Capsule wardrobe advice please

[Grundellsclearing99]

I am a sixty-year-old classic dresser who has got in to a terrible muddle with my clothes, in summary I have far too many, and I want to sort them all out. They are mainly high street with some good quality, but not massively expensive, shoes and bags.

This is not helped by the fact that I have put on a lot of weight and gone up the sizing scale, but now I am losing weight and am heading back down it.

How does everyone deal with this please?

I am trying to fit my clothes in to one reasonable sized wardrobe and chest of drawers but they don't fit!

Just to give me an idea of what I am aiming for (because I have lost of all sense of what's normal and it's all too much of a hassle ATM to sort, launder and store) what is a "normal" wardrobe for someone that works four days a week wearing smart/casual clothes but enjoys rural pursuits for the other three days?

Does this sound about right as I need a rough guide of the number of clothing pieces to work towards please?:

-3 pairs pjs
-10 pairs pants
-4 bras
-12 pairs of shoes including one pair of wellies, 2 pairs country boots
-4 pairs trousers
-4 pairs jeans
-4 jumpers
-12 tops (10 casual/10 smarter)
-2 X exercise clothes
-X 1 beachwear
-2 skirts
-2 dresses
-one very light stone trench coat
-one winter country coat
-one winter wool town coat
-2 padded gilets
-2 wool scarves & 4 silk scarves
-3 hats (2 country/one formal)
-4 handbags
-2 sets earrings, 4 necklaces, 4 bracelets, a watch.

I also have lovely trousers, dresses, jackets and tops going down from size 48 through to 42!

What does everyone else do please?

I’m going to be no help at all! I couldn’t survive on your list. I suspect that I have the same problem as you. As I get older I’ve gathered too many lovely clothes and keep some just in case that special occasion arises. Fortunately ( or unfortunately) they all still fit.
I am now practising ‘ one in, one out’, but it doesn’t reduce the overall volume.

I've got no idea I'm a buy it if its comfortable wear it til it falls to bits person. I've probably got too many too. Of the stuff I only wear on certain occasions. If I wear something and I dont like it or it feels uncomfortable it gets donated to charity or thrown away.

I also wear my favourite clothes over and over. I look after things well and I repair and darn stuff too. My mother would be proud 😀 Just this morning I took a favourite handbag in to have four leather protective patches put on the four bottom corners because they were scuffed.

Thanks Bumblebee do you think my list is too small then? I thought it was a bit big!

That list would be too small for me!

Id start by going through everything and donating anything that you dont love and wear.
Then sort stuff into sizes and decide if you are going to ever wear that size again. If not donate, if yes then stick them under a bed or in the attic for later.

Then keep as much stuff as you have space for!😄

Thanks henlake7

This thread is making me feel a bit better! 😀

Start by putting the special occasion stuff to one side. Out of the things that are left, what have you not worn in the past 6 months (weight issues aside)?

I got rid of loads of stuff when we moved house and I can barely remember what I got rid of. There is only one time when I would have worn something I donated and that was because I couldn't wear my normal one for some reason.

Think about your life and activities and what you would wear to those activities in hot, cold, cold and wet, warm and wet weather. Then think of things you only do sometimes, coffee or lunch with friends, summer barbecue, house party, dinner party, dinner in a naice restaurant. Then christenings, weddings, funerals.

That wouldn’t be quite enough for me (especially the dresses, as I love dresses all year round.) but if all of those items are things you love, and they all work together is a pretty decent capsule wardrobe for everyday. I agree with thinking about your day to day activities and planning clothes to suit them. For me, a light cashmere knit and heads or a knitted dress works for about 50% of my days, so I have loads of nice ones, and just a few sundresses.

On top of that, you might want a few complete outfits which match perfectly and feel great for special occasions. For example, a silk shirt, wool trousers and boots, with a blazer. Or a linen dress, bright flats and cropped jacket. A lightweight cashmere knit, with smart jeans and boots. A bright linen shirt and white wide leg crop jeans. Depends on your style of course, but it’s lovely to have a few ‘perfect’ outfits you know will always work as well as everyday clothes.

I also have a very extensive 4 season nightwear collection!

I think it's very lifestyle related.
I worked out over a year what my main activities are. Then adjust your wardrobe to reflect that. Eg I don't do gardening or dog walking so don't need any scruffy clothes. I do go out for coffee with friends once or twice a week so I need casual outfits that I feel good in for that. I have a weekly hobby class so every Friday I need to wear something appropriate for that. A couple of days a week I'm just around the house or out locally doing chores so need outfits suitable for that. You need your wardrobe to work for your lifestyle. So in the summer for instance I like to wear cool cotton midi dresses but I hate ironing in the heat. Therefore I have a fair few of these dresses whereas if I had ones that didn't need ironing or I was happy to iron when it's hot I would need fewer dresses and 2 or 3 would be fine - but it's best for me to have 7 or so!

Thank you for this advice.

I like the idea of having a couple of complete outfits including underwear, shoes and accessories. Nowadays, sadly, I am starting to need a funeral outfit. And a going out to dinner outfit would be useful.

And yes very important to match clothes to function. I think I might log my activities for the next fortnight roughly by hour and see if I have the balance right.

I don't wear skirts and dresses very often as I look better in trousers. But I do have black wide flared dressy trousers instead, which I wear with a silk shirt.