Are you drowning in tiny t-shirts and up to your eyeballs in wee onesies?! Maybe you’ve discovered the joys of a capsule wardrobe for yourself and you’re wondering if it would work for your little ones too?

Can confirm - a kid capsule wardrobe will save time, space, money, and your sanity!

Two bonuses available at the end:

Bonus 1: example year round capsule wardrobe list for toddler girls

Bonus 2: What I would do differently if I was creating a baby capsule wardrobe for Willow

A capsule wardrobe is just a fancy-shmancy way of saying you’re intentional about how many clothing items your little one needs, to avoid excess.

It will take about an hour to set up, and after that getting ready, tidying up, laundry, shopping …life in general will be A LOT easier, I promise.

Just like for big people, remember that no capsule wardrobe list on the internet is set in stone - you know your little one & lifestyle better than anyone. The good news is that the MMM capsule wardrobe process works for kids just as well as it does for you.

My top kids wardrobe tip: Consider buying kids clothes second hand

Most second hand kids clothes have barely been worn. I’ve donated so many cute unworn outfits because Willow has grown out of them before even wearing them once (pre-capsule wardrobe, obvs).

My best find was a $360 sweater for $5.99. My absolute favourite thing about shopping second hand for Willow is how unique her outfits are. When I used to buy new clothes for her, the options were so samey-samey.

We’ve committed to no new clothes since Jan 2020 and it’s been really fun & easy to stick to.

Here’s a years worth of fully thrifted capsule wardrobe for toddler girl:

Scaredy-cat minimalist capsule wardrobe for kids hack:

If you’re not quite ready to commit to letting go of clothes just yet - no worries!

Try packing up some excess clothes and just trying it for a couple of weeks.

Real life will soon let you know how many items are right for your family :)

What are the benefits of an MMM capsule wardrobe (kids edition!)?

There are so many benefits of a capsule wardrobe for kids / toddlers / babies, here are my faves:

Less mess - less clothes to wade through and put away (is it me or do clean clothes end up in the dirty washing pile because it’s just easier?!)
More space - you’ll free up precious storage space (perfect to store toys during toy rotation!)
Less laundry piled up - they are still wearing the same amount of clothes, so it’s not any less laundry. But because there’s no excess clothes, it doesn’t build up into a giant, intimidating laundry mountain anymore - phew!
Quick & easy to get ready - grab & go dressing that works for everyone in the family, because everything looks great together
Saves money - no more buying more clothes than you need
Less overwhelm - tiny humans and big humans alike get overwhelmed from having too many choices - decision fatigue is real!
More cute & coordinated - Willow is a thousand times more trendy than me!
Eco friendly - They grow SO FAST. Only buying what you need is one of the kindest things you can do for the planet - bonus points if you buy second hand!
Introduces your child to slow fashion - breaking the fast fashion cycle is a beautiful lesson to pass on
Easy to maintain - once you’ve set it up, you just need to follow a simple one in, one out rule.
Easy to swap out clothing items - everything matches, which is so handy with 742 spills / accidents a day
They get to wear their favourites - your little one probably already wears their favourite outfits over and over. This way you’re letting go of the excess and enjoying all of the benefits!

Other MMM posts you’ll enjoy:

How to build a capsule wardrobe (kids edition!)

Step 1 - PLAN

Step 1.a) Identify their style

So this looks a little bit different for littles, because there’s emphasis on the function of the clothes as well as the style. It will likely vary wildly from family to family.

Some people have zero preference in what their kiddo wears, whereas some put more time and energy into their clothes than they do their own (…it me!)

Wherever you are on this spectrum, here are some suggested questions that may help you pick an overarching style / theme for them.

If your child is older, they may enjoy being part of this planning process too!

SAQs (Should Ask Questions) When Defining Their Personal Style & Clothes Preferences

What do you / don’t you like about their current wardrobe?
What do they wear for hobbies, holidays, vacations, events, different seasons?
Do you/they have an ideal style?
What do they like to wear?
What do they not like to wear?
What’s easy to dress them in?
What do they actually end up wearing most of the time?
What do you buy and they never end up wearing?
What do they wear over and over again?
Will they be going to daycare / school? (may require more clothes vs. being at home during the day)

Here’s an example of what we look for and what we avoid for Willow. Even as a young toddler, she already had strong opinions about what to wear.

