The Ultimate Guide To Create A Kid’s Capsule Wardrobe And Simplify Laundry
What is a Capsule Wardrobe?
A capsule wardrobe is a simplified wardrobe of clothing that is not based on any one particular style or trend.
The focus is on owning less, often higher quality clothing, in coordinating colors. The actual number of items of clothing included in a capsule wardrobe varies depending on who you ask but on average, a capsule wardrobe consists of about 40 pieces.
The very popular Project 333 is a fun take on capsule wardrobe creation. It’s a minimalist fashion challenge that encourages you to live with just 33 items of clothing over the course of 3 months!
Those who embrace the idea of a capsule wardrobe often also embrace a more minimalistic lifestyle in an attempt to continue simplifying everything in their home and live a life with less stuff and less distractions.
Why should you create a capsule wardrobe for your kids?
A simple google search will prove that capsule wardrobes are talked about more frequently in women’s circles. The most common benefit of a capsule wardrobe is that it eliminates the commonly experienced decision fatigue that happens when trying to decide what to wear.
Children are easily overwhelmed and they often express that overwhelm in ways that you may not expect. It’s very possible that giving them access to too many clothes can overwhelm them and give them some decision fatigue of their own.
Have you ever witnessed a toddler throwing a tantrum over getting dressed? They are quite unpredictable at times. I’ve found that my kids thrive off of simplicity. Simplifying their wardrobe is exactly what my kids needed.
In my experience as a busy mom of 4 children, a capsule wardrobe can greatly benefit your kids when implemented for 4 main reasons:
1. A capsule wardrobe will keep you, (and your kids, if they are old enough to do this chore) out of the laundry room.
Laundry is often a big stressor in our life due to the fact that we have a massive amount of clothes that we’ve accumulated over time at “great prices.”
It’s very easy for moms to get sucked into buying more clothes than they need for their kids because of those good deals or very generous grandparents. Having less clothing to care for, makes laundry a lot easier to manage.
Read: 10 Time Saving Laundry Hacks For Busy Moms
2. A capsule wardrobe will set your children up for chore success.
A capsule wardrobe will make it easier to instill good values in your older children and teach them to be helpers in the home. Typically, by the time a child is 8 years old, they should be capable of doing their own laundry which includes washing, drying and putting it away. The less clothing that they have to care for, the easier it will be to have them complete this chore with ease.
I created a capsule wardrobe with my daughter, Chloë, age 8, after quite a few failed attempts at trying to give her some more responsibility in the home by implementing a new “do your own laundry chore.”
We couldn’t fit all of the clothes that she owned inside of her dresser so instead of decluttering her dresser, we decided to put her pajamas inside a rolling cart of plastic draws.
Together, we went through her pajamas and made labels for her pajama mountain with the label maker:
footed pajamas, long sleeved sets, short sleeved sets, t-shirts, shorts…
What a relief it was to now finally have a system in place for those pajamas that were being stuffed in draws that they didn’t fit in.
But guess what? That system didn't last!
After a few weeks, she resembled an overwhelmed mom with her hamper filled to the brim absolutely dreading the fact that she had to do laundry in order to have clean clothes. She had so many clothes that she could easily go three weeks without having to do the laundry at all.
Can you imagine why she was experiencing so much overwhelm?
My desire in wanting to set her up for chore success was thwarted because I didn’t simplify the job for her by decluttering her clothes first.
3. A capsule wardrobe will ensure that any clothing that is passed on to future children that join the family maintains their quality.
If you’re purchasing less stuff, you can focus on making more intentional purchases, often of higher quality clothing that will hold up well to lots of wear and tear.
Because you’ll shop for clothing with a list of stuff in mind, you’ll end up spending less money than you would if you had no list or plan and shopped all the sales.
We as a society are very wasteful. Have you ever considered what happens to discarded clothing after it leaves our home?
Before I started pursuing a more minimalistic lifestyle I wouldn’t have had the brainpower or desire to think through something like this. I had so many things on my to do list that took up all my time.
4. A capsule wardrobe will eliminate the awkwardness of a child who doesn’t know how to dress.
You know that feeling when your preschooler proudly dresses herself in the most mismatched outfit in the world?
You smile proudly because they’re showing that independence you’ve been desperately waiting for them to show you but…
Deep down inside you know you’re going to be judged if you end up at the store with a child dressed that way.
That scenario won’t happen when implementing a capsule wardrobe because capsule wardrobes involve one color scheme. As long as you teach your child that something solid goes with a pattern, they’ll be dressing like a pro in no time!
Should my child be involved in the Capsule Wardrobe creation?
This is a decision that only you can make because you know your child best. If your child is old enough, like mine, to understand that the benefits of creating a capsule wardrobe will actually be helpful to them, they won’t see you as a threat when you begin decluttering their clothes.
At the very least, have a discussion with them about their favorite colors and outfits that are currently in their draw so that you can use that as your starting point.
Most children will love the end result - draws that are organized and decluttered.
The Mindset of Simplicity
The point of creating a capsule wardrobe is to SIMPLIFY an area of your motherhood that can easily get out of control - Laundry. In my opinion, giving you an exact number of shirts, pants and sweaters without discussing your mindset on clothing in general, I would be doing a disservice to you.
