Capsule wardrobe? Anyone tried this?

I think I've eaten myself into a capsule wardrobe. I can't get into most of my clothes, and have been think about clearing the lot out and starting again.

You can never have too many pairs of jeans, tshirts, jumpers or cardis. Not including the ones you may diet into (fat chance) or the “fat day” ones for post Christmas.
Likewise shoes, ankle boots .....
Easy?

I hate clothes shopping and do have a form of capsule wardrobe although not intentionally. I have one pair of jeans, one pair of smart trousers, one summer skirt. I have one pair of winter shoes, one pair of summer sandals. I have several pairs of jogging bottoms, a handful of tops and a couple of cardigans. And I have two pairs of sketchers. That’s pretty close to capsule I think.

What if the washing machine breaks down?

loopy within your criteria
2 pairs jeans 1 blue 1 grey
1 white shirt
1 black t shirt long sleeves 1 short sleeves
1 grey t shirt long sleeves 1 short sleeves
1 cardigan grey or navy or natural

Personally it would drive me mad to have such a limited wardrobe. I like to dress up sometimes & would need dresses and skirts too. But that would be my basis on which to build a bigger wardrobe.

Congratulations on your weight loss and enjoy your clothes shopping

Capsule wardrobe just means “small” doesn’t it? I’m sure I can live without most of my clothes but don’t want to -it would mean wearing the same one or two things every day.

I am finding myself in the same situation at the moment after losing nearly 2st since beginning of November prior to this I had always kept my wardrobe pretty basic except for special occasion bits and bobs.
Now I have
2 x prs black trousers/4 black tops/1 x cream cardigan & 1 x beige cardigan/2 x daytime lounge suits for days indoors and a large collection of big scarfs for adding colour.
I will buy some more jeans and jeggings when I have reached my target weight but will continue to keep my wardrobe as small as possible in the future.

Maw; seem to remember discussing a while back that we only wore about10% of the clothes we owned; am now down to @ 2% [and now have a knicker drawer that has all sizes from 10 to [sob] 18 . Leggings are great and very accommodating but they do allow you to pile on the pounds without noticing it....

I can't beieve what I'm reading. I count my wardobe by counting the wooden variety. I have half the wall to wall wardobe which I share with DH and the bedding and towels then I have a small wardobe in the cellar for winterclothes in summer and then one in the GCs room for anoraks and Yoga and jogging tops and trousers. There's even a swimming costume in there somewhere.

I feel nostalgic about my first summer in Germany. after moving house from Sheffield, the weather was sunny and warm and I had one dress on and one in the wash and DH had 3 shirts and neither of us had jeans, just cotton trousers.
Life was easy then and the huge amount of clothes now causes alot of work and I can understand people who want only a few but I like to chop and change tops and jeans and skirts and like things that go together.
And then the shoes................

That's the thing. When 'stuff' doesn't bring pleasure any more, its probably time to shift it out. My clothes are all in a jumble, none of them fit any more. Its only my laziness which is stopping me from recycling the lot.

My daughter had a lady come to her house to advise on what colours she should wear. She also went through her wardrobe and helped thin it out. My daughter has since thrown away most of her clothes! She has bought me a voucher to enjoy the same experience. I'm sort of putting it off. I don't know if I want someone telling me I shouldn't be wearing such and such. I might start a new thread after the experience to let you know what it was like.

I have a capsule wardrobe, day stuff, jamas and a pinny. It all looks pretty much the same.

The trouble is that I can come up with umpteen excuses why I need to keep so many clothes too!
Perhaps I need to start by trying different permutations rather than the same jeans/tee shirt/jumper or cardigan ensemble; I do have smarter trousers that I haven't worn for 2 years ?

Been here, done that. I lost three stones and bought a whole new wardrobe and took all my big stuff to a charity shop. It was hard, there was some lovely classic stuff in there. Over the course of 5 years I put it all back on again gradually buying clothes along the way. Eventually I took all my thin stuff to a charity shop. Sigh. My advice is: choose your best base colour - black, grey, navy, beige, whatever it is. Start by buying comfortable bottoms of your choice, you’ll be wearing them a lot, jeans or leggings, (I wear ponte trousers mostly) and a top and shoes or boots in the same colour. Then use accessories in contrasting colours, scarf, earrings, gloves, bag, shoes, brooch whatever. Not all of them at once of course. The accessories will never have to go but your tops and bottoms can be added to over time, gradually bring in more colours and styles as your budget allows. The look is simple but elegant. Think black v neck sweater, shoes and trousers, jade green scarf, earrings and gloves. Or grey crew neck and trousers, red shoes or boots and bag, gold or silver earrings and brooch. It’s a good place to start while you take time to expand your new wardrobe to your taste. I’m not particularly fond of Julian Clary but I was very amused at one of his adages: all that separates us from the animals?.....accessories darling. Congratulations on your new slimline self, and enjoy a bit of shopping.