She doesn’t like being too hot, or feeling too restricted
She always wants to be on the go so we strategically pick items that are quick to put on and take off
She loves twirling in dresses but usually plays in stretchy pants so she can do her death defying stunts

Likes: zips, stretchy material, rompers, overalls, thin layers, easy to wash, floral, stripes, oversized sweaters, velcro shoes, shorts, poufy dresses, stretchy pants with wide waist bands, ruffles

Dislikes: too many buttons/poppers, thick material, tight neck holes, hand wash only, logos, graphics & text, shoes with laces, skirts, denim with no stretch, leggings with thin waistbands

This stuff might seem really obvious, but to be intentional about these things, I write them down in my notes app.

Otherwise I keep buying the wrong things over and over again.

Step 1.b) Choose their colour palette

Okay, okay… I know that there are some eyeballs being rolled right now, ha!

My husbands’ being one pair of them.

He thought I was talking utter bollocks when I declared that some outfits didn’t suit newborn Willow.

BUT, even he is in agreement that it’s easier to have clothes for her that all generally mix and match.

It means that getting her dressed is a no brainer, and swapping out tops or bottoms due to spills/accidents is a breeze.

It will be a big help when Willow starts dressing herself too.

If you want to try a really fun way to come up with a colour palette, check out this online generator from coolors.co.
You hit the space bar until you see a colour you like, click on the padlock icon to save it, and then hit the space bar again to see complimentary colours to go with what you’ve already selected.

Some colour theme ideas could be pastels, bright rainbow, sea tones, jewel tones, earth tones, blush (see my full capsule wardrobe colors guide if you’re really stuck)

I count neutral colours like black, white and denim as freebies so don’t include them.

Willow’s colour palette: Blush | white | pale blue | pale grey | turquoise

Step 1.c) Consider how often you do laundry

This is an important factor of how many days worth of clothes you need in any capsule wardrobe.

Remember to factor for their messiest days!

Step 2 - LIST

The capsule wardrobe list is where the magic happens!

Step 2.a) List out lifestyle categories across the top of a piece of paper

(…or spreadsheet, or your fillable Capsule Wardrobe list template)

Life categories are things like home, school, hobbies, clubs, playing, skiing, painting, etc.

Anything that would require them to dress differently.

Try to lump like categories together - e.g. if they would dress the same for climbing trees, camping and painting, I’d list it as ‘messy play’.

Take in to account special occasions and holidays.

Just for extra giggles, I like to have a dress up costume in each size.

Step 2.b) List out types of clothing items that they wear down the side

e.g. short sleeve top, romper, long sleeve top, hoodie / cardigan, etc.

This is a year round capsule wardrobe so remember to include clothing for every season. I like to include shoes as well.

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter to get an example capsule wardrobe list & cheat sheet sent to you to right away so you can picture how to create your own.

It will make this step even easier!

Step 2.c) Taking all of the above in to account, fill in how many of each clothing item they need

So on the “short sleeve top” row, work your way along and put in how many short sleeve tops they need for each of the life category columns (e.g. home, play, hobby, etc.)

The unique thing about this system is that you can be as minimal or maximal as you like. (*unbiased cough* go minimal)

Everyone’s “magic number” is different – if you need some help with this, try my free capsule wardrobe calculator.

Keep going until every section either has a zero or a number in it.

It feels like it’s going to take a while but it goes pretty quickly when you get used to it. This is how to build an intentional capsule wardrobe list, item by item - you’ve got this!

Step 3 - PILE

You’re all prepared, now it’s time to get moving!

Grab all of their clothes and make a big pile. Don’t forget to include their clothes from the laundry too.

Now separate them into these smaller piles:

Step 3.a) Favourites

First up - pick out the favourites! Grab your list and work your way through it until you’ve picked the relevant number of favourites for each clothing item/lifestyle category.

