Lazy, Noncommittal Capsule Wardrobe

Laundry is a huge problem in our house. 

HUGE.

It might actually be our WORST problem. The one that we continually complain about several times a day. There are currently piles of clothes in the living room, basement, upstairs hallways, and in each of the bedrooms. There's also a big pile of stuff that needs washing. And just thinking about it completely overwhelms me. I simply don't have time (or desire) to deal with this.

I've tried capsule wardrobes from time to time myself, and I don't love them. I even wrote recently about why I quit my own capsule wardrobe. In the new year, however, I'm having a change of heart -- and it's for the entire family.

I'm approaching things differently this time around:

• I'm going to try a 5/5/5 "rule" inspired by Minimal Mom -- five shirts, five pants, five dresses/other items, and maybe a couple sweaters/hoodies tossed in for layering in these colder months. 
• I'm going to do the same with the kids as well. Though I'm not exactly sure how much I'll keep for Eden at this stage. I'm thinking maybe five sleepers, five daytime onesies, and five pants? Is that enough? I guess we'll see.
• The big safety I'm building in is NOT getting rid of any of the clothing that I'm packing away. Kids play hard in clothes, and I know that Ada's leggings don't last long. I don't want to go out and buy new stuff because we just aren't that wealthy. I'll store what we keep (because we will inevitably get rid of some stuff) on our basement rack of hand-me-downs.
• I may also keep two pairs of play clothing for the kids and for myself. Consider this our "home clothes" that can get as dirty as necessary for playing/working outside, cooking/baking, etc.
• And on top of that, add a couple pairs of pajamas to this mix. I basically live in pajamas, so this part will be hard for me.

You guys always ask about workout clothes. This is a tricky area for me. I'm not sure what I'll do yet about my workout clothes. I have a good number of them and don't want to part because they're expensive. So, I'll likely pack away all the stuff that isn't seasonal (except maybe one pair of shorts and a couple tanks) . . . and pare down the rest to maybe three good outfits. 

I'm sweating just thinking about how on top of laundry I'll need to be. But I'm hoping having far, FAR fewer items will mean I can get it done without as much struggle. I'm also going to start expecting that Ada manage her own clothing. If she has much less of it, it's a no-brainer. In the past I've tried to delegate this task to her, and it's been too much. I don't blame her. A huge mountain of clothes brings me to tears too.

Anyway, I'm going to try this out for a few weeks and report back. The beauty of it is if I hate it or feel like we've cut too close to the bone, I can go back and get out a few more items. I guess we'll see!

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FLAX + Why I Mostly Shop Second-Hand Clothing

Why I mostly buy second hand

I could go on for days about the reasons I like to shop at thrift stores and other reuse shops for my clothing. Some reasons are obvious. Others maybe no so much. I had many other posts on this topic on my other blog Writing Chapter Three, so maybe I’ll try to re-post them here someday soon.

Here are my top three reasons of the moment.

I buy second hand because . . .

• The clothing is far cheaper than the stuff you’ll find in retail stores. I’d say I generally spend between $4 and $20 on each piece of clothing that comes into my closet. The average price is around $10 to $15. But even that sounds a bit high. It just depends on the store and the item I’m purchasing.
• The clothing is better quality than I could otherwise afford. If I were to go to a FLAX store (my favorite brand) and buy a new piece, it would run me between $40 and $100 per item. I don’t have that kind of money hanging around. But, I can find something old + in great condition (because quality!) and give it new life for a fraction of the price.
• I feel shopping this way is more ethical. I am in no way getting on a high horse here (uh, LuLaRoe?). But I am learning and trying to do better with my buying practices. I am trying better to avoid fast fashion and its many issues, save clothing from landfills, reuse perfectly good items, etc.

Where do I buy?

Here are the places I regularly shop. By regular, I mean that I visit all my local shops about once a month in a rotation. I try to hit the days when they’re having 50 percent off sales or similar promotions.

The stores include:

• Good Will, two locations in my area
• Thrifty Shopper, two locations in my area
• Salvation Army, two locations in my area
• Trader K (if you’re local, it’s in Ithaca)
• Misc. other local thrift

I also shop second hand online:

• Ebay
• Poshmark*
• ThredUp
• Mercari

* You can earn $5 to spend when you sign up with code NYRLS!

I have a modest monthly clothing allowance set up for each family member in the budget. While I don’t always NEED new clothes, sometimes I see a piece I really like, and it’s worth the $5 to add it and maybe purge something else from my wardrobe.

The same goes for the girls. I do a mix of new and previously loved clothing for them. I find that onesies, for example, are often better bought new. They may even be cheaper on clearance. The stuff I can find on thrift for kids is usually in awesome condition. But the girls’ clothing is a topic for another day.

What do I buy?

