Props to the lovely main street out our window and my husbands photo skills.

The Haps:

SO many questions about capsules!!! So exciting. I had a ton of fun helping Cassandra with her capsule. Since working with Cassandra I have gotten plenty of updates on her capsule endeavors, and I have to say, she is really killing it. 

Here is the first step for YOU!

Getting rid of clothes is crazy tricky. For this reason, it is good to have someone with you when you go through your closet. You can convince yourself of anything when you are alone, however, it is pretty hard to justify keeping your Uggs from middle school to someone else. I also recommend taking a break with said person and going to get coffee so you can come back with a clear perspective and some more energy! Okay, here we go!

Make piles.

Keep

Donate

Maybe

Keep: would be anything you LOVE. You feel like a babe in it or a real handsome man. The best advice I have ever gotten is that if you put something on and don't think "I feel AMAZING in this," then why keep it? The keep pile is ONLY absolutely, no doubt in your mind, I am obsessed with this...clothing. Nothing else.

Donate: if it fits you weird or you think bad thoughts about yourself every time you put it on. This includes, but is not limited to, thoughts like: "I just need to sew this part and then I will wear it." Let's be real, you've been saying that for months and have not done it. Donate that ish. Or perhaps: "I always hate the way this stretches out after one wear." Just give it away. You can buy a more quality white v-neck someday.wink emoticon

Maybe: would be anything that you don't want to give away but you don't really have a good reason as to why. You put these items into a box and store it under your bed (or somewhere you can't see them) for a month. If you do not think about the things in the box during that month, you donate what is inside WITH OUT revisiting the contents.

My experience with myself and Cassandra is that once you are looking at your three separate piles, it will be very clear what your style is and what your style is not. Cassandra ended up with mostly neutral plain tops in her keep pile and mostly busy blouses in her donate pile. Once Cassandra had a clearer picture of what her style was it was very easy for Cassandra to go back to her maybe pile and get rid of some more things. It is also good to cross reference your Pinterest. See what you have been pinning and then look at your keep and maybe pile. Do they match up? You may be able to put more maybe clothes into the donate pile after that.

Your keep pile should end up looking cohesive.

Start there! I am seriously still going through this step every time I start a new capsule. Obviously, the donate pile is a lot smaller now that I mostly own things I love.

Ask more questions and I will answer a few every Friday for a while! Let's get one step closer to living a life with less meaningless distraction and more fruitful creativity, starting with our wardrobe.

Now go here where Caroline will explain all of that, but much more simply.  ;) 

Good luck, people!

Cassandra's Capsule

Cassandra's closet when we started.

Making Piles.

Cross referencing her latest pins to catch the vision for her desired style.

The "give away" pile.

Cassandra's Capsule:

1. Why did you want to do a capsule?

I was interested in the capsule after moving to my new apartment. I could barely fit all my clothes in my closet and had three bins under my bed. I knew I didn't honesty wear a lot of them and I was needing new clothes anyway. When Shea told me about her capsule experience of minimizing her wardrobe, I knew that I wanted to try it.

2.  What were your fears in capsuling?

I think I was nervous about giving away clothes that carried sentimental value or ones that I spent a lot of money on but never wore.

3. How was the actual process for you?

The process was so freeing. After I started adding clothes to the donate pile I realized they didn't even represent my style. I was holding on to clothes from high school, and that's just ridiculous. The pile of clothes that I kept made more sense to who I am.

4. Was it hard to define and capture "your capsule"?

Looking at Pinterest with Shea helped. I realized I had been pinning a lot of black, burgundy and olive green. When we went through my clothes we evaluated each item to see if it fit my style. It also helps with knowing what purchases to make next. I want to buy things that represent me instead of anything that just fits.

5. How are you feeling now that it's done?

I honestly don't miss the clothes I got rid of. When I look in my closet I just love everything in there. It's so me! It makes getting ready so easy and I'm excited to be more creative when it comes to putting together outfits.

Photos by: Cassandra Lour

Cassandra's fall capsule, complete.