Hi, friends! Today I'm excited to share with you the second update in my January goals for the year. In case you missed it, the first update covered my January budget—what it was, how I did, and all the interesting little lessons I learned along the way. If you remember from my original post on my January goals, I wanted to focus on limiting my impulse purchases by implementing two new habits.

Habit 1: Stick to a monthly budget.

Habit 2: Practice closet contentment with a monthly capsule wardrobe.

If you couldn't guess from the title, today's post is all about my January Capsule Wardrobe—the inspiration for it, the 27 pieces that were in it, how many times I wore each piece, and overall takeaways from this monthly closet experiment. So let's get right into it, shall we?

What is a Capsule Wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a limited selection of clothing items that work well together and can be mixed and matched to create multiple outfits. The idea is to simplify your wardrobe, reduce decision fatigue, and focus on quality over quantity.

For January, I selected 27 pieces including tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear, and shoes. I didn't count accessories, workout clothes, or loungewear in this number.

My Wear Counts

One of the most eye-opening parts of this experiment was tracking how many times I wore each piece. Here were my top 5 most-worn items:

1. Dark Boyfriend Jeans - worn 11 times
2. Black Align Leggings (Lululemon) - worn 5 times
3. Black Crop Leggings - worn 4 times
4. Black Cashmere Sweater (Everlane) - worn 3 times
5. Burnt Orange Turtleneck (J.Crew) - worn 3 times

Interestingly, I also had several pieces that I only wore once or twice. This was really helpful in identifying what I actually reach for versus what just takes up space in my closet.

What I Learned

1. I wear less than I think. Even with just 27 pieces, I didn't wear everything equally. Some items got heavy rotation while others barely got worn.

2. Versatility matters. The items I wore most were neutral colors that paired easily with everything else in my capsule.

3. Quality over quantity. Having fewer, better-quality pieces that I love wearing is much more satisfying than a closet full of clothes I never reach for.

Overall I was really happy with how my January Capsule Wardrobe went! I wore almost everything at least twice. And to no surprise, the items I thought were my favorites going into the month were the pieces I wore the most. This month really just goes to show that I can live on a lot less than I have been, that I have more than enough, and can be plenty happy with the looks I put together with what I already own.

Have you ever tried a capsule wardrobe? What was your experience like?

You might also like… My Favorite Books on Minimalism and The 100 Thing Challenge I Did Last Summer.

Moving Forward

I loved this experiment so much that I'm continuing it into February! I'll be doing a winter capsule again with a few swaps for items that didn't get much wear. I'm also planning to track my wear counts again to see if any patterns emerge.