This post is a bit of a departure from usual topics! The pandemic has brought a lot of people home and made them appreciate a few things. Some of them are obvious, like decluttering (my low-key favourite!) and home decoration (that too) and house plants (I’ve got lots of those). One of the many other home-bound themes, though, has to do with the clothes we wear…and aren’t wearing, as we’re not going out in public much these days. In fact, we’re wearing a lot of
Schlep-wear, schlepwear | house-schlep clothes.
1. No-longer-stylish or imperfect yet comfortable clothes you only wear at home, to preserve socially-appropriate clothing for repeated use and greater longevity. I changed into my house-schlep tights as soon as I got home. I slung my work pants over the back of the chair for Friday morning.
2. Stained or worn out clothes worn over other clothes for the purpose of getting dirty while working on household or outdoor projects. I split the seam of this pair of pants, so now they're schlep-wear for the next time I paint.
I must say I was surprised and a bit annoyed to read about people feeling the “need” to buy house-schlep clothes, as in, the ultra-comfy casual wear that found a new market this pandemic. They can spend the money if they have it, but didn’t they just overburden all the charity shops by getting rid of too much (too fast: all at the same time), and now they’re buying more? This is ironic. Or just poor decision-making.
I really hope that merchants are selling their overstock, the stuff previously going to waste in this incredibly wasteful industry. Otherwise, workers are in the factory at great risk to themselves right now, or at their sewing machines at home, merely to supply a frivolous need.
Because in my view, people were already wearing house-schlep clothes. And there’s a ready supply of second-hand clothes both online and in charity shops, even if in-person shopping is a limitation. Except for pyjamas, you don’t need new house-schlep clothes because…
Downgrading is the obvious option.
House-shlep clothes are comfy, and that’s all you need. By downgrading items you already own from your work- and social clothes, you’re getting more use out of them.
When you wear these “downgrades” at home, you break them in further, making them more comfortable – and take something that might have been only a “work” option to something you enjoy wearing at home. It’s not the same as sweat pants (though sweat pants are fine, coming from your pyjama or workout stash!).
When you don’t wear nicer articles at home (or, these days, at all), you’re preserving them for a longer life.
So cast a critical eye over your clothes and anticipate what you’re still going to love wearing as work clothes, your still-nice social outfits, and streetwear. Don’t forget to consider your workout gear! You’ll find downgradables now, and by the spring and summer of next year, or (worst case) the fall, you’ll be ready for the stuff you haven’t been wearing for lack of opportunity. It’ll be like they’re new again.
I should explain a wonderful thing that I came across in 2018, which significantly changed my life. It chopped my clothing budget in half and reduced the size of my wardrobe, while helping me upgrade it overall, by becoming more discerning about what I keep and let in. It prioritized what I wear with a view to its finite life. I feel great about what I have, and while I look forward to one day needing better clothes, I never feel a lack of them. This concept came to me at the exact moment when I decided I wanted to take an inventory of my clothing, and then Kondo it.
Sorting your clothes into a workable inventory
I don’t know how I came across The Capsule Wardrobe, but maybe it was through the simple search term “clothing inventory.” It’s simply limiting your clothing on a seasonal basis (summer, winter, spring/fall) to just 37 articles. This count does not include socks, pantyhose, underwear, pyjamas, belts, hats or scarves. It also doesn’t include workout clothing, or job-specific or special-case costumes such as uniforms or tuxedos or ball gowns (even party dresses). Therefore, it doesn’t include schlepwear.
It does include outdoor coats and all manner of shoes (except specialist work-mandated shoes, like steel-toed boots or waders, of course).
It already sounds both simple and complicated at the same time, so let’s just start:
The initial approach
Take all your clothes (just like Marie Kondo says!), throw them all on your bed, and start sorting them. It actually helps that they’ll already be a bit pre-sorted, as in the Winter pile, the Summer pile, and the Anytime pile. You will want to keep these clear divisions to go through, so make your first job getting them into these piles (winter, summer, anytime).
Then, go through each of these piles, one object at a time. Notice the following criteria about each object:
- Do I wear this article of clothing? When was the last time? When might the next time be?
- Is it in rough shape (stretched, shrunk, stained; in need of a major repair)?
- Do I have a duplicate, or one so similar that I could choose between the two?
- Do I love it, or is it a meh?
Destinations of this initial sort
Obviously, if you don’t wear an article of clothing anymore, it becomes fodder to donate to someone who would (if it’s in good shape). If it’s in bad shape, don’t bother: make it schlep-wear!
If it’s in rough shape: Donate major-repairables only if they are high-quality material. No one wants to repair what you can’t be bothered repairing, unless it really is a rewarding creative/fashion find. As for worn-out and cheap material: turn it into Rags, or send to the textile Recyclers. Value Village is one such point; mark the box as “textile recycling” so they don’t waste time assessing it for sale.
