Recently, one of my favorite bloggers Sarah James wrote a few posts about something she was implementing in her life: a capsule wardrobe. At first I thought it was some crazy expensive plan to have a company send you a new wardrobe, but then I kept reading and realized it’s a pretty genius way to simplify.

While I’ve watched enough of the Today Show to recite the common tips for organizing a wardrobe, I found that the guidelines were too easy to cheat on. Matt and I currently share a pretty small closet and we each have one dresser. That doesn’t leave a ton of room for clothes, especially when we only wear 20% of our wardrobes, according to a Wall Street Journal article. We’ve all been there, staring at a closet full of clothes lamenting, “I have nothing to wear.” As with a lot of areas in our lives, I think having more clothing choices creates MORE stress. Wouldn’t it be better to have a few pieces of clothing that you love and feel great in?

With a capsule wardrobe, you go through your clothes each season and donate/discard what you’re sure can go, pick a specified amount of items to keep in your closet or dresser, and then store the rest. Most versions of this recommend thirty-something items, including shoes and outerwear. What’s not included would be pajamas, workout clothes (what are those?), and under garments. You can make exceptions for fancy occasions. If I know I have a wedding in the fall and will be wearing a particular dress one time, I wouldn’t count that in my capsule. Sarah James’s capsule wardrobe looks like this:

She is obviously very fabulous and has great taste and isn’t toting around a drooling baby.

So this sounds pretty fun, right? Here’s my snag: my post-pregnancy, nursing mother wardrobe is not so chic. While I’ve lost my baby weight, I’m not yet fitting into my pre-baby pants. I also hate the the idea of buying new pants to fill the (hopefully brief) time until I fit into my old clothes. So that leaves me with…leggings and my favorite maternity jeans from AG. Being home with an infant means that I need clothing that’s comfortable, washable, and practical. Silk button downs are beautiful but don’t hold up so well to spit up and grabby baby hands. So I haven’t really solved this issue yet, but I’m working on it.

I started the process and cleaned out my dresser drawers. I have to say, it feels pretty great to have neat and sparsely filled drawers. Now I just have to find some clothes to put in the closet…