The capsule wardrobe movement continues to gain momentum.
Fast fashion deserves criticism. And our culture’s obsession with ever-changing fashion trends is an artificial pursuit manufactured by those who benefit from it.
The capsule wardrobe movement is far from mainstream. But, elevated in the social consciousness by some high-profile personalities, more and more people are applying minimalist principles to their fashion.
Many people outside the movement remain skeptical. They wonder why anybody would intentionally choose to wear the same outfit every day—especially when financial resources are not in question.
Evaluating my personal experience with a minimal wardrobe and studying recent profiles in various publications, I have created this list of reasons.
If you have ever wondered why some successful people choose to wear the same outfit everyday, or better yet, if you are considering adopting a more streamlined wardrobe yourself, here are 8 convincing reasons:
1. Fewer decisions. Decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making. For people who make significant decisions every day, the removal of even one—choosing clothes in the morning—leaves them with more mental space and better productivity throughout the day.
This forms the basis for President Barack Obama’s limited fashion options, “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” Mark Zuckerberg cites similar rationale. One less frivolous decision in the morning leads to better decisions on things that really matter.
2. Less time wasted. We have no idea how much of a burden our possessions have become until we begin to remove them. But when we do, we immediately discover a new life of freedom and opportunity. It was almost five years ago that I first experimented with Project 333—a personal challenge of wearing only 33 articles of clothing for a period of 3 months. The project is simple, life-changing, and wildly beneficial. I quickly discovered one of the greatest benefits of limiting my wardrobe: the gift of time. Getting ready in the morning became easier, quicker, and more efficient.
3. Less stress. Matilda Kahl, an art director in New York cites both decision fatigue and less time getting ready as her reason for wearing the same outfit everyday. But she adds another: less stress—specifically, less stress during the day over the decision she originally made in the morning. “Is this too formal? Is that too out there? Is this dress too short? Almost always, I’d choose something to wear I regretted as soon as I hit the subway platform.” But now, in her trademark silk white shirt and black trousers, she has one less source of anxiety during the day.
4. Less wasted energy. Christopher Nolan has created several of the most critically and commercially successful films of the early 21st century. But, according to New York Times Magazine, he decided long ago it was “a waste of energy to choose anew what to wear each day.” Now, he settles instead for a dark, narrow-lapeled jacket over a blue dress shirt with black trousers over sensible shoes to wear each day.
Christopher offers an important distinction when he refers to “wasted energy.” Not only do large wardrobes require more decision-making, they also require more maintenance, more organization, and more shuffling around. Additionally, while a capsule wardrobe may not result in less laundry, it does result in both easier laundry and storage.
5. Feeling put together. Denaye Barahona is a young mother in Dallas, TX. This spring, she exchanged her full, disorganized closet for a minimal wardrobe of versatile pieces she loves to wear. She summarizes the difference like this, “Pre-capsule, my wardrobe was like the Cheesecake Factory menu. It went on for days and was overwhelming. Most of my options didn’t fit right, didn’t look right, or I just plain didn’t like. On the other hand, my capsule wardrobe is like a fine-dining restaurant. I have fewer choices but I can be sure all of the choices will be amazing. Not only do I look better, I feel better.”
Easy, versatile, and always put together. This is the promise and opportunity of a capsule wardrobe—and just one more reason the movement continues to grow.
6. Iconic. Alice Gregory is a writer living in New York City. Last year, her piece for J. Crew magazine brought a new word into my reasoning for wearing a uniform. She called it “Iconic. A cheap and easy way to feel famous.” She continues, “A uniform can be a way of performing maturity or, less charitably, impersonating it. A uniform insinuates the sort of sober priorities that ossify with age, as well as a deliberate past of editing and improving.”
Alice points out that wearing the same outfit everyday is a way of asserting your status as a protagonist. “This is the reason why characters in picture books never change their clothes: Children—like adults, if they’d only admit it—crave continuity. Adopting the habit of wearing a uniform is not unstylish—this is a classification that no longer applies.”
7. Less expense. Our closets are full of clothes and shoes purchased, but rarely worn. The average American family spends $1,700 on clothes annually. Which may not seem like a lot—until you consider that most clothing purchases are not based on need at all. In 1930, the average American woman owned nine outfits. Today, that figure is 30—one for every day of the month.
