Build A Capsule Wardrobe// Part 1: Closet Clean Out

Here are the 5 steps I'm taking to clean my closet out for my Summer capsule.

1. Create a work space and 3 piles for donating, storage, and keeping.
2. Take everything out of your closet.
3. Sort the clothes into those 3 piles.
4. Re-Organize closet with the keep items.
5. Evaluate the holes in your wardrobe.

Lets Begin:


1. CREATE: Create a work space, I make sure my room is totally cleared of clutter before I start so I can focus on the job at hand. Then create three piles for all the items in your closet to go. A pile to donate, to store, and a pile to keep. I use paper grocery bags and line them against an empty wall in my room. The bags stand up straight and it's easier to throw the clothing in quickly.

2. REMOVE: Take everything out of your closet. EVERYTHING. I put all the clothing on my bed to sort into the piles the three piles I've created. This would also be a good time to take advantage of an empty closet and clean those dirty corners.

3. SORT: Anything that is not in season (not summer appropriate) and put in the storage pile. At this time I don't stress too much if I'm going to keep an out of season item or not.  For me it's much easier to do later and saves me from getting mentally burned out. There are probably going to be a lot of items that you're not ready to donate/sale that are seasonal appropriate these will also go in storage. If you haven't done a closet purge in the past your storage pile could be very large and that's ok. To me the point is to not stress you out or cause anxiety, by storing items you're not sure about you have the option to go back and grab them. I still do this and this is the third purge I have done. If you wanted you could create two storage piles one for out of season items and one for items you're not sure what you want to do with yet.

4. RE-ORGANIZE: This step is really crucial to paint a clear picture of what your style currently is. The only items going back in your closet will be the things you wear regularly and when I say regularly I mean you've worn it in the past couple weeks. I've cheated on this step every time I do a closet clean out and trust me it doesn't help you. I actually need to go back and take things out I know I don't really want in there. From this you will be able to see clearly what your style is and a great jumping off point for your capsule. 

5. EVALUATE: With your closet cleared out you can really see all the holes in your wardrobe and where you need to fill it. Take note of what is missing, do you need another pair of pants, a few skirts, or one more pair of shoes? This will be super helpful when creating your shopping list and finding inspiration for your capsule in the next step.

Best Of Luck!

Building A Wardrobe// Part 7: Lets try a Capsule

The hardest part for me in this whole Building A Wardrobe project is figuring out how I would transform my closet. It all just seemed too overwhelming to completely re-transform my wardrobe to look the way I want. I was trying to change it all at once, what I needed to do was look at it on a smaller scale and transform it in baby steps. The best way I have found to do this is with a capsule wardrobe.

Basically a capsule wardrobe is a wardrobe with a set number of pieces for each season. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. You only wear what is in your capsule for that season mix and matching and making to create enough looks to last you the entire 3 months. Then when the next season comes along you switch it out.

A capsule makes it easier to build your wardrobe from the bottom up. By shopping per season you're able to focus on what your wardrobe really needs at that moment. Basically you're buying a mini wardrobe each season and within a year could have completely re vamped your entire closet. The whole idea is genius and the perfect next step to take in this building a wardrobe series/project. It also gives us the chance to really test out our new style and learn from it.

With summer coming up in just a few short months we have plenty of time to prep our summer capsules. The first day of Summer is June 23rd but I am planning to start my capsule on June 1st and go through until the first day of Fall dependent on weather. So this gives us 6 weeks to prep and I've got it all planned out for our capsules to be ready to go on June 1st.

I've seen people do capsules with all kinds of rules and regulations but I have given myself two guidelines for my capsule but you do what is best for you in your situation.

- I plan to have no more than 50 items in my summer capsule. This will include* Tops, Bottoms, Shoes and accessories.
- I will have all the items bought before the start of the capsule and then not buy anymore during the season.
- If I find that there is an item I am really needing in my capsule but didn't think about until later I will go ahead and buy it.

Once I actual start shopping I may realize that 50 pieces is too many but I didn't want to give myself too much restriction. My goal here is to not have a minimal wardrobe but one where all pieces serve a purpose and will be worm and I feel like 50 items is a good place to start and hopefully with that goal set I will naturally have less items. Also the capsule is not here to punish us, make guidelines and try to stick to them but also learn from it and change it up if you need to.