Here’s a picture from when I was half way through this process for Willow’s first capsule wardrobe (imagine double the amount of clothes!):

I lined up tops and bottoms to help me see which items matched. That helped me pick out the favourites.

For anything that doesn’t make it in to the favourites, add them to one of the following piles.

The kiddo version of the MMM capsule wardrobe process has a couple of extra piles than the grown up version.

Psst …If you get stuck, don’t forget your “get out of jail free card” - the maybe pile!

Step 3.b) Donate

Anything in good condition but that you don’t want to sell or pass on to family / friends.

Step 3.c) Sell

Things in great condition that you’d like to sell.

We’ve decided not to resell items in our family. By the time we take photos, write descriptions, answer questions and then go back and forth with people (most of whom flake), we’d rather donate it to another family.

But if you’ve got more patience than us, it’s an amazing way to make some extra money!

Step 3.d) Recycle

Anything that’s not in a good enough condition to donate or sell goes into the recycle/repurpose pile.

Step 3.e) Maybe

This one goes out to all of my scaredy-cat minimalists out there - I got you!

This is the pile for anything that you’re not sure where to put. I’m a big fan of people going at their own pace with minimizing. If you push yourself too far out of your comfort zone, you’re very unlikely to keep going with the process.

So be kind to yourself and lean on the maybe pile as much as you need to.

Once you’re finished, box up everything in your maybe pile and label it with a date three months from now. You can review after that date to see if you’re ready to let go yet.

Feel free to go in and grab anything you desperately need in the meantime.

Step 3.f) Pass on to family / friends

If you intend to pass on clothing to a younger sibling, family member, or friend - keep these items in a separate pile so they don’t get given away accidentally.

In the spirit of minimalism and avoiding excess, I always tell people to donate any hand me downs that don’t work for them.

Step 3.g) Add to the memory box

Tiny clothes can come with big emotions attached.

Add anything with sentimental value to your memory box.

You can read more about the memory box concept here.

Step 4 - MAINTAIN

Step 4.a) Follow the one in, one out rule

These tiny humans grow super quickly so there will always be a conveyor belt of bigger sizes coming through your door.

The easiest way to maintain your current system is to follow a one in, one out rule.

I have a box of items in the next size up. As Willow grows out of an item, I pull the next size from the box and put the item that’s too small into a donate box.

Step 4.b) Review your list periodically

Needs and preferences change as your child grows.

Check your list every now and then to make sure it still works for them and their lifestyle.

FAQs & Bonuses

How much does this capsule wardrobe cost?

It costs zero of the dollars!

I’m SO passionate about minimizing mess, and I’m SO convinced that building capsule wardrobes for your family is the number one way to help, that I’m laying all of the info and steps out here, for any and everyone that needs it.

99% of the time you’re shopping from their existing wardrobe, so there’s no need to buy anything new.

If you want to make things even easier, I sell a capsule wardrobe list template for people who don’t want to create their own. It can be used for anyone in the family - you just fill in the blanks.

What do you do with gifts & hand me downs?

Getting new things is exciting!

If someone is generous enough to buy Willow an outfit (a lot of our friends and family buy her secondhand clothes nowadays, which makes me SO HAPPY!), I include it in the capsule wardrobe wherever possible. If it doesn’t match the capsule wardrobe colour theme, we use it as PJs.

With hand me downs, we use what works and then donate the rest. It’s so handy already having cute outfits in the next couple of sizes up!

For shopping in advance, I really like www.sizecast.com to forecast what size Willow will be wearing, when.

What’s different about the MMM capsule wardrobe for littles?

The MMM capsule wardrobe is different because it’s unique to your little one. There are no set numbers or styles, it’s all completely personalized.

The stumbling block of most capsule wardrobes is that they are designed for a stranger on the internet. All of us have different needs and preferences, especially kiddos.

Some are more active, some get muckier than others, some have elaborate hobbies, some are very particular, some are very expressive, and some wouldn’t care if you dressed them in the same thing every day.

The key is to first plan out how many, and what type of clothes they need based on their lifestyle. So you’ll make a list, and then look at the clothes. No having to stare at a mountain of clothes and decide if you like something or not.

