Bismillah,

I was in need of a capsule wardrobe because since the baby came to our lives, most of my drawers and closet space have been filled with his clothes instead. And when I looked at my clothes, I wondered if a Muslimah could make it work. I mean who doesn’t love a collection of hijabs? Or abayas? The hubby has always been a minimalist and for as long as I remember masha’Allah. So, he has no issues like me.

Project 333 definition of a capsule wardrobe: A small collection of 33 including clothing, shoes and accessories built for use during a 3 month period of time.

I, on the other hand had to find a solution to my accumulated junk. I had given away a lot of clothes but still, many were folded in bins because they somehow held a sentimental value to me. I used to have a ton of shoes. I got rid of the majority of them and kept about two flat shoes, one pair of sneakers, two trainers (red and black), three boots for winter, and two pair of heels (a wedge style and a low heel pump for formal meetings). If I feel the need to buy a new shoe, I give one away.

I really wanted to reduce my wardrobe that I barely wear to small a amount I can fit in one large suitcase. Though I’m was not sure if would go with 20 (Into-Mind), 33 or 37 items (Un-Fancy) for each season, I certainly tried. When I was undergrad, my closet was too full too and my cousin advised me to store the clothes I don’t wear so that I had more space in my closet. Her advice helped. So, when it was Summer, the clothes for the other tree seasons were ‘binned’ away. The only problem with that was that I always forgot the clothes packed away until there was a drastic change in the weather. I mean we’re in Texas after all.

Her method is not really different from the capsule wardrobe. The advantage with it is that you won’t have to shop for more clothes because you already have a department store in-house! *Laughs*

To go back to capsule wardrobe, below is the list of 33 items by Project333 that I based myself on to come up with my recent wardrobe :

Project 333 Papatia’s Capsule

1 Sunglasses                          1 Sunglasses
1 Purse                                                                      1 Purse
1 Laptop/Camera Bag                                           1 Laptop and its bag
2 Dresses                                                                 4 Dresses + 1 Black Abaya
2 Skirts                                                                     6 Skirts
1 Jeans                                                                       1 Skirt in Jean
2 Shorts/Capri                                                       2 Shorts/Capri
1 Dress pants                                                           1 Dress pants
2 Light Sweaters                                                   1 Light Sweater (1 Islamic cardigan)
2 Blazers                                                                   2 Blazers
2 Tanks                                                                     5 Blouses
1 Button Down Shirt                                              4 Button Down Shirts
5 Shirts                                                                     4 Long sleeves T-Shirts
1 Sweatshirt                                                             1 Sweatshirt
4 Shoes                                                                     2 Shoes (1 trainer, 1 flat for the season)
1 Trench Coat                                                        1 Trench Coat
2 Bracelets                                                               1 Pearl bracelet and 1 Black watch
1 Necklace                                                                1 Necklace and The Wedding Ring
1 Scarf                                                                       7 Hijabs
__________                                               __________
33 Total Items                                                    45 Total Items

45 Items! Whoot Whoot! I tried right?! * Wink* Anyways, I am not the only Muslimah whose done the experiment to some extent. Check out this Muslimah’s capsulewardrobe http://goo.gl/Ruk0ng . Tips http://goo.gl/iXI9FT from Melanie at Haute Hijab are also things to consider. Finally, Aquila Style has some great ways http://goo.gl/7Y5rcv and Joshua Becker with this article http://goo.gl/npR8ry can to help too. Check them out if you’re considering the capsule wardrobe too.

Now, don’t use the capsule wardrobe movement to start buying more unnecessary things. The purpose of this is to become minimalist and still look good. A thing Islam has always encouraged. I’m sure a Muslimah can make the capsule movement work and I have alhamdullilah. It just depends on how much we care about what other think about us mix-matching/wearing the same clothes on the regular basis. Islam also doesn’t see a problem with us owning beautiful things, it just warns us to keep our feet on the ground and to remember our purpose here; passing this life’s test for a blissful akhirat.

“You may have occasion to possess or use material things, but the secret of life lies in never missing them.”~Gandhi

While some people might frown on my use of non-Muslim material, the sunnah dictates that we can take the truth from anybody even Shaytan. We just need to be careful. To continue with Ghandi, he was believed to have less than ten personal things according to this article http://goo.gl/L5fQii .

Now I need to set a reminder in my phone so that at the end of the summer I can go through the binned clothes to select fall and winter clothes. This is definitely a good way to wear clothes you haven’t worn in a while or even clothes you forgot you had! If I live to see the next seasons, I have my eyes set on a few items I have not worn in a while because I work from home now and every day is like pajamas day until it’s the weekend when we actually go out as a family…

I would love to read your thoughts on the capsule wardrobe. Please, comment away.

Wassalam,

Papatya*

You can read more on muslimah’s attire here https://goo.gl/ol5HNr andhere http://goo.gl/0a6eOB .

Original Posted at Hayati Magazine.