Living with a capsule wardrobe or adopting an iconic uniform removes most of the waste and expense from trial-and-error clothing purchases—not to mention all the time wasted shopping for items only to return later.
8. More peace. Last month, Drew Barrymore wrote an article for Refinery 29 highlighting her new stage of life and relationship with clothes. “For starters, I’m almost 40, and the 20s clothes don’t make sense anymore. And, after two babies, the 30s clothes don’t fit anymore. I am at a clothing crossroads, and it’s a painful one at times.” To counter these feelings, Drew put herself on a closet diet limiting her wardrobe and only buying items thoughtfully. Months later, her closet is “sane and happy.” Getting dressed is no longer a battle. And her fashion sense is “now calmer and more peaceful.”
We are a society drowning in our possessions. People are looking for freedom and rescue. They are searching for new solutions. No wonder the capsule wardrobe movement continues to grow.
Those who adopt minimalist principles in their wardrobe choices are discovering more productivity, less stress, less distraction, less expense, and more peace.
seriously? says
wth. the fact that is has even been written says everything. drop the facade. live your life. time is the only thing you have. fashion as art is totally cool. if that’s your thing do it. it’s just another creative outlet for the creator, viewer and wearer.
my god, how did the link to this end up on my fb timeline!? god damn I hate fb.
Heather says
I’m not sure how little outfits I can get down to, but I’m trying to really clean out my closet lately. I’ve seen articles on this topic lately and it makes a lot of sense and is inspiring! We generally think that having a lot of options is great, but it’s overwhelming and can cause us to freeze on decisions! Sometimes less is truly more.
Yokairy says
I understand why people would find this appealing and certainly would never criticize the “fashion” choices of another however, the points made as to the reasoning are a bit exaggerated.
I pick out my clothes for the week on Sunday so there is no decision making for minutes at a time in the mornings. I choose what to wear based on a combination of the weather, plans or events post-workday and whether or not I will be walking or driving to work (I live less than a mile from my office.) Rarely am I stumped for choices and I definitely do not waste time thinking about things. And I can say that I wear everything I own. I have a teenager daughter and anything that doesn’t fit me anymore just trickles down to her.
Maybe as a serial shopper, albeit a cheap one, I am a bit biased. But I see nothing wrong with wearing what you want and rocking an outfit that speaks about your mood or style.
With that said, I do applaud the decision to minimalize and simplify. Life is complicated enough without losing sleep over outfits.
Best wishes to all!
josh says
I like this idea for work. But I certainly don’t want to wear a suit to my kids T-ball games or around the house. Also the weather changes were I live. Does this not happen to everyone else?
I would need at least 5 “uniforms”.
1) Suit for Work/Church/semi formal events
2) Jeans and golf shirt for weekends/evenings in the fall and spring
3) Shorts and golf shirt for weekends/evenings in the summer
4) Jean and long-sleeved shirt for weekends/evenings in the winter.
5) Mesh shorts and tee-shirt for watching TV
Truthfully though, this is how I largely live. Yes I have 3 suits and 6ish dress shirts. But I really just wear what’s clean. They all work fine.
I have 2 pair of dark blue jeans and 5ish golf shirts. They all look fine together, I wear what’s clean.
I have a million tee-shirts but I’m staying in usually so…
Mary G says
Apparently I’ve been ahead of the curve for decades and didn’t know it. I can’t imagine having MORE than 33 items. Though I must confess, with my weight issues, I have a wardrobe capsule in each size, from 16/18 up to 26/28. Sigh. What ever doesn’t currently fit is in a clear plastic crate in storage.
I’ve worn the same pair of sandals (year round) for the past 3 years. I HAVE other shoes for special occasions, but the one pair is so comfortable and doesn’t seem to be wearing out at all somehow. yay.
gretel says
WOW…….so it has a name. I started wearing a few things over and over to work to prove that it would not effect my sales 16 years ago ……..and comfortable shoes. I realized that people don’t typically talk to my feet BUT to my face. This article makes me so happy….so maybe I’m not that strange after all. Thankyou for making my day.
Emily M. says
Oh, wow, I love this so much. I have never heard before of the capsule wardrobe, definitely going to be researching it a bit. I already have a pretty small wardrobe, but without even looking I know I could pare it down even further. Thanks for the great post!
