I have holes in my closet!

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

Well, not the kind of holes through which something could fall. Rather, I am missing certain important garments. Let me explain...

Elizabeth (ejvc on Stitcher's Guild) posted some links to a wardrobe planning expert's articles about wardrobe capsules on yet another thread about wardrobing concepts, capsules, simplified dressing, etc. What is it about these things that we find so fascinating?

Anyway, said wardrobe expert Jennifer Skinner has an interesting, new-to-me approach to creating a functional wardrobe. You can read all about it here: Step 1 and Step 2. She even provides a handy-dandy worksheet.

I thought I'd play with it a bit and take a look at my own closet. Hmmm.... turns out I really love my black wool pants and can't live without sweaters and twinsets. On the other hand, I have no favorite skirts and not only that, but I also have no shoes to wear with skirts (well, one pair of knee-high boots, that's all). How did I not know this? Oh, and I also have multiple black twinsets. The things we learn...

I'm adapting the plan to fit my needs so instead of 6 bottoms with 2 tops each, I'm using 7 bottoms and 3 tops each. The bottoms are two pairs of black pants, one pair gray pants, one black skirt, one gray skirt, and two pairs of jeans. All except jeans are wool crepe or tropical wool. The skirts have yet to be made but I do have two non-favorites as placeholders.

I'm listing 3 tops for each bottom: one year-round, one summer, and one winter. I couldn't find 14 year-rounders, nor did I want to say goodbye to any of my cashmere (winter) sweaters or silk (summer) blouses. My colors are mostly black/gray/white/red/pale pink.

I planned out additional small capsules for homewear, sleepwear, gym/swimwear, and casual summer. (If those are not real words, I apologize.) Everything else is out of the closet and headed for storage downstairs. If I miss something, I'll bring it back and it will stay in the closet. The rest will be going to Goodwill a year from now.

It'll be interesting to see if this gives a new direction to my sewing. I will have to replace things as they wear out, of course. But I also want to incorporate a few dresses and perhaps start wearing a knit top with a boucle jacket instead of a sweater.

I should also say I'm not looking to have the smallest wardrobe possible. I just want it to be organized, with outfits that work for me every time and project a consistent image.