If you read a fair amount of lifestyle blogs or fashion blogs, you’ve probably come across the “capsule wardrobe.” While this might feel like a very modern, minimalist response to consumerism and fast fashion, the concept of the capsule wardrobe dates back to the 1970s.
For those of you new to the capsule wardrobe, it’s a very classic (and frankly French) approach to style. Ideally, you build up a wardrobe with just a few high-quality, timeless pieces that mix and match. Each season, you switch to a new “capsule,” although some pieces might overlap. Your accessories can be trendy, but your clothing should all be classic. Eventually, you only need to buy a few things–or even nothing!–each year.
I spent my first three years out of college living out of two large suitcases, more or less. While I bought new clothes during my time spent abroad, at the end of each job, I had to fly back to South Carolina with only two suitcases, each weighing no more than 50 pounds. I mastered the art of mixing and matching my clothes to make new outfits. I developed a very critical eye for both what I could add to my wardrobe and what I should purge from my wardrobe.
Once I moved to Ohio, and I bought my darling antique dresser, I quite inadvertently developed my own “capsule wardrobe,” just with two seasons instead of four. My dresser and my closet only hold half of my clothes, so the other half are tucked away in a single storage box and a second closet.
In fact, the only pieces missing from my fall/winter wardrobe are a black cardigan and white button-up shirt. I’m otherwise quite content with three pairs of jeans, three pairs of leggings, one pair of black slacks, two 3/4-sleeved dresses, four blazers, a good selection of 3/4-sleeved and long-sleeved shirts and sweaters in black, white, and gray, and my collection of solid tanks/tees for layering.
I ended up with a small wardrobe because of limited space. But according to the women who blog about their own capsule wardrobes, they do so as a reaction to owning too much. They are overwhelmed by their clothes and yet still feel like they have nothing to wear. Embracing the capsule wardrobe is their solution to their closet woes. And they’re hardly alone.
What is the cost of fast fashion?
The average American woman buys 52 new items of apparel per year.* Most of that is spent on fast fashion, that is, cheap clothing that won’t last long. As Elizabeth Cline, author of Overdressed, summarizes:
As clothes have become cheaper, our clothing consumption has gone through the roof. In 1930, the average American woman owned an average of nine outfits. Today, we each buy more than 60 pieces of new clothing on average per year. Our closets are larger and more stuffed than ever, as we’ve traded quality and style for low prices and trend-chasing. In the face of these irresistible deals, our total spending on clothing has actually increased, from $7.82 billion spent on apparel in 1950 to $375 billion today.
But the true cost of fast fashion isn’t the billions of dollars we spend on excessive clothing.
The true cost is the 12.7 million tons of clothing Americans throw away each year.
The true cost is the 168 million child workers worldwide.
The true cost is the lives of the 1,137 confirmed dead at the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh in 2013.
What if our capsule wardrobes weren’t about us?
What if we changed our shopping habits not to become more fashionable, but more ethical?
What if we minimized our wardrobes not to make our lives easier, but more sustainable?
What if we stopped putting ourselves first, but instead prioritized the global community?
I don’t claim to have all the answers or to have made all the right choices, for the right reasons. This year alone I’ve bought at least one dress and three skirts in the “fast fashion” category.
But I know I can make better decisions about what I buy, and if you’re reading this, I think you can, too.
So where do we start?
Danielle Vermeer is a blogger who has truly encouraged me to think twice about 1) how much I buy and 2) what I buy. She’s written a great guide on buying ethical fashion on a budget. For more tips about shopping and upcycling, or to learn more about the hazards to garment workers across the globe, check out her ethical fashion tag.
Back in 2013, my friend Christina challenged herself to wear only 7 garments for an entire month. She chose two pairs of shoes, two long-sleeved shirts, one tank top, a pair of jeans, and a skirt. Undergarments and outergarments didn’t count. Instead of limiting your wardrobe to 33 pieces in 3 months, have you thought about going a step further, like Christina?
I totally realize that your circumstances might not be conducive to only wearing 7 garments in a month. For example, when Christina did her challenge, I was living alone and used coin-operated washers and dryers. I would have spent a fair amount of money and wasted a lot of water washing just my clothes. I was also working part-time at JCP and needed some variety in my work wardrobe. But now that I do my laundry with Dan’s, with our own washer and dryer, and I work from home? I could easily only wear 7 garments for an entire month.
