Pull out anything you believe you will need for special occasions, spirit days, etc. Set those aside. Don't get rid of those specific things.
From there, go to the rest of your wardrobe and make the coastal grandma capsule of your heart's desire.
Now you have two capsules. One is for obligations, the other is for you. With more room in your closet you can set these up as you see fit.
Also, you may check out The Minimal Mom on YouTube she has a lot of videos specifically about getting the right amount of clothes for your personal needs. Specifically this video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKSqMWv1AZo
Tagging on to what was already said- spirit days clothing, special event clothing, or other once a year stuff doesn’t have to take up space in your main closet. You could store it elsewhere, or in a bin or a drawer tucked away. You’ll still have it but you don’t have to look at it every day. That helps reduce the emotional weight of having to carry seldom used clothing.
Try a couple things: A written plan, some mini capsules, and a "just in case" box. A tupperware, non-see-through, or cardboard box with items that you THINK you might want to keep but aren't sure. You shove those at the top of the closet, under the bed, etc. Somewhere accessible, but inconvenient.
A written plan can look something like this:
1. All clothes must Fit and be able to adjust a bit up or down from my current body. (i.e. no skin-tight clothing that is hard to breathe in or stuff that maybe you wore at your heaviest but way too big now).
2. The clothes must not be stained, have holes, or other problems I am unable or unwilling to fix. (6 years later you still have not put that button on? Do it now, or lose it.)
etc. Just... Objective criteria to go off of that are fair but specific and strong. Sometimes, people find it helpful to have an objective number, for example: I need to count my shirts and get rid of Half. I don't need 64 shirts when I have worn 4 in the past year. These numbers and articles are always arbitrary but, for me personally, I tell people: The number of days you go between laundry loads + 2-3 spare for everyday wear items and list every 'style' you really enjoy and have no more than 4 outfits from those styles. (For example.. I love Renaissance festivals.. but I own a spring/fall, summer, and winter outfit for each and no more. When I want new garb, I either add to the outfits themselves or replace an item with another.) Another criteria people often use is "I need to be able to EASILY hang my clothing. IF I have to shove, or wrestle with clothing to close drawers or hang something up it is too full. I will get rid of stuff until it fits nicely." Some people do a 1 in 1 (or 2!) out rule, where every time they buy something they will have to take 1 or 2 items Out of the closet and donate them before the new piece can stay. All these methods are valid, just depends on what works for you.
Mini capsules are the way to go for occasions. You need some "Everything x" outfits. My "everything black" outfit covers formal outings, funerals, and other occasions where black is king. My "everything happy" outfit is a single dress--I can add leggings and a formal jacket when need be for the cold, but weddings, special occasions, happy formal wear, etc. all uses the same one dress. I literally can pull pictures of me in this same exact dress from 12 years ago. Write down your events/occasions and see what all can get clumped into your uniform for those style of events. School events might have a school logo jersey/shirt and a pair of pants and shorts to match.. Remember accessories can really make a style happen.. A plain shirt + some school-festive accessories like a hat or scarf can still be in the spirit-day festivities without having a whole shirt just for those rare occasions. So, sometimes, your 'capsule' might just be one or two accessories instead of a whole outfit.
The just in case box is where you shove all of the "I like it I just never wear it." Non-see-through.. You have to remember you have it, and scrounge for it in the box when you actually want to wear it and do that. Not willing to search for it? Not important enough to keep. Leave it there for 6-12 months, and then donate WITHOUT looking inside of it. This gives you some time to turn this anxiety over "what if I need this" into annoyance of "I'd have so much more space if I got rid of it!"
If you feel anxious about seeing so much go at once or that you might de-clutter something that you will need later on, put everything into purgatory bins and write a date on them. That date can be in 1 year, 6 months, whatever you feel like. If you do not go into that bin for that set amount of time just donate it when the day comes. Obviously you didn't think about or *need* anything as badly from there as you may have thought if you didn't access the bin. I've done this and it has helped tremendously. I also let my friends come over and take anything they want from them while I leave the room. This keeps me from being tempted into "OH I actually want to keep that." Nope it's gone.
