RV Capsule Wardrobe – Minimize Your Wardrobe, Maximize Space

I’ve often thought about what clothes I’d take if we moved into the camper full-time. It can’t be easy paring down a full wardrobe into one teeny tiny closet, especially if you’re moving into a small camper! If I had to do it though, I’d DEFINITELY do it with an RV capsule wardrobe!

I am not your typical girl and have never been the high heels, dress, and makeup wearing girl…literally NOT EVER! T-shirts and jeans have ALWAYS been my thing. That being said, I DO OWN these items because every girl likes to feel like a pretty lady every now and then. This is the reason I even stumbled upon capsule wardrobes and also why I think they’d be PERFECT for full-time RVing.

WHAT IS AN RV CAPSULE WARDROBE?

Maybe you’re asking what an RV capsule wardrobe is…well, I just made it up…so let’s discuss what a capsule wardrobe is first!

A capsule wardrobe is just “a collection of clothing that is composed of interchangeable items only, to maximize the number of outfits that can be created. The aim is to have an outfit suitable for any occasion without owning excessive items of clothing. This is usually achieved by buying what are considered to be “key” or “staple” items in coordinating colors.” ~ Wikipedia

What that means is that each clothing item you have matches every other item you have. So if you have 9 tops and 6 bottoms, they all match each other. Each of the shirts would make an outfit with each of the bottoms.

That being said, an RV capsule wardrobe, in my mind, is just a capsule wardrobe modified to best serve your laid back RV lifestyle.

It’s really a genius minimalist approach to clothing, which I find SUPER appealing!

Of course, I’d buy 6-7 black t-shirts (black because they’re harder to stain), two tunics, two pairs of jeans (one skinny, one boot cut), and two pairs of shorts and call it a day, but for the sake of this post, let’s talk about what that might look like for someone that is not me…AKA a normal person! 🙂

SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

HOW MUCH SPACE?

One of the VERY first things to consider is: how much space do you have to start with (including storage space)?

The space you have to deal with should determine how much clothing you can bring along. You can’t stuff 1,000 clothing items in a 30′ camper! Obviously, if you have a larger camper, you can have a larger wardrobe.

Also, if you have plenty of under-storage, you could stow away seasonal clothing for full-time RVers.

ANTICIPATED ACTIVITIES?

The second thing I would consider is: what kind of activities do you anticipate doing? If you’re just vacationing in your RV, this will be much different than if you’re living in it 24/7, as you would only need a week or two worth of seasonal clothing. I would think, either way, you’d want to be prepared for multiple occasions.

Staple items like t-shirts, tank tops, and other things will be needed regardless of the season. Capsule wardrobes also seem to always neglect swimwear (unless it’s a travel capsule…my favs!), so don’t forget those.

COLOR PALETTE?

Lastly, you need to consider a color palette. Often, capsule wardrobes revolve around neutrals like denim, black, white, grey, and beige, and one or two simple accent colors.

If you’re not really sure what you want your color to be, look at your current wardrobe and see if there’s a recurring theme. I gravitate to orangy coral and blue. Oddly enough, these are complementary colors on the color wheel, so they would actually probably be a great choice for me (besides the black t-shirts)! 😛

WHAT ARE BASIC ITEMS FOR MY CAPSULE?

Just for the sake of conversation, let’s assume we’re talking about a full-time RV capsule wardrobe.

Here are some of the basic items needed pretty much year-round:

• Black, white, and grey t-shirts and tank tops
• Jeans or pants
  • one light wash
  • one dark wash
  • one pair of black or dark jeans
• One or two skirts
• Shorts
  • white shorts
  • denim shorts
  • black shorts
• Black dress
• Denim jacket (they can dress up-or down-just about any outfit)
• Chambray shirt (even a colored one like pink would do)
• Sweatshirt/hoodie
• Neutral tunic
• Cardigan
• Sweater

EXAMPLES

I found a great example of a similar capsule wardrobe on Use Less Wardrobe. Check out her examples and how she uses them.

Live Love Sara also had a great example of a year-round capsule wardrobe (probably more like my own style).

…and just for good measure, I found one more example on Pratigal Blog. This post was really on a spring capsule, but she links to her other three seasons of capsules. I strongly suspect some of the same items will appear in those capsules.

