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Ultimate Mom Casual Capsule Wardrobe Plan (printable checklist) + How to Build a Wardrobe from Scratch

by Capsule Wardrobe Plans, Clothing Essentials: What to Wear

The 2023 Women’s Essentials Capsule Wardrobe Checklist is a free download that shows you all the best clothes for moms to achieve those stylish mom looks that you see all over Pinterest. No fashion sense required!

Download your copy for free below. (You’ll see the download is now called the Women’s Essentials Wardrobe Checklist.) 

(If you’re a stay at home mom, work at home mom, homeschool mom, new mom, nursing mom, pregnant mom, or even an over 40 empty nester mom this is designed for you!)

 

If you’re new to the “capsule wardrobe plan” solution, please read on.

 

 

How A Women’s Essentials Capsule Wardrobe Solved My “Frumpy Mom” Dilemma For Good

Fashion tips for looking stylish are helpful, but clothes shopping can still feel ambiguous, overwhelming, and expensive when you’re not a natural with fashion. There are just SO MANY OPTIONS out there.

As a new stay-at-home mom, I just wanted someone to tell me how I could achieve that effortless cute mom look. How did trendy and casual style meet to create a Joanna-Gaines-style casual wardrobe? Those mamas that had nailed it… they looked so comfortable and yet adorable!

I didn’t want to waste money on clothes that felt foreign to me. But I also wanted to get out of my boring clothes rut.

And I couldn’t find this kind of complete done-for-you guide of what wardrobe essentials I should focus on to achieve cute “mom on the go” outfits every day.

There were tons of capsule wardrobes out there, but none were mom-friendly and budget-friendly.

So, 6 months into blogging about mom-friendly fashion I knew what I really needed to finally beat the “frumpy mom” look for good. I needed to create my own wardrobe guide for moms.

I sat down to research and plan my first capsule wardrobe planner in fall of 2016, designed especially for stay at home moms who needed casual clothes.

I figured that even if you worked outside the home, it was the at-home, casual style that was the real challenge since it was too easy to default to frumpy and boring.

When the fall capsule plan totally took off on Pinterest I knew I wasn’t the only mom finding this helpful! A winter and spring/summer capsule continued to be a huge help so last year I decided to bring all of them together to create a year-round mom capsule.

“I have wanted to make a capsule wardrobe for a long time, and Corina has made it possible. I love her styling suggestions, and with her shopping list, I had my capsule wardrobe planned and a few items bought in about an hour. Seriously! I now own all of her plans, and I love them all. I highly recommend her plans.”

— Christia, Owner at Faith Filled Parenting

“I’m actually excited to go clothes shopping now! It’s wonderful to finally feel like I can be confident in my style.”

— Natalie

Having the whole year planned out together proved to save all of us lots of time and money because we could plan ahead and give ourselves plenty of time to find the exact items we still needed to round out our wardrobes.

The best part? It’s an incredible boost to our CONFIDENCE.

There is no fashion sense or experience required to create a cute mom wardrobe when you follow a plan that someone else has already researched thoroughly.

And the way it explodes the outfit options for cute on-the-go looks every day… well that’s my favorite part!

It takes dozens of hours to research and compile a perfect capsule wardrobe planner, so if I was just doing it for myself I don’t think it would be worth it. But it’s 100% worth it when I share it with thousands of other moms, saving us ALL tons of hours and dollars!

Enter…

The 2023 Women’s Essentials Capsule Wardrobe Planner (for moms needing casual pieces!)

I’m so excited to share the result of my latest research and curation on the best clothing pieces to create a flexible but stylish mom wardrobe that we can enjoy all year round!

Download the complete PDF printable to get shopping links and notes about what to look for with each item, printable shopping checklist, and 8 cute mom outfit ideas covering each season.

(You’ll see the download is now called the Women’s Essentials Wardrobe Checklist.) 

 

This stay at home mom capsule plan covers an entire year of wardrobe needs.

Here’s what it includes…

The Mom Capsule Wardrobe Plan Breakdown

What’s in it?

  • 28 tops
  • 7 pants
  • 2 skirts
  • 4 shorts
  • 6 dresses
  • 14 completer pieces (sweatshirt, cardigans, vests, jackets, coat)
  • 10 pairs of shoes (+ slippers)
  • 27 suggested accessories

Don’t be scared off by the idea of a “capsule.” It’s totally just the framework I use to simplify things, but you can have as much added variety within each category as you’d like.

The wardrobe size you end up with is totally flexible!

If the list above seems like a lot of pieces, remember this is for the entire year: fall, winter, spring, and summer.

I make a point to mark the very basic essentials with an asterisk (*) so that you can focus your shopping list if you are just getting started.

Step-By-Step Instructions For How To Build A Capsule Wardrobe From Scratch

Are you wanting to pare down your clothes to create a minimalist mom capsule wardrobe? Or maybe you’re a brand-new mom finding your previous wardrobe to be useless? Or you’re pregnant or nursing and need a list of wardrobe staples to purchase?

In either case, this will apply to you. I’ll share the process I’ve developed to freshen up your wardrobe starting with what you already own.

