Sherry (SaverSpender on IG) posted this Guardian article to her stories the other week, and I have to admit, I was triggered by the title alone. I get all the reasons why buying mountains of (new) clothes is bad for the environment, and there are plenty of valid reasons for wanting/needing/having a small wardrobe, sustainability concerns aside. But … women with fewer clothes dress better? Really? I feel attacked, y’all.

Let’s dig in, shall we.

“A fabulous capsule wardrobe is the sustainable way”

I mean … ok? I’m not going to argue that this statement is entirely wrong but there are nuances here that are important to note. First, a capsule wardrobe is ONE way to be sustainable – and it comes with a caveat. I am aware of so called “capsule bloggers” whose purchasing habits are not all that different from the average person’s. If you’re buying a new “capsule” every season, or every year even, that’s not particularly sustainable. It’s just a trendy label on the same old wardrobe.

Second, a lot of discussions of capsule wardrobes tend to be very reductive. Not everyone lives in the same climate, not everyone has the same lifestyle. The idea, perpetuated in this article as well, that everyone can get by with a 4-piece core capsule (as presented here courtesy of Wardrobe NYC, that includes a blazer, shirt, t-shirt and leggings) is seriously flawed.
Side rant: I mean LEGGINGS, people! I’m not bagging on leggings, but even with my generous office dress code, leggings wouldn’t cut it as a core piece of my wardrobe. Did I mention these 4 pieces will set you back a cool $1,500USD? I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do when your fancy leggings are in the wash, but when money is no object, I assume these problems just resolve themselves.

Back to my point: discussions of capsules rarely seem to factor in weather, lifestyle requirements, or laundry into the equation. A big part of why my clothes last for years is that I rotate them regularly, thereby reducing the need to wash them as often. If I had only 2 or 3 blouses to wear, guess what: they’d be getting washed all the time and, no matter how much care I took of them, they would start showing wear in fairly short order.

The comeback to that is always “buy better quality” but here’s the thing: true good quality is hard to find. There is no reliable indicator like brand or price point; you have to know what you’re looking for and spend time finding it. A lot of people don’t have that luxury. And to say, “well, spend the equivalent of a mortgage payment on 4 pieces of clothing” is also not realistic to the vast majority of people.

“Fancy, limelight-hogging showpieces are a distraction best avoided. Jazziness is good, but keep it subtle.”

So, the article pays lip service to the idea that a capsule wardrobe has to be practical and serve the person’s needs … and then it immediately proceeds to tell people what they need. The answer is a blazer, apparently. I like blazers as much as the next person (who likes blazers) but the idea that everyone MUST own one needs to die. Apart from being unhelpful to a lot of people, it’s an idea that connects up with a phenomenon that other, smarter, more eloquent people have described better elsewhere: the flattening of personal aesthetic. It’s why we have Instagram Face and AirSpace – everything and everyone is starting to look the same. There is nothing wrong with Instagram Face, per se; it’s a perfectly fine aesthetic, if that’s your thing. The problem starts, as far as I’m concerned, when Instagram Face becomes so ubiquitous that it stops being an aesthetic and becomes a value standard. To go back to clothing: neutrals are good. I LOVE black. Like, a lot. White, and cream, and grey, and camel – all fine. But elevating them to be the universal standard of “good style”? No. You can dress like a rainbow and have good style.

Give me “fancy, limelight-hogging showpieces”. I adore them. They’re not for everyone. But they are for some people, and to suggest that those people are “worse dressers” because of it is not ok. There is something about the phrase “jazziness is good, but keep it subtle” that sets my teeth on edge. I am a white, middle-class, cis woman and far from being especially woke, but there is an undertone to statements like this that makes me uncomfortable. The aesthetic touted in this article and throughout modern history as the epitome of “elegant” and “stylish” is a very particular one: it’s Audrey Hepburn; it’s Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, it’s Francoise Hardy (all women cited at the very beginning of this article). What do they all have in common?

Look, I am not bagging on the neutrals-heavy minimalist aesthetic; like leggings, it has its attractions and I am not immune to them. But let me repeat: I am not inherently a better dresser when I wear head-to-toe monochrome than when I am wearing bold prints or loud colours. And why can’t a person have a capsule – yes, even a small one – of “fancy” showpieces? Sure, people might be able to more easily tell that the person is re-wearing the same clothes but so what? On one hand, this article is touting the merits of outfit-repeating, while on the other, it suggests that one ought to find ways to disguise that fact (by wearing clothing that is as homogenous as possible). I don’t get it.

