Kids. They’re wild, and messy, and, therefore, need a lot of clothes to keep up with their outfit changes. Except not really.
I used to think that more clothes was better, or, at least, fine, but now that’s we’ve done capsule wardrobes (the last two sizes), I’m not going back!
Why do a capsule wardrobe for your kids?
- Less laundry – when baby was little, I would take off her soiled clothes, and toss them on the washer to be stain-treated later. At my lowest, I had around 20 pieces of clothing there. The pile grew, because I was overwhelmed after, like, 5. Cleaning that took a lot of time, and it was the worst. With a capsule wardrobe, every single piece of clothing in her wardrobe (or just about) would have to be dirty for me to reach that number again.
- Mix & match – kids are known for crazy outfit combos, right (or was that just me?). Though they will always find a way, a capsule wardrobe gives them a higher likelihood fo matching a great looking outfit!
- Easy to pack – just grab everything, no decisions necessary.
- Exactly what they need – Gwendolyn never needed 4+ church outfits, especially as a baby. Now, she just has 2 (3 once she gets a holiday dress), and that’s more than enough.
- They can make their own choices. Have you noticed that kids, like adults, became paralyzed when given too many options to choose from? Pre-capsules, if Gwendolyn wanted to pick out an outfit, it took ages. Now, even if she has to look at everything, it takes much less time.
- Easier on the wallet/better quality clothes – When you’re only buying a certain number of clothes, you save money; or, if money isn’t an issue in this department for you, you can buy better quality items.
- Things wear out – with less items, she actually wear through some, so I don’t have to worry about storing them once she sizes out!
So, capsule wardrobes are basically amazing, right?
Back before we did capsules, I had several items (through different sizes) that I loved, but only went with one pair of pants or top, but that thing they went with often worked with everything else, too, so the piece of clothing I really liked was rarely used.
But what exactly are capsule wardrobes?
A capsule wardrobe is one where you have a smaller number of items, but they also all go together. This doesn’t mean you can only have a monochrome wardrobe—Gwendolyn’s Fall/Winter set is all the Fall colors. But the point is to have most everything be able to mix and match.
I have found this graphic:
And this blog post e x t r e m e l y helpful. You can decide, based on your family’s lifestyle and ages what’s best for you.
With our latest (Fall/Winter; for a 2 year old) capsule, we did:
- 4 pairs of pants
- 8 tops
- 2 pairs of pajamas (knowing she’d get Christmas ones, too)
- 4 jackets (snow, heavy winter; jean, and hoodie left over from Spring/Summer)
- 4 Shoes (Winter boots, ‘Uggs’, boots, church shoes)
current capsule, sans one shirt & one top
The good news is, after the first year and a half, or so, things can keep being used through the seasons, as they aren’t growing out of things as quickly. Her jammies, and two jackets were leftover.
You just want to make sure you have their basic wear-out/wear in wardrobe, PLUS any special clothing (seasonal shoes, jackets, pants)—we had to buy her winter gear after the third snowfall this season.
Switching over to a capsule system has been so great for us, and I hope that it can bring you some peace, and less time doing laundry and more time with your littles.