But her thoughts on what is a NEED vs. a WANT are truly worth a read. It’s so easy to think we need new clothes when we really don’t. Even for special occasions, the sort of circumstances when we rationalize only wearing something a few times, we can be more conscious of how much we buy. I’ve worn the same pair of gold wedges now to four weddings in two years. I wore my favorite sundress for my 26th birthday, to my cousin’s wedding, and for my own wedding rehearsal.
Finally, consider this from “The True Price of Fast Fashion” at Bust Magazine:
So should we spend our dollars only at small businesses and avoid the cheap, often-exploitative brands altogether? It’s a nice sentiment, but it’s still idealistic and financially inaccessible for most. Elizabeth L. Cline, in her 2012 book, Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, proposes some solutions to worker exploitation and overconsumption, such as teaching proper mending and laundering techniques, sewing one’s own clothing, buying vintage, and shopping at local stores. Cline also suggests “shopping less and with more intention.” In 2013, the average American bought 70 pieces of clothing a year—more than one piece a week. But instead of buying four cheap tops each month, we could spend that cash on one well-made shirt by an indie designer. It’d require a shift in the way we think about our wardrobes, but it’s not an impossible goal.
If you’ve ever lived with me, you know how fastidious I am with my laundry. Because of that, even my forays into fast fashion are still in good condition. A few wardrobe pieces date back to my high school days–and my 10-year reunion will be next summer.
Final Thoughts on Fast Fashion and Capsule Wardrobes
This post isn’t meant to claim moral superiority, to set hard & fast rules about shopping, or to shame anyone who uses a capsule wardrobe. It’s to admit my own self-centered thinking about my wardrobe and to encourage EVERYONE, including me, to shop more intentionally.
Our individual choices might not matter that much, but, together, we can make a difference.
Believe it or not, I actually got the inspiration for this post from the monthly prompt at The Circle link-up! I didn’t actually write about my 5-10 essentials…
*I have quoted two other articles that state the number is higher. The claim that we buy 60 or 70 articles per year is 1) from different years and 2) don’t include supporting data in the article. I decided to cite 52 even though the data is from 2011 because the article breaks down the data to come up with that number.
Very interesting. I must be out of the loop because this is first I have heard of capsule wardrobe. Thank you for sharing!
Capsule wardrobes are very popular with 20- and 30-somethings who work in an office environment. While I totally understand the impetus behind them, I still think their necessity speaks loudly as to the materialistic values of Americans.
I’ve always loved the idea of a capsule wardrobe. Your post broke it down so nicely! I love that you included statistics.
Incredible, thought provoking post! I cannot count how many times I’ve looked into my overstuffed closet and felt like I had nothing to wear. I just looked up Overdressed at my library and am inspired to learn more about these ideas and issues, and to shop more consciously, especially as the holidays loom. With so many retailers and brands both online and off, how can we spot quality, ethically made clothing?
It’s definitely hard to know for sure if clothing is made ethically, but checking for quality is a bit easier. Things like linings, seams, material, etc. give it away. My mom used to point out to me with patterned shirts, the ones that lined up more or less at the seam vs. the ones that didn’t match at ALL at the seam. The former speaks to quality.
There are quite a few websites that evaluate brands for different areas of ethics. In general, I think the biggest first step we can all take is to remember that less is more. Choose quality over quantity.
Such an interesting read! I feel like a lot of people jump on trends and fads (and not necessarily just fashion) without really evaluating or thinking about what they’re doing (which sounds a lot meaner that I meant, whoops!). 🙂 But I think it’s important to really evaluate wants vs. needs (crazy that I was actually just going to write a post on that exact topic!) and really evaluate your spending, too.
Thanks for linking up!
Ha, you don’t sound mean. I wrote this and rewrote this to strike just the right tone, because I didn’t want to criticize the bloggers who DO embrace capsule wardrobes. So I just criticized myself along with them. 😉
I think Americans have a really messed up idea of a want vs. a need, and I really hope we can get away from it.
