one year, one wardrobe

Background/Shopping Addiction 

Totally skip down to “The Problem” if you just want the capsule, not the background for the project.

I love clothes. I was the kid constantly playing dress up, the teenager spending all her allowance on clothes, and the young adult always exploring new aesthetics and trends. Clothing, to me, is magnetic. An opportunity to express myself creatively and to show up in a particular way in the world. 

Over the past few years, however, clothing has become overwhelming to me. In 2021, I became suddenly very ill with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, or CIRS, that triggered a very painful, debilitating autoimmune condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis. In addition to weight gain, fatigue, and limited mobility, the illness always caused me to flee the  home I was living in (it was full of mold, and the mold caused the CIRS for me)  with only the things I could carry in a suitcase.

Having to do laundry every five days gets real old real quick. Practically, I needed to rebuild my wardrobe. But I was also starting to develop an unhealthy coping mechanism through shopping. This illness had taken so much away from me, and I was trying to buy my way into a different reality. 

In 2023, I realized I was exhibiting addictive behaviors around shopping. I learned about fantasy buying – chasing dopamine by purchasing things for your fantasy self without taking action towards your fantasy self. Like, buying yoga pants because you want to be a yogi, rather than practicing yoga.

Over time, I developed strategies to manage the addictive shopping behaviors. Mostly no-buy periods where for a whole month, I don’t buy anything. And this works for me, I can completely avoid shopping for this period of time. But after the no-buy, I begin chasing the dopamine again. 

Another factor playing into this – self-discovery. I really, truly believe that getting dressed is a creative expression. Whether you like it or not, most people will judge you from your clothing before anything else. I became obsessed with color seasons, kibble lines, Kitchener essences, and other style “formulas,” I was chasing these structures to help me express myself. I thought, if I can just master these things, I will never get it wrong.

These days, things are a lot better – I am managing the shopping addiction, I am purchasing things I like without worrying about “getting it formulaicly right.” But it took me a lot of time, money, and energy to get here, Time, money, and energy, that as a person recovering from chronic illness, I didn’t really have to spare. So, if I could do it all again, how would I do it differently? What approach would help me meet my needs as minimally as possible.

Side Note: CIRS & Clothing Maintenance

Another factor, for me, is clothing cleaning and maintenance. CIRS is usually triggered by biotoxins from water damaged buildings. One of the things present in the chemical soup of buildings that have been water-damaged is actino bacteria, a bacteria that like to eat mold but also dead skin (ew). Part of the process of healing from CIRS, is removing yourself from exposure – for actions, that means cleaning… frequently. Having fewer  things means  less dusting, less washing, less vacuuming. Having a smaller wardrobe is one of the ways I can take better care of myself.

The Problem

Things are better, but not perfect. In considering my frustrations with the current state of affairs, here are a few things I would like to address:

  • I can’t keep participating in this binge/purge cycle of my shopping addiction
  • I am tired of exploring “ideal frameworks” (eg. color seasons, kibble lines, Kitchener essences) as a way to beat myself up for liking or wanting a wardrobe that does not fit into these ideals
  • I am drawn to the idea of “signature” pieces, pieces people can immediately identify as yours. Like, when you were a kid and you had YOUR sneakers, YOUR favorite dress, YOUR hat. Another way to put this would be to say, developing an intimate relationship with my clothes so that they become fully integrated into my life.
  • Honestly, I just need my life to be easier right now, I can’t use my limited bandwidth to stress over my wardrobe anymore.

So the solution: a capsule wardrobe

In prior life eras, I have used capsule wardrobes (built from pieces from my larger wardrobe) to help me through specific life circumstances. For example, before moving cross-country in 2021, I created a capsule wardrobe to live from and packed everything else away.

One of the greatest assistants to creativity is constraints. By giving yourself guard rails to play within, you can reduce the overwhelm of creative choice and really distill down into an aesthetic that is wholly reflective of you. 

By making this project a long-term no buy. It’ll allow me to actively detach from the wanting/buying cycle I have found myself in yet again. Theoretically, I will have everything I need and shopping will become literally a waste of time that I can recognize as such. No more hiding behind fulfilling “needs” in my closet with my coping addiction.

