A closet full of clothes and nothing to wear? Same girl, same.

Even in my two carry ons for Italy I had too many clothes. I might have packed for two outfit changes a day and that didn’t happen but when I came home I had an overflowing closet to try and get these pieces back into.

It reminded me of our first go round with minimalism when we took a vacation to Colorado and stayed with Dan’s parents for two weeks and came home with no where to put the clean clothes in our bags.

Add to this feeling, a season change and BAM! I found myself in the mood to clean out my closet.

Naturally the next step was to spend a few hours on Pinterest looking up spring capsule wardrobes and outfit inspiration based on my presumed Kibbe body type of “Soft Natural”. I’m also debating if I have a hint of Gamine in me. It’s tough to say.

The first step was to bring all my clothes to a neutral room… which in our house means the front/living/family room. So it was on Easter Sunday that I fired up my laptop with the Paris-Roubaix Cycling race coverage and sorted through everything.

I started with season piles. Winter was for my sweaters and fleeces and shearling lined shoes. Fall was for my plaids and corduroys and vests. Spring was my tank top and button up shirts that can be layered together. Summer was dresses and shorts and sandals. A pile for jeans. A pile for leggings and workout clothes. A pile for lounge items (aka the things that I’m embarrassed to wear out of the house).

A few items hit the donate/thrift pile.

And then there’s a pile for my purgatory items. These are things I feel attached to but that aren’t in my color pallet or my most flattering silhouettes. They sat in a pile on the floor for a week before the cleaning lady came and now they’re in a tote in the coat closet. Further updates to follow 🙂

Once I had the donate, purgatory, fall and winter items out of the way I focused on my spring and summer items. And then I filled in the 4 by 4 Capsule Wardrobe template and selected the 16 items that would be my wardrobe for the next month.

I couldn’t help but add 4 staples that will be in my closet year round. So as of today I’ve got a 20 piece wardrobe for April. The items will easily mix and match and layer to suit springs ever-changing weather.

The items I am not wearing in April are in bins in the basement. And I’ll have a day where I rotate new selections in and move some of these to the bin. I kept some of my dresses and “fancy” clothes in my closet but I put them into garment bags to reduce the visual clutter.

The first week with this wardrobe was not my normal week. First of all, I put on painting clothes to help Dan paint the office two of the days. (And then I ended up not helping him paint because volunteer commitments ramped up quickly.) Then it was much hotter than normal for April so I had to dig out a pair of shorts from the summer bin.

BUT those exceptions to the rule aside it was SO MUCH EASIER to get dressed this past week. Even without picking an outfit before going to bed the night before (which is an ideal/habit I’m working to build) I was able to select things quickly.

On top of making the choice easier the outfits were polished and coordinated and elevated. I fully understand the appeal of leggings and loungewear. And some days just call for it. But most days I want to be wearing “real clothes” because I believe when we see the world the world sees you. And I feel more put together, more confident, when my clothing is on point.

Plus when I was in Italy the Moms and Dads I saw doing school drop off were dressed really well. Polished. Classic. And you could tell this was just how they dressed every day!

After 5 weeks and now that temps have swung up to the 70s I’m transitioning 2 pairs of the pants in my 4×4 capsule with shorts. I’m switching out my jean jacket for a lighter one, swapping the two sweaters for tanks and pulling out another dress.

It has made getting dressed a lot easier and I’ve kept up on laundry (with the fun day that I was forced to wear the body suit because I didn’t have clean underwear. It is easier to put away the clean laundry because there are empty places for the pieces to return to. The bins of clothing not in this capsule are in the basement and they’re easy to get to making swaps easy.

I’d recommend giving this a shot if you’re the person who usually wears the same 6 outfits on rotation. By putting away the “extra” I’m creating visual space and decision making space and those additional pieces are just a staircase away.