According to the woman who coined the term, a capsule wardrobe is a "collection of a few essential items of clothing that don't go out of fashion, such as skirts, trousers, and coats, which can then be augmented with seasonal pieces." There are various ways to go about this, but many follow the 33-3 rule — wearing 33 items or less for a period of three months.
So, what's the point? Well, if you're the type of person whose closet is spilling over with clothing you rarely wear, or if you have so many items that deciding what to put on in the morning becomes a nightmare, a capsule wardrobe can help you pare down and decide on outfits with ease. Ideally, this 'wardrobe' would be made up of basics and staples; theoretically, you can mix match any item with any other item and have a suitable outfit.
I'm the '5-day challenge girl' over here at Refinery29, but when I received requests to try a capsule wardrobe, I knew that five days was an awfully short timeframe. Like everything else I try, I needed to turn this one into a challenge. So instead of gathering 33 items, I narrowed it down to six, and I challenged myself to put together more than five unique outfits with just these six items (and yes, that number includes tops, bottoms, outerwear and shoes).
Over the course of the week, I donated 75% of my clothing, I learned new ways to repurpose the same item (did you know you could wear a button-down shirt as a skirt?), and I even got to put my mom's vintage little black dress to good use. Check out the video to see what items I picked for my capsule wardrobe and how I styled them this week.