I did the capsule wardrobe thing colour-wise decades ago in that I have clothes which are either blue/grey on one side of the wardrobe or brown/pink/beige on t'other, wearing them in turn each day.
Sorry to say it hasn't had a great deal of influence when it comes to quantity though I know people who have loads more clothing than me. I rarely buy anything new unless it's to replace something that's worn out or I see something that I can't resist (rare these days).

I got rid of half my clothes before I moved to my boat. I still have a pile to get rid of. I so want a capsule wardrobe. I have found a gorgeous linen Italian pinafore dress on ebay... I have three now...different colours. These are the start of my capsule wardrobe... So I think you have to choose something you like and build the clothes around it. Mix and match. I found I can make six outfits out of one of these linen pinafore dresses with scarves, teeshirts and shirts. I just have to get rid of all the stuff I no longer wear but like.....sighs

I’ve unintentionally ended up with an unvarying tiny capsule wardrobe of a couple of pairs of black, slightly stretchy trousers, trainers and a few tops that are now getting tatty.

I’m so fed up with trying to buy clothes because nothing ever seems to fit properly. Trousers always seem to have a gap at the back, (even if the length is right) and blouses never fit across the shoulders and the sleeves are always too long.

I go shopping, try on a couple of bits, get too hot and end up coming home with nothing- again!

I had to get rid of a lot of my clothes when I moved almost 3 years ago, less storage space now.

I live in jeans/jeggings, 1 pair of smart black trousers, jumpers/t-shirts/tops in various colours. Some nice blouses/shirts, good jackets for Summer, Winter, Spring/Autumn. I have lots of scarves to ring the changes particularly white blouses.

Trainers & boots + a couple of pairs of shoes/sandles.

I don't buy lots of clothes nowadays just if I see something I like or to replace a worn out item. I do own a couple of skirts which I rarely wear.

We are all different, thank goodness. Love browsing and buying clothes. Blacks, grey, and white all seem a bit dull. Went to a formal New Year ball, black tie a cluster of women wore short black dresses, they looked drab but tidy. Think of what look you wish to convey - steam punk, arty, conservative, distinguished, whacky? Do you like colour, do you like good fabrics?

Depending on how often you want to use water, electricity and washing powder on washing determines to a large extend how much underwear, blouses etc. you need.

You can get by on two pairs of jeans, six pairs of underpants, two bras, two to four t-shirts, a couple of blouses, two sweaters and one or two skirts, but you will get rather bored wearing the same things day in and day out.

I've loads of stuff - a bit like you, MargaretX, I have wardrobes in each bedroom rather than a capsule wardrobe. Only small ones (), but one contains trousers and tops, one dresses and skirts, one coats and jackets. Sorted by colours, so easy to find stuff. Oh, and I have a bit of OH's just for spangly stuff and posh frocks. And then I have drawers full of jeans, leggings, jumpers. I pack obvious Summer stuff and Winter stuff away in a high cupboard at the appropriate time, so they're off the scene.

So yes, I've loads of clothes, and yes, only about 2% of it's worn on a day to day basis. But it's good to have options, it really doesn't cause any work just hanging there, and I don't need to buy anything now (though of course, I still do!). A woollen check coat I've had for 10 years came back into fashion this year so has been much worn.

Whenever I get the urge to get rid of stuff I regret it, so I fight the paring down instinct. And I would hate to live in monochrome.

I really like most of my clothes and my only regret is that being retired I have less opportunity to wear all the things I have (short of wearing all my glad rags to the supermarket or for gardening )
And yes, they can add to my general happiness as this card expresses so well.

If I threw out everything I wasn't sure about or couldn't fit into at the moment I would have a very limited capsule wardrobe.

However, much of it I keep 'just in case'.
In case of what? I think I must have a clear-out.