Whether you’re an incoming freshman or rising upperclassman, deciding what clothes to bring to campus is always a challenge when move-in time comes around. Do you overpack and risk not having the storage space, or keep it minimal and risk not having enough? Do you bring that fun statement piece that might get worn, or might sit in your closet the whole year? Is it worth it to bring eight pairs of jeans?! It’s hard to say, especially when most of us are living in different, unfamiliar locations each year. The best solution to account for all these uncertainties is to create your own personalized capsule wardrobe: a curated selection of clothing to act as the backbone to your closet, including functional, timeless, and basic pieces that can be switched around to create more outfits. Here’s how to do it: college edition!
The weather
To start, the most important consideration when it comes to clothes is the weather, and what season you’re preparing for. For example, if you’re here at UConn… maybe leave behind the cute beachwear. Keep the summer clothes to a minimum–enough to last at least a month. But it shouldn’t be the majority of your wardrobe! I remember packing about six jean shorts for my freshman year, and only two got worn. Especially if you live far away or out of state, make sure you’re packing enough warm clothing for the chillier months. Big winter coats, hats, gloves, and layerable clothing are all a necessity! And of course, warm and durable winter boots!!
It’s also important to plan ahead for the year. When will you be able to come home to swap out some clothes? If you don’t plan to come home for the whole semester, make sure you have everything. But if you live twenty minutes away and go home every weekend, you’ll be fine to not bring as much!
Your best colors
Everyone can usually pull off wearing any color, but everyone also has a specific seasonal color palette that they look best in. Your color palette should make you glow! (See above image for reference) Regarding a capsule wardrobe, your color palette is important not just to make you look good, but to be able to create multiple cohesive outfits out of fewer pieces. To figure out your color palette, an easy and free way that I discovered is using ChatGPT. Here’s what I did:
Step One: Take a selfie! Make sure you have little to no makeup on, your hair is down (if it’s your natural color) or tied back (if you’ve dyed or bleached it), and it’s in front of a window or outside to get that natural lighting. Also, remove any preset filters on your camera.
Step Two: Using a color selector on any photo editing app/software, find out what your hex codes are. I took samples from my face, lips, hair, and eye color.
Step Three: Paste these hex codes into ChatGPT and ask what your color season is! I also gave additional information like the color of my veins (greenish means you’re warm-toned, teal/blue means you’re neutral, and blue/purple means you’re cool-toned), if I tan easily or burn, and what colors I’m usually complimented on.
After I did all of this, I came to the conclusion that I’m a soft summer! Of course, AI isn’t always completely accurate, but it’s a good way to get a general idea of where you fall in the seasonal color palettes. Another good way to figure out your season is to find a celebrity that has similar features to you–skin tone, hair color, eye color, facial contrast, and look up what their color season is!
clean it out!
Before you go buying all-new items, make some room for the new additions first. Going through my closet and getting rid of things is something I typically do every year, or try to. Get rid of things you haven’t worn in years, things that don’t fit, things that are really out of style, etc. I take my clothes to my local consignment store, then to Goodwill with the things they don’t take!
Back to the basics
Once you’ve done all of that, it’s time to begin assembling your capsule wardrobe! Hopefully, after you’ve cleaned out what you don’t need, you’re left with things you already wear often. But no matter what you’re keeping, it’s time to start from square one. Here are the following categories I’d recommend following when curating a capsule wardrobe for college…
Jeans: Four to five pairs; mixture of fits and colors
Sweatshirts and Sweatpants: Three to four each (buy in sets!)
Active-wear: Three to four matching sets (leggings and top!)
Tops: Four to five each of fitted tees and long-sleeves, four to five loose-fitting tees (dress up or down!), four to five tank tops, four to five cute going-out tops, five to six warm sweaters
Outerwear: Two zip-up sweatshirts, one or two leather bomber jackets, one jean jacket, one good winter coat!
Professional and Formal: One versatile black dress, one or two pairs of slacks/trousers, two to three business casual/professional tops
Of course, much of the actual clothing in your wardrobe is personal to you, and not one-size-fits-all. Throw in a few statement pieces you love, since now you have the room for them! But most importantly, choose items that fit your color palette, are versatile and as timeless as possible, and are comfortable items that you know you’ll wear!