Spring Closet Curation: Selecting Pieces You'll Love Long-Term

Re-determine Your Personal Style: Building A Spring Capsule Wardrobe

This step is hard, even pre-pandemic. But even now, with so much time spent in loungewear, you can choose pieces that reflect your personal style. Remember to choose items that make you feel good. Here are a few other tips:

• Search through your closet and pick a general style “bucket” (i.e. minimalist, boho) that feels most like you. It’s important to pick a style identity that you can stick to most of the time. 

• Officially reevaluate your style every year. Look for new inspiration and pin things that you want to try. It’s helpful to find someone whose style you admire, so you can look to them for inspiration. Just don’t forget to think about what will work best for your lifestyle and needs right now. 

• Avoid overly-saturated trends. We all get drawn to different styles that become popular, but if you want to test out a trend, do it with accessories first. They’re easier to collect then give away once you’re done.

What to Keep, What to Part With?

This part may take a really long time, so give yourself 3-4 hours so you’re not rushed into making the wrong decisions. 

• Look at everything really carefully to see if anything is pilled, damaged or stained, and make sure it either gets into a pile to repair or donate. You’d be amazed at how many damaged pieces we have hanging in our closets that keep us from wearing them, yet we keep them in there! Make sure you’re recycling responsibly - create piles for donations, repairs, consignment and washing. 

• Tackle what’s left by category. Divide everything into piles - your T-shirts, underwear, jeans, pants, jackets, woven shirts, sweaters, and then think about your lifestyle; how many of each category do you actually need? Once you have your piles, organize each one from your favorite item to your least favorites in a category – purging the items you like least. Hang similar ‘keep’ items together on Wonder Hangers. 

• Don’t overlook the emotional element. Pay close attention to how accessories, jewelry and clothing make you feel, and get rid of anything that carries negative emotional baggage. If you truly love it, keep it, even if you aren’t wearing it right now. Which brings us to our next tip…

Place Your Not Right Now Items in a Secondary Closet

• If you have the space, we absolutely recommend putting those darn dresses away! Yep, we said it. Amy has moved almost all of her dresses, stiff pants, and anything that is for the outside world into a separate closet to simplify things. She now only has pajamas, a couple pairs of stretch jeans, and comfy sweaters in her primary closet. 

• Don’t completely forget about those treasured pieces and fun new tops, because one day you will want to pull them back out. For now, Amy stores hers in a cedar closet for when that time comes.

• Use jewelry stacking trays to store your jewelry that you aren’t wearing right now. This is great to keep that jewelry you love tucked away until you can wear it again.

• Move the fancy shoes out and keep a few go-to pairs easily accessible. This will keep your closet clear of any unnecessary items. 

Organize Your ‘Right Now’ Essentials For Your Capsule Wardrobe

• Store your cute pajama sets and robes so they are easily accessible and well-cared for. Rather than folding your PJs, hang them up in your closet to feel more inviting and make dressing a little more joyful. Amy has two techniques, one is to use velvet hangers with a pant bar to fold the PJ bottoms and in half and loop through the bar, then popping the shirt on top to complete the set. She also uses pant hangers to clip the bottoms in and pop the top over as well. This keeps the sets together and makes for a beautiful line-up of her favorite PJs. 

• Use hanging sweater organizers for all of our stretch pants, sweaters, and extra tee’s. Though it may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, it helps divide Amy’s closet into three sections - casual clothes (perfect for errands or zoom), total athleisure and pajamas. 

• Amy also suggests hanging up sweatshirts and sweaters (ones that won’t droop or stretch) on hangers, making it easier to grab when looking for options. 

• Use drawer organizing bins to keep your socks and workout clothes grouped together. Amy made sure to add some fresh black high waisted yoga pants into her wardrobe so that she has fewer excuses to skip moving her body. 

• Buy multiples. To keep her sock drawer less chaotic, she only has three styles of socks in at one time. Once you find a pair you like, buy 12 pairs of them. That way they are easy to pair and laundry time is less of a drag. 

Four Must-Haves for a Spring 2021 Capsule Wardrobe

This season’s investment pieces look a little different, but we still believe in choosing quality fabrics . Here are Amy’s top three: 

• Comfortable bralettes. Does anyone wear real bras anymore? They’re delicate and easy to wear under most casual tops, and a perfect way to stay comfortable.

• Fresh Tees. There’s nothing like a fresh new cotton t-shirt tucked into any pair of comfortable bottoms. In your drawer, fold them vertically with dividers, that way they are lined up properly. Amy mentions that sometimes it’s the small things like an organized drawer that help make the day a little bit brighter.

• Some sweatpants. We know at this point our closet drawers are bursting with sweatpants, but go through them to determine which ones will last (and look flattering) and which you can donate. 

• Pajamas of course! Our cotton pajamas for women are the best spring transitional clothing, since ours are made of organic cotton poplin which feels cozy and cool. Shop our organic collection below!

Above all, approach this process mindfully and you will be rewarded with an enjoyable experience each morning as you get ready for the day. Really give it your energy and don’t rush - think carefully about each piece and how it fits into your life. Build your spring capsule wardrobe right now. Base your decisions on what works now, and then revisit your closet again once we start venturing out more.