If you have two items that are a duplicates or very similar, you have a choice: Donate, or Future Box one. The Future Box is for you: practical clothing you like but don’t wear now, that you can judge of such quality that you’ll definitely wear them in the future. When that future comes, if you’ve changed your mind, the clothing will still be gift- or donation-worthy. This is not the place for trendy or frothy fashion items; wear those now or donate them!
So now, you’ve done your first quality-check pass through your Winter, Summer, and Anytime piles. You will now also have a House-schlep pile, a Rags/Recycle pile, a Donate pile, and a Future Box.
Now you can take an inventory of what you have (the first three piles). Do a long list for each season and the Anytime clothes. The list itself should take about an hour, because you can count on it having at least 100 different items.
From Inventory to Capsule Wardrobe
When I first read the Capsule Wardrobe list, the 37 articles broke down like so:
| Work: 20 options | Casual: 15 options |
| 7 work shirts, blouses, or sweaters 4 to 5 work bottoms (pants and skirts) 1 to 2 suits/dresses 1 to 2 jackets/coats 4 pairs of shoes and boots | 7 shirts, sweaters, and T-shirts 3 bottoms (pants and skirts) 1 to 2 jackets/shawls 2 to 3 pairs of shoes |
For the Capsule wardrobe, the goal will be to have, in table form, a break down assigning each article of clothing to a season (or two) and its function.
In my opinion, once you’ve managed to categorize everything into either Winter or Summer, the articles that are definitely for Spring and Fall will generate their own column, and the “Anytime” column goes away… because you’ll be assigning the Anytime clothes to the seasons they best fill in a gap. Some articles of clothing straddle Winter and Spring/Fall, ditto for some Summer pieces. Therefore, you will not need 37 articles for Spring/Fall on its own, only for Summer and Winter.
How to get started
I started the Capsule Wardrobe effort in the Spring, and we’re in Fall right now, so I’d start with categorizing the Summer items list as you put the clothes away (in a box, a suitcase, or a harder-to-reach section of the closet). Then, focus on what you have to wear (hypothetically) this Fall, and what you’re bringing out for Winter.
| Article type | Winter | Anytime … Spring/Fall | Summer |
| Work Pants | 2 (black, grey) | Capris | |
| Work Skirts | 3 (plaid, black…) | need a skirt! | |
| Dresses and suits | Black suit Purple dress | Green flouncy thing | |
| Blouses/Shirts | Grey belted | White crêpe | Strappy blouses (blue, salmon) |
| Sweaters | 2 black, grey, red, cream | Pink short-sleeved from Mom | Summer cardigan |
| Casual shirts | Gingham, 4 T’s | 4 T’s | 6 T’s |
| Casual bottoms | Faux leather pants, blue jeans | black tights | Floral skirt |
| Shoes | Brown pant heels | Diba pointed toe 2″ heels | Birkenstocks |
Your task, if you so choose, is to now go through your Inventory from above and start sorting it into categories. Adopt this Capsule Wardrobe template and make it your own. Then put the clothes in your closet.
Heuristic for the lifecycle of an article of clothing:
- Work category ≥ Casual category > Donate | Future Box
- Any category (Work, Casual, Workout) > House-schlep > Rags/Recycle
≥ means can be equivalent or downgrade category transfer; > means downgrade
There’s an internal priority for the schlepwear, too: generally, you should wear the worst of what’s in-season (saving the better articles for those Zoom meetings), and plan to wear it out so that it becomes Rags/Recycle. I find it takes two years of house-schlep use before it’s exhausted and ready to depart, but some are ready to go at the end of a season.
Possibilities for lateral movement
After you’ve categorized your wardrobe clothes for each season, you may have begun to see where you have holes to fill (missing articles). Here’s where you keep in mind: Not all category changes are downgrades (e.g. Work to Casual to Schlepwear)!
Sometimes a small alteration will make a lateral move to fill a hole: an old pair of pants can become a “new” pair of capris. Jeans can become jean shorts. A work shirt can become a casual shirt, and sometimes, a casual shirt can become a work shirt. If the fabric is synthetic, a casual item can become a workout item! It’s happened to me, with a couple of shirts and pair of shorts. A lateral move can more-than-double the useful life of an item.
I don’t know how attached you are to your clothing, but I swear by this process now. The things that I talked about above— quality and budget— they really came to pass. And though I already had a light environmental footprint from being aware of how the industry works (opting out fast fashion as a result), this effort has been helpful, and on-theme for this blog.
One thing’s for sure: you’re gonna find yourself some more house-schlep duds to weather the rest of this pandemic and any mucky projects you do in the future. And you will know exactly what you can look forward to wearing again, and what you’ll need to buy when the outside world resumes.
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