In the first part of this series, I wrote about creating a more kid-friendly closet system. Although it’s not imperative you read it before jumping into this one, you can read that post here. In the second part of this series, I’m going to talk about how I created a smaller, capsule-style wardrobe for my 4-year old.
I know capsule wardrobes are pretty trendy right now, but that’s not why I did it. I did it because I was tired of the struggle to get my daughter dressed every day and have her look semi put together.
I don’t keep to a strict number of pants, tops, etc. as some people do, but I make sure she has a good mix of items to cover play dates, school and church.
How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe
These are the few “rules” I keep in mind when building her capsule wardrobe:
- I try to make most of the pieces work together – pants, tops, skirts, jackets, shoes, etc.
- I pick a few colors and build a wardrobe around it. The photo below is her wardrobe from last winter, consisting of mainly pink, grey and blue. Of course, other colors are always mixed in (like purple!) but I try my best to stick with a few main colors.
- As mentioned above, I don’t have a strict number of items I buy, but I try to keep her wardrobe on the smaller size. Fewer clothes means fewer choices my daughter has to make to get dressed.
- I try to stay away from patterned pants. They sell so many kid outfits as top + bottom combos with printed bottoms, but this tends to spell disaster for us. She’ll get attached to a pair of bottoms, say with rainbow colors and then want to wear them with every single outfit. I stick to plain colored bottoms to make getting dressed easier for everyone.
- Once I buy her wardrobe at the beginning of the season, I try to be done with shopping until the next season rolls around. This often means I sometimes forgo a special holiday outfit if she’ll only wear it once. She wore the same holiday dress for several occasions last year and believe me, no one cared or probably noticed.
My last “rule” is forgiveness and grace for both her and myself. Sometimes we’ll be at a store and I see something she would just love! If I can guarantee it’ll be worn frequently and it isn’t outrageously priced, then I might give in and buy it. I mean, I’m only human and sometimes breaking the “rules” just happens.
Now, I’m not going to say that getting her dressed every day is always a breeze or she always looks put together, but both have gotten much better since putting these systems into place! We’ll see how well this works for us as she grows, but this is our plan for now!