I am very excited to spend less time, money, and energy on clothing. I want to spend that bandwidth on more fulfilling things (like writing this lol)

Side Note: Perfect in its Possibility

Recently, I watched a Patreon video from Hannah Louise Poston in which she explained the process of buying her house – that the opportunity came up to buy a house and they jumped on it. She spoke about how, had she gone through a “normal” house buying opportunity, she would have agonized over finding the perfect house. But she found that the house she has is perfect because it was possible, and that redefining circumstance helped her have a better house-buying experience. That thought has really stuck with me – instead of hunting down some elusive idealized vision of a holy grail, can the things I have be perfect because they exist?

Uniform Wardrobe Method

In life periods where I truly had NO time, I used a daily uniform to manage getting dressed every day. In 2017, I was working full time and going to school full time and a half. I didn’t have time for anything more than putting clothing onto my body every day. I created a style uniform for myself and bought multiples so I could get dressed with no stress. The uniform was black knitted t shirt, black skinny ankle pants, leopard ballet flats, and a statement necklace. I really liked this method for that period of my life, it was limiting in the way I needed it to be during that era of my life. Recently, I saw a quote that consistency isn’t about discipline, it is about adaptability – showing up how you can when you can. And I think the capsule wardrobe approach will be more adaptable for the more dynamic lifestyle I live today.

Side Note: Minimalism vs Essentialism

Someone recently asked me – are you a minimalist or an essentialist? I was an essentialist when I moved across the country with nothing but what I could carry in a carry-on suitcase. Nowadays, I am more of a forced minimalist. Forced, because I have had to rebuild my possessions from nothing over the course of the past two years. And forced, because frequent cleaning is essential to managing my illness.

The Method

I am sure there are many different methods for building a custom capsule wardrobe, this is just what worked well for me. 

Step One: Find Inspiration

Start by collecting inspiring style. This can be through a Pinterest board that you pin outfits you like it. Or, it can be an Instagram folder of saved pictures. Or, it can be by committing to a “core” or aesthetic that you have had a long-term and deep affinity to. Another great source of inspiration is yourself – outline the pieces and outfits of your past or present that you have truly loved. And finally, you can gather inspiration by finding a specific creator with a specific look that truly resonates with you. 

If you are using Pinterest Pins or Insta Saves, you might be like me – someone who appreciates a variety of looks and aesthetics. Before moving on to the next step, you might want to spend some time refining down your selections to an identifiable, cohesive “style.”

A very interesting and personal way of collecting inspiration is through your own wardrobe. What are the pieces and outfits that you have loved throughout the years? What about those pieces or outfits made them stand out to you? Are there any through lines that you can use to inform future purchases? 

When I did this exercise, I found that a lot of my favorite pieces were effortless – they didn’t require specific care and didn’t have a lot of “fuss” they were easy to care for and easy to maintain. They were also comfortable – they fit well and were made from natural, breathable fabrics. These were data points I could use to inform my style and the pieces that I included in my capsule wardrobe.

For me, I focused on the outfit pics of one specific creator, Mel Eponym. And you might think this is cheating. But Jonathan Lethem said “if you think something is original, you just don’t know the reference” and Picasso said “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Meaning, we can take inspiration from multiple sources and integrate them into our own creation. In the next couple of steps, we will distill this style down into definable and purchaseable pieces, and make some swaps to make this reflect our style. We are using the creator’s wardrobe as a starting framework, we are not necessarily purchasing the same pieces verbatim

Step Two: Define Your Practival Needs

Your Lifestyle

What does your lifestyle look like? What types of situations and events will your wardrobe need to cover?

  • For me, I work from home in a camera-on job where I need to look professional from the waist-up. 
  • I sometimes attend trade shows or customer site visits where I need to stand on my feet for long periods of time and have no restrictions to mobility while looking professional
  • I also attend medical conference where I will (hopefully, someday) present to a group of medical professionals
  • In the past, I have attended health retreats which tend to be more casual, but I may need to present-at or show up as an expert-for, so I want to look put-together and carry some authority in my look
  • And in terms of every day life, aside from working from home, I occasionally run errands where I need to feel comfortable and put together but casual.

