← Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
315 | Is This the End of the Capsule Wardrobe Era? My 2026 Prediction
00:23:42
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Capsule wardrobes had a really good run. They helped us declutter, calm the chaos, and stop panic shopping. But in 2026, the conversation is shifting. Women aren't asking, how little can I own anymore? They're asking, how can I make my wardrobe work for my real life? In this episode, we're talking about what's replacing the capsule wardrobe, why minimalist formulas are leaving so many women feeling bored or boxed in, and what actually creates cohesion, confidence, and ease when you get dressed, right? If you've oversimplified and still feel stuck, or you feel a lot of guilt and shame for wanting to have more options in your wardrobe, you're going to find so much freedom and clarity in today's conversation.
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Welcome to her Style podcast, where we're all about empowering you to show up and get dressed every day with confidence. I'm your host, Heather Riggs, a 15 year and counting certified image consultant and color specialist, ready to build a warm wardrobe and a personal style you love.
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Let's get started. All right, please don't get me wrong here. I'm not throwing any shade on the concept of capsule wardrobes. In fact, I think that it is truly brilliant. And not only that, I think it was absolutely needed. And it might seem like capsule wardrobes really exploded over the past decade, which I think that they did to a degree, but it's actually a concept that's been around for decades. The idea first started in the 1970s, and then it was further popularized in the mid-80s thanks to Donna Karan. And then it reemerged in a big way about 10 to 15 years ago. And it's kind of always been the counter movement to fast fashion culture. And so if you jumped on the capsule train, it's probably served you in a really big way. Maybe it pulled you out of impulse shopping or it taught you the importance of coordinating your pieces and thinking about how things mix and match together. And it's probably given your wardrobe the structure that it really needed to get you through your everyday week. There are a lot of good and right things about this method of streamlining your wardrobe and getting dressed with ease. Simpler closets equal simpler choices. And so if you love a minimalist look, or if you value sustainability and you thrive having fewer but maybe better investment pieces that you can wear season after season, then I think a capsule is going to serve you really well in the traditional sense, of course. And I also think that 2026 is bringing a new movement into play. Because here's the flip side of what I'VE seen over the years working with lots of different women, some who've dabbled in capsule wardrobes, and others who have been a little leery about taking on that endeavor. So the first thing is that I've seen a lot of women who end up over editing their wardrobes to the point that they feel incredibly limited and completely bored when they go to get dressed. Maybe the capsule wardrobe served them for a couple of seasons, and now they just feel like, wow, I ed my wardrobe so much, I feel like I don't have enough option. I don't have that variety anymore, and I feel like something's missing. Or the other piece of this is that often when someone builds themselves a capsule wardrobe, they end up with kind of a cookie cutter template that doesn't feel anything like themselves. And again, maybe it works for a little while. It feels easy. It's nice to have less choices, to be able to get dressed quickly, to know everything mixes and matches, to have somebody hand you a checklist and say, okay, these are all of the things that I need. This is gonna make my wardrobe complete. But after a couple of seasons of that, maybe you realize, all right, this is a complete version of a closet. But it's not my best version of a closet. It doesn't feel like myself. I don't have my personality in this. And sometimes you'll end up with a closet where everything works but nothing feels special. It just feels a little bit flat. It's maybe too safe, too neutral, too classic, whatever the case might be. And again, this goes back. There's something missing that's not truly reflecting who you are in this moment of your life. And one of the biggest trends that I've seen with clients coming into her style collective, this has really appeared over and over in recent months. I've noticed this in such a big way is women coming in who have really big closets. They have, like, a lot of things, and they're a little overwhelmed in that. But more importantly, they have this enormous sense of guilt about having too much, and they come in with this almost sense of shame or embarrassment, and they are apologizing for the fact that they have so many pieces. And they maybe feel like they should embrace a minimalist capsule wardrobe, but they want to have options. They love shopping, they like fashion. They love to play dress up every day. And so to whittle it down to just a few really simple, basic pieces doesn't resonate with them. And so I kind of have seen both sides of the coin. And if you've oversimplified and you're feeling stuck, or if you've shied away from a capsule closet because you don't fully agree with the idea that less is more for you, that doesn't make sense. Then I want you to know that there's another way. And I think it might even be the better way. And it's something that I'm really predicting is going to make a big rise in the year ahead. I've been on both sides of this coin personally as well. I've talked about this many times on the podcast. But in my 20s, and probably even my early 30s, I wanted more. I was in the camp of a. A lot of my clients deem themselves Rebecca Bloomwood's the Confessions of a Shopaholic main character. They love to shop, they love to buy things. They want to have more options, more trends, more clothes. And that was me. I was working in fashion. I loved to shop. I had first access to all the new things coming out. And at that point in my life, I was still