Capsule Wardrobes, Creativity, And Me

How a capsule wardrobe sparked a fire around my style.

Less Is More: When Curating Your Closet Simplifies Life

Introducing the second blog in my 3-part blog series that navigates how to honor your style and taste while consuming less fast fashion.

In this blog, I explore how developing a capsule wardrobe can enhance your creativity and help you find a more targeted sense of style.

• 7 Day Sweater Challenge
• Capsules, Creativity, And Me
• Conscious Consumption

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I’ve reached an odd point in my relationship with social media: it is simultaneously necessary and unbearable.

I feel like I need it to participate in the modern world, but it seems like everything is just one big ad.

Sure, there are obvious examples, like the popups before YouTube videos or the brand advertisements interspersed between reels, but it's the subtle ones that get to me.

Every other piece of content is a brand deal, directing me to an Amazon page, or pitching the necessity of some obscure gadget.

ASMR cleaning videos exist to shill sponges, an influencer’s skit is a sneaky ad for a supplement, and sandwiched between all those is a steady stream of videos on the latest aesthetic fashion trends.

I’m exhausted. The planet is on fire and I’m tired of feeling like we’re all playing the fiddle while Rome burns.

Now, I can’t single-handedly reverse the ever-rising tide of overconsumption, but I can control my choices. So, I decided to take on my closet.

I’ve long been frugal, and on top of that, I married someone more economical than myself. If you read my first article in this series, you already know I live in Los Angeles and have a small closet. These constraints as well as my personal beliefs sent me on a quest for quality and sustainability regarding my fashion choices.

I wanted to downsize what I had and move towards a capsule wardrobe.

I decided that if I was going to buy anything new, I wanted it to meet certain criteria:

• It needs to be easily usable in multiple different outfits and styles.
• It should be a quality, well-made product that is built to last.
• It has to come from a transparent, sustainable retailer.

How Do I Build My Capsule Wardrobe?

Often, when I’m considering a new project or idea, I want to scrap everything and begin with a blank slate. So, tempting as it was, I resisted the urge to throw away every piece of clothing I owned and start over.

After all, adding more garments to ever-expanding landfills isn't exactly eco-friendly, especially when the clothes are still in good condition.

I did, however, feel like it was time for a closet audit. I don’t buy new clothing often, but I do tend to hold on to things.

As a result, a lot of the items in my wardrobe were no longer reflective of the easy, elegant style I wanted to project. Simply put, I wanted to cut back on the number of items I owned. If I didn’t love it, I didn’t need it.

I went through my closet and drawers, piece by piece, and pulled out any damaged or stained items to see if they could be saved.

Clothing I disliked was removed, and anything beyond repair was repurposed into cleaning rags.

For the pieces that I wasn’t sure about, I hid them in a giant bag in my closet. They’ll stay there for a year–if I pull a piece out to use before next May, I’ll keep it. If I never touch it, it will be donated.

Now, I want to interject briefly here and say that my wardrobe does not look like those adorable inspiration pictures on Pinterest that show you how to make thousands of outfits out of twelve pieces. I wish I could be that minimalist, but alas, that remains an unreachable aspiration at this time.

Also, I am an active hater of fast fashion, but I still have old pieces from retailers that must not be named. Just because you want to be minimalist and have a capsule wardrobe doesn’t mean that you should immediately get rid of every piece of fast fashion you’ve accumulated over the years.

It is probably more eco-friendly if you hold onto those pieces and keep them in rotation until they’re no longer usable. When building a capsule wardrobe it is easy to get caught up in the aesthetics of it and go all in, but if you lean into this, you will negate the economic and environmental benefits. As my grandfather used to say, “You go from where you are.”

A capsule wardrobe is certainly better for the environment and can save you space and money, but I think these benefits are magnified if you take a gradual approach. Wear what you have, and replace what’s necessary with well-made products from ethical, eco-friendly sources.

What Do I Need And Where Can I Get It?

I began this journey expecting to need a bunch of new things to tick the boxes of my new minimalist journey (counter-intuitive, I know). The reality was that I had mostly everything I required in my closet already. Of course, every person’s style is different, so what you need is going to differ based on what kind of style you enjoy.

For me, I wanted basics that could be dressed up or dressed down as well as easily mixed and matched. Mostly, I had all of these items already. Simple tanks and tees in basic colors; shorts, skirts, and trousers; and my trusty white linen button-down were all living in my closet well before I decided on a capsule wardrobe. I also realized I had a few favorite dresses, coats, shoes, and accessories. The truth was I didn’t need much.

One thing that was missing for me was a mid-layer. Living in a climate like Southern California, it doesn’t get too cold, but we don’t have a lot of humidity, so it can get chilly at night, no matter the season. I had heavy sweaters and coats from my days in the Midwest, but nothing that fit the bill for a comfortable, all-season long sleeve.

As a result, a new piece I’ve been happy to add to my collection is the Oliver Charles All-Season V-Neck. It is not too light and not too heavy with a flattering silhouette that easily pairs with everything in my capsule.

I know it seems ironic to plug a product in an article griping about the ubiquity of advertisements, but hear me out. In the world we currently live in, we have to buy products to feed, clothe, and care for ourselves. At least we can ensure they come from companies we are proud to support.

This sweater is well-made and high-quality, with no seams due to the 3D-knitting process or itchy materials.

The cozy soft yak wool makes it durable and easy to care for. I will not buy pieces that prompt me to go to the dry cleaners.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Oliver Charles is a company that is highly transparent about their practices and source materials. They ethically source the fibers for their products and provide plenty of online literature about their operations. I endlessly appreciate the straightforwardness in a fashion world rife with greenwashing.

Unlocking Creativity With A Minimalist Wardrobe

In a world that offers you a limitless amount of things to buy with which to define yourself, it is, conversely, buying less that sparks an influx of creativity and personality. When you force yourself to make do with what you have, you must think outside of the box to imagine different outfits.

Sure, you can buy the latest trend, but does that reflect anything about you? Are those products you’re going to care about in a month? A year? I’m willing to bet that most times the answer is no.

I had fun imagining and re-imagining different ways to wear the same clothes. Trying out new combinations and attempting to achieve different aesthetics with what I already owned boosted my interest in styling, and made me appreciate what I owned.

Ultimately, everything I had in rotation for my capsule wardrobe was something I genuinely loved and cared about preserving. Imposing restrictions on how often and from whom I purchased my clothing pushed me to think about what kind of clothes I wanted hanging in my closet, and it kept me from impulse buying something I would only wear once and then forget.

Sure, you can be free and creative with endless clothing choices at your fingertips, but it is important to think about the implications of such actions. You are not truly free, and there will always be consequences.

Getting creative and thoughtful about what you already own is a great cognitive exercise and an interesting way to get to know what fashions and styles you truly like, not just what social media says is trendy. Your wallet and the world will thank you.

If you believe that every good wardrobe starts with owning less and owning better, consider buying yourself an OLIVER CHARLES sweater.