Building My 33-Item Stay At Home Mom Capsule Wardrobe

This is Part 1 of my stay at home mom capsule wardrobe series! I have started the Project 333 Challenge and have selected 33 items to wear for the next three months.

Here I will be sharing how I went about creating my perfect capsule wardrobe and the 33 items that made the cut!

What is the Project 333 Challenge?

I learned about Project 333 after reading Courtney Carver’s book, Soulful Simplicity. This book is about adopting a minimalist lifestyle and choosing relationships, experiences, and passion projects over accumulating and storing stuff. It’s an easy read and offers inspiration for aspiring minimalists.

The Project 333 Challenge is as follows: Choose 33 items of clothing to wear for the next three months. The 33-item count does not include pajamas, underwear, socks, workout clothes, or home loungewear. Jackets, shoes, hats, and jewelry (aside from jewelry pieces you never take off) do count though, towards the 33-item limit.

The great thing about this challenge is that you do not have to completely get rid of all your remaining clothes not included in your three-month capsule wardrobe.

After you go through your closet and donate, toss, or put up for sale unwanted items, you store the rest in a box. These are clothes you are attached to for one reason or another or are seasonal items you know you will wear in the future. Do not look in this box for three months.

After three months, you can go through the box and reassess items to donate, sell, or keep to create your next seasonal capsule wardrobe.

I love the idea of shopping in these boxes for my next capsule wardrobe rather than going to a store or shopping online. What a great way to save some money and live a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle.

I’m hoping that I’ll also be able to let go of some of my stored items after enjoying a smaller wardrobe and realizing I do not need all the excess.

5 Reasons To Build a Capsule Wardrobe

My five reasons for doing the Project 333 Challenge and building a minimalist capsule wardrobe are as follows;

1. Reduce decision fatigue
   There are so many little decisions to make every day, so why not eliminate some decision fatigue when it comes to getting dressed in the morning? 
2. Save time
   With a one year old and five year old running around, I feel like I can spend about ten seconds grabbing clothes from my closet to get dressed in the morning. Or let’s be honest, sometimes I just stay in my pajamas because it’s easier. Even if I could spend more time getting dressed though, I would not want to. I’d rather spend my time and energy on other things!
3. Look good, feel good
   A great-fitting pair of pants or a cozy sweater is an easy way to boost morale on a busy day.
4. Feel light
   A simple uncluttered closet full of clothes that are regularly worn begets a wonderful feeling of lightness. I want more of that feeling!
5. Functional closet space
   I want to live in a home, not a storage space.

Ultimately, I just want to feel good and be the best mom I can be. Focusing on clothes as a way towards this goal may sound silly, but I truly believe that having a capsule wardrobe leads to something much bigger than a tidy closet.

I have a hunch that creating space in my closet will somehow translate to creating more space in my life at large; Space for more joy, gratitude, contentment, and fulfilling experiences.

How To Start The Project 333 Challenge

The Basic Steps To Start The 333 Project Challenge include the following;

Step 1. Select 33 items of clothing for your capsule wardrobe.

Step 2. Donate, sell, or discard any remaining clothing items you no longer want. Throw the rest in a box.

Step 3. Choose a hiding spot for the boxed clothes.

By keeping a box of clothes you do not want to let go of tucked away, Carver explains you get the chance to “sample simplicity”. I love this because I would never be able to pare down my wardrobe to 33 times if I knew it meant having to get rid of a bunch of other clothes.

Knowing that I can still have those other clothes at the end of the challenge made it easy to pick my 33 favorite items and box the rest.

How I Made Time To Go Through My Closet

Carver recommends setting aside an entire day to go through your closet, even if you need to hire a sitter.

As a busy mom with young kids, taking an entire day to deal with clothes felt unrealistic. Maybe it’s just mom guilt kicking in, but I could not wrap my head around that.

So I went through my closet in a couple of sessions over the course of a couple of days. The first session was at night after my kids went to bed, and the second was the next morning when my husband was on child duties. 

I went through my clothes as fast and furiously as I could. I chose my 33 items, made a donation pile, set aside a couple to sell, and then boxed the rest. Time feels so fleeting these days, but having a sense of time urgency helped me get it done. I have never been as efficient as I am now as a mom.

I was also able to choose my 33 items quickly because one of the many benefits of being a stay at home mom is that there is no dress code policy. I’m the boss and I can wear whatever I want!

The 33 Items in My Stay-At-Home Mom Capsule Wardrobe

It’s winter here in the Pacific Northwest, so I’ll be starting Project 333 with a stay-at-home mom winter capsule wardrobe.

I’m glad I am doing my first capsule wardrobe in the winter months because I love cozy sweatshirts, hats, and anything warm and fuzzy to add hygge to my day!

Choosing My 33 Mom Wardrobe Essentials

I decided my 33 items of clothing must be;

1. Comfortable
2. Functional
3. Match my style

When I’m with my kids (which is pretty much all the time as a stay-at-home mom), I do not want to wear anything that restricts movement. I need to be able to bend over to pick up my toddler, sit on the floor and play, run around at the park, and zip about my house cleaning things up and gathering water bottles, snacks, jackets, and toys. I want to be comfortable.

I also only want clothes that make me feel like my true self. At this point I know that even if I love an item of clothing, I will not wear it if it does not match my style and make me feel like myself.

So here is a look at my 33-item, casual stay at home mom capsule wardrobe for the next three months!