very much experimenting with my style. It varied from day to day. And honestly, I wasn't in a time or space to think about narrowing it down to a more minimalist aesthetic. That wasn't me. I was having fun playing and dressing up and trying different things all of the time. I wish I had known about clothing rental services at that point, or I don't even think that was an option then. That would have served me really well to be able to play a lot more without the long term commitment. But that was me for much of my life. And then after I had my son in 2018, I did start craving more simplicity and ease and I wanted to look like a cool mom who had it all together. Even though I felt like I was floundering most of the time I was like a duck, you know, looking really calm, cool and collected above the water and then underneath just paddling like crazy. And so what I did at the time, because I was kind of exhausted and I didn't really have that much mental bandwidth to think about myself any further and to go through my own process at that point. So I just started copying all of the trending mom bloggers and I ended up buying lots of neutrals and easy basics, things that felt really elegant and cool at that time. And then I stood in front of my closet one day and I had nothing to wear. And I was so frustrated. And I realized that it was because it wasn't me at all. I had kind of built this version of somebody else's closet and it was beautiful. But it didn't hit on the right notes for me. It didn't have enough color, it didn't have enough romanticism. It didn't have enough drama and excitement. And so wherever you are, I know the feeling. And I've been there too. Whether it's having too much in your wardrobe and feeling a sense of guilt and shame about that, or whether you have built a wardrobe based on somebody else's checkboxes, check marks. Either way, I totally can relate and you didn't do anything wrong. But I do want to present you with another option today. If you're feeling stuck and you want to think about your wardrobe in a way that's really going to serve you and your life and where you are right now in episodes oh my gosh. I have a whole list here in episode 23, 164, 248, and 285. That's just a handful. I will link them up in the show notes for you. I've done quite a few episodes on capsule wardrobes, and in all of those I dispelled some myths around capsule closets. Things like they can only work if they're neutral, or that they need to consist of a very limited or specific number of items. I still get that question all the time when I run live challenges and events, or when I have new members come into Her Style collective or even with one on one clients. There's that question of like how many of this should I own? How many t shirts are okay? How many of this can I have? And I've been celebrating the capsule wardrobe concept for years and at the same time questioning a lot of the popular misconceptions. So this is not a new conversation for us here at Her Style Podcast. And you probably know if you've listened to any of those episodes that I believe you can own 30 pieces of clothing and struggle big time when you get dressed. And I also believe that you can own 300 items or more. I have clients who have 8, 900 items in their wardrobe and they still feel fully dialed in very present to what they have. And they're able to fully utilize their wardrobe in a way that makes them feel amazing. So the magic isn't in the number of pieces. And I also don't think that having a minimal wardrobe automatically makes it cohesive or complete. So we've probably moved past an era where excess isn't the main issue anymore. What I'm seeing again and again is that the real problem is a lack of clarity. So you either Accumulate pieces without a clear direction, and your wardrobe ends up without a backbone to stand on. And that's when you feel like you're a little bit Rebecca Bloomwood. You've got all the options and you're overwhelmed. Or maybe you've oversimplified and you stripped all your unique personality and your individual style out of your closet, and you end up with a versatile wardrobe. But it isn't aligned with who you are or how you want to show up in the world. Maybe it served you for a couple of seasons and now you've moved past it and you're ready for something different. So whichever camp you're in, the question isn't whether you have a capsule wardrobe or whether you need one. It's whether your wardrobe is actually working for you and the life that you're living right now. So I think that what's even more important than having a simplified closet is having a strategic one. And so that's why I'm predicting the rise of the curated closet this year. A curated closet is built around a clear point of view, your personal preferences, and your personal life. It's 100% yours. It's not repeatable. It's not something you can get off of a generic checklist. And it's not about owning less. It's about owning on purpose. At our recent Shop your Closet challenge, I talked about how your wardrobe isn't a storage unit. It's a store that you get to shop in every single day. And you don't have to buy anything because you've already done that. So we need to start thinking about our closets as if they were a boutique where every item was hand selected for you, where it's designed to serve the needs of your life and to help you show up exactly how you want every single day. So instead of following a capsule checklist this year, I invite you to start building your own well curated collection. And rather than asking, does this match everything in my closet? Try on the question, does this belong here instead. Does it resonate with your personal style? Does it flatter your figure? Is it in a color or print that looks amazing on you and lights you up? Can you wear it for multiple occasions that are on your actual calendar? Will it make it easier or more complicated to get dressed? Does it move the needle closer to where you want your wardrobe to go? These are the kinds of questions that we need to be asking. I've shared this analogy before, but if it helps, I also like to think of my wardrobe and my clients wardrobes as if they were an art gallery. If you pop