Build A Transitional Wardrobe While Losing Weight * Spotlight My Health

I need to build a new wardrobe while losing weight. But how? And I don’t want to spend a lot of money.

Many of you know that I’ve been losing weight over the past six months. I’ve lost 50 lbs. give or take a pound or two at any given time. This means I’ve finally gotten to the part that I need new clothes. My current ones have gotten too big to pull off any look I might be going for. Mainly because I can take off most of my clothes without unbuttoning them.

The problem is, I don’t want to spend a large amount of money, knowing I still want to lose at least 20 lbs. more. And that may mean more clothes. So, what to do?

I did some research and what I’ve come up with is a capsule wardrobe. A capsule wardrobe is basically a mini wardrobe that consists of good quality, versatile pieces that mix and match with each other and can be worn over and over.

You won’t get bored with your clothes because you will always have something to wear. Over time, you can add additional pieces as you feel the need.

When building a new wardrobe while losing weight, your clothing should be timeless pieces that come together with a few seasonal pieces and accessories to make many different outfits.

These items would never go out of style as they would be the foundation of your wardrobe. Items such as pants, skirts, easy to mix and match tops and blazers/jackets/cardigans.

I didn’t really realize the difference until I looked at these two photos next to each other. Can see I definitely need some smaller shorts.

Why A Capsule Wardrobe Is The Way To Go

1. Save Money

When you plan out your wardrobe with good basic foundation pieces, it saves you money in the long run. Then you just fill in with a few trendy pieces each season.

When you stick to your transitional wardrobe plan of action, then you are not just buying something willy nilly and your bank account will thank you. And probably hubby too!

2. Frees Up Closet Space

I don’t know about your closet, but mine was stuffed. I was not the only thing that need to lose some weight! It’s not as stuffed right now because the past month, I’ve been putting things that are definitely too big, in a box. So, I’ve been opening up all kinds of closet space.

I will be donating the clothes, which is a good thing, but it is still hard for me to give away perfectly good clothes. But, I remind myself that I can no longer fit into them so someone else may as well get use out of them. None are in bad shape. Besides, I discovered that I really only wear the same pieces over and over again. I did not need so much in my closet.

Something else you realize when you free up closet space and get things organized, it makes it much easier to decide what to wear each morning. How cool and stress-free is that?

3. Your clothes won’t be wrinkled

I don’t know about you, but sometimes, I could pull a piece of clothing off the hanger and find it was wrinkled. This was because I had clothes packed in too tightly in some places. And I hate ironing, so now I’m liking not pulling out wrinkled clothes.

4. Looking in Your Closet Will Put A Smile On Your Face

Think about it. Once your closet is cleaned out of all that no longer fits or you didn’t wear anyway and replaced with only pieces you have on your transistional wardrobe list, how easy it will be to dress each day. Building your wardrobe while losing weight will be much easier.

Everything is already coordinated, so no worrying if this piece goes with another piece you want to wear. And everything will be clothing that you already know you love.

I don’t know about you, but when I look at an area I’ve finally tackled and got organized, it makes me feel good inside and there isn’t anything wrong with that, right!

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How to Build A Basic Capsule Wardrobe While Losing Weight

Ultimately, what is included in your wardrobe is up to you, but I can tell you what I’m not including in any of my suggestions in this article. Those items are undies, bras, socks, nighties, swimsuits, workout clothes, jackets, coats and boots. For now, I’m just concerned with a good basic wardrobe for work and casual use.

1. Create A Color Guide

If you look in your closet you will probably notice a few colors that are prominate. Write down the colors that pop to you or the ones you know you like and look good in.

These may be the colors you end up using as you don’t really want to just buy something because you like it. If you don’t choose your color combos ahead of time, you’ll have no idea what to look for while shopping and what you end up with may not work with other pieces you will purchase.

Your new wardrobe doesn’t have to be just black, blue and white. That wouldn’t work for me as I like brighter colors, to coordinate with the basic nuetrals like blue, black or grey.

Color Choices

Base colors: 3-4 base colors. Nearly everything in your wardrobe should match one or more of your base colors.

Example of my chosen base colors: Blue, Grey, Black, Khaki

Complementary Colors: 3 colors that will mix and match with your base colors.

My chosen colors: Fuscia, White, Peach

Accent Colors: Choose 2 colors that will possibly be your favorite colors or ones that you know you look good in and feel confident when wearing. These would be the colors that pop out at you when you look in your closet.

My chosen colors: Lime Green and Royal Blue

2. Create A Plan To Build Your Wardrobe While Losing Weight

The first part of putting together a capsule wardrobe is knowing exactly what you are looking for. Planning ahead of time what you will be shopping for will save time and money. Remember that these are basic foundation pieces so you can spend a bit more on them if you want.