Your Desired Vibe

Once you define the situations your wardrobe needs to cover, I think it is important to define how you want your wardrobe to support you in feeling through those situations. Throughout my scenarios, you will notice recurring themes of wanting to feel comfortable and effortless alongside recurring themes of wanting to feel professional, put-together, and confident. Understanding how you want your wardrobe to make you feel will help direct your capsule selections.

Comfort & Accessibility

Another consideration is the level of comfort and accessibility you need from your wardrobe. You really want to start with this because it is going to help you make better purchasing decisions. I don’t care how cute that shirt is, if it is below your comfort threshold, you aren’t going to wear it. 

Personally, I cannot deal with fussy clothing – if it needs 13 steps to buckle and snap or has fringey bits on the sleeves that will get into my food while I eat, I won’t wear it. The perfect example of this, for me, is bodysuits – I cannot handle unsnapping and snapping my crotch back together every time I need to pee. I know this about myself, so they aren’t going into my capsule wardrobe. The point is, you want to define these limitations for yourself too. 

Another consideration is material. Natural fibers, to me, are more comfortable. They also breath better. That said, I know that wool is too itchy for me – I won’t wear a wool sweater, so I will not buy a wool sweater. That said, I also know I prefer shirts that allow me to go bra less (I have a lipoma in my boob, don’t judge me), so really thin fabrics like silk or cotton voile in light colors are not ideal shirt materials. 

Speaking of boob lipomas, you will want to consider any mobility considerations. Skirts and dresses, for example, feel limiting to me because they limit activities I can participate in. You will want to consider any mobility limitations or accessibility considerations you have as well. If pulling a shirt over your head is a limitation, for example, consider shirts with zips or buttons instead.

And the Sisyphean task of laundry – how often do you want to tackle this beast? For me, I typically do laundry every seven days but I wanted to build in a buffer so I would only absolutely have to do it every 10 days at a maximum. I am comfortable wearing pants multiple times before washing them, but shirts I only want to wear once. The point is that your laundry preferences will impact the overall number of pieces included in your capsule wardrobe.

Step Three: Refine Aesthetic

Now that the practical considerations are out of the way, we can talk about the fun part – the aesthetics. To me, this encapsulates color and style.

Color

Color is such an interesting talking point because people feel so strongly about which colors resonate with them. I went down the color season rabbit hole – this concept of choosing clothing in colors that harmonize with your natural coloring. To me, I find this approach limiting – what if your favorite color to wear isn’t in your official color palette? To others, this limitation might feel helpful by narrowing down the color options available to you. 

Regardless of whether or not you follow the recommended colors for your seasonal palette, I recommend narrowing down the color options for your capsule wardrobe. For me, I chose two neutrals – black and white, and two accent colors – a light blue and bright red. Limiting your color palette will increase the versatility in your wardrobe as more things will mix and “match” together. The point is to make getting dressed easier – for me, that means mindless combinations where I’m not limited by ensuring colors “go” together every time I get dressed. 

Amy Smilovic, of Tibi fame, has a lot of style education videos in which she discusses color. She has this concept of all, one, or none. Meaning you wear ALL of one color, ONE piece of accent color, or NO highlighted color (AKA all neutrals). Her theory is that following this prinicple allows your eye to rest on one focal point rather than fighting between multiple focal points within an outfit.

Hannah Louise Poston, has a great video where she talks about a styling principle she follows of only ever wearing two colors max within an outfit. The important consideration here is accessories – since they contribute to the colors included in your outfit, buying accessories in one of the main neutrals you outlined for your wardrobe can help you follow this principle more easily.

If you are an aesthetic maximalist and you need all the color and all the print to make you happy, you may need to spend more time in the “testing” phase of this process to make sure your capsule wardrobe isn’t too limited by the color and pattern combinations you are comfortable with.

