Kid’s Capsule Wardrobe Plans & Checklists + Step-by-Step on How to Simplify Your Child’s Wardrobe

by CorinaCapsule Wardrobe Plans, Clothing Essentials: What to Wear

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It starts out easy, right? Your little girl or boy gets a complete wardrobe for free before they’re even born. Everything is hanging nicely in their new closet and the drawers have organized sections holding all their clothing essentials. Even their shoe selection is complete–from the variety you’d think every newborn was born walking.

Fast forward a few years and whilst the child remains clothed, it’s not free anymore. And the laundry is getting on your nerves. Like REALLY on your nerves.

How did you get to such a mess of clothing piles, mismatched sizes, colors that don’t work together, and socks that never match anymore?

There is so much clothing in your child’s room, and yet they end up wearing the same thing over and over.

Is there a better way? Can you cloth your toddler boy, kindergartener, or tween kid WELL if you’re on a budget?

Take heart. I was in this place about a year ago.

I had a pre-schooler whose supply of gifted clothes had run out. I needed to start spending money on his wardrobe and it hurt! My family’s clothing budget suddenly seemed so small.

So I decided I needed a plan. That was about the time I began playing with the idea of doing a capsule wardrobe for my kid… something I already was doing for my adult self and blog readers.

I was surprised by how well it worked. So today I’m sharing that minimalist capsule structure with you.

You all had liked the plug-n-play simplicity of the mom capsule wardrobes and asked for one for children. I wanted to create something classic and timeless so that you can use this framework year after year.

Use this any time of year to bring some definition and order to your kid’s closets. Or use the #backtoschool push to plan their first capsule wardrobe and save money on their back to school clothing needs!

In This Post

Video: How to Apply a Capsule Plan to Your Kids’ Wardrobes

Note: You can download the capsule checklist used in this video for free below. Purchase the Complete Girls’ or Boys’ Outfit Guide Package to get the additional tools mentioned! (Color Palettes, Outfit Ideas, Get Dressed Cheat Sheets and more!)

Pre-Designed Capsule Plans & Getting Started Guide

I’ll cover the benefits of a capsule wardrobe in the next section. But in case you’re already itching for me to just hand you the capsule plan solution I use… here it is.

In this free printable PDF, you’ll find:

Step-by-step instructions for starting the capsule simplifying process with what’s already in their closets. This includes how to declutter, how to use a color palette, and how to apply the pre-designed capsule plan framework I provide to your kid’s closet.
Pre-Design capsule plans (one for girl and one for boys) that cover the whole year. Includes visuals of all the recommended types of pieces as well as a printable, pre-filled shopping checklist. You don’t have to get the exact pieces I link to, but if you want to, they are all the low-priced items available from Amazon.com WITH FREE SHIPPING & RETURNS.

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Why Go With a Capsule Wardrobe for Your Kid?

Cons of Using a Capsule Plan for your Girl or Boy

I resisted the idea of doing a capsule wardrobe for my toddler and pre-school boys for a while because I truly wondered…

Can a capsule wardrobe really simplify things for my kid? Doesn’t a wardrobe “plan” actually complicate things for a growing child?
What do I do about all the mish mash of hand me downs and gifted clothes we received over the years? How can those possibly fit into a capsule plan?
And what about those gifts they continue to receive on their birthdays? How do those clothes fit in?

But as I did a test-drive of a capsule for my boys, I quickly learned that a capsule plan for kids SOLVES problems. It doesn’t create them.

That’s right, I don’t have cons. Because even the potential cons (like my questions above) are actually solved by the benefits of having a capsule. Next I’ll list those benefits.

Pros of Using a Capsule Plan for your Girl or Boy

Here are the main perks you’ll experience when you have a capsule plan framework to work from:

My boys in capsule outfits 🙂

Simplifies Life. Kids can suffer from decision fatigue very quickly. That’s why they tend to stick with the same few outfits on repeat. Trying to come up with anything different from the mountain of options in their room is just not fun. But with a capsule, you can see all your clothes with one glance, and everything mixes and matches. There are fewer choices and yet more outfit variety results. (PLUS, you’ve gotten rid of hideous items, so no more cringing results when they walk out of their bedroom.)
Reduces Laundry. When there is too much clothes to choose from, your kids will tend to change more often and thus contribute to the laundry pile more. When there are fewer choices in their closet, there is simply less to wash. Sure, you might find you need to do laundry a little more often, but just by having limits to clothes you will find your kids wear things longer before they’re thrown in the wash.
Encourages Decluttering. Cleaning out your kid’s clothes becomes super streamlined because you know exactly what to keep and what isn’t worth keeping (due to lack of use).
Saves Money. Rather than shopping blindly for clothes that may or may not work together, or trying to cover all your bases by piling the cart high without a plan, a capsule provides a limited number of pieces that all work together in multiple ways. You buy less, and it goes further.
Saves Space. There’s fewer clothes because each piece of clothing is “working harder.” All of a sudden, the need for a second dresser vanishes.
Eliminates Stress. You want your kid to dress well, but you go online and BAM–a bazillion options hit you. When you follow a capsule plan, you only buy specific items on your list and ignore the rest. You can shop with confidence. And trust me, it makes you feel like an ultra efficient #supermom.
Creates Tons of New Outfit Options (and your kids can easily dress themselves!). When you shape a wardrobe from a capsule plan, each piece can mix and match in multiple ways and everything looks so good together. It doesn’t take much brain power to put a stylish outfit together. In fact, you could have your kid pick his outfit and NAIL IT quite easily because there’s less room for error when you dress from a remixable capsule wardrobe.

And what about gifted items that just don’t go with the capsule plan? Well, they can be thought of as “supplements.” They don’t hurt the core wardrobe, they just add options.

Whenever possible, give those eager grandmas and aunts some tips on what your kid needs more of so the gifts start actually filling holes rather than creating excess.

Are you interested in how to style some easy mom outfits?

Easy Mom Outfits: How to Style Leggings
Comfortable Clothes to Wear at Home
Easy Mom Outfits: How to Wear Stripes

Basic Steps for Organizing Your Kid’s Clothing Into a Stylish Capsule

Whether you have a baby, pre-schoolers, school kids, or even a tween/teen, the same list of steps applies.

In the free PDF download I’ve created for you (which can be adapted from baby to teen), you’ll be walked through these steps:

Cleaning out the clutter
Printing the done-for-you capsule wardrobe checklist and examples
Customizing/tweaking the capsule plan to work for your child(ren)
- Planning a color palette with template
- Swapping out wardrobe essentials
Checking off what they own
Filling in the holes
Discovering the capsule wardrobe outfit ideas