Items for a transitional capsule wardrobe

Make sure the pieces you are planning are specific, down to the color and style that you want and the season that you need. An example wardrobe might look like this.

For Work:

Pants (office wear): (2) pair, black and grey, part of professional wardrobe

Skirts: (2), black and bluish grey, choose styles that work best for your figure and lifestyle

Dresses: (4), one each; formal, work, casual, travel; a little black or blue dress should be in every woman’s closet

Cardigans: (3), beige, navy and black, cardigans have opening in the front, sweaters do not

Blazers/jackets: (2), black and grey; used to pull an outfit together

Heels: (2), black, bone/beige; one high heel, one block heel

Casual:

Jeans: (3), straight leg, boyfriend and skinny, blue and/or black

Sandals: (2), black, brown with one wedge, one flat

Sweaters: (5), one each; turtleneck, crew neck, v-neck, oversized and lightweight

Works In Both Categories

Classic button up blouse: (2), chambray and white

Tank Tops: (3), white, black and grey

Short Sleeve Tee: (1-2), black and white, wear with jeans for casual look or with a skirt and blazer for work

Jean Jacket: (1), wear with jeans, dresses or skirts

Loafers: (1), black

Flats: (1), Brown

You can see that these are all basic pieces that can be mixed and matched whether for work or for a more casual look. Once you have your foundation wardrobe, then you can add additional pieces when needed. Additional pieces could be in different styles or color schemes.

Bottoms for a transitional wardrobe after losing weight

3. Go Through Your Closet

Once you have a list of what you want for your basics, you can go through your closet and pick out only those pieces that fall into the list you just put together.

And if you are losing weight, do not pick pieces if they are now too big. How your clothes fit during weight loss is just as important as any other time; if not more so. You need to look your best in order to continue to motivate yourself on your weight loss journey.

Put any pieces you will no longer be using aside or in a box to go through later if you want. When losing weight, I see no reason to continue holding onto things that no longer fit. You deserve a reward and that is new clothes that fit.

The only exception to this are the pieces that you really like and used to look good on you. These pieces are worth taking to your dry cleaner to have these pieces altered to your new size. But they are only to be kept if you actually have them altered! Building a new wardrobe while losing weight won’t be worth it, if you continue to wear frumpy, to big clothes.

If you are like me, I’ve been avoiding this. My closet is full and I’m still doing the thinking that some of these things may still fit me. But that is no longer reality, so I’m making myself take this step.

When you are going through your closet, remember a few tips:

1. Losing 10 lbs. may mean that you have gone down one American dress size.

2. Try everything on. A loss of 15 lbs. may mean that something in your closet just fits better now.

Most basic pieces of clothing can be altered down two sizes before it gets to the point of not looking good, no matter what.

Some of the pieces that you like and aren’t too big can possibly still be worn around home.

If before losing weight you didn’t wear something for the previous six months, it’s time to donate it.

When you are going through your closet, lay your clothes in three separate piles. Keep, maybe and donate. The maybe pile is for clothes you will have altered or may still wear around your home.

4. Keep A Shopping List On You

Once you have gone through your closet and compared to the new pieces for your capsule wardrobe, it’s time to make a shopping list of what you still need.

As you went through your closet and decided what pieces matched your capsule wardrobe, those pieces get marked-off and the remaining needed pieces become your shopping list. I keep this list on me at all times as I never know when I may come across the exact piece I’m looking for.

Only purchasing what is on your list will save money. Because this first capsule wardrobe is very basic, the colors are purposely neutral to go with each other and help coordinate with other pieces of clothing you may purchase in the future.

5. Don’t Forget About Your Style

Every single capsule wardrobe you come across will look different, including your own. That’s because we all look different in different pieces, like different colors, etc. And that’s a good thing. It will let your own style come through.

For instance, I know the capsule wardrobe I listed earlier calls for a turtleneck sweater. I can’t stand anything around my neck, so you will never catch me in a turleneck, so I would substitute a different type of sweater for that.

So, keep your own likes and dislikes in mind. Do you like to layer or would that make you too hot. Again, for me, I like simple, so layering would be out for me. My daughter on the other hand, likes to wear tank tops under her sweaters to keep warmer.

Or, I don’t like to tuck in my shirts or what I look like in button up shirts, so I would get another type blouse rather than the button down on the list. I’d also replace one of the cardigans or sweaters for a jean jacket.

dresses for building a transitional wardrobe after losing weight

6. Think About Your Lifestyle

Think about how you live and the things you do on a regular basis when planning and building your wardrobe while losing weight. Do you work in an office and then come home to barefeet and jogging pants?

Or is the dress code at your workplace more laid back and you can get away with wearing jeans. Does your family like to do things like hiking and camping or does your outdoor activities consist of the park, the beach or just going for a walk?

