You’re late for the umpteenth time because you don’t know how to get dressed in 5 minutes or less.
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Throwing on random items you try desperately to pull together a cute outfit. One shoe on, earrings in hand, grabbing a purse, and lipgloss as you scoot out the door. You feel flustered and are disappointed at how it all came together.
On you go with your day, work, event, party—but you feel less confident than you’d like. You helped everyone else in your house first, so your time was cut short and the result is a style fail.
It sucks. I’ve been there. You?
What if I could wave a magic wand and make this scenario go away? Instead, have you get dressed feeling confident, looking good, feeling good, and all in just a few minutes each morning? Sounds amazing, right.
It can be done, with a little bit of work on the front end.
You Need a Capsule Wardrobe
You need to build your wardrobe around basics, and a conscious choice of colors, patterns, and layers. It’s called a capsule wardrobe. This will turn your getting dressed nightmare into a dream.
The best part is, you can do this with the clothes you have hanging in your closet. No shopping required.
The term capsule wardrobe was coined by Susie Faux, the owner of a London boutique called “Wardrobe” in the 1970s. According to Faux, a capsule wardrobe is a collection of a few essential items of clothing that do not go out of fashion, such as skirts, trousers, and coats, which you can augment with seasonal pieces.
How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe
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A classic capsule wardrobe is the easiest place to start. This consists of 8 pieces. You can tweak these as needed based on your lifestyle.
The 8 Piece Capsule Wardrobe
- Little black dress
- Dark jeans
- Black pants
- Black pencil skirt
- White t-shirt
- White blouse
- Trench coat
- Black blazer
Classic Style Wardrobe Capsule
Below is a style board with classic capsule items.
More Casual Style Wardrobe Capsule
Here is a visual example of tweaking the capsule for a woman who wants a less corporate wardrobe.
Build Your Own Wardrobe Capsule from Your Closet
Assignment for you.
Dig in your closet to find something for each one of these 8 items. Make it your own, make it something that works for your lifestyle, something you already have in your closet.
Lay these 8 items out on your bed.
Now that you have the basics selected, you can add in color.
Choose two or three colors that you like and that you have in your closet already. These colors must work with each other. For example, blue and pink. Start to add in the pieces in your chosen colors. Shirts, sweaters, layers, etc.
Next, add in patterns.
Floral, plaid, small pattern, bold pattern. As long as they are in the same color family as the solid colors, add them to your pile.
Last but not least, accessories.
Earrings, necklaces, scarves, purses, and shoes. For jewelry, start with neutral basics such as gold and silver, then branch out into colors.
Make sure they are either one of your chosen capsule colors or go well with the colors you’ve selected.
Below is an example of adding in color and pattern to your capsule. See how all of this works with the classic capsules above?
You have a Wardrobe Capsule!
If you look at the pile on your bed, you’ve created your own personal capsule wardrobe from your closet. What you will also notice is that everything goes with everything.
There is no guesswork. You can pull any pants or bottoms and they will work together with any of the tops, (aside from mixing patterns).
Told you, like a dream. You will be dressed in a matter of minutes without fail.
Specialty Items
Of course, you will have specialty items, cocktail dresses, holiday attire, suits, and so on, but the bulk of your everyday items will be from this capsule wardrobe you’ve created.
You can also create capsule wardrobes for each season, or events in your life. As you build different capsules, you can use the foundational 8 pieces, but change up the colors you use or the seasonal layers.
For a week, dress just out of this selection of clothes, see how it goes. If you like it, keep going. Dig through your other items, see if anything additional can be added.
Identify Your Uniform
The next step to getting dressed in 5 minutes or less, is to identify your uniform. Not something bland, frumpy, or ugly, but a formula that works for your body and lifestyle.
For example, I have a client who works from home and is a mom to 4 kids. They are a very active family with tons of sports and after school activities, but she also needs to look good for Zoom calls during the day while the kids are at school. So we created a couple of uniforms for her.
One of them has her wearing joggers, she has several pairs in different fabrics, and oxford shirts. She found a brand she likes and purchased several in different colors that are part of her capsule palette.
Then she adds in cardigans, earrings, or a necklace depending on her day, and finishes it off with footwear such as funky tennis shoes, slides, loafers, or heels.
That is it. She looks polished no matter what her tasks are each day, she feels confident and it takes her 4 minutes to get dressed each morning, sometimes less, because she knows her wardrobe (thanks to the capsule she created), knows what works on her body (hello uniform), and knows everything in her closet goes together.
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Feel Confident Getting Dressed in 5 Minutes or Less
When you feel confident in your clothes there is nothing that can stop you. You show up as your best self and are ready to take on the task at hand.
If you’d like to learn more from me, be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter that is full of tips and tricks to help you learn to love the way you dress.
Contribution by Kim Hancher from http://www.kimhancher.com
Instagram: @kimhancher
Kim Hancher is a Style Coach. She teaches women how to create their unique style and dress their body type so that they feel confident doing something we all have to do every day; get dressed. Kim believes that everyone can be stylish — no matter age, profession, or body type. By applying a few principles, you can feel fashionable wearing clothes from your closet. Feeling good about the way you dress lifts your mood, elevates your confidence, and shifts your mindset. Kim conducts virtual one-on-one sessions for various style needs such as closet editing, building a capsule wardrobe, or any customized service. She works on photoshoots and has been published and/or quoted in various online publications, including the Wall Street Journal.
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