How (& Why) To Plan Your Capsule Wardrobe This Year
As you may already know, this year I’ve dove head first into the 20 in 2020 challenge - I’m buying only 20 new pieces for my wardrobe for the whole year! You can read more about why I’m doing this awesome challenge here or watch my YouTube video on it. And so far I have to say it’s going quite well! I’ve mad four purchases this season so far and I’m feeling pretty confident in completing this goal for the end of the year. Today I want to give you some pointers on how to plan out a whole year’s worth of purchases, and tell you why it’s even worth doing this in the first place.
Why It’s Worth Planning Your Wardrobe for the Year
Whether you have a capsule wardrobe, are participating in the 20 in 2020 challenge or just want to wrangle in your shopping habits, there are so many benefits to planning your wardrobe budget the way you would for any other budget. Slimming down your wardrobe expenses means more money towards your student loan, your renovation, you vacay fund, whatever it may be. Between maintaining a work wardrobe, vacation shopping and day to day online browsing, clothing purchases can rack up very quickly. By planning out and then tracking how many items your buy each season, you can really eliminate unnecessary purchases and work towards a more cohesive and functional wardrobe.
Using a Bullet Journal To Plan Your Capsule Wardrobe
So I’m a huge fan of bullet journals for tracking my whole life basically! While I’ve now digitized some things that I used to track manually, I use my bullet journal for more planning and long term projects, like this one. And yes, my bullet journals are pretty plain because I completely lack the patience to design each spread. But they’re still visually easier for me to process than a journal, which is the whole point right? So long story short: don’t feel pressured out of a bullet journal just because you don’t like the design aspect of it!
Bullet Journal Spreads
The first two-page spread, the ‘2020 Wardrobe Planning’ page is where I will track my overall progress with the challenge. I decided to break my 20 purchases into roughly 5 items per season. I will be traveling in March and expect to purchase more but that will count towards my Spring Capsule Wardrobe, depending on what I get. I’ve also decided to break it down into types of clothing I’m buying, as another way to track my shopping habits. This way I can see how often I need to replace basics and how often I’m buying outerwear, which is arguably too much for someone who lives in Southern CA. And while it’s not pictured here, I also included a wishlist section for each season, something I’ve done in the past for my capsule wardrobes, and which helps me curb impulse buys.
The second 2-page spread, the ‘20 in 2020 Challenge’ page, is devoted to tracking all my actual purchases. It includes the following information:
Month
Item # (out of 20)
Cost
Keep? (check mark)
I decided to include items I bought and returned because it helps me better understand my shopping habits and I don’t want to accidentally purchase the same thing twice if it doesn’t work for me, which has sadly happened before. You live and you learn!
Other Wardrobe Planning Resources
If you’re for some reason morally opposed to the bullet journal or just don’t think you’ll keep it up, there are other options for tracking and planning as well. One popular one is the Smart Closet app (free) which helps you plan outfits with each item of clothing in your wardrobe. You take a picture of each piece and the app sorts it into categories and selects outfits. This won’t necessarily help you track your new purchases but it will give you a better sense of what you already own.
You can also plan and track your capsule wardrobe using a good old fashioned spreadsheet template. If you’re not willing to create your own, I have one you can download here, along with instructions for using it.
Do you have a great resources for planning your capsule wardrobe? Let me know in the comments! Thanks so much for reading. xx Jessica