Sam says
Can’t decide what to toss? You want to de-clutter easily based what you are now, and you really do want to get rid of little used clothing based on what you actually wear not on an emotional whim of what you hope to be. Try this simple monthly review method.
Clothes that never will fit again or un-fit to wear are immediately tossed or replaced with functional clothes.
Get box of small safety pins from the sewing section in wal-mart or a crafts store. Put a safety pin into the size / brand label or same hidden location on your clothes. So no one will notice if you forget to take the safety pin out before wearing it. Safety pin mark all your clothes that still fit you marking them as un-worn.
Take the safety pin out before putting on an article of clothes. At the end of a month, all clothes with a safety pin are up for review. As you put away washed laundry, keep it separate from the still safety pin marked clothes.
Specifically choose to wear the un-pin / unmarked clothes first each week. Avoiding the still safety marked clothing as much as reasonable / possible.
At the end of 30 days, compare the marked unworn clothes to what you have worn. Get rid of duplicates, by giving away the unwanted items you know you will never wear. Items you have to many of, that fit, and you will wear once a few duplicates wear out go into a “pre-shopping” box to declutter you closet. That “pre-shopping box is where you go first to get clothing to replace the worn out clothes; before you go buy any clothing.
Marked clothes to keep for another 30 days are; out of season clothes such as beach & summer wear and it has been freezing cold the last 30 days.
Keep speciaty clothes if the occasion for normally wearing them has not occured yet, such as for business, work, gardening, events, hobbies, camping, winter sports, cycling, swimming.
At the end of each spring-summer, fall-winter seasons; get rid of all marked clothes that are normally worn for that season, either at the good will or your pre-shopping box.
At the end of a year, if there are any safety pin marked clothes left in your set of clothes, get rid of them! Take a picture of them if they have some special setimental value, or exchange it for a duplicate article in the group of clothes you have worn. In any case just rid your life of excess stuff you do not use.
Do this with your friends. See who can feel comfortable with the least number of clothes. Trade acess to your “pre-shoping” box with your friends to utilize your / their excellent excess.
If you buy a pair of shoes, get rid if a pair you alread have. Do this with every piece of clothing you buy to avoid getting a huge closet of clothes clutter again.
A good life is having what you need and use. A bad life is having to much, and or not enough. Maybe take yourself and your family on a long weekend getaway using the money that you would have spent on excess clothes. Life is about close relationships.
Roxy says
You can do the same thing by turning your hangers around in the closet. The ones you still have hung “wrong” at the end of the year go away. I do this on Labor Day. Not sure why this is the day but it is annual.
U says
Thanks I love this idea. The clip idea was freaking me!
Cali says
That only works for clothes on hangers, obviously. Put a pin in folded clothing, even underwear.
Pat says
When I think of a capsule or minimalist wardrobe, I always think of Steve Jobs and his black turtlenecks and jeans. Granted, he was a guy, but still, his look worked. Alice Gregory’s article struck all the right notes for me–especially when she said her wardrobe “has the magical quality of taking on the connotations of its surroundings. In a bookstore, I look bookish. At an art gallery, I look arty. On the subway, I am invisible. I can look young or old, rich or poor, cool or humble. In my uniform, people see me as they want to.” Awesome. I went to a minimalist wardrobe 2 years ago when I retired and haven’t looked back! Thanks for the wonderful post.
Cherie says
Love this. I’ve been coming across the “capsule wardrobe” idea more frequently lately, and it makes so much sense. Once you’ve edited down to what works for you, it makes dressing each day not only easier, but you feel more like “yourself”: more comfortable in your own skin.
The Bearded Dragon says
Nice write up. I’ve been hearing more and more about the capsule wardrobe concept recently. It appeals to me very much. My only issue is that I tend to (irrationally) assign sentimental value to articles of clothing. This is the shirt I wore when _____ happened, etc. However, I did realize just a few days ago that I have literally NEVER regretted getting rid of clothing. The decision might sting just a little bit in the moment, but I’ve never wanted something back after getting rid of it. I guess the moral of the story is to let hedonic adaption work in your favor. Try it out. You can always go back. But chances are you won’t. Thanks for a good read.
Bea says
If you have sentimental attachment to an item that you never wear– e.g., a message T-shirt, a prom dress from years ago–take a picture of it!