Here is a break down of the next 6 weeks: If you've been following along for the past few months you should be ready to just jump right in. If not no problem I will que you when to go back and do a step we've already done.


April  27th- Closet Clean out. It's been awhile since the last one, we probably need another.

May 4th- Create a Dream board.

May 11th- Create a shopping list and budget. 

May 18th- Start shopping.

May 25th- Get organized.

June 1st - Let the capsule party begin.

Each week I will share the next step in our capsule prep and you will have that whole week to complete that step.  So when June 1st comes you should be totally ready to start. I seriously am so so so excited about this you guys, I may even go as far as to to share my outfits with you...


*I'm not including swimwear in my capsule just because it's not something I wear everyday and am not considering it apart of my actual wardrobe.

How I Curl My Short Hair

I cut my hair short right after Rivers was born and it took me awhile to find a way to make it look good curled. Here is a "quick" tutorial showing what has worked best for my short hair. All you need is a 1 inch curling iron a brush and some moose. Enjoy!

Building A Wardrobe// Part 6: Buy Less Choose Well

Basically it all comes down to this. Buy less stuff but when you do buy stuff buy better stuff. I could leave it at this but I broke it down into 5 simple things to keep in mind when you're out shopping for the new pieces of your wardrobe.

 1. Know What You Need - Notice I said need not want. At this point you should know exactly what your wardrobe needs and having a clear picture of what your wardrobe is and is not makes it easier to say yes to something you love and no to something you find cute. So shop with a purpose not just with a hope to find something cute. 

2. Quality over Quantity - Going on a massive shopping trip to F21 every weekend isn't going to cut it anymore. Buying one well made shirt will go much farther for your wardrobe than 10 shirts you will inevitable throw away at the end of the season.

3. Invest - Which brings me to investing. Buying less will allow you to invest in pieces you actually want and keep them for the long haul.

4. Check Yourself - Find something you think you want to bring home? Run through a list of questions to help determine if this is a necessary purchase. Example: Does it fit me now? Does it fit into my wardrobe? Is it too high maintenance? Does it fit into my color palette?

5. Seasonal Spending -If you already have all the clothes you could possibly need that season, don't buy more. Wait for the next season to come around.

This brings me to the end of all the prep of building a wardrobe and into the next part of this series. I feel like I've been waiting for this forever because honestly I have, my whole life I've struggled with finding my style and I feel like I'm finally starting to figure it out. Next week I will be sharing more of what I have planned and I cannot wait!


and just for fun find out what kind of shopper you are here!

Building A Wardrobe// Part 5: Choose A Color Palette

I found this idea over on Erin's blog and I thought it was such a good idea I had to share. I also thought it was the perfect way to wrap up all our wardrobe prep before we start the big adventure of actually buying items to go into our new wardrobe.(Which we are getting so close to I can't wait to share all the goodness I have planned!)

To pick a color palette for my wardrobe I asked myself a series of questions. What colors look good on me? What are the main colors in my current wardrobe? What are the main colors on my pin boards?(read about that step here) and lastly what are the colors I want to be wearing in my final wardrobe?

This lead me to the colors: Black, White, Gray, Blue, Brown, Navy Green. AKA Very Neutral. Maybe that's not your thing and that's ok, there is no right or wrong in a color palette. The main thing is to pick a handful of colors as your go to. You could even go as far to ask yourself what you want your accent color palette to be for jewelry and accessories.

Limiting yourself to a color palette insures that all of the items in your closet will mix and match beautifully and that you won't bring home something you never wear because it doesn't go with anything you own. Like I made the mistake of doing a couple of weeks ago.

As Erin points out in her post this doesn't mean you can't have pops of color in your wardrobe. I know for a fact that I have a gorgeous dress from Anthro that doesn't fit into my color palette that I will never get rid of and will continue to wear. 

- Here is Erin's Original Post about choosing a color palette, she is a beautiful writer and has her own series on building a minimal wardrobe which I have found very helpful.