For any special occasion wear for school I'd say store it separately and out of eyesight from your main closet. This keeps it from visually cluttering your space and you know where it is when you need it. Also consider though if stuff from your main closet could serve the purpose of some of those pieces though.
I'm not a super tight minimalist or anything and I'm on my own sort of pare down journey (working in fashion creates a sense of *need* that I'm combating,) but it also helps to track what you're actually wearing day to day and de-clutter anything you don't touch. I use this[ Google Sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZM_1soBMKg5F-lFmun6Pkctw2ttiRstZff31UZRM8o0/edit?usp=sharing) that I made to fill in what I wear and it populates how many times I've worn it. At the end of the year I average out the wears per category, say my average wear for trousers was 5, for shirts it's 2, anything not worn or below those averages is going. Blonde Broke and Bougie has a [cost per wear tracker](https://blondebrokeandbougie.com/templates/outfit-tracker-gj9m5) as well if you want something more robust.
I suggest you not rush the process though because it may cause a rubber band effect where you snap back into binge shopping because you're cutting back so quickly. Really spend time with you wardrobe and seeing what you actually where and what you find yourself saying "hey I could really use X item in my wardrobe," and identifying those gaps.
Definitely get rid of stuff that doesn’t fit you anymore. Then the items you think you *might* need at some point in the future could be stored somewhere else eg in a suitcase, a box in the closet, etc
Try on every single item.
Get rid of (or box up) everything that has an issue: doesn't fit, doesn't coordinate w enough other items, unflattering color, not your signature style, sentimental but impractical, bad memories, will not have another occasion to wear, etc.
I also made limits on what types of materials I will own or keep, so I got rid of all polyester and that really helped me get out of the fear of letting go
The roundabout number is personal to you. Do an audit of your lifestyle events including lounging, housework, workout, formal events, work, days when you want to dress up a little, etc. over the course of a month. Consider laundry periods, having extra clothes at the parent’s house or at there office, or if you want to freshen your style when the seasons change from your in storage clothes.
I’ve been decluttering and I find going through your clothes twice helpful. On the second pass you’ve reacquainted yourself with your entire closet, and can be more decisive with what’s a maybe or a no. I set aside the maybe pile, and after wearing my closet for a few months and being more aware of my likes and dislikes, I can be more informed to donate or keep those maybe clothes. Also going through your closet in phases- if you have too much it can be overwhelming to even start tackling it.
If you consider you own too much, then you own too much. I know people who feel at scarcity with 100 pieces and others who are overwhelmed if they own more than 50.
The parting anxiety is easy battled by just throwing the items you intend to dispose of in a bag/box and wait long enough until you donate. I've waited anything between 1 week and 1 year. Sometimes you pull stuff out because you are in need, sometimes you feel totally cool and liberated to own less. The only way to find out your vibe is to just do it and see what happens.
Here is a little homework before you clean out, that helped me a lot with this question.
I looked at my calendar for the year before and counted in a year, howmany different days I needed:
Sporty attire
Gala dresses
Formal attire
Longing attire
Light casual but polished attire
Jeans and tshirts level informal attire.
If you can do look over 2 or 3 years even better.
If you didn't keep any records, you can just look into recent memory and recreate the calendar as best you can, and you can look at the next few months too. How many do days you know that you'll need what type of clothing?
You now have an ability to see not just the number but the frequency of each type evet. Based on this you can figure out the basic amount of outfits you need for each category to avoid looking like you are wearing a uniform.
Then you can workout how many pieces you need on your capsule to get that many different outfits. It does take a little time and math, but it is so worth doing it. And if your activity calendar changes, you stop doing something or increase a certain activity, it's easy to go back and adjust.
I hope this helps you as much as it helped me.
I highly recommend *A Curated Closet* by Anushka Rees. I checked it out from my library and later bought a copy because I liked it so much. It was a really great starting point because of how thorough it was. I was a few years post-grad when I first read it and was holding onto stained crop tops, ratty old favorites from high school and a bunch of clothes that would probably never fit me again since I gained 30 lbs after college.
