesting of outfits, granted. But these simple basics are exactly the kind of no-fuss, zero-thought pieces I like wearing at this particular time of my life, and these are just a few of the many, many different ways I can style them, so I’m happy – for now, at least. 

I do still need to buy another pair of jeans, though…