Building a capsule wardrobe has been a great way to be intentional with money while investing in myself at the same. My new capsule wardrobe is saving me money, increasing my confidence, and sparking joy!
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The past couple of years have been fun for me. After almost a decade of pregnancies, pregnancy losses, and mothering littles, I started to reemerge from what I’d call survival mode. As any new mom likely understands, it’s easy to loose a bit of yourself in the “fog.”
I simply had to put things that were important to me on the backburner for a bit. It was all I could do to keep everyone fed and clean! I, as much as I knew it probably wasn’t good, was simply not a priority during those years. (And I’m actually not complaining about that!)
My Journey Back to Me
About 3 years ago, I felt myself begin to reemerge when my youngest son started preschool. I had at least 2 mornings a week where all 3 children were out of the home. Even though those mornings went by extremely fast, I felt like I breathe a little lighter. It was just enough margin to help me exhale.
Shortly after that time, I decided to redecorate the children’s bedrooms. We had some shifting of bedrooms, so the timing made good sense too. I took my time doing it, since time and money were not plentiful, but I really enjoyed it.
Not too long after that, I decided to take my body back and work to lose all my baby weight. A simple photo of myself lit a fire to work on my health and get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.
Marie Kondo Enters the Picture
As some point along the way, I “met” Marie Kondo and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I have been decluttering our home ever since. I still have a couple more categories to go, but it feels so good to regain control of our home!
As Marie suggests, I started the decluttering process with my clothing and I had a lot of work to do. I didn’t fit into many of the clothes (which was a good thing!). My career had also changed to full-time stay-at-home mom. Even though I was left with only item’s that “sparked joy,” I was left with a LOT of holes in my wardrobe.
I had to purchase some new clothes for my post-baby body, but I wanted to be intentional with those decisions. At the same time, I kept seeing people share about the capsule wardrobe concept.
Why a Capsule Wardrobe?
I wanted to buy items that I loved and could also be worn in lots of different ways, but I was overwhelmed. I was following some fun fashion bloggers for idea inspiration, but I needed more guidance.
About a year ago, I found Allison at Get Your Pretty On and heard about her Style Challenge program. The concept was brilliant, but I was still hesitant. Truthfully, I was too cheap to spend money for someone to tell me what I should have in my closet.
I am hesitant to try new things anyway, so I opted to try out a free Closet Staples resource and I loved it. I dove in headfirst this past spring and my only regret is that I wish I had done it sooner!
After purchasing and loving the 2019 Summer Style Challenge, I decided to keep the momentum going and I purchased the 2019 Fall Style Challenge as well.
What is the 2019 Fall Style Challenge?
Allison’s style challenge gives participants a list of clothing items that can be paired to create 33 daily outfits. You might already have a lot of them in your closet, as many of them are considered staples pieces .
If you decide to join for $39, you’ll receive:
- a beautiful PDF with a shopping list of everything that you’ll need, along with substitution ideas and/or alternate color palette suggestions.
- a beautiful PDF of the 33 daily outfits (or outfit formulas).
- a PDF of a daily outfit calendar to keep track of the days. You can wear the outfits whenever you want, but it’s sort of fun to follow along with the calendar!
- links to items that are on the shopping list. She lists a variety of stores and price points to help you get started with your shopping.
Some other fun perks include:
- an invitation to a fun and positive Facebook community of other women who are trying to “get their pretty on” too!
- weekly giveaways!
- the previous year’s Style Challenge
The Fall 2019 Style Challenge was released on September 6th and the daily outfit calendar begins on September 23rd. You can still join and begin your shopping. You can start building your capsule wardrobe any time, even once the daily prompts have begun!
Why My Capsule Wardrobe is Sparking Joy
Even though I’ve purchased 2 of these style challenges now, I am still building my capsule wardrobe. It takes time and takes some money to invest in my wardrobe, so I have to take it relatively slow to stay within my personal budget. I’m not going into debt to build my capsule wardrobe and you don’t have to either!
Even so, I have learned to shop with intention and then how to put those clothes together strategically. It doesn’t hurt that it also takes the guesswork out of what I can wear each day. Decision fatigue is real, y’all!! 🙂
I own fewer clothes than I did before I KonMari’d my clothes years ago, yet everything I own truly sparks joy!!
Why You Matter
Being a mom to young children is exhausting and it’s normal to feel like you are surviving rather than thriving at times. But once you have your feet back under you, it’s okay to invest in yourself again!
Give yourself permission (and a little money from your budget) to build your wardrobe. Even though I don’t spent a ton of money and shop mostly at discount retailers, I feel much more confident. Getting dressed and taking a few minutes to put myself together makes a huge difference for me.
These style challenges are about far more than clothes. It’s been fun to spend a little time taking care of me and I feel like I’m a better wife and mom because of it!!
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