I’ve never heard of this, so had to google up the term to see what it meant, yet this makes perfect sense to me. I find myself wearing the same clothes over and over again, even though I have four times as many of those items hanging in my closet. I’m tempted to start over, using the “capsule wardrobe” theory, and see how it works. I would want to make mine four different capsules, however, to adjust to the different seasons.

I recently saw a television show where an organizer was sharing ways to determine a person’s clothing needs. He said that most people only wear 20% of what they have in their closet, and showed examples of how to effectively eliminate all that clothing that we keep, but never wear. I’m all in favor of weeding out what I actually wear and use - and getting rid of all the clothing that hangs there taking up space, so I’ll be following this thread to see what others have done.

I haven't heard of this term, but I totally did it for our trip to Europe two summers ago, and have started doing it really ever since my DH and I got together. He is a firm believer in one bag per person, and you'd better be able to carry it yourself. So I guess I "capsule" out of necessity, but I also really like it, because I can change one article if I spill or something, not the whole outfit. And the sweater or jacket I bring goes with everything.

4Heidesign, Count me among those who wear 20% of what I have in my closet. I love to shop for clothes, shoes and accessories. I'm getting much better about quarterly trips to Goodwill as the seasons change. Unfortunately, as empty nesters I now have more closet and drawer space, truly a mixed blessing!

Annie, thank you for reminding me about the Vivienne Files (http://www.theviviennefiles.com/). That was a sink hole for me today! Her sidebar had me poking around at fashion blogs. I find packing for Europe to be fairly easy in terms of wardrobe, but have never tried it with only a carry-one, which I will try on our next trip.

Did some shopping today and came home with a lovely casual black blazer with roll-up cuffs, a slinky long black dress, boyfriend jeans, a white v- neck T and a white blouse. Unfortunately, my shopping was cut short by, you guessed it-snow, yes more SNOW!

bpathome,

See you've been practicing the art of coordinating outfits, and the concept that "less is more" and you know it works. Kudos!

In the middle of writing report cards, but I am bookmarking the vivienne files for later.

After the fire, I had five solid outfits I could wear (included both casual and work). It was so freeing. I can't explain the horrible feeling of arriving at the dry cleaners and seeing all those clothes I didn't need or want. We packed up most of them and will be very judicious about what returns when the house is ready.

I felt like we had soooo much stuff, but the dry cleaner who does this sort of work routinely said ours wasn't bad at all. She said they had one family that had 300 pairs of little boys pants. How many kids would you have to have in order to need 300 pairs of pants!

I am very interested in this concept. I stress out so badly when packing for travel, and I have limited closet space. I read through a lot of the Vivienne Files when Annie provided the link last year.

I think you have to have basic pieces that you really like, that flatter you, and that fit very well. I am trying to invest in those. Why are they so hard to find?!! I rarely wear scarves or bright necklaces or bracelets, and I think that really limits the accessorizing aspect and makes it a bit boring.

Another issue for me is that I have drastically different requirements between work and personal time. I often have to wear court attire for work, then on my days off, I'm in jeans, shorts, or yoga pants. It's difficult to find pieces that are that flexible.

Does anyone who does capsule wardrobes feel limited by their color choices? Do you change colors with the seasons, or stick with basically the same palette year round?

Daisy, that is so interesting. I think I'd feel panicked with only five outfits. But 300 pairs of pants?? That is absurd.

I think the trick is to find pieces that not only fit well, but wear well. Often times, things that look great in the store's dressing room, might not work well after you actually wear the garment all day.

On our last trip to Costa Rica, I had to limit my luggage weight to 30 pounds. This is still a lot of clothing, but I really tried to figure out what was necessary, and I did bring less than usual.

In the capsule blog, she said you didn't have to count sleepwear and exercise wear.

You could also investigate project 333 which is to live for 3 months with 33 articles of clothing. Here's one blog on it.

If you'd like to see my capsule wardrobe for E Europe, look here.

Lot of posts on pinterest about capsule wardrobes. Here's one for a warm weather vacation.

I am someone with way too many clothes yet often feel like I have nothing to wear when I go out! I have no trouble dressing very casually, have just a little trouble getting really dressed up, but the in between looks I really struggle with... these links you have provided annie are really helpful! will have to spend a little more time looking at and thinking about them...