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I will be honest as fuck with you, getting started with the purge was the second hardest step of the whole process. I was beyond overwhelmed with the wardrobe I had collected over the past few years; many pieces I liked and hoped to style for myself but never saw the light of day. I made the decision to start with clearing out pieces I thought might sell at Wildflower- this made it slightly easier to part ways with pieces because I like money. I managed to fill five bags that week to bring up to the store and sold 3/4 of what I brought for a grand total of $132. I brought the leftovers to my local Clothes Mentor (who I actively avoid going to because they are so skeet on how much they pay out as well as it being corporate) who took a few items with a payout of $17.

Once I finished selling I took the remainder of what was passed on and put it in a donation bag. Then I got to work on the rest of the wardrobe. I started by sorting out my clothes by category- tees, tanks, blouses, long sleeves, sweaters, denim, trousers, skirts, dresses, jackets, and coats. A lot of the articles I read lumped certain categories together (ex: tees + tanks, coats + jackets) and I simply could not do that. I live in Missouri, our weather changes constantly to the point where you can experience two to three seasons worth of weather in a single day. I knew I was going to have to break the categories down to accommodate the climate I live in while being mindful of how many pieces would reside in each category. I also decided to pull out a bin for spring/summer attire that I would reconvene with once those seasons came back around.

I started pulling and sorting by category when I realized I had multiples of several types of pieces, specifically button downs. Why did I have so many? I have no fucking idea. I only wore four of them! With that being said, I chose the button downs that would best suit my fall and winter wardrobe, packed the two that were more suitable for spring (mainly based on the coloring of those pieces), and threw the rest into the donation bag.

Moving through the stacks of clothes was rough because as I did I was consistently trying on pieces to see how they fit my body type. I have broad shoulders for such a petite frame, this can cause discomfort in the shoulder and upper arm areas of tops; there was literally no way around me trying on all the tops before making a final decision. THIS PART was the hardest part of the entire process, in my opinion. I loathe having to try on multiple pieces in one sitting; something about having to take things on and off, one right after the other is frustrating to me because I just want to find what works (as I write this I realized what childhood memory caused this to be a triggering aspect for me, shopping as a girl in the early 2000s was traumatizing if you were anything above a size 3/4). I sucked it up though because that is how we find out what works for us and our body types, we try things on!

After trying on all the tops in my wardrobe and deciding what worked for me as well as what I loved on me I moved on to dresses. I am not someone that wears a lot of dresses on the day to day (although it is a goal of mine with this capsule wardrobe) and had an insane amount of them. These were a bit easier to sort through because when I looked at what I had I knew I would never end up wearing most of the collection I had built. Two dresses got packed up into my spring/summer bin, five got hung back up, and the rest went to donations. Four of the five I kept were black dresses- one casual, one universal with little pink flowers (meaning can be dressed up or down), one cocktail, one formal. The last dress is this gorgeous white floor length halter dress with gold beading. When will I wear it? I have no idea, but I could not part with it and kept it in the closet. The four black dresses vary in length and neckline styles; this was ideal for me because black dresses can be styled a multitude of ways since it is a neutral color, but each have their own unique characteristics that make them stand out on their own while offering me options for any occasion I may encounter during the upcoming seasons.

Denim and trousers were very easy for me to get through because I already had several pairs that I wear on the regular because they flatter my proportions- similarly constructed but different in coloring and style. I kept three pairs of blue jeans (straight leg medium wash, high rise mom jean in a light wash, and distressed skinny in a dark wash) as well as a pair of black denim. In addition to the denim I kept a pair of khaki jeans that had a slight boot cut, high rise green cargo pants, medium rise black linen trousers, and low rise multi colored linen trousers. As I said, I had already been wearing these styles on the regular and everything else got put with donations.

Cardigans were a bit of a challenge because I am a cardigan girly through and through! I had mentally noted the four I wear the most and immediately set them to the side while I made my way through the others. One blue linen cardigan survived the purge but was put in the spring/summer bin since I felt the color was more suitable for that particular time of year. Sweaters were surprisingly easy for me to move through- I kept two vintage sweaters (90s dark red Tommy Hilfiger and 2000s grey STL Rams), one cream colored knit, and one plum colored knit. All of those sweaters are a size or two bigger than my frame, but that’s my favorite style of sweater… oversized. I kept two fitted sweaters- both are cashmere Vince sweaters (one a light lavender and the other a camel color turtle neck) that drape to my waist. This felt appropriate for days when I wanted to wear looser denim, one of my skirts, or layer over a couple of my black dresses.

By the time I finished with the cardigans and sweaters I was getting a bit tired, but only had skirts and jackets to get through before calling it a night. Skirts were easy as fuck because I had already dispersed of the ones I never wore and only had my favorites hanging up. Jackets was semi-tricky because I wanted to be mindful that they would be a layering piece. Most of the tops I chose to keep were solid basics that ranged from waist length to cropped with just a few graphic tees thrown into the mix. With that in mind I wanted to keep jackets that would elevate whatever top/pant combo I came up with- this left me with two waist length pattered jackets, my denim jacket, and a longer plaid trench. Everything else got put with donations. I honestly didn’t even bother with coats because I only had five that I have been hanging onto for years- two faux fur, one camel trench, one black leather, and one patterned wool that needs the shoulder pads removed. These got hung in a different part of the wardrobe that I set aside exclusively for winter that way they weren’t in my face while I work my way through this end of summer into fall transitional time.

By the time I finished I had made three massive donation bags that emptied over a hundred hangers. My wardrobe piece count for the next two seasons came in at 80ish. Some capsule wardrobe baddies may think this is too much for a capsule, I would disagree because that is roughly 40 pieces per season split between eight(ish) categories. I was exhausted as fuck by the time I was done, but it was a very relieving feeling looking at what I kept. Each piece is something that I love wearing and feel inspired by… which is the whole point of a capsule wardrobe! When I got up the next day and started getting ready I was genuinely excited to see what I would come up with. I did not realize that prior to this I kept wearing the same exact outfit formula on repeat because the amount of clothing in my wardrobe, that had zero direction, overwhelmed me. Now that it had been cleared I found myself pulling pieces and Cher Horowitz-ing my options for the day with an insane amount of glee!

The purge stage of a capsule wardrobe is probably the most time consuming. While some of what I donated had slight sentimental value, ultimately I didn’t need the clothing to remind me of the memory. There was only one piece that had such intense sentimental value that it got packed into the spring/summer bin (it was my late grandmother’s cardigan) for when it would be suitable to wear. Something that surprised me throughout the process of purging was that it was easier than I imagined to pick my pops of color to pair with my neutrals; turns out I am naturally drawn to purples, blues, and greens as they compliment my olive skin tone quite beautifully. I have recently started dipping back into wearing colorful outfits and had a strong neutral base from years of living in a monochromatic vibe, so I truly thought that picking my pops of color would be more difficult than it actually was. Overall, the three days of selling and three hours of purging were absolutely worth it! That feeling of relief and joy to get dressed at the start of the day is something that has been missing in my life for over 20 years and I am quite happy to have reignited my passion for putting together a stellar outfit.