Creating A Capsule Wardrobe Is Worth It

I have to pack for a week in Rehoboth today, and although I’m procrastinating, it’s not because I have nothing to wear or because I have too many clothes and am having a hard time making a selection.

No. I am procrastinating because…I don’t know why, actually.

But it’s not because I don’t know how to pack or what to pack. I know exactly how to make the proper clothing selections.

I know because I know my style. I know because my clothing has been edited down to just those things that:

Fit me.
Are comfortable.
All work with each other.
And because I now know how clothes work, what they do, and how they function. And I’ve edited all my clothes down to just the things that I love.

It all started two years ago when I went to Paris with Emily to see the Rothko exhibit.

I was so incredibly impressed with how people dressed there. Both women and men. The wool coats. Omg, the wool coats. And the scarves. And the flair. Everyone had flair. I wanted flair. So when I got home, I became obsessed.

I started reading about capsule wardrobes, and looking at Pinterest boards, and hoeing through all my clothes and lugging bags of really nice stuff to the local thrift store.

It got to the point where everything left in my closet was something I really liked.

But I still didn’t know how to figure out my own personal style.

So I started following Instagram style influencers, and looking at Pinterest boards, and taking style quizzes.

I was told to notice the stores I gravitated towards, and the ones that didn’t.

Banana Republic, J.Crew, yes.

Anthropologie, no.

I tended toward preppy, but not full-blown Ralph Lauren preppy.

Preppy, with a can of graffiti spray paint stashed in the tote. Pinstriped trousers maybe, but paired with red sneakers and a boho necktie.

It took me a while to study all this. I had to buy things to fill in gaps. Many gaps. It felt insane to spend so much money on clothes.

But I also went crazy in thrift stores. Omg, the “Everything $4.50” baskets I pawed through. But by the same token: Holy shit, the gold I found!

So I guess I’d say my style now is one-third Banana Republic, one-third Anthropologie-esque, and one-third thrift store.

I have always been a person with obsessions. I go on crazy jags. My mother used to call my jags my “enthusiasms.” I was known for them: tree-climbing enthusiasms, roller-skating enthusiasms, reading enthusiasms.

Now it’s stuff like Ashtanga, intermittent fasting, sourdough, protein.

They all last a while, then fade.

But today, as I sit here procrastinating about packing for the beach, I’m thinking that my “fashion/style/capsule wardrobe enthusiasm,” while over, is still paying hefty dividends to this day.

If you’ve been reading me for a while, you know. But just for fun, here are some pics from those days.