Here’s my take on capsule wardrobes. They won’t make you a better dresser. Sorry, but there is no shortcut for that. Personal style is as much an art as any other creative endeavour. There is no formula for sprezzatura. It’s not effortless; don’t believe the lies. The secret to style is not to be unlocked by buying the “right” clothes.

That’s the bad news.

And the good news? First, you don’t need to be a good dresser or particularly stylish in order to be well-dressed. And by well-dressed, I mean dressed appropriately for the occasion, whatever it may be. That is all that social convenience requires. Just as not everyone can or wants to be a concert pianist, not everyone can or wants to be a style icon. (If you want to be, you will dedicate time to it, just like the concert pianist. But it’s okay to not want that, even if you enjoy listening to classical music.)

Second, a capsule wardrobe can definitely simplify the process of getting dressed. That’s obvious. Fewer choices mean fewer decisions to be made. For some people, this is a very worthwhile goal. (For people like me, the decision-making process IS the fun part.) But convenience is an entirely separate issue from style. You can be obsessed with style but wear the same thing every day because you have a very narrow aesthetic. Or you can wear the same thing every day because you don’t care about style. Conflating the two might make for a click-baity headline but it’s not very helpful.

“A streamlined wardrobe frees a little more of your time, your sanity – and the world’s resources”

Where do I begin. One, this article has apparently never heard of a circular economy, or secondhand clothing. Ok, fine. Let’s keep it basic: buying fewer clothes is better for the environment. But sanity? Holy whopper of an assumption, Batman. My sanity is just fine, thanks for the concern. I’ll say it again: I. Enjoy. Choosing. What. To. Wear. Every. Day. I like painting with my full box of colours – literally and figuratively. And, yes, not everyone does. Some people don’t want to paint, period. And while you might think that this type of article empowers them, I think it does the opposite. Go back to the premise: having a capsule wardrobe makes you a better dresser. Why would someone who doesn’t care about style – who feels overwhelmed (their sanity!) by the idea of having to choose something to wear every day – care about being a good dresser? They don’t. What they care about, presumably, is being appropriately dressed and getting on with things they actually enjoy doing. But, implicitly, this article is telling them that they should care. And that there is a solution to this problem they didn’t know they had.

And, yeah, there you have it.

Capsule wardrobes are a f*cking marketing gimmick. What, did the “subtle” (can’t make it too jazzy, after all) advertising for the $1,500 4-piece wardrobes not tip things off?

Sigh.

I know, I know: this whole post could have been condensed into: “Late stage capitalism, man.” But then I would not have had the opportunity to rant for nearly 1,500 words which is, surely, almost as pleasurable as spending $1,500 on a pair of luxury leggings. Thanks for indulging me.

25 Comments on In Defence of The Not-Subtle

  1. I love a good rant and this is an excellent rant. I have a good number of clothes in my closet. It is not an organized and cohesive closet but it is full of clothes I like. I am never drawn to capsule wardrobes. I would have to give up the thrift shopping I love and the random, ridiculous clothing items that make me happy. Also, I love leggings as much as the next person but as part of a 4-item capsule for $1,500? I can’t roll my eyes hard enough.

    • Yeah, I love thrifting which brings me weird little gems that end up being my favourite things to wear. I love that kind of happenstance. But I recognize that’s not the answer for everyone. I just hate one-size-fits-all “solutions” that don’t necessarily even have a problem to solve.

  2. Great post!!!
    I hate to say it…but the gals that tout capsule/ethical/sustainable wardrobes all look the same. Originality seems to have gone by the wayside.
    I live in central New York, in the 80s and 90s we all looked the same, I could go to Savannah and point out all the women from my area…even our hair was the same..ugh!
    Anyway…you go girl! I love your fashion sense and originality. You keep it real!xxxx

    • I am all for people wearing what they like (and if that’s all neutrals, all good) but variety is important so I’m not a fan of articles like this one that suggest one aesthetic is objectively better than another.

