CLUTTERF*CK MAGAZINE EDITORIAL: CAPSULE WARDROBES
In the digital age of booming social media platforms, influencers, podcasts and the girl economy, I am a consumer first, a human second. I know I own too much, when I moved to uni my room back home looked untouched. You’d think I was still living there day in day out, clothes over spilling, falling on the floor, stuffed in boxes shoved under my bed. I had uplifted half my wardrobe and swept it away to Brighton, but, if you walked into my childhood bedroom that would sound like one big massive lie. First year of uni wrapped up, I had to move home for summer and transferring my clothes back into one space was a huge wake up call that I have the most ridiculously large collection of clothes for someone who rotates the same 5 outfits on the weekly. It was time to cut down, wave goodbye to some of my beloved clothes [that I hadn’t touched in at least a year] and admit maybe I have a bit of a materialism problem.
To be fair, pat myself on the back, in one tediously long afternoon I had severed my wardrobe in half. I gifted clothes to my mother, my brother’s girlfriend, my sister and my friends. Motel Rocks PR team could never compete with me. ‘Free clothes on me! Fill! Your! Boots!’ The clothing cleanse was complete. I had rehabilitated myself in one quick afternoon. Self-care, her and I are the best of friends. Success! My consumerism issue? In the past! I am a new woman!
That my friends is delusion.
My wardrobe is still a mountain and has been for the past 6 months since summer graced us and left. My wardrobe isn’t looking any lighter than it did, and unfortunately it continues to grow. “I’m buying second hand, its okay!” - I tell myself as I gravitate to the apple pay button on Vinted for the 4th time this month. When will I learn? For a financially struggling 20 year old uni student, I treat myself to new clothes far too often. For someone who went vegetarian solely to save the environment, girl I am way too materialistic. It’s a bad habit, I just cannot kick. I guess the first step is acceptance, so I’m half way there. So why can’t I let my clothes go and equally why do I keep buying more? Let’s delve in.
To begin, I think we need to understand the nature of my consumerism. I currently work as a tailor at Levi’s Strauss and am a Fashion Comms University student - I live and BREATHE fashion. Days at work, I’m altering, repairing and customising your favourite pair of jeans. Days at uni, I’m learning how to communicate the newest trends and how to photograph your favourite pair of shoes. My day off? Best believe I’m treating myself like a build a bear. I’m dressing myself in a cute little outfit, with cute little hair accessories and cute little jewellery, then filming a TikTok in them to show the world. Fashion, clothing, styling runs through my veins, it’s my vice. I have three passions in life: Taylor Swift, Five Nights at Freddy’s and Clothes. Let me tell you, everyone who knows me in the slightest know I am a Swiftie through and through, have this insane obsession with some silly Indie Horror video game and cannot leave the house without feeling like I’m about to grace a catwalk. The best way to put it, if I am not slaying on the outside, I am not slaying on the inside.
Due to this, I cannot let my clothes go, I don’t care if I haven’t worn that striped knit jumper shoved at the back of my running rail in a year, tomorrow it might become my new obsession. I’m always considering new ways to revitalise my wardrobe and often something I haven’t dared put on my body in a season or two suddenly becomes my new favourite thing. I haven’t worn tights in almost a year, but I recently returned to ballet and now all of a sudden I think I’m Rory Gilmore and that a pair of tights, a black mini skirt and knit jumper is my concept of pivotal fashion. Its fashion girl fall. I am a knit jumper connoisseur. Do not get me started on stretchy cotton headbands. My fringe is out grown and I can’t justify spending money on a haircut, I can however justify buying stretchy headbands in every colour to push my choppy outgrown mop back every day. Its a styling choice! Duh! I’m embracing having long hair for the first time since 2019 and accessorising my hair is just my ‘’thing’’.
Let’s talk about the Vinted issue. I cannot get off that app, it is my biggest bank drain, my kryptonite. I love Vinted. Want a new jumper? Buy it second hand for £4 and its with you in a couple days. That’s basically guilt free consumerism right? Ethical, affordable and environmentally friendly! She’s saving the planet one cute new garment at a time! Wrong. I am obsessed with buying new clothes. So yeah I might be buying in an ethical way, but I do not need to own this much. But I do, and is it really all that bad? This is the inner debate I have with myself almost every day. I watch girls my age with a mass following on social media burn through Asos hauls like there’s no tomorrow. So is rehoming someone’s jacket they no longer want really all that bad?
Maybe the issue is less so that I like to buy myself new clothes and more so the rate at which I consume. I love dressing myself up and if I get inspiration for an outfit I need dupes and I need them now! I need to recreate it then and there, I cannot wait around. This I can admit is unhealthy as a mindset [and for my finances.] I don’t think there’s any real issue with buying clothes if you’re doing so in a conscious way. But I buy, buy, buy, buy and buy. So how can I change this behaviour and how can you, if you resonate with this feeling?
Entering into 2024, I am going to start building myself a ‘Capsule Wardrobe’. What’s a capsule wardrobe you ask? Let me tell you. Capsule wardrobes are clothing collections that aim to stand the test of time. To feature clothes that are timeless, withstand changing fashion trends and eliminate the ‘I have nothing to wear’ feeling. Capsule wardrobes are marketed to the minimalists in fashion but as a maximalist I want to prove we can do it too.
So here’s my game plan and yours:
hang up all your clothes facing the same way and as you wear them turn them to face the other. Do this for a couple months and see what you wear regularly and what you don’t seem to gravitate towards. Those facing away from their original position are your capsule items, these are things that you always seem to wear and most likely will continue to...
Next aim to find some staples, these may already exist in your wardrobe, which is our best case scenario. I believe every person, minimalist or maximalist should own the following: a sturdy pair of jeans; a cosy, eye-catching knit; one great quality shirt; a maxi skirt; a go-to pair of trainers, boots and heels; a pair of quality hoops; a coat and a versatile jumper. These are all timeless and can be catered to your own style whether you’re more sophisticated, streetwear, chic, colourful or grunge.
Capsule wardrobes are something we can all learn to implement in our lives. This doesn’t mean you can’t buy more but learn how to utilise what you might already own and what withstands changing trends. A capsule wardrobe will help both you and I combat unnecessary consumerism so we can continue to be thriving fashionistas who aren’t doing so at the expense of our finances, the environment, and cluttering our personal space.
Take my advice or don’t. In the words of Gwen Stefani ‘I’m just a girl’ at the end of the day. We owe it to ourselves to indulge, dress up and have fun. I want to spend my winters pretending I’m Bridget Jones in a long winter coat, spend my summers pretending I’m Donna Sheridan in long floaty dresses having scandalous flings with three absolute sex gods and spend my autumns pretending I’m Rory Gilmore running for my third coffee of the day. But if I can implement a bit of structure into my fun fashion fantasies I will.