in, you're going to notice a lot of different size artworks or maybe even different mediums of art. You're going to see various colors, and of course, each individual piece is going to tell its own story. But it's all designed to work together. It's designed to have a flow to it and to bring a sense of cohesion. And you can tell there's a distinct flavor or mood to the gallery. You can walk into an art gallery and know in a second if it's for you or if it's not for you. And they can swap artists and artworks out every season, but you still know exactly what you can expect when you walk into that space. There's a little bit of excitement, I think, in that kind of not knowing and being excited to see what's going to happen. And I'm not saying that you need to reinvent your wardrobe every season, but I do think that giving your closet a quick reset can help keep you out of a rut and on the same pulse with your personal taste and what's going on with your life, because that is going to fluctuate over time. So that you feel prepared to get dressed for all of your activities from month to month. I don't want you to have any surprises or last minute outfit scrambles or quick fix shopping sprints. And that could be why maybe you had a really narrow capsule wardrobe for a few seasons and it worked so well for you. You. And now it's not. It's probably because your taste has evolved. What's going on in your life looks a little bit different. Something has shifted. And if your wardrobe hasn't shifted with it, there will be a disconnect. And so I think that's the biggest deterrent to fully embracing the stereotypical capsule closet. It's that you limit yourself on quantity, often on color, and of course on style, because there's a lot of pressure to invest in pieces that are classic, that are timeless, that are basic, that work with everything. And so I want to encourage you today to question the boundaries that you've put in place. Or again, if you're in the maximalist camp and you've been too intimidated to edit your options and go all in on a capsule wardrobe. Let's just question what we've come to believe our closets need in order to be functional and easy. Because I don't think it's about necessarily having less. Whether it's thinking of your wardrobe as a gallery or a boutique, the goal is to make it feel intentional. Give your closet a clear point of view. A department store clearance rack feels very random. We've all been there. I can't even walk into a department store sometimes if it's like a mess and there's clothes half on hangers and things on the floor and everything just looks a mess. And I know some closets feel like that too. Whereas on the other hand, if you walk into a nice, I don't know, small business boutique, it feels edited, it feels beautiful, it feels well put together. It tells a story, you know, again, in a second if it's for you or if it's not for you. And I think capsule wardrobes were really about getting a sense of control over your closet and maybe your shopping habits. And again, having that discernment of less and making sure everything was versatile. I think curated closets are about having clarity. It's about knowing what your style is, what story you want to tell, which pieces are going to serve you in your day to day life. It's not about buying less, it's about buying better. And so in 2026, it isn't about being a minimalist, which is fine. If you're a minimalist, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But I think more importantly, it's about being distinct and intentional. So let me break down what this can look like in real life. If you have a well curated closet, you might see some repetition and silhouettes that you know work really well for your body. You're going to see a harmonious color story. And it's not about just having a few neutrals and maybe one or two accent colors. It's just about having colors that work well together and that bring out your best. So it's possibly having more color, but it still feels cohesive. It's about having a shared mood, whether that's relaxed or bold or romantic or modern or eclectic. I think a lot of people who also have creative style types really shy away from a capsule wardrobe too, just because by default they end up looking so classic, so polished, so professional. And if you're more of an artistic spirit or you like things to be a little bit offbeat, that can be intimidating for you because it feels difficult to have an eclectic wardrobe and have it be a capsule wardrobe. And so again, it's about having pieces that feel really intentional for you. Also, your curated closet means maybe having some statement, or I like to call them star pieces that easily integrate with your staples. So it's not just a wardrobe of basics, it's having the right choices, whether it's a statement piece or whether it's a nice, simple, versatile, basic. You have the right things and the right assortment for what you need. And it's about having range with structure or purpose behind it. As I've always said, it's your wardrobe, so you get to write the rules. You get to decide how many pieces is the right number for you, what serves you, and makes it easy to get dressed for all the things you have going on. So you gotta ask yourself, do you thrive with less, or do you love to have a little bit more? There truly is no correct answer here other than what you need to get through your average week and feel amazing. So I want you to be empowered to bring in color and variety and a little bit of spice if that's what your wardrobe is missing right now. And I want you to curate a neutral, classic wardrobe that still feels so distinctly you that you can walk into a room feeling so solid and sure of yourself. Not like you stepped into someone else's capsule checklist, but you know you have what you need and you absolutely love and can't wait to put it on in the morning, no matter where you fall in that spectrum. So having a well curated closet that reflects your personal style, that is full of pieces that light you up and make you feel excited, that's when getting dressed gets to feel good. And believe me, step four of her style collective is auditing your wardrobe. So each member spends