Style

When I was growing up, there were like three aesthetics you could choose from – classic, edgy, and boho. Now, we live in a world with every style, “-core” and microtrend imaginable. The point here isn’t to try to fit in to any pre-existing, defined aesthetic, but to define the aesthetic principles that appeal to you.

Kitchener Essences

I went down this rabbit hole too. Kitchener, in the 80s, developed a system of “essences” that would help people choose clothing that harmonized with their inherit essence. Again, this is a limitation that can be helpful if you are looking for an external system to help you identify “your most harmonious style” or it can be harmful if you feel constrained by the essence an external third party identified you as. To say – it’s a tool, use it if you want to, don’t if you don’t.

Three Style Words

There are several stylists that use three style words to help people define their overall style and assess their wardrobe and  individual outfits against that standard. Personally, I like Allison Bornstein’s directive three-word approach:

Word one is your baseline word. If you were to assess the favorite pieces from your wardrobe, they would all share this word as a descriptor.

Word two is your aspirational word. This is what you are striving to achieve through your wardrobe.

Word three is you emotional word. This is how you feel (or want to feel) in your wardrobe. 

For me, these words are effortless, effective, and expressive. Effortless – I want my clothing pieces to be comfortable and fuss-free. This word is emulated in some of my favorite pieces – my wide leg Levi jeans, simple white sneakers, and practical black crossbody bag. Effective – In the past, I have leaned into feeling “cute” and while I don’t think there is anything wrong with striving for cuteness, I am at a place in my life where professionally and personally, I want to appear confident and like I am an authority in my realms of expertise. Expressive – As much as I want an easy mix-and-match wardrobe, I also don’t want to lose my expression and personality through overly minimalist (for me)  style.

Start with the Vibe

Another method to defining your style is to first start by deciding how you want your clothing to make you feel. Everything we want in life, we want because we think that thing will make us feel a certain way. You can’t actually buy feelings, but you can curate pieces that support the feeling you want to have. Why did you click on this post? What are you trying to feel through your capsule wardrobe? Put-together? Confident? Cute? Sexy? There are no wrong answers! Whatever you identify, make sure you include pieces in your wardrobe that will help you achieve looks that support those feelings you want to have. 

You-Core

Are you familiar with all the “cores” out there on the interwebs? Barbie Core, Corp Core, Norm Core… all of these cores describe defined aesthetics. Before you go a-Googling all the different cores, I want you to consider instead – you-core. What are the pieces or outfits that have defined moments in time for you? You can even write these out:

  • Wide leg medium wash Levi’s
  • Oversized pearl stud earrings
  • Black crossbody bag
  • Brown heart-shaped sunglasses

If there are things that feel so you, make sure there is space for them in your capsule wardrobe. In fact, start with them! Making sure your defining pieces are the foundation of your capsule wardrobe will help it feel grounded, like an expansion of you, rather than a costume you are forcing onto yourself.

Inspiration Analysis

Now it’s time to make a list of the pieces that appear over and over again in your inspiration. Don’t worry about curating this list just yet, Literally write down the pieces in each outfit the appealed to you. And be descriptive! Don’t write “black skinny pants”, write “high-waisted, black washed skinny jeans with a raw ankle-cropped cuff.” This may seem tedious, but you will begin to see patterns beyond the individual pieces themselves. If every bottom you write down has “high-waisted” in the description, you can reasonably affirm that high-waisted pants / skirts  fit your aesthetic desires. 

If you want to get real crazy about this (like me), you will record this in a spreadsheet with columns for rise, color, material, fit, etc. This will help you see these patterns as a percentage of your overall assessment. Is this statistics? Are we doing statistics??

Now you can think about narrowing down said list. Two thoughts here:

Thought one: if you were drawn to these pieces now, it is likely you have been drawn to this thing before. Do you have a serviceable piece already in your wardrobe that you can add to your capsule collection?