I follow these steps every 6 months or so when spring/summer or fall/winter is around the corner. It keeps my wardrobe de-cluttered and relevant so that cute mom outfits are readily available.

The 3 Keys To A Versatile Mom Wardrobe

The key to a simplified wardrobe is making sure all the pieces are “remixable” (easy to mix and match). This allows you to have fewer pieces and yet create more variation in your daily looks.

To make a wardrobe “remixable,” you need these 3 components:

  1. A set color palette/color scheme that you (mostly) stick to
  2. A variety of pieces (going beyond jeans and tees!)
  3. A proper ratio of pieces in neutral colors versus complementary colors and solid styles versus pattern styles

Because it can take a lot of trial and error to figure this out for yourself, I do all the leg work with the capsule wardrobe plan that’s perfect for any woman but especially for SAHMs.

All you need to do is download the plan (below), plan a kid’s nap time or bedtime to have some time to yourself, and then walk through the steps in the next section.

 

 

 

How To Take Your Current Wardrobe And Update It With The SAHM Capsule Wardrobe Plan

These steps use the free Stay At Home Moms’ Year-Round Wardrobe Plan, so make sure you’ve had it sent to your inbox.

Step 1: Clean Out The Clutter

Go through all your clothes (hanging, folded, in hamper-jail) and place just your favorite pieces on the bed. These are pieces that fit you well, are in good condition, and you find yourself going back to over and over.

For everything left hanging or folded (didn’t make your “favorites” cut), place each item in one of three piles:

  1. Too old -> Toss
  2. Never worn/doesn’t fit/don’t like -> Donate or Consign
  3. Might use in the future/unsure -> Archive by storing in a bin or a spare closet. Set a reminder on your phone to reassess these items in 3 months.

Place your favorite pieces back in your closet/drawers.

Step 2: Print The Capsule Wardrobe Planner

If you haven’t already, go ahead download and print out the capsule wardrobe booklet (above). To save on ink, you can just print the capsule plan checklist.

These same steps are written out on the first few pages so you can print them off to reference away from your computer too.

 

Step 3: Customize the Plan To Your Needs and Preferences

  • Customize Colors. Look over the Capsule Plan Visuals page. See the suggested color palette? This is just an example of how you can plan a set of colors to stick with as you move forward. You can swap your own colors in to make it your own! (Use the blank color template on the checklist page.)
  • Customize Pieces. Take a look at the suggested pieces on the visuals page. If you find that something wouldn’t work for your style or body shape, you swap out any pieces for something similar that you prefer! Scribble and make notes about anything you want to swap.

Step 4: Capsule Check Off: Shop Your Closet First

Now take the visuals and checklist and go through your freshly de-cluttered closet.

Check off items you have. You do not need to have the exact pieces.

Follow the criteria I’ve used within the of label each piece. For example: “Neutral Tunic Top” means it should be a tunic length top in a solid neutral color from the color palette you planned. Beyond these specifications your pieces can vary from the example pieces and still achieve remixability.

Step 5: Shop For What’s Left.

Anything left unchecked on your checklist becomes your shopping list! Easy right?

To make shopping go quickly, take a moment to specify what colors you’re aiming to find for each item. It makes it easier to browse the images online and racks in-store.

How To Shop For Clothes From Home When You Have Kids

It’s hard to get out shopping with kids in tow! I do most of my shopping online and stick with retailers that offer returns with free shipping.

You can click the exact item labels on the visuals page in your eBook to purchase it online. However if you’re looking for different options, simply take the description of the piece and search on your favorite retailer. The following are tried and true favorites used by our community of moms:

  • Amazon.com’s fashion department – Prime offers free shipping and free returns. Prime Wardrobe also allows you to try on items for 7 days free.
  • Jane.com – This website offers affordable, limited-time deals on gorgeous women’s apparel. You’ll find most of the recommended items from this capsule for sale here! (Sign up for their email list to get notified when a deal goes live–the best items sell out fast.)
  • Target.comHM.com/en_usOldNavy.com – All these popular retailers offer free returns (Old Navy pays return shipping. Target and H&M offer free returns in-store). 

How To Create Over 428 Stylish Mom Outfits From Your Wardrobe

My favorite aspect of the capsule wardrobe planner is that it’s designed with “remixable” in mind. That means when you follow the recommendations for what to get in neutral versus color or in pattern versus solid print, your pieces will mix and match into hundreds of unique on-the-go outfits!

We have a complete Style Guide book based on this capsule wardrobe checklist!

 

The Style Guide gives you all these features:

  •  The full capsule wardrobe checklist (about twice as many items) 
PREMADE, READY TO BUY CAPSULE WARDROBE UPGRADE SHOWING YOU HUNDREDS OF CUTE OUTFITS FOR MOMS.
  • We show you how to style all 428 possible outfit combinations (based on the clothes in the checklist) broken down into the four seasons (including 10 dressy outfit ideas per season for those PT meetings, church services, baby showers, and date nights.
  • All 428 outfits styled by real moms ranging in sizes and body shapes

 

 

 

Or… try a free preview first: