I love the idea of a capsule wardrobe. At the point that I fully re-do my wardrobe, that is exactly what I am going to go for. I’ve been discussing this a lot with a friend recently. Each time we mention how much we HATE shopping for new clothes (yes, I said hate) we discuss new ways of approaching our wardrobes and a capsule wardrobe comes out on top as a good idea.

What is a capsule wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a sensible way of buying, storing and wearing your clothes. The basic idea is that you streamline your wardrobe down to around 30-50 items that can be mixed and matched to make a range of different outfits for every possible occasion you might need them for.

So, say if you had a trouser suit, you’d wear the trousers with other tops and the jacket to smarten up a pair of jeans for a night out. Or maybe you could even wear the jacket over a sleeveless dress in colder weather?

It’s all about choosing items that can have multiple purposes and having a wardrobe that is actually functional and serves you day-to-day. To make your capsule wardrobe truly unique, consider adding custom patches to your clothing items or accessories. It gets rid of all that excess and I’m here for that. I hate the fact that I rarely wear the bulk of what is in my wardrobe. Anyone else?

Applying a capsule wardrobe to your holiday packing

Are you heading on holiday this summer? If so, you can try out the capsule wardrobe method whilst on holiday, to see if you like it. Rather than packing all of your summer clothes in your suitcase, think carefully about what you can mix and match to make a range of outfits. That way you don’t pack too much. You can try to apply this to the holiday wardrobes of all the family and see how you all get on. I’m hoping to do that this year. I’ve tried hard the last few times to really cut down what we pack but I still think it can be cut down even more.

How do you approach your summer holiday packing? Do you think you could pack like this for yourself? What about your family? Are you an ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ person, or do you travel light when possible?

Example of a summer holiday capsule wardrobe

Now obviously your destination and what you will do whilst there will have a huge baring on what you pack. Last year for example we went to Canada so we had lots of hiking clothing, swimming things, including wetsuits and so on. That’s obviously different from what you’d pack for a 2-week all inclusive in a resort in Spain or a villa holiday in Greece and all of that is different again from a caravanning holiday in Devon or a city break in Europe.

Think carefully about where you are ging and what you will be doing before you try to come up with your capsule wardrobe.

For example, If you are going somewhere where you will be mostly around the pool and beach and then off out for meals in the evening you could go with something like the following:

• Swimwear
• Swimwear cover up – opt for a sun dress so you can also wear this out
• Shorts
• Vest tops in 3 different colours that will all go with the shorts
• A cardy that will go with both the shorts and vest tops and sundress for the colder evenings
• A pair of block heels
• A pair of pool sliders that can be worn with the shorts and sun dress as well as the swimwear
• A hoody to chuck on over everything from PJs to shorts
• Nightware
• One smarter dress or capris that also go with the cardy
• A pair of white heels (summer staple), perhaps a wedge which will go with the dresses, shorts and capris
• A jumpsuit that can be worn over swimwear, over a vest top, with the cardy and with the sliders

What do you think? Does that sound doable to you? Anything I’ve missed out that you would add? Why not try out a capsule suitcase next time you travel? Do let me know how you got on. Happy travels!