Thought two: if you are using a specific creator as an inspiration and like 99% of their wardrobe except that one thing… swap that one thing you don’t like for something you do. For me, this meant swapping black leather pointy toe ankle booties for cow print leather pointy toe ankle booties. My capsule inspiration needed the sharp structure and height of pointy toe booties to carry the more casual, unstructured clothing pieces. But I knew my two main neutral colors – black and white, could be serviced well by a boot that contained both colors and cow print? That’s just an interjection of fun that I love. Switching out just one or two adjectives may be all you need to riff off of the function of the  inspiration in a way that feels totally, completely you. Functionally, too, if your inspiration contains pieces that won’t practically work for you, Consider how you can keep the spirit of the piece while prioritizing your functional needs. 

Consider Versatility

How will these pieces on your list work together. If cropped shirt lengths appeared a couple of times, will you only feel comfortable wearing them with high-waisted pants? Does only wearing high-waisted pants feel limiting to you?

Step Four: Create Capsule

First, we need to decide what areas of life this wardrobe will encapsulate. For me, I excluded the Athletic to Leisure scale, or athileisure, if you will. Athletic wear and leisure wear, for me, are only worn for an hour or two per day as functional pieces, and not something I wanted to include in my capsule

If you have VERY distinct areas of your life – like if you live in a cabin in the woods but work as a lawyer for a prestigious law firms with a formal dress code – don’t expect a single capsule wardrobe to cover both of those distinct areas in your life. 

How many seasons do you want this capsule to cover? Do you want to create a new capsule for every season? Or do you want one that is one-and-done for the entire year?

We already talked about laundry but to quickly re-touch on this topic – if you only want to do laundry every two weeks and only want to wear shirts once before washing them, you will need at least 14 tops to meet those limitations.  Remember, in this exercise, some limitations are good, they are defining the boundaries of the box we are playing in.

Do you want to include accessories in your capsule wardrobe? Bags, jewelry, scarves, sunglasses, seasonal accessories… I recommend at least keeping them in consideration as you build your capsule if you choose not to include them in the “official count.”

Item Count

You can decide on how many items total/in each category however you please. Make sure the count encapsulates your laundry preferences. Personally, I think at least 2:1 tops:bottoms is a good ratio for most laundry needs, mine ended up being 3:1, which feels accurate for how many times I wear pants before washing them.

Personally, I used a Project 333 item list as a starting point. Project 333 limits the capsule to 33 pieces to be used seasonally over 3 months. I knew I wanted my capsule to encapsulate ALL seasons and to include 30ish pieces, so this felt like a good starting point. 

  • 13 tops
    • 3 blouses
    • 5 short sleeve tops
    • 5 long sleeve tops
  • 1 dress
  • 8 shoes
    • 2 boots
    • 1 sneaker
    • 4 sandals
    • 1 heel
  • 2 jackets
  • 9 bottoms
    • 3 shorts
    • 2 skirts
    • 4 pants

These basic categories can be filled-in with your favorite must have pieces and your  list of common pieces identified by your inspiration. You can change up the total size of your wardrobe or size of each category as makes sense for you.

Immediately, this list had way too many shoes for my taste – I need, like, one of each category and there is no area of my life where I need or want heels. In the end, my count broke down as follows:

  • 14 tops
    • 4 short sleeve tshirts
    • 2 short sleeve blouses
    • 3 button downs
    • 2 long sleeve tshirts
    • 3 sweaters
  • 4 shoes
    • 1 knee high boot
    • 1 ankle boot
    • 1 sneaker
    • 1 sandal
  • 3 outerwear pieces
    • 1 blazer
    • 1 puffer vest
    • 1 trench coat
  • 5 bottoms
    • 1 shorts
    • 3 wide leg jeans
    • 1 fitted jean
  • 7 accessories
    • 1 bag
    • 2 belts
    • 1 baseball hat
    • 1 winter hat
    • 1 pair of mittens
    • 1 pair of sunglasses

Looking at the number of outfits I could create, there are 70 possible combinations of top + bottom, which turns into 280 possible combinations for each shoe I could pair the top + bottom with, when I factor in two belt options – I have 560 possible outfits, and adding a blazer to any of those outfits gives me 1120 possible outfits. Now, all these possible outfits might be possible in theory and not reality, and I didn’t factor in layering any of the button-down tops under the sweaters. To say, I could potentially wear a different outfit everyday for the entire year if I wanted to. This selection doesn’t feel limited to me, I have a plethora of choice.

