How to Build a Toddler Capsule Wardrobe

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Overwhelmed with kids’ laundry piles and ready to downsize to a more manageable wardrobe? Keep reading–this may change your life!

Trading Laundry Mountain for a Curated Closet

Most families today are swimming in piles of clothing. Kids are gifted clothing from relatives, hand-me-downs from well-meaning family and friends, bags given away on local freesale or Buy Nothing groups, and unbeatable sales at big box stores with the latest adorable fashions.

It adds up so fast.

Overflowing laundry baskets, piles on the floor, always feeling like you’re a million loads behind. Parents today are drowning, but there is a solution.

Enter Capsule Wardrobes.

A capsule wardrobe is typically a set of tops and bottoms that can be worn interchangeably, or in the very least it’s a small curated collection of clothing for each season. As a starting point, you can use a set number of each type of item to keep the numbers pared down. This number may be different for everyone depending on how often you do laundry.

Considerations

I do laundry about 2-3 times a week, pretty much whenever the laundry basket is full. Some people like to do it daily and others only want to do it once a week. The number of clothes your child will need will be determined by how often you do laundry and how often they need to change clothes. This of course depends on their age and activities!

For my toddler I strive for 5 or less of each category item, but I do keep one shirt and a pair of pants in the diaper bag for emergency changes, but since it just stays in the bag it’s not a part of his actual wardrobe.

Seasons

You can do a seasonal capsule or an all-season one. I typically store the shorts and short-sleeved shirts in a bin in the closet during the off-season, and the same for sweaters and long-sleeved shirts when they aren’t being worn. This keeps the overall number of items in the drawers lower. Only clothes that are being worn at that time are in the drawer at any given time.

A Tour of My Toddler Boy’s Capsule Wardrobe

Basics

One pack of basic white socks

Tops

Warm Season

5 Short-Sleeve Shirts

Cold Season

4 Long-Sleeve Shirts

3 Sweaters or Hoodies

Bottoms

Warm Season

5 Shorts

Year-Round

5 Pairs of Pants.

In the cold season, there are two pairs of sweatpants. In warm weather, I sub out for two lightweight play pants. Year-round there are a pair of jeans and two dress pants.

Pajamas

Cold Season

3 Pairs of Fleece Pajamas

3 Pairs of Long-Sleeve Cotton Pajamas

Warm Weather

Up to 3 pairs of Short-Sleeve Pajamas.

I currently only have one set, but will acquire more when it warms up.

Dress Clothes

Warm Weather

Up to 4 Short-Sleeve Dress Shirts

Cold Season

Up to 4 Long-Sleeve Dress Shirts

Shoes

1 Pair of Sneakers, 1 Pair of Dress Shoes (optional), 1 Pair of Rain Boots or Sandals (optional)

Jackets

1 Light Coat, 1 Rain Coat (optional), 1 Heavy Coat (optional).

These will totally depend on your weather. You may need to add snow gear in depending on your location. We could get away with only a light and a heavy jacket, but were given all three in this size, so I kept them.

Storage

When you keep things minimal, your storage can be minimal too. My son’s clothes all fit in a simple plastic
3-drawer unit. Whether you have a closet, dresser, baskets, or bins, a capsule wardrobe will have no problem fitting into a compact space.

Get the PDF Guide

Ready to dive into curating your own kid’s capsule wardrobe but want a printable to walk you through it? Grab my 2 page Guide here!

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