Children’s capsule wardrobes

IMG_1083

A few things I want to quickly mention:

  • my kids are 6.5 (nearly 7 if you listen to them!) and I’ve long stopped buying clothes for future years
  • they do have some things, mainly gifts from people that are too big for the current year so these get put away til the next warm/ cold season

IMG_1080

I had an aha moment when I started Konmari-ing my own clothes last August.

  1. First, the kids have way too many things if we have to rotate clothes (newly washed clothes go to the back of the pile)
  2. There’s so much that I don’t plan to buy anything until they outgrow clothes
  3. Capsule wardrobes are the in thing. When you have to think of mixing and matching, it becomes a whole new set of work.

IMG_1088

I put my new capsule wardrobe theory to work in the summer…. the hot, 8-month long summer.

Kendra needed some strappy tops so I got her two tops that would match with everything else in her wardrobe.

Connor needed two sleeveless tops too and I did the same, less picky, because he wears denim shorts a lot.

IMG_1090

The benefits during our holiday in Cape Town were huge:

  • everything “went” with everything else – surprisingly navy goes with neon orange, green and hot pink 🙂
  • I didn’t need to make sets (as I’ve always done) – I just tossed 5 tops and 5 pairs of shorts/ skirts in the suitcase and that was that – happy, happy days for me!
  • they dressed so quickly every day because it was easy

While Konmari-ing their clothes, I also decided to not waste my time “forcing” the kids to wear some clothes, e.g. gifts. If they told me they hated something, I donated the item even if they hadn’t worn it at all or enough. I really don’t have the energy to insist they wear things. And to be fair, I won’t wear things I hate either.

Once those items were out of the house, I felt happier so it worked.

I’ve told my mom (who loves buying clothes for gifts) to also rather not buy clothes anymore unless pyjamas – both my kids LOVE pyjamas. I think they get that from me 🙂 So that’s what she did for Christmas – pjs and money!

IMG_1091

This winter we’ve done the same – everything goes with everything. I had to replace one or two pairs of pants and I’m being very strict – it either matches with everything or doesn’t come home with me 🙂

The kids are happy and so am I.

Have you thought of doing capsule wardrobes for your kids?

IMG_1084

{Living intentionally} Capsule wardrobes – part 1

I promised when I wrote this post as part of 31 days of Enough Time that I’d write some more about capsule wardrobes.

I read about these capsule wardrobes on some blogs and I’m totally intrigued.

Capsule wardrobes |www.OrganisingQueen.com
The idea as I understand it is that you choose about 40 items, and wear just those things for a season. The exact capsule changes a little from blogger to blogger but a fair number of people include hats, handbags, accessories and shoes into their 40 items.

I really love the idea of simplifying until you love everything in your wardrobe…. and there’s no thinking needed because everything suits you, everything complements the other items.

It talks to my inner minimalist 🙂

What about you? Does this sound like something you could do, or does it feel like a crazy idea?

What I see online is that some people take the boxed-up clothes that they didn’t wear and donate it. That’s a nice way of seeing whether you actually miss wearing something you’re not sure about.

I’ve spoken a lot over the years about how you only wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time. This concept speaks to that 20%.

Capsule wardrobes |www.OrganisingQueen.com
I’ve been doing some decluttering of my wardrobe for years. Every year I get better.

I even did this over the past couple of months – every time I wore something that irritated me, out it went. If I wore the red one, and I had a pink and green one too, then out they went too (I used to buy a variety of colours if I really likes a particular style!).

The last two times I went through my wardrobe I decluttered 21 items just like that. It’s completely doable.

I don’t have a large wardrobe by a lot of women’s standards (especially with work clothes) but the truth is I probably have more than 33 items, just in accessories (scarves and handbags) these days.

Here’s a before picture I found from April:

Capsule wardrobes |www.OrganisingQueen.com

Confession – I counted and got very despondent because I had about 64 items of work clothes (I counted suits as two items – pants and jacket) and 67 items of casual clothes including gym clothes but before I even got to my t-shirts (and there were plenty) so I stopped counting!

Have you done a capsule wardrobe before?

Would you do one?

Next week – I’ll share some of my thoughts as I went through the process (I’m still going through the process now)…

PS Organising clothes is one of the bonus sections of the organise your home e-course

PPS did you get the Christmas planner last week? When you join the list, you’ll get it together with your welcome pack.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
WP2Social Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com