Recovering from minimalism/capsule wardrobes - Topic of the day 10/29/25
People who had a minimal/capsule wardrobe and since abandoned that approach: why? And how? How has your life and your style changed in response?
43 Replies
tbh im circling back to this approach
i overextended and need to pare down
something very enticing about 3pants 2sweaters and uhh boots
white tee normal jeans fun jacket boots
Tumblr wings + horns, deathbyelocution, common projects Achilles, 2013 Norse Projects, black sweater blacked cropped trouser all kicked my ass so hard my closet my freshman year of college was literally black converse Jack Purcell, doc’s, 2 black skinny jeans, black hoodie, 5 black tees, 5 white tees, blue striped tee, 3 white button ups, n a denim jacket
My roommates friends would come over and ask if I was a serial killer
So I’ve tried really hard to fight that. But there is a case for not having too much shit
ig we mean minimalism as in number of things. A capsule wardrobe can still have really cool stuff in it
where's carrion's 666 sweater?
https://discord.com/channels/1116793467654381685/1116800072093532191/1418282549976891424
I think capsule wardrobes are interesting because they can teach you stuff about making stuff work together.
I don’t have a capsule wardrobe (anymore) but it helped me develop an approach to buying clothes that works well for me - that being the LEGO set, building blocks type of approach where I consider my items in the context of how well they’ll slot into my existing outfits.
It took some extra time to learn that cool pieces have merit just because they’re cool but now I’ve got that down too - at least in part.
I like buying shit wayyyy too much to have a capsule
I don't need to recover
I don't have a capsule, I have what I have
see yesterday: https://discord.com/channels/1116793467654381685/1432760828779827251/1432792625811034134
I will forever shout from the rooftops: you do not need as much as you think and say you do
you won't wear it
this isn't an anti-fun take it's a save your money and space and think carefully about how you engage w your consumerism and purchasing
buy the stuff you really want and don't just buy stuff bc it looks like a deal or you can
plan, plan more, plan better
I had a super small wardrobe (like 30 items total) but I
- got tired of washing clothes several times a week and
- got tired of wearing mostly black t-shirts or finding permutations of the same sweater/shirt combo to not be bored with
In hindsight, that sort of capsule was a way for me to avoid having to think through what I liked aesthetically because then I wouldn't be judged for my taste or lack thereof - the lack of stuff was more important (your mileage may vary). Opening my horizon to what's out there has been fulfilling in terms of self expression, though now that I have more definite preferences I'm culling down again lol
"I know colour theory but only like dark stuff". I was reflecting on my interior design choices which are more vibrant and kinda just thought it was all very silly. In addition to a winter/summer wardrobe purge (cheers Marrkt) I just bought some cheaper versatile stuff secondhand on Vinted / Depop.
Missed the whimsy.
Yeah i am working back towards this
Having multiple styles and lots of options was fun when i didnt have a lot else to think about
Now i just want to wear more of the same stuff over and over and really get my use out of them
I used to wear a uniform for work and I would travel a lot so I did do the same-three-t-shirts-one-pair-of-pants-type minimalism and honestly it was alright. It took a good bit of work to figure out the aesthetics that I wanted, it was a nice exercise in personal style. This was like, about a 3 year period.
Then I needed to expand a work-appropriate wardrobe, so I did, and I was able to experiment a lot, but I found myself collecting things just for the sake of collecting them. I ended up with a lot of clothes that didn’t quite hit right, and I’m still going through them. This was another 3 or 4 year period.
Now I’m back in a uniform for work and the siren song of only having a handful of things is calling. I don’t think I’ll ever get back to a hardcore-minimalist wardrobe, because I just have more and varied situations and occasions as I've gotten older, but I can see myself going back to a “uniform” in the next couple of years. As it turns out, I don’t like having a lot of things and I really do enjoy the process of distilling my personal aesthetics down to the bone bc I am a lowkey-clothing-spreadsheet-type-freak. The pendulum continues to swing.
