I would have never classified myself as a shopaholic, because I’ve (for the most part) liked to keep a close eye on my budget. Sounds super responsible, right? Well, yes, but it lead to a bigger problem when it came to my wardrobe, one that I’ve been working on correcting for a little over half a year now.
You see, I’ve had the mindset of “If it’s on sale, buy it and make it work!”
This resulted in my closet becoming a collection of whatever stores had on clearance, an inconsistent style, and with as much as I was spending on a bunch of clothes for a low cost ended up being pretty close to if I would just buy a couple of more quality pieces.
How does one correct this? I suppose there may be a couple of methods that have worked for others, but for me the answer is capsule wardrobes and let me tell you – It. works.
The Mission
Let me take you back a year into the fashion life of Devon. I was used to getting compliments of “You can pull off so many styles!” (which I later realized that, even though people were being genuine, it showed that I was really inconsistent with how I dressed) and I bolted straight to the clearance rack of any clothing store that I walked into in an attempt to buy as much as I could for as little as I could. Round and round the vicious cycle we go.
After Layla was born, I entered into this space of life of wanting more… space. For everything. This meant getting rid of a lot of things that were cluttering our home and not bringing anyone any joy (Hello Konmari). This was NOT about minimalism, but creating an intentional space for everything. With a little one, this is sometimes much easier said than done, but still doable nonetheless. For me, I began with my closet.
What Inspired Me
Was there a method to my madness? Maybe. Since our honeymoon in St. Martin, the lovely half french half dutch island in the Caribbean, I became a little obsessed with french culture. Their je ne sais quoi approach to their appearance of looking so perfectly, imperfectly put together without looking like they tried too hard had me striving to recreate this in my own wardrobe. Still, something felt …off.. about the style though I liked the mindset. That’s when I realized (after reading french fashion articles a-plenty) that their approach was just that, a mindset rather than a style. So I adopted that mindset for myself and combined it with a style that is ME, which turns out to be the last style I would have ever expected – boho chic. It must be the romantic in me that love the billowy sleeves and soft floral patterns.
My Current System
After doing a MAJOR overhaul of my wardrobe where I literally donated HALF of my closet, it took me a lot of experimentation and I’m constantly reading articles and trying new things to see what works the best for me, but what I’ve been sticking with has been a MAJOR upgrade from just a closet stuffed (literally) full of random clothes. Every season, I take everything out and think of a color palette for the new season. This Spring, I went with pinks, blues, ivory, and I’m experimenting with mauve. Once I have a basic visual of what I want my seasonal wardrobe to look like, I head over to my favorite capsule wardrobe blog, Jade Archives, and I pull up a post for the season that I’m entering into for inspiration. Jayde has an average of 35 pieces in her closet and she gives you a look into each of the pieces that she picks. I use this to create my own list and then start shopping my own closet!
What about shopping for new pieces? There’s room for that! Instead of trying to buy as much as I can, I simply put more effort and intentionality into shopping around for pieces I truly like. Each season, I limit myself to no more than five new articles of clothing and two accessories. Sometimes I reach my limit, sometimes I just buy a couple of things. Either way, this has helped tremendously in building a correlating closet and finding pieces of good quality while still feeling satisfied from a fun shopping adventure!
If you’re ready to revamp your wardrobe, but are a little intimidated as to how – Don’t worry, friend! I totally get it! I remember how overwhelmed I felt as I stood in my room, with all of my clothes piled on our bed thinking, “Is this really a good idea?” It was the best idea I’ve ever pursued in regards to my closet and it has transformed the way I dress myself. I’m leaving you links to the resources I used when I began this journey. I encourage you to check each of them out and I hope you find them as helpful as I did!
How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe | Jayde Archives
5 Piece French Wardrobe: How to Get Started | French Girl Daily
