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It is estimated that we own an average of 136 clothing items in our wardrobes. I used to own a lot more. 

As a former fashion influencer and a bit of a shopaholic, I owned so many clothes that used to stuff my wardrobe, from getting sent a lot of free clothing to constant impulse buying just because it’s cheap. 

My wardrobe was just bursting, but was I wearing all of them? 

No. 

One survey of 2,000 women in the UK found that, on average, people wear an item about seven times. Afterwards, it usually just ends up cluttering the wardrobe. 

But I have a sneaky feeling that a lot of us have clothing items right now that either still have the tag on, or that we haven’t even worn a couple of times. 

As I went on my minimalism and decluttering journey, I started being more real with myself. I sold and donated a large majority of my clothes, and I realised I actually love getting dressed now so much more. All the items that are now in my wardrobe fit me. They all make me feel good, and I truly love them. My goal is simply to wear everything in my wardrobe.

In this article, I want to share with you what I would do if I started my capsule wardrobe from scratch today. 

Keep reading below or watch the video:

1. Do a ruthless declutter using the 80/20 rule

I found the 80/20 rule really helpful. You might have heard of it before. According to it, we wear 20% of the items we own for 80% of the time. 

That was completely true for me, or perhaps even more. 

I probably had a lot more items in my wardrobe that I never wore. I would always gravitate towards the same pair of jeans, the same pair of leggings, the same few t-shirts that I loved, and the same few jumpers. Everything else was just excess thrown in there. 

Back when I was a fashion influencer, I would get sent a lot of clothes, which I was grateful for, and I loved that. I felt like it was a lot of fun, but at the same time, I didn’t need them. I wasn’t wearing all of them, and some of them didn’t even fit my lifestyle. So many of them just ended up sitting in my wardrobe. What a waste of resources! 

This, combined with the fact that I was a bit of a shopaholic, led, in time, to my wardrobe starting to really stress me out because it was no longer closing properly. And getting dressed in the morning, opening my wardrobe to a bursting amount of stuff, was not fun.

I read somewhere that as adults, we make around 35,000 decisions in a day. Some of them, of course, are kind of on autopilot, but some of them require a lot of our energy. 

One simple thing we can do to help ourselves feel better, to help our mental health, and to just give us more space to think about other stuff is to declutter our wardrobes.

By this, I mean getting rid of the items that we don’t love, the items that don’t fit us, the items that make us feel bad about ourselves, or those just-in-case items that we’ve been keeping for ages, thinking that maybe one day we would wear them for this one-time event. 

Decluttering our wardrobes means we end up having items in there that we actually love. I personally love my wardrobe now and all the items in there, I love putting them on. They make me feel really good and like myself. 

2. Start a digital wardrobe

I know this might sound overwhelming. When I used to have hundreds of items in my wardrobe, I would absolutely not have had the time and energy to go and snap a picture of them all and put them in a digital wardrobe. 

But if I were to go back, what I would do is start really small. 

This means I’d start with the things that I wear on a daily basis. So in the morning, when I’d get dressed, I’d quickly take a picture of the outfit or of each item.

I did this after I decluttered my wardrobe, and what I used to track my digital wardrobe is the Indyx app, the free version (there’s a paid version too). I’m not sponsored by them, I’m just sharing this with you because I find the app really helpful. 

I wrote an article on how I created my digital wardrobe, if you want more details on this. 

The idea is that simply taking a picture of your outfits every day for 30 days, or however long you want to challenge yourself for, will paint a picture of exactly what you’re wearing. 

It can be so easy to think, “Well, this pair of white jeans is such a staple, I could never get rid of it.” I know, because I used to own one of those. But when I looked at my digital wardrobe, I realised I wasn’t wearing the white jeans. Maybe because they didn’t seem practical, or because I just didn’t like the look of them on me. It doesn’t really matter why I wasn’t wearing them, though. 

The fact that I wasn’t wearing them was a clear indication that I no longer needed them in my wardrobe. And even if in five years I decide that my style has changed, and I would actually like to wear white jeans again, chances are that that one pair of white jeans won’t fit me, won’t be in style anymore, or I just wouldn’t like them. 

So I got rid of the white jeans. You can let go of items you don’t wear anymore, too. Give them to somebody who can use them right now. Then, in time, if you need to, you can always buy another pair, new or for a bargain on Vinted.

Creating a digital wardrobe for me was a real wake-up call as to what items I’m actually wearing in my wardrobe. It also gave me an incentive to play around with my items more, to actually experiment with different outfits, even though they’re all very basic. That’s me. I like basic stuff. 

3. Shop less, but better

By this, I don’t mean that every single item needs to be super expensive, but buying fewer items means you can allocate a bit more budget, perhaps, to the items that you buy. 

Generally, when it’s a nicer and better quality item, it will last longer. It will also look better on the body because the fabric will just be a bit sturdier.

Also, better quality items have a good resale value. This means that when you try to sell them on Vinted, when maybe either you got bored with them, or they don’t fit you or your lifestyle anymore, you can actually get a big part of your money back. Then you can use that money to buy the other items you’re interested in. 

So, shopping better and for better quality items can be really helpful.

4. Shop pre-loved more

I discovered Vinted a couple of years ago, and I have been hooked ever since. Shopping on this platform has taught me a few lessons and made me slow down my purchases a bit.

It usually takes me a bit of time to search for things and find the right items in the right size. And I think this is actually a good thing. Then I can add those items to the favourites, which is a wish list, and this way I can give myself a bit of a cooling-off period before I make a purchase. Goodbye, impulse shopping!