i'm part of the gang that's trying to downsize, i think
for the first time in a few years, my savings are growing consistently rather than shrinking, so i'm less scared of letting things go for a loss
so now would be a pretty good time for me to do a critical examination of my wardrobe; it's a time of the year where none of my clothes are season locked, i have a lot of time to spare, and whatever place i'll move into next will have like 40-60% less storage space
but i have to keep in mind that i don't have much of a reason to dress cool nowadays, but probably will once i live somewhere denser and have a typical 9-5 at doing a job that won't make whatever i'm wearing filthy
the goal will be to get rid of all the footwear that's in my closet (since i never wear anything from there anyway), get rid of like half my outerwear, a few pairs of pants, and enough tops to make my tees + tanks fit in one drawer
Having moved out of my parents' place, I'm starting to understand the importance of space, and there is a nice feeling to clearing out shit you don't wear
I notice that I need to cut things down when im dissatisfied that I don't get around to wearing all my clothes. So having too much stuff really feels like a detriment to me.
Maybe we need to start "which stuff should i get rid of" q&a posts instead of "what should i buy"
Nine times out of ten the correct answer would be ‘everything’
Id consider my wardrobe a capsule, both out of neccesity (i moved 1-2x a year the past few years) and anxiety that ill forget what i own with how bad ny short term memory is :xd: Its also a capsule in the sense ive filled it out or trimmed it down with an idea of overall harmony and combinations i want to use. But with the continual curation, it feels pretty seperate from anything too prescriptive - even if i started w 1 jeans 1 black pants 1 white sneakers schtick, ive removed anything i find i didnt enjoy and leaned harder where i do
Still got a ways to go though, i need to dress weirder but havent been feeling very inspired by what i can purchase lately
I was thinking about this and now im interested how much stuff y'all have and how much you would consider ideal. So Im gonna set up a little poll:
@carrion are u fr
I've got 70 items including each pair of socks as one item
underwear is socks panties and tank tops for me
otherwise yeah, i donated most of my wardrobe 2yrs ago and have been sloooowly rebuilding
Sold it all to oay for doordash
too much work. If I could pay somebody to sell clothes for me maybe tho
damn, icon
Yeah i excl undershirts/heattech stuff too
to everyone who replied sub-30 I literally do not believe you
I believe some of you
but not all of you
like I believe carrion
but y'all bullshittin
show me a list
inventory your shit
tell me how you did it and what climate you live in
if you're excluding loungewear or stuff to get to 30 that's kinda cheating to me lol
i didnt answer the poll
and i obviously own far more clothes than this but the majority are in storage/limbo/unworn
but here is my aspirational breakdown
not work:
4 white tees
1 overshirt
1 hoodie
1 jeans
1 casual chinos
1 grey flannel trouser
1 sweatpants
-
1 casual boots
1 sneakers
1 running sneakers
1 boots for wet weather
1 boots for snow
work:
1 blazer
3 shirts
1 chino
1 brown moleskin trouser
-
2 derbies
outerwear:
1 warm vest
1 long wool coat
1 puffy coat
1 rain coat
1 leather jacket
thats 28 items, but admittedly i am still deciding what i like the best from what i have, so an extra pair of jeans and an extra pair of boots and an extra pair of running shoes gets worn
i agree with @discord solipsist z that under 30 is very difficult if you live somewhere with 4 seasons, i doubt i will ever actually get there
and i guess i didnt count accessories or gym clothes either.
Also im not sure I could personally manage an efficient laundry - hang dry cycle with that amount of clothing.
since voting in this poll I have jumped up to 53 items so
I'm down to 57
I will hopefully shed two pairs of footwear and two tees next year, and I might give away some accessories that are duplicative
Im at work but i can take an inventory after :xd:
Does loungewear count thermal layers? Like things exclusively for wearing underneath your normal clothes. I categorized them as underwear
it's a subjective question but imo i count it as underwear
i really only exclude underwear/socks since i take the "no benchwarmer" view and wear stuff like (clean) athletic clothes or presumed formalwear outside their intended contexts
My undergarments and PJs push it past 30 but yeah
What the fuck
I moved halfway across the globe with 2 suitcases
I more meant that you jusr drew rhis out
I think this is my shoes
okay
off the top of my hea
d
forgot my pendleton flannels
and my scarf fuck
and my supreme hats and my usps hat god damn
okay now I think I got it all
the artvandelayimporting capsule wardrobe ™