I really like your take on the capsule wardrobe. I’ve been wanting to focus on buying pieces that are well-made and will last, as well as ethically made. I used to want to save money on clothes in the past and always looked for savings. Now I realized that those clothes don’t last very long because they aren’t well made. It saves money in the long run to invest in quality pieces.
Thanks for sharing this with Hump Day Happenings!
I think we all go through a phase when we’re young and broke, so we focus on the most clothes for the least amount of money. And I can’t criticize low-income people who have to do that, because they don’t have the luxury that I do to spend $50 or more on a single sweater. But as long as I can afford it, I want to be as ethical as possible with my money.
Brita, I love this way of thinking.
I often wince to think of all the waste of everyone buying new clothes to just get rid of later. I imagine the clothes so often end up in a landfill, doing no one any good. It’s one of the reasons I often buy at thrift stores when I can. That way if I decide I don’t like something very much (and sometimes I have to wear it 2-3 times before I really decide), at least I didn’t buy it new.
I do buy new too occasionally.
What are your fastidious ways of washing your clothes? Besides line drying (which I can only do with a few things at a time . . . in my closet or bathroom) what other things do you do to keep your things nice?
Ha, I could probably write an entire blog series on how I do laundry. All of my former roommates thought I was nuts.
The simplest way I can explain it is how I divide my clothes. The only things that goes on hot are: socks, underwear, Dan’s undershirts, towels, sheets, cloth napkins. I wash everything else on cold. In those two categories, I divide everything by color, and no, I don’t mean darks/whites/brights. Whites, darks, lights, reds/pinks/oranges, greens/blues/purples. And there are different kinds of whites.
I hand-washed most of my clothes when I taught English in France, and you really learn how much colors bleed when they have to soak in soapy water overnight.
I wash most things inside-out as well. Buttons buttoned, zippers zipped.
Everything is line-dried or tumble-dried low except for what gets washed on hot, which is then dried on the normal cycle.
Oh, and I wear things multiple times before I wash them. With sweaters that have to be hand-washed, I often just hand-wash under the arm pits or if I spill something.
Thanks for the explanation. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who washes things divided that much so I don’t ruin my husbands work clothes. Except for whites. I wash them all together.
I am glad you finally addressed the laundry issue about capsule wardrobes. I can’t justify washing just a few items at a time. That machine pretty much needs to be full. My other problem with capsule wardrobes is that they do not allow for different outfits for different activities, like exercising, yardwork, or fancier occasions.
I can’t imagine I buy anywhere close to 50 items a year, but then again I don’t really enjoy shopping. I probably only buy clothes 2 or 3 times a year, but tend to get 5 or so items normally… so I guess it actually could come close. I also have so many old clothes, back from high school, and while some of them still fit I’ve tried to go through and get rid of them more often lately. Especially since some of the clothes I loved wearing in high school (like baby doll type tees) I don’t quite feel comfortable in now!
This isn’t the point at all… But I’d love to see your cute baby bump stretching against a baby doll tee from high school. 😉
I’m sure I bought close to 50 items last year, but I was also replacing almost my entire wardrobe after losing weight. And I was working part-time at JCP, where I got a sweet discount. This year I’ve bought almost nothing, a trend I hope to continue or improve upon next year.
Wouldn’t that be something! I’m not sure one would even fit over my chest at this point! Ha!
Thanks so much for sharing some of my posts, Brita! I’ve also been skeptical of the “capsule wardrobe” concept since it essentially still encourages (relatively) unlimited consumption of new items, even if it’s downsizing the average American’s enormous amount of fashion consumption.
What appeals to be about the capsule wardrobe concept is intentionally and slowly building a closet of high-quality, classic, and durable pieces that are meant to be mixed and matched, worn multiple times, and last for years and years….rather than lots and lots of variety and low-quality garments.
Something I plan to explore over the next year are high-quality, “investment” pieces that are more versatile than “work” clothes or “play” clothes. What about clothing that can be worn to the office, to the gym, and out with friends without feeling out of place?
Wow. I am so convicted by this. I’ve already been feeling a little guilty lately about all the pieces I bought when I started this job. But I never really thought about it with the big picture like this. I’m definitely purging my closet again this weekend. I tried a capsule wardrobe in the winter and spring but this new job threw that for a loop.