Some years ago after reading a couple of books (check out these) on clothing and the many and varied environmental impacts of such, I became interested in a number of strategies to deal with these impacts, including the idea of a capsule wardrobe. My elder daughter’s article on her capsule wardrobe is available here.
Recently I figured it was time to put my money where my mouth is and see about developing my own capsule wardrobe, but first I thought getting terms right and looking at the whys and wherefores of capsule wardrobes would be educative. At least for me!
What is a Capsule Wardrobe?
Wikipedia’s definition is – “A capsule wardrobe is a small collection of clothes that can be put together in different ways and includes everything one would normally need to wear.”
Sustainably Chic Blog – “A capsule wardrobe is a limited selection of interchangeable clothing pieces that complement each other. These are often classic pieces that do not go out of style and are primarily composed of neutral colors. A capsule wardrobe allows you to create a variety of different outfits with a small selection of clothes.”
Modern Minimalsim.com – “A capsule wardrobe is simply a collection of clothing composed of thoughtfully curated, easily interchangeable items designed to maximize the number of outfits that you can create. Essentially, a capsule wardrobe allows you to create a variety of different looks with a small selection of clothes.”
So the idea is that you have a lower number, of better quality clothes, that can be combined into a wide range of outfits that fit your style.
The thing is, this concept is designed more for women rather than some old bloke like me, and although there have been articles on the capsule wardrobe written for men, the vast majority are written for women. Personally, I find this to be a very useful concept for both sexes.
Why does it have environmental benefits?
I love the idea of a capsule wardrobe because it runs directly counter to the paradigm the world fashion industry: ‘Fast Fashion’. If you haven’t come across the concept before, the intention of fast fashion is for the industry to produce ever greater amounts of cheaper (read ‘shoddier’) clothing. This ‘cheap’ clothing is made in countries where the workers are not paid a living wage and work in hideous conditions. We as consumers then buy, wear a couple of times then discard to landfill, the cheap clothing, thus making more and more money for the fashion industry, winner! (for them!).
The majority of the fashion industry has a crap environmental and safety record anyway, but now more and more non-renewable resources are being consumed and landfills around the world are being choked by all these shoddy clothes from rich countries. There are a whole stack of environmental and social justice issues associated with fast fashion, and if you think I am overstating the problem, google it, there is a lot of stuff out there.
Conversely, if we put together a small selection of clothes that are of good quality, that are comfortable to wear and go well together as a capsule wardrobe, this directly short circuits the desires of the fashion industry. If enough of us do it (even grotty old gronks like me!) this sends a direct message to the people in charge that their paradigm no longer works!
Are there other benefits?
Indeed! Other benefits of the capsule wardrobe are –
An empty drawer is its own reward!
- Financial advantage – Obviously, not continually discarding old clothes and buying new ones will save a heap of money, regardless of how cheap the clothes are!
- Space, time and stress advantage – you won’t have to find a place to put all of those new clothes you keep buying and time to go buying them. (Because you won’t be buying them!). There is also less stress when packing to go on holiday.
- Stress advantage – less clutter = less stress
- Decision fatigue (analysis paralysis) advantage – A capsule wardrobe makes it easier to work out what to wear and what goes with what because you have set it up so that it all goes together. (Or so I’ve been told. This has never been a problem for me, I just wear stuff!)
