Minimalist Wardrobe Essentials

Many people are looking for the definitive list of Minimalist Wardrobe Essentials and whilst other blogs or  websites provide the same list of basic wardrobe essentials, such as the white shirt or black dress, I personally found that when trying to create a minimalist wardrobe for myself, these lists didn't work.

The main reason that they don't work is because they don't take into account your complete lifestyle or the seasons.  So, I decided to use a different way to build my minimalist wardrobe.

I now have a minimalist wardrobe that is based on my regular lifestyle activities as well as the social events that occassionally crop up such as an invitation to a party, wedding or having to attend a funeral. 

So, whether you are young and looking to start creating a wardrobe or older and have accumulated a lot of clothes and are looking to declutter your wardrobe, I am confident that you will find this way of creating a wardrobe useful, minimalist and unique to you and your lifestyle.  

To start, take a look at your lifestyle and break it down into activities. Then from your existing wardrobe, start to create smaller mini or capsule wardrobe for each activity. 

To help get you started, take a look at my lifestyle and the mini / capsule wardrobes I have created.

My lifestyle is as follows:

• I work outside the home four days a week and my clothes are provided by my employer.

• I am at home 3 days a week and wear casualwear at home.
• My wardrobe - Capsule 2 - Casual Week-end wear

• Occassionally I go out to lunch with friends or family and have two nice outfits to wear, one for winter, the other for summer. They are ideal for times when I need to dress up a bit. 
• My wardrobe - Capsule 3 - Informal Socialwear / Smart Casualwear

• For my more formal social life, I keep three outfits - a party dress, something to wear to a wedding and something black for a funeral.
• My wardrobe - Capsule 1 - Formal Socialwear

• "Outerwear" - a raincoat and warm wintercoat, together with a smart pair of boots and snow boots.
• My wardrobe - Capsule 4 - Outerwear

• "Activewear" - for exercising, swimming, walking and hiking.
• My wardrobe - Capsule 5 - Activewear / Exercise

• For holidays, I usually take clothes from my week-end wardrobe and active wardrobe.

My complete wardrobe takes up half a rail, but that is all that I need.
My complete wardrobe.

You may have other "Lifestyle Activities" that aren't represented in my wardrobe. For example, you may want to create capsules along the following themes:

• "Office Wear" - with a mini / capsule of office wear, such as suits, blouses,skirts and trousers. Plus accessories - briefcase or smart handbag, office shoes, smart watch & jewellry.

• "Night Club Wear"

• "Hobby Wear" - if you have hobbies that require specific items of clothing.

You are probably going to find that there are gaps in your wardrobe. To solve that problem, create a list of the items that you need and put the list into priority order. Focus on buying your top priority items first.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog post and found it useful. You may also like to read my other blog posts.