These days, I primarily seek out FLAX clothing for myself. If you’re unfamiliar, FLAX is a line of generously cut linen duds that started in 1995 with Jeanne Engelhart in Ithaca, NY. I don’t know the whole history, but I started shopping FLAX in 1999 when I attended a barn sale with my boyfriend’s mother when I was in high school. It was my introduction to natural fibers in clothing, and I saw this way of dressing as funky and sort of strange . . . but it did inform many of my college wardrobe choices.

Fast forward many years and many personal styles, I returned to flax after I found a piece randomly at our local Thrifty Shopper. It was a dress for $8, and I wear it all the time. After that, I started slowly chipping away at buying pieces I could find for under $15. If you hunt FLAX like I do, you know this is no easy feat. Especially now with the popularity of linen clothing, people are definitely marking things up, which I get. But they are marking them up to a grossly high premium.

For example, there’s a FLAX jumper I love on Ebay right now, and the semi-local store owner has several similar pieces. She’s charging $225 . . . for each . . . and I believe she’s earning that amount, too. More power to her, but boo to those of us frugal FLAX lovers. I’m pretty sure we shop at some of the same thrift shops, and I know the markup is ridiculous. But, I digress.

I have been limiting myself to primarily buying these linen items for a few reasons. First, many of them are from the 1990s and look fantastic despite their age. This means they will last. Second, flax is a sustainable, natural fiber. It gets better with each wash, soft and breathable. Third, I like how the clothing is cut. It’s modest, but cute. It’s flowing and flattering. It also seems both timeless and age-less. I promise I’ll dedicate a post very soon to how I style my flax clothing.

My closet

So, I am sure you want to see what pieces I own. Right now I have a total of 30 items in my closet that make up my main wardrobe. It’s mostly flax and denim pieces. This 30-count does not include pajamas, underwear, socks, and activewear. I have decided I model some of my favorite outfits for you guys later this week.

Here’s a quick snapshot if you’re curious.


In my next post, I’ll give you a run down of each item in my closet (a few are missing here -- jeans, mostly). I’ll also show you my five favorite pieces that get the most wear. And I’ll give you some tips to hunt FLAX on your own. I actually get a lot of questions about this clothing on my Instagram, so this post isn’t totally random. I hope it helps!

Related posts

Spring Weeding
Introvert’s Guide to Holding a Yard Sale
Let’s Talk LuLaRoe: The Good, Bad, and Ugly
How to Take the Stink Out of Your Workout Gear
All style-related posts

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Spring Weeding

These capsule wardrobe things are all the rage, aren’t they? I don’t consider myself terribly stylish. I try, and I’ve shared a few of my attempts at being fashionable in the past. My grandmother (mother’s mother) is the most stylish person in the entire family. There have been several occasions when we’ll show up at a gathering wearing the same item from the GAP or something. It’s crazy. And it usually looks better on her.

Anyway, clothing. I tried weeding through my wardrobe in the past, but then we moved to our new house and I got my very own closet. Not just a closet, like, a DOUBLE. It’s huge, and I felt like I needed to have all my stuff out to fill it up. Plus, it’s hard right now, guys. I’ve been shifting between several sizes in the last couple years. Even until yesterday, I had some maternity pieces in my wardrobe because it seems like the minute I got the positive sign, stuff didn’t feel comfortable. Then there was that row of my old, old favorite jeans that just taunted me. I could barely pull most of them the full way up.

Laundry is a whole other issue wrapped up in this mess. So, finally I got sick of mounds of clothing I needed to either wash or fold, and I said ENOUGH! To me, this whole capsule thing isn’t necessarily for style. Yes, it should make getting dressed in the morning slightly easier. Most of the clothes I kept (out of like 80 pieces total) were in the blue/grey/black/white range. I kept a few colorful pieces for when I’m feeling spirited. Otherwise, the rest went into storage (because I’ve already considerably pared down my clothing through donation and even ThredUp).

Here’s what I’m keeping:

• 3 pairs of jeans
• 1 pair of pants
• 1 pair leggings
• 2 skirts
• 4 dresses
• 7 sleeveless shirts
• 7 short-sleeved shirts
• 4 long-sleeved shirts
• Jean shirt
• 2 light sweaters

I haven’t ironed out the final details yet (see what I did there?), but I’d like to keep it all below 35 items. I also have 3 pairs of shoes/boots and 3 pairs of sandals. I’ll probably want to add shorts when the weather gets warmer. I’m not big on accessories, but I might find a few -- a belt, scarf, etc. We’ll see. But I’m hoping most to eliminate the mountains of laundry and to simplify my overall dressing routine. And getting all the too-small and maternity clothes out of the closet was just good for my soul.

I’ll be back sometime in the near-ish future to share a few outfits from my closet. I’ll also update you on if this method is working for me. My immediate feeling is it’s going to be awesome. Oh, and (totally disjointed in my thoughts today!) I also have exercise clothing and lounge-wear that don’t count. I cut all that stuff in half too. Feels good!

Do you do the whole capsule wardrobe thing? 

What’s your experience?

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