Summer capsule wardrobe season is my time to pare back my essentials. Last week I was reading the Curated Closet by Anuschka Rees when I was suddenly sent into a spiral of thoughts about the amount of clothes in my wardrobe. I have consistently pared back my wardrobe since 2016, when I first read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up . Yet the fluff clothing always manages to creep back in. My thought spiral lead me to the somewhat rash decision to temporarily strip my wardrobe back to absolute basics. The task was a welcome distraction as I was quickly developing cabin fever from the thick bushfire smoke keeping me indoors over the past week.
Plonking out the entire contents of my wardrobe onto my bed was a sobering moment, its amazing how many clothes squirrel their way into your space despite best efforts to maintain order. I chose only my strongest pieces to put back in my wardrobe, that would be versatile in creating many different looks. These naturally were the pieces that I loved the most anyway. Interestingly, every time I clear my wardrobe out, I maintain a consistent colour palette of whites, neutrals, blues and greens.
My bags also took a culling. My usual collection of ten canvas bags was stripped back to the three I use most, and my backpacks were culled down to just one blue Fjallraven Kanken. I removed all of the bulky jumpers that had no place in this 44 degree weather- yes it really was 44 degrees celsius the day I did this, and yes I did still have multiple jumpers in my cupboard for reasons beyond me. So finally, my wardrobe resembled a strong capsule wardrobe. The basics were down pat, the pieces were mostly good quality solid colour items that were versatile enough to work in any combination.
Whilst I was on the high of curating my wardrobe, I also pared down my knick knack items. Although I thought I did not have many, once again I was shocked at how many had accumulated since my last clear out. Multiple candles, terrible natural deodorant, unused makeup and two film cameras later, my top drawer was also looking a tad more streamlined.
This clear out is not permanent however, as I still have my extra summer bits in a box. I can't bring myself to part with everything yet as I think that when uni starts again next month I will be aching for the extra pieces I have stored away. Perhaps I might rotate a few items back into the box, or maybe I will have a change of heart and really stay true to the minimal wardrobe that I am working with at the moment. To be fair, all together my main summer capsule wardrobe has maybe 40-45 pieces, which is not terrible for me. This pared down version has just 26 pieces. It feels so refreshing to open my wardrobe and only have clothing that I love, fits me, and is true to my style.
Now I just have the burden of deciding what to keep overall. I am really against donating clothing to charity as charities are inundated with surplus clothing that is cheap and cannot be sold- read more on that here and here. There isa staggering statistic that some 84% of clothing ends up in landfill so I really do not want to be part of that picture just to fall in line with minimalism. Instead of mindlessly throwing my clothes to the charity shops to deal with, I take the time to list each item on Depop and wait until it sells on there so I know that someone is actually using it. Other alternatives are that sometimes my friends will end up taking a fancy to clothes that I no longer use. However, it is important not to just thrust all your unwanted belongings on friends who also don't need anymore crap!
I'm excited to see where this journey will take me. To see if I can stick out this pared back wardrobe and to understand the benefits it will bring- because I truly do love style.
Because I know I would be dying to hear what you would keep in your 26 item Summer wardrobe, I thought I would share what exactly is in mine.
Tops:
- White tshirt
- Grey tshirt
- Black tshirt
- Striped tshirt
- White linen short sleeve shirt
- White long sleeve flowy blouse
- Natural linen peasant top
- Green linen cami
- White linen cami
- Grey cowl cami
- Blue/white striped cami
- Green/white striped thin knit
Bottoms:
- Blue denim shorts
- Black denim shorts
- White denim shorts
- Blue denim skirt
- Black denim skirt
- Blue checked high waisted cotton shorts
- Green checked paperbag shorts
- Black/white floral maxi button up skirt
Dresses:
- Floral maxi dress
- White tiered flowy dress
Accessories:
- White oversized jumper
- Oversized denim jacket
- Kanken backpack
- Straw hat
- Canvas tote bags
- Black belt
Shoes:
- Navy saltwater sandals
- Brown birkenstocks
- Adidas stan smiths
- Black converse
- Black slides
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