As I’ve slowly witted down my wardrobe from 2 overly packed closet rods about half of 1 neatly organized closet rod, I’ve become less interested in rotating out my wardrobe each season and more interested in having one cohesive wardrobe that works year-round. Even during the periods I was fully committed to a capsule wardrobe, I was still thinking about how all these seasonal wardrobes worked together. My spring/summer items were bright, almost neon, at times, in contrast with my fall/winter pieces that were more neutrals and jewel tones. And during the transitional periods, I just didn’t know what to do. Should I just hang up everything I own or should I select a transitional capsule? Does that mean I’m technically going to have 4 extra capsules a year? It really just began to feel like a lot of unneccessary thought was going into these capsules, when a year-round wardrobe was really the solution. Just thinking about having everything I own hanging nicely next to each other in my closet makes my heart happy.

During all of my time creating capsule wardrobes, I’ve started with “what do I already own that is seasonally appropriate?” But as I started designing this wardrobe, I was thinking “what are my needs in an all-seasons, minimal wardrobe?” Here are the details I focused on in answering that question.

1. I am a stay-at-home mom (sometimes work-at-home mom) with two toddlers.
2. I live in an area that experiences all four seasons.
3. I tend to wear the same types of clothing every season.
4. My daily activities are predominantly childcare, home maintenance, errands, and relaxing.
5. I prefer to wear colors that enhancing my deep autumn coloring and fits that flatter my somewhat pear-shaped body type.
6. I need to have enough clothing to last a week before I have to do laundry.

After analyzing these details as well as incorporating my own, unique style, I decided that these were the pieces I would need:

*the asterisk denotes pieces that I do not currently own

This list rounds out to a total of 49 pieces that would cover all of my wardrobe needs. It is by no means definitive as I know my wardrobe will change over time. But for the foreseeable future, these 49 pieces would more than meet my needs. I’m a little concerned by the number of pieces I still need to purchase. But it’s not a surprise as I haven’t purchased anything (outside of activewear) in over a year.

Have I left you feeling inspired to start culling your wardrobe? Interested in knowing which accessories I included in my year-round, minimalist wardrobe? Let me know your thoughts! Thanks for reading!