Disclosure: I received a free subscription to Cladwell in exchange for my review. However what I say here is entirely up to me and my honest opinion only!
Moms, I’ve come across and tested another online tool that is going to help many of you out! Cladwell.com is a web app that helps you automatically generate a custom capsule wardrobe plan based on your lifestyle needs and preferences.
Previous review: Shoptagr (Get notified when something you like goes on sale)
In this post I’m going to share:
- How Cladwell works
- Video: Watch Me Create a Mom Capsule in Under 10 Minutes
- Pros and Cons of Cladwell
- How you can use Cladwell to implement the Elastic Wardrobe principles from this blog
Now Available: Cladwell Mobile Phone App!
How Cladwell Works
You sign up for a quarterly subscription to Cladwell on their website.
It costs $5/month, billed quarterly. That means it only costs $15 to have unlimited access to the online app for three months.
As you’ll see in my video preview, it’s easy to create a capsule plan that provides balance.
You plug in your lifestyle details, fashion preferences, and color palette. Cladwell then gives you a gallery of suggested pieces to buy.
WATCH ME CREATE A MOM CAPSULE IN UNDER 10 MINUTES
SCREENSHOTS
If you don’t have time to watch the video, here are some screenshots:
Pros & Cons
Cons
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Lack of specificity about clothing pieces. The clothing pieces they suggest are very general, such as “button down blouse” or “jeans.” There are simply icons representing the pieces, not actual clothing items. At least personally, I enjoy more clear examples of what to buy because I do well copying fashion that I like rather than coming up with my own cohesive style.
- Very few shopping options provided. There’s a good reason for this–Cladwell encourages ethical shopping, so they feature only businesses that meet this criteria. However, this may make it more difficult to locate pieces and afford what you need to get.
- Minimal guidance on how to combine clothes to create outfits. While there is an outfit section, it is dependent on users submitting their photos. Currently there are not many photos available to browse. This may grow more quickly when the mobile app launches. Uploading photos on the computer may just be too much work for most users.
- A few technical glitches. It seemed I need to refresh the page any time I made changes to the wardrobe before I’d see the changes. (Not a big deal, though.)
(Pros
- The capsule plan is created based on YOUR weekly activities, broken down by neat categories: Active, At Home, Date Night, Party, Social, Weekend, Work, Worship.
- You’re encouraged to shop your own closet first.
- There is a focus on buying less and enjoying high re-mixability within your wardrobe.
- The plan is highly editable; if there’s a piece you don’t like, simply swap it out for something else. You can also assign colors and names to items that you already own.
- A mobile app version is coming soon. This will highly enhance the usability of the program! (Update: They have an app now for mobile devices. SO handy! https://cladwell.com/cladwellapp)
- Affordable. You pay $15 for 3 months (a season) of access to Cladwell. That’s $5/month to bring order and direction to your wardrobe. It could be a good investment if you already have a handle on your style. You can create as many capsules in that time as you please, so you could work ahead through the year and simply write a shopping list before your subscription ends if you don’t want to continue past three months.
How To Use Cladwell To Shape An Elastic Wardrobe
For more information on what an “elastic wardrobe” is, check out these posts! (It’s how I’ve brought sanity and style back into my wardrobe as a mom.)
There are a few main points I walk through to create a flexible mom wardrobe:
- Learn your style.
- Decide on a color palette.
- Create a shopping budget.
- Shop smart.
Before starting a capsule on Cladwell…
If you’re wanting to give Cladwell a whirl, just spend a few minutes before hand browsing Pinterest and creating a board of style pins that reflect how you want to dress. This will help you when choosing from the handful of style personalities offered within Cladwell.
#2 Decide on a Color Palette
You can use my post about this to help you get started. Cladwell allows you to choose 9 colors (3 neutrals, 3 mains, 3 accents). You’ll want to refer to your Pinterest style board to come up with these before creating your capsule on Cladwell.
After starting a capsule on Cladwell…
#3 Create a shopping budget
If you haven’t done this yet, read here about how to decide what budget works with your income and family needs. You’ll want this in place to make your shopping purposeful and guilt-free.
#4 Shop smart
To shop smart, take the suggested pieces and write them down on a shopping list (download a free one below). Number the items by priority to give you some direction while you shop!
And remember, the 3 main rules to follow when shopping are:
- Only buy it if it fits your perfectly.
- Only buy it if it can be combined with several pieces in your existing wardrobe.
- Only buy it if you LOVE it.
More resources:
Cladwell was a service I saw all over the web and was so glad to finally give it a test drive. I hope this review was helpful if you’ve considered trying it!