You have to begin looking at your child’s clothing with a different perspective…
If you were going on a trip right now, what outfits would you be packing for your kids?
If you’re anything like I was, you’ll justify heading to the store for some new shorts because the kids outgrew theirs. Once you get to the store, you’ll be sucked into purchasing a few shirts too. They were too nice to pass up!
Or
You’ll do tons of laundry before the trip to find the “best outfits” your child owns to pack. Why does packing really take so long?
Clothing simplicity is what’s going to be a game changer for you!
How To Create a Capsule Wardrobe For Kids
1. Start by washing and drying any clothes that are in your child’s hamper and take out any clothes that might be stored away for a different season.
2. Take everything out of the draws and closet. This is an important step you don’t want to skip. It will make a difference when you visualize how much clothing you actually do have.
3. Choose a color scheme – depending on the age of the child, have them pick the colors that they want for their wardrobe. Two colors that don’t clash is best.
I asked my girls to tell me their favorite clothing colors and I also asked them to go through their clothes and bring me some of their favorite shirts/outfits. This way, I could confirm that their favorite colors actually matched what they considered their favorite outfits to be. This is an important step especially for children that in the preschool age range that may have difficulty expressing their interests.
Pink & purple were the colors my 4 year old chose and she picked these as her favorites.
For my 8 year old, I did keep a few special shirts that didn’t match the color scheme because she didn’t want to part with it. This isn’t about being a control freak! Your child should be able to express their preferences during the process.
4. Decide which complementary colors go along with their main colors. (Think grays, blacks and whites.)
5. Sort through the clothes:
Put aside the clothes that don’t fit your color scheme. This step alone should help you declutter a large portion of clothing.
I was able to get rid of one full laundry basket per child this way.
Most of us have fallen into the trap that we need clothing in variety of colors in order to complete a wardrobe.
We end up with so much and we constantly wear the same things. This happens with our children’s clothing as well. Clothing is unnecessarily taking up a huge portion of our time!
6. Decide what to do with the clothes you aren’t keeping…
If you are passing down clothes to a younger sibling, be really particular about what you store. I’ve learned over time to limit our clothes storage. I will only keep clothing that is in great condition and I limit our storage to one bin that includes all seasons. If we didn’t have the storage space, I would get even more minimal by saving just a few special outfits.
Countless times, I’ve saved clothing in bins that I’ve forgotten about. I ended up making additional purchases that I didn’t need.
If you are donating, be sure that the clothing is in good condition. If it’s not worth donating, consider cutting it up to repurpose as cleaning rags.
Please tell me how many shirts and pants I need!
If you’ve been waiting for me to share exactly how many pants and shirts you need to create a kid’s capsule wardrobe, I’ll share that below. I saved this for last because I firmly believe that the specific contents of each child’s capsule wardrobe is going to look different for each family. There are a lot of things to consider…
Are you passing down clothing to younger siblings? If so, you might want to consider purchasing good quality clothing that is going to last a long time.
Target’s Cat and Jack Line is a great, affordable option. Did you know that Target has a 1 year warranty on their Cat and Jack clothes, no questions asked? Save your receipts!
Primary is an affordable line of clothing that prides itself on having premium fabrics with lasting quality. The clothing here is very classy and can easily be passed down because they’re not selling clothing that’s trending. (Use my Primary Affiliate Link to Get 20% off your first order and free shipping with code AFF20PCT)
Hanna Anderson is more high end but their clothing is truly amazing quality. It’s made to wear and wash, over and over and then hand down. We bought a matching set of family Christmas pajamas at their 40% off sale and fell in love with the quality and comfort of their clothes. This is an amazing brand of clothing to look for at consignment and thrift stores too.
Is it necessary to start from scratch when creating a capsule wardrobe?
If you have an abundance of clothing for your child and follow my steps above to declutter it and color coordinate, there is no reason why you have to spend any money to purchase more. Use what you have for the time being. You may find that you’ll only need a few pieces to complete your wardrobe.
If you are starting from scratch, here is a good capsule wardrobe list to start with:
12-15 shirts
1-2 pairs of jeans (My girls do not like wearing jeans so we stick to one pair.)
4-6 pairs of leggings
4-6 pairs of shorts
3 swimsuits
4 pajamas (We have about 7 each)
5-8 dresses for girls or dress shirts for boys
12 pairs of socks (Consider purchasing socks all in one color so you won’t have to worry about matching them up anymore.)
sneakers
dress shoes
sandals
ballet flats (for girls)
12 pairs of underwear
2-3 undershirts
1-2 pairs of shorts for underneath dresses (for girls)
1 light fancier sweater to go over dresses
1 light jacket or sweatshirt
Remember that these are just suggestions. I highly recommend getting some draw dividers to help with the organization of the clothing once it’s decluttered. We got ours from Ikea.
Declutter
Live with your new wardrobe for a while
Repeat if you’re not satisfied
Follow this cycle and you’ll get to where you want to be in no time!
notes about Infant/Toddler Clothing
Consider requesting gift cards in lieu of clothing for baby showers/birthdays to avoid getting an excess of clothes that don’t fit your color scheme.
I’ve noticed that clothing with onesie snaps in size 24 months and up has not been used with my girls. We usually start potty training around that time and shirts with snaps are not the best option when training them!
I hope this capsule wardrobe guide was super helpful for you! Happy decluttering!