by Maristella Bertram, MBA, CPO® | Jan 9, 2023 | Get Organized Blog, Home Organizer, Medium, Professional Organizer
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with the concept of the wardrobe capsule. I know it’s nothing new by any means, but for some reason, my time to pay attention to this has come. It goes perfectly well with the minimalist trend we have been experiencing in recent years. I love that!
Much has been said and written about the wardrobe capsule. There are capsules for every possible age, gender, color palette, and season. Just go on Pinterest, and you’ll never run out of ideas and options.
The Wardrobe Capsule
Susie Faux developed the term “capsule wardrobe,” She was the owner of the British boutique “Wardrobe” in the 1970s. At that time, the term referred to a collection of high-quality essential items of clothing that would not go out of fashion and we could wear across multiple seasons. The idea was to update the collection with seasonal pieces to provide something to wear for any occasion without buying many new clothing items.
According to Susie Faux, a woman’s wardrobe capsule should typically contain at least two pairs of trousers, a dress or a skirt, a jacket, a coat, a knit cardigan, two pairs of shoes, and two bags. This concept uncomplicates the morning routine and saves money in the long run. Also, because the capsule pieces are of higher quality, they might be more expensive, but they won’t go out of style and last much longer.
The concept of a capsule wardrobe was made famous by American designer Donna Karan in 1985 when she released her “7 Easy Pieces” collection.
Concept Evolution
These days, the capsule idea deviated from the original concept due to the rampant consumerism of our days. Instead of limiting the collection to 7-11 items, the current capsules limit is about 30 items (including shoes, handbags, and accessories). Still, it is a beautiful improvement (or sacrifice, shall I say) from the two or three full closets many women own these days.
I like how this concept gets our creative juices flowing. We need to be creative to come up with different combinations and develop outfits with a limited number of clothing pieces. For some, this is a real problem. For others, this is just what they need. Others might even discover a side they did not know about themselves!
Stylebook App
Here’s a little to help with creating diverse combinations of clothing pieces. A couple of years ago, I discovered an app called Stylebook. Again, nothing new but still super fun. Stylebook brings your closet to life with its many applications. It takes some initial prework, but even that part is enjoyable.
Stylebook requires that you photograph your wardrobe pieces (including accessories). There are many options to create your wardrobe images, including clipping and importing images from your favorite online stores, social media (Pinterest, of course), and others. It yields images that make your clothing look like magazine stuff.
And if you’re using the capsule concept, the amount of clothing to photograph will be minimal anyway – another advantage of the capsule!
Best Fashion Blog
Speaking of capsules, I should not forget to mention blogger and fashion diva Allison Lumbatis from GYPO (Get Your Pretty On). Her blog is fantastic, with lots of helpful content and advice. Allison offers seasonal wardrobe capsules based on the outfit formulas concept. Curious? Check her out! Be careful, though! This stuff is addictive.
Have fun with the wardrobe capsules, Stylebook, and GYPO!
Let us know how it goes!!
by Maristella Bertram, MBA, CPO® | Oct 1, 2022 | Get Organized Blog, Home Organizer, Medium, Professional Organizer
The Laundry Nightmare
The laundry room and the process of “doing the laundry” are recurrent household nightmares among people who feel their homes are messy. It might seem like a mistake, but no clothes should be in your laundry room. Keep reading to understand how to make peace with your laundry process.
Laundry never ends, and that room is constantly in chaos. Many homes have this area as the entrance to the house from the garage, and this complicates matters. The space becomes the dumping grounds for bags, sports equipment, briefcases, papers, lunch boxes, shoes, shopping bags, and everything else we bring into the house from our day out. We are tired when we get home and whatever we dump at this entry point usually stays there indefinitely. But add to the mix piled up shoes, coats, clean and dirty clothes from everyone, plus the cat litter box, the dogs’ supplies, and the Costco bulk purchases. Not pretty.
Where The Clothes Are
If we could at least remove the clothes from the scene, things would be more straightforward. But isn’t the laundry room the place to gather dirty clothes to wash and clean pieces of clothing to hang dry? Not necessarily! Here is why.
Clothes should be:
- on the person wearing them
- in the hamper
- inside the washer or dryer (in the process of washing or drying)
- hung in the closet or folded in the drawer where they belong
There are two exceptions to this: clothes air-drying and pieces waiting for ironing (only if the ironing happens in the laundry room, which is not typically the case).
In any instance, these clothes should remain in this space only for a short time. We should manage the whole laundry process on the same day, meaning that clothes should end up where they belong by the end of that day.
To Be Clear
There are two concepts that people often confuse: hamper and laundry basket. These are not the same.
The hamper holds dirty clothes and lives where we change clothes. Laundry baskets transport clean clothes from the laundry room to the clothes’ storage place (as in the closet or drawers). It lives (empty) in the laundry room.
Also, know that the washing machine, the dryer, and the laundry basket are NOT approved permanent storage for clothing! (And you know who you are!) It might be the easy way to use them as such, but eventually, this creates the chaos you loathe.
The Process That Helps You
Crush the laundry room mess by assigning each person in the home their hamper. Place this hamper where they change clothes. It also helps to individually wash each person’s load. This eliminates the need to sort the clothes for each household member.
Here is the process you might want to follow to keep the order in your home.
• Designate a laundry day per household member.
• On laundry day, bring the hamper to the laundry room (this should be only one load).
• Wash that load of clothes. Then dry it. Pay attention to that end-of-cycle chime to avoid wasting time.
• Return the empty hamper to where it belongs (it does not stay in the laundry room)
• Once the load is dry, place it in a laundry basket (empty baskets live in the laundry room)
• Take the basket full of clean clothes to put these clothes away. Do it immediately.
• Return the empty basket to the laundry room (where it lives).
Plan For It To Happen
Try these steps and place the laundry process in the calendar. Leaving the laundry halfway done signifies that it interferes with your schedule. When you include this chore in your calendar, plan for it, and make it part of your household life, it stops intruding upon your time.
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