Using Vinted also feels like using free money in the sense that I sold a lot of the items I didn’t love and I wasn’t wearing, and then with the cash that I got from that, I bought from Vinted other items that fit my lifestyle a lot better. This made shopping feel like trading items, rather than investing a huge amount of money in my wardrobe. 

5. Do a lifestyle analysis

This is something that I never used to think about. I would just buy things that I thought were cute, but I never thought, “Does this item actually fit my lifestyle?”

I’m a mom of two, I work from home a lot, and I spend a lot of my weekends, for example, playing with the kids in the parks or at soft plays. So, my wardrobe needs to reflect that. 

Being more realistic with myself has helped so much in creating a wardrobe that actually fits my lifestyle, with items that I actually wear every single day or week. 

6. Figure out your personal uniforms

You know, those go-to style combinations. Maybe it’s leggings and a sweatshirt. That’s what I wear a lot, especially for soft play days. Maybe it’s jeans with a T-shirt and a cardigan on top, or jeans and a fitted top. 

It’s just about figuring out those little combinations that you like wearing the most, making sure your wardrobe reflects that. Make sure that you have items in those categories that you can mix and match, and that fit your lifestyle. 

In this process, I realised that I don’t have many skirts in my wardrobe. For some reason, I just don’t gravitate towards them. Maybe I’m not much of a skirt person. I have a few dresses, but when it comes to skirts, I have just one that I’m going to pull out for my spring collection. I find it easier to style either trousers or just a plain dres.

We’re all different, we all have different kinds of personal uniform styles that we love to wear, so figuring out yours can be a really helpful way to create a closet that actually works for you. 

And then I thought I would share with you…

The 10 basic items that are really staples for me. 

I’m not saying this is the perfect capsule wardrobe by any means, but I find that I wear these 10 items very often. They fit a lot of my different outfits, and are a good base for whenever I want to get dressed. They’ve also stood the test of time and multiple declutters, and it’s for a reason.

1. Plain white tee

I think it was last year that I bought a COS clean-cut regular white T-shirt, and I finally got why people bought more expensive T-shirts. It turns out they are more structured, it’s a bit of a thicker cotton, and it’s not see-through. It sits nicely on your body, and it’s just amazing.

Having a good white T-shirt is one of those staples for me that I’m going to probably keep in my wardrobe for years and years.

2. Plain long-sleeved top

I love this type of top, and again, I try to go for 100% cotton and a nicer fabric. 

I have three long-sleeved tops at the moment. Two of them are Adanola, grey and black, and one is a white T Store. They are all really good basics. I love wearing them with either just jeans, and that’s my whole outfit, or I can throw something on top if it’s still a bit chilly outside. 

3. Blazer/Jacket

I have a double-breasted blazer, a simple beige one from H&M, and I love having that when I want a smarter outfit.

4. Cashmere cardigan

I love a cashmere cardigan as it’s such a good staple to throw on. The one that I have is by John Lewis. It’s nice to layer up, it feels very soft, and I don’t need to have a wardrobe full of them.

Sometimes, just owning one piece like that can help create a lot of outfits that feel really good. Even though I’m a minimalist and I’ve gone through massive declutters of my home and my wardrobe, I do still enjoy fashion, and I do enjoy having fun with my outfits. And by fun, I mean pairing different kinds of basics. 

5. Striped jumper

Another basic that I love is a striped jumper. The one that I have is a Sezane jumper that I got on Vinted. It’s quite light, it feels lightweight, it’s not super thick, and it’s 100% cotton. I like how it drapes on my body and it’s just lovely to wear. It’s great with jeans, and that’s a whole outfit in itself that I love wearing a lot. 

6. One good pair of denim jeans

And you probably saw that I mentioned jeans quite a lot. I have two at the moment. One is a Levi’s, but my favourite one is actually from Stradivarius. It’s a slim mom jean, I think it’s called. It’s in a lighter wash, and I have worn that so many times. I just love it. I love the style, how it fits on me, and it just makes me feel like myself. 

7. Black leggings

A pair of black leggings is also a pretty good staple for me. Great for soft plays, great for workouts, great for chilling. 

I used to have probably 10 pairs of black leggings in my wardrobe. In reality, I probably wore two of those on repeat, but they weren’t great leggings. They felt very thin and a little bit baggy around the knee area. They weren’t a great fit. 

Now I have one black pair of Lululemons, and they are my absolute staple go-to. I love them and I wear them often.

8. Hoodie/Sweatshirt

I like having a nice hoodie or a sweatshirt. I actually have a few of these as they’re really good staples for soft play days. And they don’t always have to be expensive. I think some of the ones I have are H&M and Primark, purchased a long time ago.

7. White trainers

A pair of white trainers is my go-to. The pair I currently own is from Marks and Spencer, I got them last year or the year before. And given that I’ve worn them almost every day for over a year and they’ve been through a lot, they’ve lasted really well. 

I feel like a simple white pair of trainers is such a go-to, especially a slim type. They go with everything. I wear mine with different things that I like to wear and I create different outfits. Sometimes I pair them up with a dress to make the outfit look more casual. And at other times I wear them with jeans. 

8. Bag

The bag I currently own and use is, in my opinion, a staple one. It’s a leopard print Finnsøn bag that I bought from John Lewis. It attaches to the buggy or pushchair, and even though it looks quite small, it can actually fit quite a lot inside. It holds nappies, wipes, a change of clothes, water, and snacks for the kids. Somehow, all these fit in there. That’s the one bag I have at the moment, and that’s the one bag I wear pretty much every single day. 

This is it, this is what I would do if I started my capsule wardrobe from scratch: just start with the basics, and later on, add a few items here and there for more variety. 

I hope this was helpful, and I’d love to know your thoughts, so remember to leave a comment below!