Let’s face it, we can all admit we have far to many clothes in our closet, most of which we don’t even wear regularly. The whole idea of a capsule wardrobe is to minimize that, theoretically creating less clothing waste due to the fact that the pieces are meant to be layerable, timeless, and everything goes together. While this may seem like a great idea in theory, I personally don’t like capsule wardobes at all.
My first issue with capsule wardrobes are the fact that they’re elitist. Let’s face the facts, part of creating a capsule wardrobe is buying high quality clothing items that are going to last you a long while because the whole point of a capsule wardrobe is to reduce clothing waste. Most clothing fitting for a capsule wardrobe can be really expensive then and if you’re looking to make an inexpensive capsule wardrobe, you’re going to have to replace items frequently to keep up with the wear and tear on your clothing which is also defeating the point of a capsule wardrobe.
My next issue is the fact that normally there is very little color in capsule wardrobes. I personally like to wear a lot of color and I don’t find neutrals very appealing so I may be biased and of course, you could make a capsule wardrobe for each season but then what was the point of making a capsule wardrobe if you switch out the clothing every season. If you go that route then you’re still creating clothing waste and only wearing ¼ of your wardrobe max at a time. Since a capsule wardrobe typically needs to be both multi-seasonal and appropriate for a variety of situations, most of the clothing tends to be boring shades of brown, black, and white. While neutrals are great for layering and making so a statement piece pops, with little to no statement pieces neutrals are just that. They’re neutral and boring pieces of clothing.
Finally, there just really aren’t that many options. The whole purpose of a capsule wardrobe is of course to have a small wardrobe of essentials that you wear frequently while still having a variety of looks to choose from. However, this does bring up issues with all of your looks looking the exact same. Sure you can throw a cardigan over the exact same shirt and jeans and it’s a new outfit, but it still gives the same vibe and really isn’t all that different from the outfit without the cardigan because it’s most likely neutral colors. So yes, you can technically make a whole bunch of different, very similar looking and feeling outfits which just isn’t appealing to me. It also means that most of the items you own look the same, if they aren’t the same item in different colors.
If you like capsule wardrobes, more power to you honestly. I however, will be staying 10 feet away from any because I think they are one of the worst fashion trends to have ever come about. Not only are they elitist, but they’re so boring. Again, if you like dressing in the same three shirts and two pants go for it, but I like having variety and I like my outfits to actually look different from one another.