Capsule wardrobe/ going more minimal. How did you do it?

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So embarrassed. I just went into the loft to get the garden furniture and I just found boxes and bags of summer clothing I don’t know I had. I was going to do my wardrobe switch over but I feel pretty disgusted at myself with how much I have accumulated. A lot of it is fast fashion items bought on a whim when I was younger. Anyway, I was going to ask if anyone else had a bit of an epiphany like this and managed to reduce their wardrobe to more timeless pieces in good quality fabrics and yet still stay on trend? How did you do it? I’m tempted to drag everything out the loft and put it all on Vinted. Any methods are welcome.

Here's how I did so it wasn't overwhelming: get 10 or 20 items at a time and hang/store in a place AWAY from your normal clothes. (I used a door) then make outfits and wear one each day. When you put it on, if it doesn't fit, or if you wear it but in the day it's annoying, or makes you feel frumpy etc , when you get home, take it off and put it in a donation bag. DO NOT PUT IN LAUNDRY YET. When your 20 items run out get another 20 and repeat. When donation bag is full, launder all together and then donate.
You need to break the cycle of "I'll sort that out later or stuff going into laundry cycle and getting re-sorted.
This will take a few weeks but it really worked for me better than one long session trying everything on. I also got rid of anything that couldn't be worn on its own (I was terrible for tops I could only wear with something on top/underneath)

oh my God, this is such a good and well thought through idea. Thank you. It’s neither two extremist but has a clear goal in mind. I’ve realised that I have five stripey Breton style T-shirts and five gingham summer dresses/ jumpsuit things. Why. Why. I’m goi my try this so much, thank you!
Also anyone made the move to more sustainable clothing too? I refuse to buy anything polyester or acrylic and have been firm on that for about two years. But also increasingly getting concerned that even shops M&S are just making their clothes in China. It’s really hard to know who does sustainable clothing that’s also trendy and not Mumsy.

Oh don’t get me started on the bags of baby and toddler clothing that we have in the loft for the second child that I may or may not even have…

I got this really good advice : it doesn't matter for now, where or what your clothes are as long as you love them and no matter how cheap they are , treat them as though they are expensive. So for example, I have a navy linen shirt that I bought from Primark for £8 about 5 years ago. It fits really well, I love the fabric . I've worn it at least twice a week since I bought it. I have mended it and replaced the buttons. When it eventually finally dies, then I will look for something more sustainable /investment etc
It makes no sense to get rid of clothes you love from cheap labels to be more ethical or sustainable. (I know you are not doing this, but this is what I first thought I might do)
If you have duplicates of things (bretons) you will naturally have a favourite. Only keep that one, and if you have a joint fave, keep that one as back up and store away or have 2 in your capsule. I forgot to say a key bit: I bought a cheap rail for my spare room and once I had worn my item and decided to keep it, I stored it on my rail.
I had an idea for keeping 30 items and I ended up keeping 42 which I'm really happy with. I also now log my outfits and make sure I wear everything. If I don't wear in in 2 full seasons, I sell it on vinted

I wouldn’t say I have a capsule wardrobe but I have lovely thick wooden coat hangers (Ikea) and I don’t allow myself to add more. So to buy something new, I need to donate an item I own. It really helps me keep what I wear and love, and focus my mind on new purchases.

I only buy cotton/linen summer dresses.
I am also breaking the cycle of keeping dresses because they are okay. I just did a summer dress order and I am sending back dresses I definitely would have ended up keeping in the past because I didn’t love them
i also just sold several on Vinted and going with the quality over quantity approach.

What I did was decide on colours, for me it’s blue/purple/green.

I put the colours together in the wardrobe, so all blue tops etc.

I now focus on organic/natural fabrics for summer, buying as expensive as I can and they last so well. Classic items never go out of fashion!

I've sort of managed this (it's still sort of a work in progress). I think you need to be a bit brutal. If you have the time, try things on one by one. If it doesn't fit (and is unlikely to ever fit, rather than being a £100 dress that's a little loose or tight) or is poor quality, or you don't really like it - Vinted/donate/chuck. A lot of clothes I donated last year were Boohoo circa 2012 - bodycon dresses, polyester bodysuits! I'm just never going to wear that again because I'm not 21 and clubbing.

Worth noting that Vinted can be a lot of effort for not much return. Unless your clothes are branded or high end you're not likely to get much for them. I ended up reducing lots to £1 or £2 and still not shifting it. I think kids clothes are more popular, especially bundles.