Ok, I couldn’t help it, Classy Yet Trendy did a GREAT post on Johanna Gaines’ 10 Outfit Ideas Capsule! You’re gonna LOVE this one!

*Be sure to check out these posts for examples. I cannot infringe on their copyrights to show their pictures…but they are FANTASTIC, I promise!

OTHER ITEMS FOR YOUR CAPSULE WARDROBE

COLOR

Once you have your basics down, that’s when you will add in your accent color. It could be as simple as a colored shirt, scarf, shoes, or jewelry. Follow the links above for examples…they are the pros…, not me! 🙂

You will want a few extra items such as 2-3 blouses, maybe a professional looking blazer (I use these to dress up a graphic tee when showing houses as a realtor…from bum to BAM in 10 seconds!), or a dressy pair of pants.

Most of the capsule wardrobes I’ve seen don’t include items like loungewear, swimwear, and undergarments. Use your judgment there based on your storage capacity. We’ve already discussed my need to wear t-shirts 24/7, so there is that!

SHOES

I think it’d be safe to say you’ll need a pair of tennis shoes (or hiking shoes), sneakers (like Converse, Toms, or just sparkly glitter shoes to dress up casual outfits), booties, a great pair of flats, and some sort of Chacos or multi-purpose sandals (and heels if you need them).

ACCESSORIES

You’ll also need accessories. This is a great way to bring in color. If you choose a neutral palette discussed above, you could use a pop of gold, pink, or turquoise bracelets, rings, earrings, scarves, or necklaces as statement pieces.

As long as you have room for the extras, your only confines will be the space you have to store them! The main thing to remember about adding color is to make sure the color scheme matches all of your other pieces so that they all go together.

I LOVE more detailed capsule wardrobe posts like this one that show you EXACTLY how to mix and match items by numbering the items on their pictures.

USE PINTEREST!

One last idea for your RV capsule wardrobe and we’ll move on…ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS search Pinterest for capsule wardrobe if you just aren’t sure. Pinterest is the best BFF you can have when it comes to minimalist wardrobe ideas!

Use search terms like these:

• Capsule wardrobe
• RV capsule wardrobe
• (Insert season) capsule wardrobe
• Packing capsule

You get the point. Whatever it is you’re trying to find, just put the words “capsule wardrobe” behind or in front of it and you should find what you’re looking for.

DOWNSIZING YOUR OWN WARDROBE

When it comes to choosing your own capsule wardrobe, you’ll probably find most of what you need in your own collection of clothes.

If you’re moving into your RV, you’ll need to downsize your wardrobe.

I recently found a show on Netflix called “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo” that would be an AMAZING help to anyone who is beginning to downsize for full-time RV living! Of course, this show was made to help you get organized, not completely pack away your whole life for less than 500 square foot living!

The principles are the same, though. She recommends you put ALL of your clothing in ONE SINGLE PILE! I know some people that would be HORRIFIED at this proposition!

If you are downsizing for full-time RV living, you might want to pull out your RV capsule wardrobe basics BEFORE you start that!

From that point, Marie Kondo would have you keep only those clothing items that “spark joy.” Again, if you’re downsizing to live in an RV…I would REALLY consider what “sparks joy” with BRUTAL honesty! This would be a great time to donate or sell your used clothing (sell at local consignment stores or on sites like Poshmark).

KEEP INCOMING CLOTHES ORGANIZED

Once you have your RV capsule wardrobe, be sure to keep it organized. If your RV doesn’t have a true closet, try using bins and boxes.

I like Marie Kondo’s method of folding shirts to keep drawer organized. I could see folding mine using her method and using shoe boxes to separate different clothing items.

You could also use containers to separate clothing items either in drawers, under beds, or on shelves.

Check out my post about getting your camper organized here.

LEARN FROM THE PROS!

When all else fails, Ashley Mann (full-time blogger and RVer) at RV Inspiration has a course called Inspired to Downsize: Guidance for the Process of Decluttering and Letting Go. It’s just $89 as of January 2019 and would be a HUGE help to anyone looking to declutter!

I also just learned that Classy Yet Trendy has a whole e-book store where she has designed whole capsule wardrobes that you can purchase for ideas!

What do you think, do you have any ideas for an RV capsule wardrobe or minimizing your life before beginning your full-time RVing adventure? Would you do a capsule wardrobe with or without RVing?