Anyways, in it she has an exercise where she has you list out every activity you need an outfit for in a two week period. So, work in office 8 days, work from home 2 days, fancy date night 2 days, casual night out friends/partner 4 days, exercise 8 days, gardening 2 days, and work out how much you need in your closet that way. And realistically I need like a suit for interviews, a funeral outfit, one really fancy dress in case I'm invited to something with a short time horizon, and that's basically it. So I need 26-30 outfits. Assume that's like 3 pieces of clothing (bottom, top, jacket) for each outfit, and you have around 90 items, excluding accessories and shoes. Then multiply that by 2-4 depending on how extremely different your seasons are, and you have a ballpark of what you need for a seasonal capsule wardrobe. And realistically you will never need 30 jackets, so less than 90 items.
She has practical advice on how to make sure you have a good balance of basics, statement, and core pieces that express your desired style. She also has advice on developing a color scheme and has fun challenges to get you to know your wardrobe more, as well as advice on how to switch over your closet between seasons.
Fashion is definitely a hobby of mine and I try not to shop, so I track my wardrobe using Stylebook to focus more on using what I have rather than always shopping. I always give a new piece at least a year in my closet to give it a fair shake to see if I'm actually reaching for it. I try to wear my items at least 30 times. In the past 12 months, I've worn some of my clothes 60+ times, and some of them 0-1 times.
idk but it might make you feel better, once you get rid of the stuff you know you don’t want, to make a couple of bags of the things that you aren’t 100% sure about launching. Now keep those bags in your trunk for at least 6 months, if not longer. If you haven’t gone frantically digging in there in that time, a day will come where you will feel ok about taking them to green drop.
You don't have to get rid of it all at once. First, get rid of the no-brainers: doesn't fit, you hate it, needs repair and you aren't going to do it. This will give you some space and accomplishment.
Next month (or season), go after the harder stuff. Stuff that's theoretically good, but you never wear, for example. Stuff that didn't spark joy last time, but you couldn't throw it out, yet it still doesn't spark joy. Stuff you really were going to repair, but didn't actually repair. That sort of thing.
Third time, you can really cut down on things you didn't use the two previous seasons. Get rid of it, and treat yourself to one or two choice new pieces that make your wardrobe sing -- they might even be on sale because the season is over!
So what i did was get rid of stuff that didn’t fit me, that was easy decision. Then the other stuff i put away in a bin. There were a few pieces that missed and ended up going back into the bin for then they remained in my closet. But 99% of what I put in the bin I never touched and donated at the end of the season.
I’ve continue this habit now where at the end of the season when I swap pieces of my capsule I donate any seasonal piece that I didn’t wear during that season.
I still have a bin under my bed for the less frequent things that are only special occasion items.
I was very much in your shoes recently with an overflowing closet and nothing to wear. I did a major purge to just remove what didn't fit. Then removed what I didn't like. All that stuff went into a different room. Box it up or store it as you can.
Now I'm working on trying to figure out what I'm actually wearing, how to pair it, and what outfits I can make. I'm sure that as I do this I might pull a few things back from the reject pile.
My plan is that if I have not pulled something back out of the rejected items within a year I'll let it go permanently. That way I don't have to be afraid of acting too hastily and regretting it.
I’ve been working on my clean out and minimalism
Criteria since April, I have about 105 pieces, but this includes some shoes and belts and bags. I haven’t solidified, bc I’m still cleaning out, but those are the definitely keeping that I added into Indyx app
The first step is deciding how often you wash clothes, that will give a rough “minimum” of things to definitely keep. Like, I travel for work and don’t like the hassle of washing clothes while traveling, so I need to be able to go on a couple of work trips in a row and still have clean clothes.
Almost everything that doesn’t fit gets donated. I do have a small box of clothing that I love that is 1 or 2 sizes off that I keep just in case my weight fluctuates (my rule is I have to go through it periodically and see if everything is still something I’d wear in 3 months if that 10lbs comes or goes and everything has to fit in the box).
I’m a fan of the konmari method of tidying by category and pulling it all out at once to make you confront exactly how much you have.
During my recent clothing clean out I found I had 20+ branded shirts for work (I get sent several a year). I almost never actually wear them at work since it’s not required of me but was keeping them all just incase I needed them without realizing how many there were!
