A few months ago, I stumbled over the Capsule Wardrobe videos from The Anna Edit on Youtube and even though, I've watched Capsule Wardrobe videos on and off for a while, I've never gone down the rabbit hole. That changed with Anna's DailyEdits in March and I then watch all her and other's Capsule Wardrobe videos and I really got into the idea of trying it out myself. This year started with me refolding our whole wardrobe with the #konmari method (yes, Netflix made me do it) and I loved how much more space I've gotten through this and how easy it was to have a full overview over all my clothes. With the Marie Kondo method, I could store all my clothes, no matter what season at one place, which was nice but also a little annoying because I've often grabbed an item for the wrong season, so the idea of having a minimised wardrobe with only seasonal appropriate clothes, really intrigued me.
With my Bullet Journal it additionally gives me the opportunity to have a planned wardrobe. The oppotunity to plan something not only in my head or on a piece of paper but in my Bullet Journal helps me to plan ahead where ever I am but who am I telling that, we all know how amazing a Bullet Journal is. With my first take at a Capsule Wardrobe I really had to see everything written down before my eyes to get an understanding how it would be easiest to plan my Capsule Wardrobe with the clothes I've already had. With that I saw, that I only need to introduce a few things like t-shirts that are non workout related and some blue jeans (I only wear black ones and I want to get out of my comfort zone a little).
This might be the reason I always feel like, I have nothing to wear (I mean, come on, who doesn't). I have lots of things to wear but I have a lot of standalone pieces that aren’t the easiest to combine and layer up and with this weather, layers are a MUST this Spring. I did rethink some of my items that were “just there” in my wardrobe but because there just was ALL of it, I almost forgot that I had this particular item. Spring and Autumn, depending on the weather can be hard to be dressed right that’s why, this time around I’ve already had to adapt my Capsule Wardrobe twice and right now I have some Winter, Spring and some Summer clothes in there because guess what, that’s all the weather we’ve had in the last 6 weeks. This is a first try and I know, I’ll get better in these in between seasons but even though I had to rethink and adapt some things, I really feel like this is the best way to go for me.
The part of the wardrobe where I now have my Capsule Wardrobe used to be wear all my dresses hung, they are now stored away until it’s Summer and their time to shine. As I’ve already mentioned, with it being Spring and the weather being unpredictable, I, right now, have a few winter jumper but also a few of my Summer dresses within my Spring Wardrobe which makes it a little more full and cluttered than I like. I still use the KonMari Method to fold all my clothes that I store in my drawer because the easy oversight over your clothes (if you don’t store four seasons all at one place, just because you can thanks to the new folding method, like I did) is truly amazing and the extra time invested in this, is worth every minute. Where I’ve had all my clothes in three huge drawers before, I know have everything I’ll need for this season at this one place and it truly makes my life easier.
The whole “living minimalistic” and “being sustainable” (don’t ask me why I’ve put that in quotes) is a journey for me. Sure, it would be nice if I decided to be sustainable from that moment on, I’ve only produced waste that fit in a mason jar but that’s just not it for me. Last year I’ve managed to not use any single use cups which was amazing and by now, I don’t buy a coffee if I don’t have time to drink it there in a normal mug or I don’t have my reusable cup with me. I did forget my cup a lot of times and it annoyed me quite a lot because even though I drink decaf coffee, I love the taste and the comfort of a coffee in the morning. This led me to do my coffee at home and bring it and then, without really thinking about it, I just started adding 45min to my morning routine, to sit down and drink my coffee. I wouldn’t need a whole 45min to drink my coffee but I love this hour to wake up. I used to have my commute to wake up but with being lucky and living really central in Zurich by now, I don’t have that extra time anymore and I didn’t know how much I needed this extra time in the morning. It’s amazing to me how living a more minimalistic and sustainable life led me to living a more mindful morning.
I always felt like I was good in decluttering my clothes, I mean, I knew I’ve never had a minimalistic wardrobe but with this whole Capsule Wardrobe, I again rethought my whole process from “do I love this item” to “do I love AND wear it regularly”. This doesn’t mean, that I’ve already decluttered my whole wardrobe and these are the only things I have left (I still have Summer, Autumn and Winter clothes stored away) but with every season I’ll rethink my wardrobe, donate some of my items and if I buy new things, it’s always with having my wardrobe in mind and if I’ll be able to combine it to at least 3 different outfits. Also, if it doesn’t make me feel absolutely amazing while trying it on for the first time, I won’t buy it. This is a hard one because I’d truly need some blue jeans (I only have black ones) and some t-shirts for Spring and Autumn but finding clothes that make me feel “amazing” are hard to find. I’m mostly a “I can work with that” kind of gal. Rethinking my buying habits from “do I really need it” to an additional “will I really wear it regularly” really made me so much more mindful about the pieces I want to have in my wardrobe.
There is something oddly satisfying about looking at my wardrobe, knowing, this is everything I'll need until the season changes. Right now I work with what I have and I’ll probably do the same with my Summer Capsule Wardrobe but for Autumn I plan to be even more minimalistic but with easy to combine pieces that I love to wear. We’ll see. This will be a marathon, not a sprint.