I am in the middle of a year long experiment. In an effort to live smaller and with intention, I've been experimenting with a ten item capsule wardrobe inspired by the book Lessons From Madame Chic by Jennifer L. Scott.

In summary, the capsule wardrobe idea is to choose from only ten core wardrobe pieces throughout a season. The core pieces do not include things like shoes, jackets and t-shirts, but those items are to be limited as well.

I worked with a capsule wardrobe from January to June of this year and I learned so much about clothes and myself. Here's what I found out in the first six months:

Fast Fashion is not a good thing
I don't need as many clothes as I think I do
Layering is best for Florida weather
Fabric is key - I now look at tags and mostly go for 100% cotton or linen
Buying higher quality items saves me money
I should only buy what I know I will wear
I love wearing ballet flats so I should make those an investment piece (i.e. spend more on a quality item that will last longer)
I have much more to learn so I'm repeating the experiment for the next six months

My investment piece this season is a nice pair of black ballet flats. I went with some simple, but classic, Sam Edelman leather flats. — My investment piece this season is a nice pair of black ballet flats. I went with some simple, but classic, Sam Edelman leather flats.

To kick off July, I built a new capsule wardrobe with more hot weather friendly pieces. I did keep one pair of dress pants and one pair of jeans from the first half of the year. The remaining items were stored away for the next winter season. I had one pair of old jeans that were worn out, thus they had to go. My ten item capsule now consists of the following:

3 cotton tops
2 linen pants
1 dress pant (leftover from Season 1)
1 pair of jeans (leftover from Season 1)
2 dresses (1 cotton, 1 linen)
1 linen skirt
Extras: 4 cotton t-shirts, 1 light cardigan sweater, 1 pair of black leggings
Shoes: black leather ballet flats, black leather sandals, brown leather sandals (I also have 2 pairs of heels I can pull out to dress up an outfit)

My extras consist of 4 cotton t-shirts and a cardigan

I'm excited to see how this all works out after a year. I must admit, I like the simplicity of a capsule wardrobe. It makes shopping much easier and my wallet very happy.