  4. Reader from France, lurking for some years…
    Thank you, thank you, thank you for writing what I feel, what I wanted to say to all the people touting the so called capsule wardrobe!
    My english is not good enough to write properly what I wanted to convey.
    I am by no means a lover of white and black (true white washes me out and well, yes, my trousers are mostly black !!). I like colours, bright colours, although french(!!!) and true, I do stand out. But I don’t care.
    I see no reasons why I should dress myself all in neutrals colours because it is supposed to be cool and why I should buy new clothes to fit the capsule wardrobe which is, by the way, always quite casual.
    I don’t really do casual, it is not so much my aesthetic. I am not frilly either, I am … me!
    I reminds me the other movement which was, in my eyes and in most cases, a fad: the simplicite volontaire. Apologies, I just do not know the name in english.
    Most of the time, the adopter were young people, mostly middle class, educated, with quite some money and mostly coming from the city. They did what most people elsewhere in the world do as a living because they can’t do otherwise.
    Same for most of capsule wardrobe adopters: mostly young, white, occidental, with money enough, educated. And blogger, instagramer … and wearing all the same kind of clothes. Clones in my view.
    True, always, quality is better than quantity. But black and whites, casual always, all the same, no thanks.
    I will stop my message here as my english is lacking.
    Again, thank you for your blog post.

    • Thank you for your comment – your English is infinitely better than my French 🙂

      I’m with you: my goal is always to dress in a way that makes me feel good inside my own skin even if someone else wouldn’t feel the same.

  5. This is such a great piece. I never comment on blogs but had to reach out to let you know that this was well written, clever, and so so thoughtful. Thank you for sharing!

  6. This was a great response to a very self righteous article! ‘Capsule wardrobes are the answer’ reminds me of the broader ‘minimalism is the answer’ mantra which so often has a not very well hidden subtext of ‘throw lots of things out, then, buy other stuff’’. I think this focus on there being one right answer is why most green fashion books are very frustrating reads. Honourable exception for Dana Thomas’ Fashionopolis, which recognises that there are many things to be done and all will make a contribution to improving the environmental impact of fashion.

    • I’m not sure if it was self-righteous or just blinkered – maybe both. I probably shouldn’t take it seriously but, ah well, I like having a reason to rant 😉
      And thanks for reminding me that I still need to read Fashionopolis.

  9. Amen! is all I will say.
    The aesthetic often pushed in articles like this are clearly referring to a very specific type of person, and that is very problematic, even without all the other issues you brought up. Great read!

  10. Yeah!!! I second everything you said. The only time I look to a capsule wardrobe idea is when I have to pack for two weeks in half a carry on bag (the other half is taken up by my kid’s clothes). How I long for the days of a free checked bag and solo travel! Otherwise a capsule wardrobe is too boring for my tastes. I need more excitement!

    • You can fit your stuff and the kids’ into one carry on? Hats off! That is seriously impressive, capsule wardrobe or no.

  11. This was a great read! It makes me feel rants as well. something I’ve been wondering about with the whole sustainability fashion movement—why are women being put into in the position of saving the world from late-stage capitalism? Instead of, oh I don’t know, corporations? Heaven forbid we allow women to actually enjoy fashion and style because of course anything oriented towards women has to be devalued, if not degraded. Not to mention that women often face penalties for not meeting the style/fashion norms of their profession, which necessitates a larger wardrobe.

    If we want to do something about the environment, let’s work for structural change and accountability, rather than needlessly guilting woman over yet another thing they’re doing wrong. But I guess that isn’t a successful marketing technique…

    • That is a whole other, very important discussion that I didn’t really touch on. But suffice to say, I agree with you. While I think it’s good for all of us to be mindful about our consumption habits, I don’t think the onus to change an entire industry (or economic system) should rest with consumers directly. The idea that “voting with your dollars” works only benefits corporations. Vote with your vote for political candidates who will pursue the changes you want to see made.

      And yes, I don’t see men wringing their hands (Or being told to) over how sustainable their clothes, or cars, or whatever may be in the same way as women.

  12. Alina, this post is why I’ve been reading your blog for so long! I second it all. Thank you for giving acceptance to those who aren’t into fashion as a means of self expression. For so many years if seemed that fashion blogging was quite snarky and judgmental. I have often been criticized for being overdressed (which in the ‘Burbs means anything fancier than yoga pants) my stock answer is, “I just need a little pretty today.” Keep doing you- we all love you for it!

  14. I too loathe the words capsule wardrobe. I tried an experiment where I put together just a capsule in grey and black in my closet and my husband’s. I included one accent color for each of us. I hid the rest in another closet. It did prompt us to try new combinations of existing pieces, but my husband broke first and pled to have his green pants back. Since then, I try to keep the total number of pieces steady but intentionally include variety.