Links to the tops (commissionable links)

Links to the bottoms, shoes and accessories (commissionable links)

Step Five : Test the Concept

I really feel like this is one of the most important steps. Before you go building and buying, use a tool to test this concept. Personally I used Canva (a digital design tool) and Indyx (a wardrobe app, use ladycarnivory for $10 off your subscription) to log my capsule wardrobe and begin testing it in my real life. 

Daily, I would look at how I would get dressed from my new, digital capsule wardrobe. I would also look at the trips I have planned over the next year and create fake packing lists to make sure I would have everything I need for each of the trips. At the very list, make sure you can create outfits for each of the life events you defined as wanting your capsule wardrobe to cover at the beginning of this project.

Step Six: Acquire the pieces

Only now, after inspiration, consideration, refining, and testing this concept… only now do you get to even think about buying new things. Hopefully, you were able to pull in your most beloved pieces from your existing closet first. Again, this grounds your wardrobe and you already bought it, so chances are the same themes appealed to you in your inspiration.

I am going to say the annoying thing: you gotta invest in your success – buy the best you can afford. Natural materials wear in a way that looks a lot more natural and appealing – imagine a softened, well-loved leather jacket vs a peeling, fast fashion polyurethane piece… ew, David.

This doesn’t mean over-paying though. Cotton is cotton, so whether you buy the $30 shirt from Gap or the $150 shirt from Banana Republic – you are ultimately buying the same material, likely even produced in the same factory. If it fits in your budget and meets your practical and aesthetic requirements, you get the green light from me. 

Side Note: Sustainability

Personally, I love thrifting and I think it is an excellent way to participate in the circular fashion economy. However, I don’t feel pressure to moralize where I buy my pieces. There are like 10 companies globally creating 99% of the world’s environment concerns but media tries to make you feel like you are the problem. Are you one of the 10? No? Then I think spending within your budget and your lifestyle is the priority here. Let’s not overly personally moralize an issue that is fundamentally outside of your control.

Step Seven: Make a commitment 

For me, this project was all for this end goal – a full year clothing no-buy. I want to take shopping – the wanting, the hunting, the acquiring, the returning, the storage, the management – off of my plate for the year. I want to develop a relationship with these pieces to really understand what I need and what my personal style truly is. 

So, to fully commit to this, I packed away everything that isn’t my capsule wardrobe (with the exception of activewear and leisure pieces, as previously discussed). I used vacuum bags to seal everything up and get it out of sight/out of mind. As I packed things away, I moved them into two piles – tier one and tier two. 

Tier one pieces are things I think I might miss or things that I think would integrate well into my defined capsule wardrobe at the conclusion of this project. Tier two pieces are things I don’t think I will miss or are not perfect for me. I am toying with the idea of just straight-up donating these pieces, but honestly this isn’t a decision I need to make right now or think I should make right now – I will wait til the honeymoon period is over with the capsule, and go from there… for now, they are packed away. 

Step Eight: Assessment

During this period of commitment, I really want to consider and assess how the capsule is working for me. To support this analytical phase, I plan to take daily outfit photos so that I can log favorites and critique what pieces are/are not working for me. I will also use the Indyx wardrobe app I previously mentioned to log the cost of each item, determine the frequency of wear, and calculate the cost per wear, or how much value each piece is bringing to my life. You can do this outside of an app, through a spreadsheet or by simply diving the cost of the piece by the number of times you wear it.

As I put together these looks and live through these events, I also want to note times when I felt overly restricted or limited. Would it be helpful to add or remove any pieces to make it easier to get dressed. For example, there is only one pair of shorts on my list. Next summer, it will be interesting to see if having a second pair might have been a wiser choice. 

More than anything, I hope to really enjoy my well-considered wardrobe. I hope I revel in the ease of packing and getting dressed every morning. I hope I use the time I would’ve spent on shopping on pursuing greater things. 

In conclusion, we are IN it. Meaning, I just completed all these steps and my one-year clothing no buy started on September 10th, 2024.