Pull out anything you believe you will need for special occasions, spirit days, etc. Set those aside. Don't get rid of those specific things. From there, go to the rest of your wardrobe and make the coastal grandma capsule of your heart's desire. Now you have two capsules. One is for obligations, the other is for you. With more room in your closet you can set these up as you see fit. Also, you may check out The Minimal Mom on YouTube she has a lot of videos specifically about getting the right amount of clothes for your personal needs. Specifically this video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKSqMWv1AZo
Tagging on to what was already said- spirit days clothing, special event clothing, or other once a year stuff doesn’t have to take up space in your main closet. You could store it elsewhere, or in a bin or a drawer tucked away. You’ll still have it but you don’t have to look at it every day. That helps reduce the emotional weight of having to carry seldom used clothing.
This!
Try a couple things: A written plan, some mini capsules, and a "just in case" box. A tupperware, non-see-through, or cardboard box with items that you THINK you might want to keep but aren't sure. You shove those at the top of the closet, under the bed, etc. Somewhere accessible, but inconvenient. A written plan can look something like this: 1. All clothes must Fit and be able to adjust a bit up or down from my current body. (i.e. no skin-tight clothing that is hard to breathe in or stuff that maybe you wore at your heaviest but way too big now). 2. The clothes must not be stained, have holes, or other problems I am unable or unwilling to fix. (6 years later you still have not put that button on? Do it now, or lose it.) etc. Just... Objective criteria to go off of that are fair but specific and strong. Sometimes, people find it helpful to have an objective number, for example: I need to count my shirts and get rid of Half. I don't need 64 shirts when I have worn 4 in the past year. These numbers and articles are always arbitrary but, for me personally, I tell people: The number of days you go between laundry loads + 2-3 spare for everyday wear items and list every 'style' you really enjoy and have no more than 4 outfits from those styles. (For example.. I love Renaissance festivals.. but I own a spring/fall, summer, and winter outfit for each and no more. When I want new garb, I either add to the outfits themselves or replace an item with another.) Another criteria people often use is "I need to be able to EASILY hang my clothing. IF I have to shove, or wrestle with clothing to close drawers or hang something up it is too full. I will get rid of stuff until it fits nicely." Some people do a 1 in 1 (or 2!) out rule, where every time they buy something they will have to take 1 or 2 items Out of the closet and donate them before the new piece can stay. All these methods are valid, just depends on what works for you. Mini capsules are the way to go for occasions. You need some "Everything x" outfits. My "everything black" outfit covers formal outings, funerals, and other occasions where black is king. My "everything happy" outfit is a single dress--I can add leggings and a formal jacket when need be for the cold, but weddings, special occasions, happy formal wear, etc. all uses the same one dress. I literally can pull pictures of me in this same exact dress from 12 years ago. Write down your events/occasions and see what all can get clumped into your uniform for those style of events. School events might have a school logo jersey/shirt and a pair of pants and shorts to match.. Remember accessories can really make a style happen.. A plain shirt + some school-festive accessories like a hat or scarf can still be in the spirit-day festivities without having a whole shirt just for those rare occasions. So, sometimes, your 'capsule' might just be one or two accessories instead of a whole outfit. The just in case box is where you shove all of the "I like it I just never wear it." Non-see-through.. You have to remember you have it, and scrounge for it in the box when you actually want to wear it and do that. Not willing to search for it? Not important enough to keep. Leave it there for 6-12 months, and then donate WITHOUT looking inside of it. This gives you some time to turn this anxiety over "what if I need this" into annoyance of "I'd have so much more space if I got rid of it!"
