The Closet Capsule
I have nothing to wear!
Have you ever found yourself agonizing over the fact that you seemingly have “nothing to wear?” For some Union College students, it seems to be an everyday occurrence.
Fear not!
I have found a solution for your troubles in outfit choices.
It has recently come to my attention that when students say they don’t have a thing to wear, it really means they have too many clothing items in their closet to choose from.
It’s understandable that students like to express themselves in vibrant outerwear that stands out in a chic and fashion-forward way, but doing so does not require 5,000 clothing items.
The answer is to start a capsule wardrobe.
Shaina Adams, a Social Work major at Union, said, “I became interested in trying a capsule wardrobe because I knew that I had too many clothes that I never wore and wanted more simplicity in general.”
I asked her if she was glad she tried it. Her reply was, “I’m so glad I tried it because it helped me continue to define my personal style and I learned that less, truly is more when you only have the clothes you love and will wear.”
Many of you probably have an item or two or even three from your freshman year in high school or even eighth grade. Do you wear each item you own? Most likely not. The memories these items bring are great, but reminiscing isn’t going to do your closet justice.
To create a capsule wardrobe, you must take every item out of your closet. Evaluating what you have and what you really need will show you truly how many things you have and what you actually wear.
In the capsule wardrobe process, only a certain number of clothing items that you choose will be put back on hangers and inside your closet. A good number to work toward is between 30 and 40 items.
I bet you’re thinking, “This is too hard!” Don’t give up just yet.
The best part about this process is that you pick the items that go in your closet. You pick your five favorite dress shirts or dresses, ten pairs of pants that fit you the best. Then pick ten everyday shirts that you make look fantastic, seven cardigans of neutral colors and five cute skirts (for guys, five pairs of shorts) top off the main items.
This is just an example of how you could divvy it up, but you can figure out what you want and how many of each to include. The beauty of it is that once you have only 30-40 items in your closet, you will find that it doesn’t take as long to pick out an outfit. And you have more space!
You might now be thinking, “What about shoes, scarves and other needed accessories?” In order to be successful in creating your first capsule, you must take baby steps–start out with main items.
Once you have picked your favorite clothing pieces to keep in your closet, you can either put the rest of your clothes and accessories in a box and save it for later or even donate your clothes to charity. Both you and those receiving your donations will benefit from the process.
This process is easier said than done. I personally have a hard time parting with my clothes because they have either been given to me as a gift or I wore it for an off-the-hook Adventist game night party!
Remember: quality over quantity. It’s just clothing!
I challenge you to try it out for a few months and see if the capsule wardrobe is for you. If you choose to go through with it, you won’t regret it and might even keep doing it for longer!
For more information and examples of capsule wardrobes, visit pinterest.com and search ‘capsule wardrobe.’
Roxi Peterson is a senior Communications major.