And do you plan on losing more weight, like I do. For me, I’ve been working on what I’m going to call my “transitional wardrobe”. It won’t be permanent and become a true capsule wardrobe until I’ve lost all the weight I want to. I’m still in “transition.”

Presently, I work in a very casual atmosphere, so I don’t really need professional work clothes like I did before covid. I may eventually get a pair or two of dress slacks and dresses for times I may need them, but they will no longer be the biggest portion of my wardrobe.

All these things need to be taken into consideration when working on your transitional wardrobe. And it’s also good to know and understand why a specific garmet is good to have in your closet.

For instance:

Short sleeved tee shirt: To wear tucked in with jeans for a casual look or with a skirt and jean jacket, possibly to work or dinner out.

Black skirt: Choose a style that works for your figure and lifestyle.

Sweater: A lightweight sweater works both for breezy summer nights and also to layer under a coat in the winter if needed.

Little Black Dress (or navy blue): Everyone needs one in their closet as they most likely will be needed many times.

Blazer: Are used to pull together an outfit.

Loafers or flats: These shoes can be worn casual or dressy.

Heels: Can be worn to work or to dress up a pair of jeans

Rules I Followed To Put My Transistional Capsule Wardrobe Together

1. How Many Pieces Should Be in The Wardrobe?

I don’t know if there is really a specific number of pieces of clothing to strive for when putting together my new wardrobe or not. I’ve seen suggestions of 15 to 30. I know me and know I like choices.

I just started working my plan and was and will be particular and careful when choosing my pieces. I’ll see what number I came up with at the end.

One of the hardest things for me to give up were my shoes!! I LOVE shoes, what can I say. So, I will admit, I didn’t necessarily follow the rules when it came to my shoes.

I don’t want just one pair of loafers to choose from, I prefer two pair; one in black and one in brown to chose from, depending on the chosen outfit for the day. See where I’m heading with the shoes 😊.

I did determine I’m tired of the really high heels and have given most of them away. I kept shoes that were no higher than two inches and I also included any shoes that gave me the tiniest bit of discomfort. I think my feet are thanking me.

The only other exception I made was with tops. I get bored easily, so I need more than just two or three choices when looking for a top to wear. This is where I change my style or color choices to go with my more neutral color pants.

2. All Seasons Or Just One At A Time

I live in an area that has all four seasons, so I need clothes for all four. And I’ve always kept all four in my closet at the same time. At one time, I didn’t have the space to do this, but I do now. It works and makes life easier for me.

That being said, I’ve only been working on my summer wardrobe for now as that’s the season I’m in and the point where I need better fitting clothes. Because of losing weight, I think I’m going to have to plan a wardrobe by season as I get to smaller weights.

freebie for building a wardrobe after weight loss

3. I wanted each piece of clothing to go with at least two other pieces.

One of my goals is to save money while trying to put together a new smaller sized wardrobe. One of the best ways to do this is to make sure each piece coordinates with at least two other pieces I purchase.

By planning what I’m basically going to purchase ahead of time, I definitely saved money.

4. Only purchase wash and wear

I decided I don’t want anymore dry cleaning bills and since I no longer need dress clothes for workdays, this should be easy to do. And will save me money. What’s not to like. No drycleaners, no ironing and I save money! I like it!!

5. Take My Time

I didn’t and don’t want to make impulse purchases, so I decided ahead of time, to just take it slowly to ensure I’d find what I was looking for. No just buying something and make do.

Adding Seasonal Pieces

I didn’t address other specific pieces of clothing that are needed for the different seasons. For instance, sneakers or boots, jackets and coats.

These would be needed, of course, but I suggest following the same rules that you do for the basic wardrobe. For instance, for sneakers, I would go with one pair of exercise tennis shoes and one for everyday type of wear.

For boots, I suggest starting with a black pair of booties and a brown pair of calf or knee high boots.

The trick to a capsule wardrobe is planning and then having the discipline to stick with the plan. This is especially true when losing weight and your wardrobe will be changing several times during your weight loss journey.

Stick with the basics until you have reached your goal. Then you can add additional pieces as needed.

Final Thoughts On Building A WardrobeWhile Losing Weight

One last tip that I do and keep in a folder on my phone. When I find a piece of clothing that fits me really well, I take a picture of the tags so that I have them to refer to when I need that particular piece of clothing again. Using my phone keeps the brand information handy.

For example, I have short legs, so I have to get petite pants. But even then, some brands I would still have to hem, so when I find a pair of pants that I don’t have to touch and alter, I definitely take a picture of those tags.

I wish you luck if you are also on a weight loss journey, as I am. We should compare notes. I hope that your journey is to improve your health and not because society seems to push women to be a size two.

I have reconciled myself to the fact that is something I will never be, so I choose my health and happiness over society. Care to join me?