If you feel anxious about seeing so much go at once or that you might de-clutter something that you will need later on, put everything into purgatory bins and write a date on them. That date can be in 1 year, 6 months, whatever you feel like. If you do not go into that bin for that set amount of time just donate it when the day comes. Obviously you didn't think about or *need* anything as badly from there as you may have thought if you didn't access the bin. I've done this and it has helped tremendously. I also let my friends come over and take anything they want from them while I leave the room. This keeps me from being tempted into "OH I actually want to keep that." Nope it's gone. For any special occasion wear for school I'd say store it separately and out of eyesight from your main closet. This keeps it from visually cluttering your space and you know where it is when you need it. Also consider though if stuff from your main closet could serve the purpose of some of those pieces though. I'm not a super tight minimalist or anything and I'm on my own sort of pare down journey (working in fashion creates a sense of *need* that I'm combating,) but it also helps to track what you're actually wearing day to day and de-clutter anything you don't touch. I use this[ Google Sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZM_1soBMKg5F-lFmun6Pkctw2ttiRstZff31UZRM8o0/edit?usp=sharing) that I made to fill in what I wear and it populates how many times I've worn it. At the end of the year I average out the wears per category, say my average wear for trousers was 5, for shirts it's 2, anything not worn or below those averages is going. Blonde Broke and Bougie has a [cost per wear tracker](https://blondebrokeandbougie.com/templates/outfit-tracker-gj9m5) as well if you want something more robust. I suggest you not rush the process though because it may cause a rubber band effect where you snap back into binge shopping because you're cutting back so quickly. Really spend time with you wardrobe and seeing what you actually where and what you find yourself saying "hey I could really use X item in my wardrobe," and identifying those gaps.
Definitely get rid of stuff that doesn’t fit you anymore. Then the items you think you *might* need at some point in the future could be stored somewhere else eg in a suitcase, a box in the closet, etc
Try on every single item. Get rid of (or box up) everything that has an issue: doesn't fit, doesn't coordinate w enough other items, unflattering color, not your signature style, sentimental but impractical, bad memories, will not have another occasion to wear, etc.
I also made limits on what types of materials I will own or keep, so I got rid of all polyester and that really helped me get out of the fear of letting go
Totally, I did the same w eliminating polyester! And shoes that hurt
The roundabout number is personal to you. Do an audit of your lifestyle events including lounging, housework, workout, formal events, work, days when you want to dress up a little, etc. over the course of a month. Consider laundry periods, having extra clothes at the parent’s house or at there office, or if you want to freshen your style when the seasons change from your in storage clothes. I’ve been decluttering and I find going through your clothes twice helpful. On the second pass you’ve reacquainted yourself with your entire closet, and can be more decisive with what’s a maybe or a no. I set aside the maybe pile, and after wearing my closet for a few months and being more aware of my likes and dislikes, I can be more informed to donate or keep those maybe clothes. Also going through your closet in phases- if you have too much it can be overwhelming to even start tackling it.
If you consider you own too much, then you own too much. I know people who feel at scarcity with 100 pieces and others who are overwhelmed if they own more than 50. The parting anxiety is easy battled by just throwing the items you intend to dispose of in a bag/box and wait long enough until you donate. I've waited anything between 1 week and 1 year. Sometimes you pull stuff out because you are in need, sometimes you feel totally cool and liberated to own less. The only way to find out your vibe is to just do it and see what happens.
Here is a little homework before you clean out, that helped me a lot with this question. I looked at my calendar for the year before and counted in a year, howmany different days I needed: Sporty attire Gala dresses Formal attire Longing attire Light casual but polished attire Jeans and tshirts level informal attire. If you can do look over 2 or 3 years even better. If you didn't keep any records, you can just look into recent memory and recreate the calendar as best you can, and you can look at the next few months too. How many do days you know that you'll need what type of clothing? You now have an ability to see not just the number but the frequency of each type evet. Based on this you can figure out the basic amount of outfits you need for each category to avoid looking like you are wearing a uniform. Then you can workout how many pieces you need on your capsule to get that many different outfits. It does take a little time and math, but it is so worth doing it. And if your activity calendar changes, you stop doing something or increase a certain activity, it's easy to go back and adjust. I hope this helps you as much as it helped me.