usually a couple of weeks, sometimes longer, reevaluating what she owns with her style foundations in place. So at that point, she has a clear vision of her style goals. She knows what flatters her. She has a cohesive color palette that reflects her personality and her preferences. And then she can look at her wardrobe through a whole new lens to really start pinpointing what's working, what's not working, and what's missing. And let me tell you, it feels so good to get this work done. Sometimes we drag our heels to get started, but everyone's so excited when they get through that step. But no one has ever finished at step four. There are six steps in the program because simplifying doesn't equal completing. And in our program, we do a combination of shopping and styling your pieces to get more of that complete sense that, you know, you have the outfits that you need, you have all the items that might be missing. We do it all within your budget. But if you've been on a quest for less and you're still struggling to get dressed, this is why We've got to make sure that you have what you need and. And a little bit of what you want, because getting dressed gets to be fun, and your wardrobe needs to be functional and also feel like you. So we've been putting our focus on one side of the equation for far too long, and I think that's having less. The capsule closet mantra of having less. Now I think it's time to have better. If that phrase gets you hung up thinking that, I mean, you need to buy a lot of expensive investment pieces, that's not at all what I'm saying. What I mean by having better is that your wardrobe gets to have what you need. It gets to have intention, purpose, personality. Maybe that means less and maybe it doesn't. I have clients, as I said before, with beautiful, cohesive, well curated closets. Some of them have less than 50 items, and some of them have over 500. It's not about the quantity. It's about the quality of what's there and how it's working for you, how it meets your style goals, functions for your real life. So when you develop a curated wardrobe, getting dressed feels faster. Not because you have fewer options, but because you have the right ones. You can feel excited about your closet because what's there works for you. It brings out your best, and it aligns with your style goals, not someone else's. You can stop feeling guilty for loving fashion and having fun shopping. This is a big one. I want you to let go of that guilt. You can still shop, and you can do it in an empowered and less distracted way. When you have that clear vision and that backbone for your wardrobe, you will know what's going to move the needle. Not just to buy, to buy things, but to pick up smart investments that are going to work to bring something new and beautiful into your boutique or your gallery, however you want to think of it, that are going to complement what you already have and make styling your outfits even more fun and exciting. And ideally, a lot easier, too. Your wardrobe is going to feel like one person owns it, even if that person wears a lot of different hats, appreciates many different styles, and wants to express herself a little bit differently from day to day. You're going to have options that feel intentional, purposely chosen for you, and you're not going to be shrinking your personality. You're going to celebrate it. So to help get you there, I want to leave you with a question that you can reflect on this week as you're getting dressed or before you buy something new, I just want you to ask yourself, does this outfit or item belong in my world? Does it serve my life? Does it tell an accurate story about who I am today? Okay, I'm sorry, I guess that was a couple of questions, but I just want to paint the full picture of where we're going with this and just start thinking of your wardrobe as a collection, not a storage space or a sail rack or a stripped down version of you. I want you to see what insights come from that. Start to notice what's actually missing. If anything, what would make it feel complete or exciting for you again? What would you love to see? When you open your closet doors, you get to write the rules so you don't have to look outside to anyone else but yourself for these answers. And if it's not there yet, you don't need to burn anything down. You definitely don't need to start all over. I just want you to begin making some slow and intentional shifts in the direction that you want it to go. I would obviously love to support you with this personally. If you want to join us inside Her Style Collective. This is the process that we work through together to build or edit your wardrobe with intention. Usually it's a combination of both. You're going to get rid of some things that aren't working for you. We might bring in some new pieces that serve you whatever combination and budget feels right for you. And if it feels like that might be your next step, then I encourage you to go explore all the details@herstylellc.com collective and then you can absolutely send me a DM over on Instagram eatherriggstyle if you have any questions. I'd be so happy to talk with you about it and see if it's the right fit for you. Or of course you can take what you heard today and start putting it into practice on your own. You don't need to have a capsule closet in 2026, but I think you'd benefit massively from a curated one. Thank you so much for tuning in with me today, friend. I will meet you right back here next week for another episode of Her Style podcast.
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Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want to stop copying everyone else style and start dialing in your own swoon worthy signature look, head over to take my free 5 minute personal style quiz which you can find at the link in the show notes. If you've enjoyed our time together, please be sure to rate, review and subscribe to Her Style podcast so you never miss an episode. Finally, I invite you to make this a two way conversation and send me a DM over on Instagram eatherig Style to let me know how I can best support you on your style journey. I'm always here for you in style and service. Until next time.