Before we start to Purge Your Closet I recommend checking out the past article links below if you are new to my How to Create a Capsule Wardrobe series.

• What is a Capsule Wardrobe and Where to Start
• Choosing Your Capsule Wardrobe Colors
• Capsuling for Dummies

Let’s Purge Your Closet

I promised to talk more about purging your closet and dresser and today is the day! Let me start by saying you do not have to get rid of everything your own. Let me repeat that, you do not have to get rid of everything you own!!! For those of you that aren’t ready to let go yet they make this awesome thing called a plastic storage bin and you can move your items to it first ;).  That way you can be absolutely sure you don’t need those items before you donate them. I say this as a girl who has 3 storage bins in the basement right now. Honestly I don’t even know what is in them so they will be making a trip to Goodwill soon!

So if you’ve followed along in this series you know we’ve talked about colors and seasons. Plus last week I told you all about those awesome ebooks that I like to call Capsuling for Dummies! If you didn’t feel like any of the ebook styles were a good fit I suggest checking out this article from ClassyYetTrendy.com on How to Start a Capsule Wardrobe in 5 Steps. The ebooks or that blog post are your blueprints for your new wardrobe. You need a blueprint! Without some kind of blue print you will get very overwhelmed and give up.

Having a Plan

You should know going into your closet and dresser what your color scheme is for this season. If you are going off an ebook this is super easy for you, it’s time to play the matchmaker game and shop your closet. For items you don’t have but have something similar go ahead and add it to the pile. This is your first pass so pull everything that matches an item in the book or fits your blueprint. Set those items aside as we will come back to those. I went the ebook route to start, it just made things so much simpler for me. Based off the preview of the book I could see it matched my style and items I already had in my closet. This fall I might go off book and create my own but I didn’t fee confident doing that from the start.

Getting Down to Business

Now let’s take a look at what is left in your closet and dresser. This is where things can get overwhelming but you will feel so much better with less stuff and clutter I promise! So put on your favorite Netflix series and grab a glass of wine it’s time to go all Kill Bill on your closet. Oh and if you have a bestie definitely have them help you, they will be honest when you don’t want to hear it and also will offer up suggestions you hadn’t thought of. Before you do this though I suggest reading about This Simple Trick for a Closet Cleanout on ClassyYetTrendy.com! Plus Leann has a free worksheet to make it easier, can you tell how much I love her site?! She has 5 questions to ask but I’m only going to cover 2 and you can read the others on her site.

Hard Questions Time

1. Does it fit?
2. Have I worn it in the last year?

If the answer is no to both then it’s time to go. If the answer is Yes to either of those then ask yourself the 3 other questions Leann has on her worksheet. The idea here though is to go through your entire closet and make an active decision on every piece. You should be left with storage, donate/sell and trash piles in addition to your current capsule pile.

Next let’s take a look at that capsule pile you picked out that matches the ebook. Here you need to ask yourself does it fit and is it in good condition? If it doesn’t fit stick it in the donate/sell pile and if it’s in bad condition off to the trash pile it goes. At this point I would go ahead and bag up the donate/sell items and the trash items and get them out of the room. You’ve already let it go mentally so don’t let it clutter up your space!

So now we are left with your capsule pile, you may find you have 5 items left in your closet or you might have 55. If you only have a few items left start making your list of what you need. Think more about your storage pile, could you add another color in and pull from it? The fun answer for me though is to go shopping, lol!

How to Shop

This is different then your usual style of shopping though, this is laser focused shopping. You should have a very specific list of what you are looking for and when you find something you need to ask yourself can I think of 3 outfits I can make with this and what is in my closet. Don’t buy something just because it is pretty if it doesn’t match your capsule, that is what we are trying to get away from. I suggest checking Goodwill stores for some of your staples, I’ve donated tons of name brand quality items to my local Goodwill just because they didn’t fit anymore. I’ve also found staple items in my closet like my mint jeans there!

Next option is to sign up for your favorite stores email lists so you can be the first to find out about sales and coupons. Use sites like Ebates or Honey to get cashback from your purchases. Poshmark is also a great place to buy gently used items online. I’ve purchased several items from there too! Bottom line is you don’t have to spend a fortune but you do need to spend money to create a wardrobe that works.

If you fall into the 55 items left category I recommend paring down. Is everything seasonally appropriate? Do you have duplicates of anything? If you are following an ebook what matches the items needed best? Whatever is close but not exact can go into the storage pile. Capsules can be any size you want really but the average seems to be 25-35 pieces.

Congrats

Hip Hip Hooray! You’ve purged your closet and your dresser and holy cow there is so much space now! Tell me how many of you were surprised at things you found shoved into the back of your closet and dresser? Bonus question, did you tackle your shoes too? Same principles apply, ask the same questions and purge what you don’t need anymore. I’ll be honest, I have a side of my closet full of dresses. They run the gamut from sundresses to fancy ball gowns, I will be taking my own advice soon and purging that side. Oh and just because I like to feel fancy I recommend upgrading your hangers at this point to nice wooden ones. Your closet will feel so much more polished and Pinterest worthy :).

HOW TO CREATE A CAPSULE WARDROBE STEPS:

1. Turn all the hangers backwards in your closet. Bonus if you do the same to your coat closet!
2. Pick your color scheme and remember you can change it with the seasons.
3. Try out the vacation or weekend test with a mini capsule!
4.  Buy one of Leann’s ebooks that match your style and needs.
5. Purge your closet and dresser of clothes you don’t wear.
6. Buy fancy wooden hangers to celebrate!

Next week I’m going to talk about my favorite app that makes getting dressed everyday easy and fun! Oh and check out my Pinterest board with loads of inspiration plus more tips articles on starting your own Capsule Wardrobe!