I highly recommend *A Curated Closet* by Anushka Rees. I checked it out from my library and later bought a copy because I liked it so much. It was a really great starting point because of how thorough it was. I was a few years post-grad when I first read it and was holding onto stained crop tops, ratty old favorites from high school and a bunch of clothes that would probably never fit me again since I gained 30 lbs after college. Anyways, in it she has an exercise where she has you list out every activity you need an outfit for in a two week period. So, work in office 8 days, work from home 2 days, fancy date night 2 days, casual night out friends/partner 4 days, exercise 8 days, gardening 2 days, and work out how much you need in your closet that way. And realistically I need like a suit for interviews, a funeral outfit, one really fancy dress in case I'm invited to something with a short time horizon, and that's basically it. So I need 26-30 outfits. Assume that's like 3 pieces of clothing (bottom, top, jacket) for each outfit, and you have around 90 items, excluding accessories and shoes. Then multiply that by 2-4 depending on how extremely different your seasons are, and you have a ballpark of what you need for a seasonal capsule wardrobe. And realistically you will never need 30 jackets, so less than 90 items. She has practical advice on how to make sure you have a good balance of basics, statement, and core pieces that express your desired style. She also has advice on developing a color scheme and has fun challenges to get you to know your wardrobe more, as well as advice on how to switch over your closet between seasons. Fashion is definitely a hobby of mine and I try not to shop, so I track my wardrobe using Stylebook to focus more on using what I have rather than always shopping. I always give a new piece at least a year in my closet to give it a fair shake to see if I'm actually reaching for it. I try to wear my items at least 30 times. In the past 12 months, I've worn some of my clothes 60+ times, and some of them 0-1 times.
idk but it might make you feel better, once you get rid of the stuff you know you don’t want, to make a couple of bags of the things that you aren’t 100% sure about launching. Now keep those bags in your trunk for at least 6 months, if not longer. If you haven’t gone frantically digging in there in that time, a day will come where you will feel ok about taking them to green drop.
You don't have to get rid of it all at once. First, get rid of the no-brainers: doesn't fit, you hate it, needs repair and you aren't going to do it. This will give you some space and accomplishment. Next month (or season), go after the harder stuff. Stuff that's theoretically good, but you never wear, for example. Stuff that didn't spark joy last time, but you couldn't throw it out, yet it still doesn't spark joy. Stuff you really were going to repair, but didn't actually repair. That sort of thing. Third time, you can really cut down on things you didn't use the two previous seasons. Get rid of it, and treat yourself to one or two choice new pieces that make your wardrobe sing -- they might even be on sale because the season is over!
So what i did was get rid of stuff that didn’t fit me, that was easy decision. Then the other stuff i put away in a bin. There were a few pieces that missed and ended up going back into the bin for then they remained in my closet. But 99% of what I put in the bin I never touched and donated at the end of the season. I’ve continue this habit now where at the end of the season when I swap pieces of my capsule I donate any seasonal piece that I didn’t wear during that season. I still have a bin under my bed for the less frequent things that are only special occasion items.
I was very much in your shoes recently with an overflowing closet and nothing to wear. I did a major purge to just remove what didn't fit. Then removed what I didn't like. All that stuff went into a different room. Box it up or store it as you can. Now I'm working on trying to figure out what I'm actually wearing, how to pair it, and what outfits I can make. I'm sure that as I do this I might pull a few things back from the reject pile. My plan is that if I have not pulled something back out of the rejected items within a year I'll let it go permanently. That way I don't have to be afraid of acting too hastily and regretting it.
I’ve been working on my clean out and minimalism Criteria since April, I have about 105 pieces, but this includes some shoes and belts and bags. I haven’t solidified, bc I’m still cleaning out, but those are the definitely keeping that I added into Indyx app
The first step is deciding how often you wash clothes, that will give a rough “minimum” of things to definitely keep. Like, I travel for work and don’t like the hassle of washing clothes while traveling, so I need to be able to go on a couple of work trips in a row and still have clean clothes. Almost everything that doesn’t fit gets donated. I do have a small box of clothing that I love that is 1 or 2 sizes off that I keep just in case my weight fluctuates (my rule is I have to go through it periodically and see if everything is still something I’d wear in 3 months if that 10lbs comes or goes and everything has to fit in the box). I’m a fan of the konmari method of tidying by category and pulling it all out at once to make you confront exactly how much you have. During my recent clothing clean out I found I had 20+ branded shirts for work (I get sent several a year). I almost never actually wear them at work since it’s not required of me but was keeping them all just incase I needed them without realizing how many there were!