I gradually improved and replaced my wardrobe with more timeless quality pieces. It was naturally quite simple as I have a bigger budget now than 15 years ago, so I do have a bit more to spend. There are some Youtubers and Instagrammers who can be quite good for this. You need to find someone whose style you like and would suit you and is wearable. I really love Lydia Tomlinson but she wears so much white and beige and kitten heels. I use her videos for inspiration, but I live in a wet and muddy part of the country with a black spaniel so... It's just not realistic.

Shops to look at - H&M, Mango, Cos, &Other Stories, M&S, Zara, Abercrombie, although they can all be hit and miss. I do try to stick to natural fabrics in neutral or monochrome colours. It makes getting dressed so much easier as you can mix and match separates. Get a few good quality jackets - a leather/bomber jacket and a trench coat would be good for spring. As the seasons change, add a different coat. You don't need a new coat every season (how I was raised, buy cheap, buy multiple times!), instead I've built up a collection of woollen coats, waterproof puffers, light jackets etc that work for every occasion. When buying things, DO NOT keep anything you sort of like but aren't sure you'll wear. Only keep something if you can see yourself wearing it as part of a minimum of three outfits, and it suits your lifestyle. I.e. don't keep a gorgeous pair of heeled boots if you have a 2 year old and a dog and what you really need is trainers.

I’m doing this too, similar to the posters above, focusing on buying one coat a year but a good one, one pair of shoes per season if I need them. I got rid of two bags of stuff to start with but now I try to donate on a one in one out basis. You don’t have to get rid of bags and bags at once - relax a bit and see it as a years-long process, and it can be enjoyable

I did it by mistake. I’d gone up a dress size and felt miserable so decided to get rid of everything that was too small (it was a lot!). I then accidentally (through illness) lost the excess weight plus more so all my clothes looked awful and were hanging off me !!! Got rid of everything except what I was wearing that day and went out and got a capsule wardrobe . I picked black, beige, white, navy and pale pink and only got items in those colours. Anything that looked great I got x2 of. I ended up with about 30 items of clothing.

I went from a house with large built in wardrobe space (that was full of ‘stuff’ and items I didn’t wear) to a house I could only fit an average size wardrobe & dresser in. It really made me focus & be ruthless.

When you have limited space it really focuses the mind.

Twice a year I take absolutely everything out of the wardrobe / dresser (one rail, draw at a time) and I ask myself:

Any holes / looks worn / stains - it gets chucked

If it doesn’t fit it goes on Vinted or to charity (don’t keep stuff in the hope you will fit into it again). By the time you can get into it it will be dated.

Does this piece work for the woman I am today? For e.g I had lots of ‘office’ clothes that I didn’t wear as I’m not in the corporate world anymore.

Do I love it - it only stays if I do and it ‘gives me joy’. This is really important - do you feel fab in it? If not, let it go.

Most importantly I have a strict one in one out policy.

When you can see everything you own / have - it’s so much easier to be organised and put outfits together. I have a much smaller wardrobe now but I love and wear everything in it.

When buying new things, I don’t buy in the sale (it’s usually rubbish they are selling off) and I only buy pieces to fill gaps I have. I never impulse buy. Every new item in is considered.

Another really good tip is to get things altered. I had a much loved dress taken in when I lost weight and I had inherited a beautiful top, 2 sizes too small so I had it made bigger

It's a game changer- and it means if you see something great on Vinted/ Charity shop in the wrong size- it's workable

This is all such great advice - thank you all. Yes to all of it.
Stopping impulse buying is the core of it all. I am spending less time on Instagram because I was getting hammered by ads (featuring thin French tall women of course). It's a parasitic site. And yes, I sympathise with those of you who had body changes. I went from a size 6-8 to a 12-14 after my baby and stayed that way for eighteen months. I grieved and threw so many of my nice size 8 clothes away, and two years later, a feral toddler allowed me to lose the baby weight anyway, so lose-lose!

Some great advice too on outfit logging. Do you use an app for that or just take a photo?

its still a work in progress for me. Nothing wrong with having multiples of the same or very similar items, it’s the total overall that matters.

simple rules, donate or recycle anything that doesn’t fit or you will never wear again. Then look at what you are left with.

are there any gaps? I now work on a one in one out system, if I want to buy something I have to pick something to hand on or donate in its place.

enjoy the freedom of being able to see the whole wardrobe at a glance.