So your list will say something like “4 t-shirts”, and then you’ll pick out the 4 favourite t-shirts. Like shopping!

I’ll walk you through every step - let’s get started!

How should I store their clothes?

There are lots of options on how to organize kids clothes - it depends on their involvement and your tidiness tolerance.

As a self proclaimed clothes piler, I have developed a grab & go clothes storage system that is a GAMECHANGER for our family. We hang items that crease, and then everything else goes into storage bins with open fronts so it’s easy to search and grab things we need. It’s not the prettiest storage system, but it’s hidden behind closed closet doors and it’s better than being on the floor!

It’s also perfect for kids that put away their own laundry, or anyone that struggles to maintain other systems. If there are more clothes on their floor than in their closet, this may be the one thing that works for them.

No more folding clothes - woohoo!

If you need more organization in your life, you could fold, file fold, hang, or use a pull out bin system - whatever works best for you an your family!

How involved should my toddler / child be in building their capsule wardrobe?

I would recommend involving your little one as much as they want to be - but you know your family best, do whatever works for you :)

Bonus 1: Capsule wardrobe list for toddler

Here’s Willow’s capsule wardrobe list if you need a starting point.

I split it into autumn/winter, and spring/summer to make it easier for me to know what to buy in larger sizes. I keep a checklist in the notes app on my phone and check things off when I find them at the thrift store.

Themes

Colours

Laundry

Twice a week

Autumn / winter

Tops

Short sleeve top x 2

Long sleeve top x 5

Jumper x 2

Cardigan / hoodie x2

Dress cardigan x 1

All in ones & bottoms

Play suit / pjs x 6

Overalls / rompers x 3

Casual dress x 2

Party dress x2

Trousers x 3

Outerwear

Coat x 1

Mud suit x 2

Woolly hat x 2

Mittens x 2

Footwear

Boots x 1

Indoor shoes x 1

Trainers x 1

Welly boots x 1

Dress shoes x 1

Other

Xmas outfit x 2

Swimming costume x 1

Towels x 2

Dress up costume x 2

White tights x 2

Spring / summer

Tops

Short sleeve top x 5

Long sleeve top x 2

Jumper x 2

Cardigan / hoodie x 1

Dress cardigan x 1

All in ones & bottoms

Play suit / pjs x 6

Trousers x 2

Shorts x 3

Overalls / rompers x 3

Casual dress x 5

Party dress x2

Outerwear

Light Jacket x 1

Summer hat x 2

Mud suit x 1

Footwear

Sandals x 1

Indoor shoes x 1

Trainers x 1

Welly boots x 1

Dress shoes x 1

Other

Dress up costume x 2

Swimming costume x 2

towels x 2

Bonus 2: Capsule wardrobe for baby

Capsule wardrobes are great for babies. I wish that I’d built one for baby Willow.

I bought way too many things before she was born. A capsule wardrobe would have been a really helpful way to be more organized and save money.

Here’s what I would have done if I was building a capsule wardrobe for baby WIllow:

I would not assume that all babies are messy – Baby wardrobes vary greatly. I thought I’d be doing 17 outfit changes a day, but sometimes wee baby Willow wore the same thing for a few days. We needed a lot less clothes than I thought.
No outfit is cute enough for me to pop poppers – the zip is king when it comes to dressing wiggly babies. I’m only interested in easy street!
Babies don’t suit all colours - You’d think that babies can wear anything but I found that Willow suited some colours more than others straight from day 1 (my husband Sean thought this was the most ridiculous thing in the whole world, but I stand by it!). I wish I had just bought a few neutral basics and then bought more when I actually knew her.
I would actually only buy one type of outfit for the first year …Bonds wondersuits. They’re unbelievably stretchy, adorable designs, last forever (Willow wore the same size for over a year – that’s UNHEARD of in baby sizes) and they have regular sales. She still wears these as PJs and I wish they made adult sizes because I want a pair too!

Conclusion

And there you have it, the MMM capsule wardrobe for the littles in your life!

As with anything, you are the boss of you and your home - take what works and leave the rest.

I’m really excited for you to work through this process and feel that HUGE sigh of relief when there’s less excess.