Sweaters

I love the textures of winter sweaters and the way they feel like a big hug. I’m hoping to get a lot of wear out of these four sweaters over the next three months.

• grey button-up sweater
• neutral linen sweater
• colorful wool sweater
• neutral pullover sweater

Sweatshirts

I live in sweatshirts and nothing is too casual for my stay at home mom life!

• black pullover sweatshirt
• green pullover hoodie
• flannel

T-Shirts

I love solid-colored T-shirts in natural fibers. Here are the eight T-shirts I’m including in my capsule wardrobe.

• grey linen T-shirt
• tan linen T-shirt
• black linen T-shirt
• grey viscose T-shirt
• blue cotton T-shirt
• yellow cotton T-shirt
• brown cotton T-shirt
• white T-shirt

Pants

I have lots of stretchy comfortable black pants in a few different styles in my capsule. Black pants go with everything, and can be dressed up or down and stretchy material is the only way for me. Thank goodness for the athleisure wear movement!

Here are my seven pants in my capsule;

• black joggers
• black joggers (I love my black joggers so have two pairs)
• black wide-leg pants
• dark grey skinny pants
• black leggings
• green flare yoga pants
• black flare yoga pants

Clearly, I love black athleisure pants and they are at the top of my mom wardrobe essentials list!

Jackets

I have four jackets in my capsule wardrobe to wear in various winter weather conditions.

• raincoat
• puffy coat
• lightweight fleece
• heavyweight fleece

Shoes

Tennis shoes or sneakers along with a pair of black boots are all I need to get out and about. I have a pair of minimalist walking shoes (wide-toe boxes are the best!) and a pair of Lems zero-drop Chelsea boots.

I’m not sold on the comfort of my Lems boots, but I’m giving them the next three months. I love that they are nice enough to wear to a nice occasion or to wear as everyday waterproof shoes in the rainy PNW.

• tennis shoes
• Chelsea boots

Hats

My winter capsule wardrobe would not be complete without a couple of beanies. Plus, as a busy mom with two young kids, I don’t take time to do anything nice with my hair so covering it up with a hat is a quick fix.

• grey beanie
• white beanie

Buying Clothes For a Mom Capsule Wardrobe

While I had more than enough clothes to make a decent winter capsule wardrobe, I know there are times when mamas do need to buy new clothes. New moms may especially need to buy new clothing pieces after pregnancies, changing bodies, and new lifestyles; even if they have a closet full of clothes.

The good news is that there are great ways to acquire new wardrobe essentials that are budget-friendly and environmentally sustainable.

I have bought quite a few things second-hand off of ThredUp, and some of my favorite clothes are from the local thrift store. It can be a little bit of a toss-up shopping secondhand, but it’s usually worth a shot.

Buying Second-Hand

Some of my favorite second-hand clothes as a stay-at-home mom that I found on ThredUp include the following;

• Athleta sweatshirts
• Patagonia fleece jackets
• J Crew Linen T-shirts
• Lou & Grey Sweaters

Buying New

Sometimes buying second-hand just does not work out. Pants and shoes are items that I always buy new. I have a hard time finding a good fit in both of these items, so I like to go straight to the source of what I know works.

For pants and shoes I love;

• Birkenstocks
  These shoes are on the pricey side, but they last a long time and your feet will thank you.
• Colorfulkoala and Crz Yoga pants
  These brands offer my favorite athleisure pants. I hate elastic sewn into the tops of my waistbands in stretchy pants, and they offer some seamless options which are so comfortable! Postpartum mamas may be especially interested in this feature.

How Clothes Impact Mood and Behavior

I’m hoping that by curating a simple capsule wardrobe, I will get out of my ratty sweatpants and sweatshirts a little more often, and into more intentional but still comfortable outfits. Woman Magazine shares an interesting article on “Dopamine dressing”.

In this article, Nikki Bezzant reports on the work of a fashion psychologist, a handful of scientific studies on clothes and psychology, and a clothing designer. In sum, the article explains that the color, fit, and feel of clothes can have a big impact on mood and behavior.

With this in mind, I plan to start getting dressed more intentionally. Most days, I wear an old sweatshirt and a pair of old sweatpants all day. This is extremely comfortable, but I wonder how it impacts my mood and productivity.

I also want to see what it’s like to live with less, and how this impacts my day to day. I’ve always been interested in trying to live a more minimalist lifestyle, and the Project 333 Challenge is a great way to dive in.

What I Learned From Creating My 33-Item Capsule Wardrobe

The biggest thing I learned after going through my closet and selecting my 33 pieces of clothing is that I have way more than enough clothes; I have way too many!

Instead of feeling like I need and want more, I now feel like I need and want less. This is great news because it frees up some head space (and closet space!). And in this season of life as a busy mom with two young kids, there are so many meaningful things to fill my head and heart with that have nothing to do with what I’m wearing.

I also learned that getting dressed in an intentional outfit everyday is something that can boost my day to day mood and morale. I have always thought, “Why bother wearing anything other than my sweatpants as a stay at home mom? I’ll wear my nice stuff for something special”.

I realize though, that every day is special! And that getting dressed is not for anyone else. It is for me. Even if no other adult sees my nice sweater, I will see and feel my nice sweater all day long. I want my kids to remember me in something other than sweatpants as well.

Continuing My Stay at Home Mom Capsule Wardrobe Series

Stay tuned for part two of my stay at home mom capsule wardrobe series to see how I do over the next three months. I’ll be sharing how I did wearing my 33 items and how it impacts my life beyond my closet.