You can create a capsule wardrobe for girls from any store. The process is fairly easy too, once you get the hang of it.
I’m highlighting a capsule wardrobe for girls from Target because it’s my favorite and easiest store for creating a child’s capsule wardrobe at an affordable price. Plus, their clothes are super cute and because they are super affordable. I don’t care if my kids play hard in them.
Side note: You can easily create a capsule wardrobe for boys at Target too, but my experience is with girls.
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When to buy a capsule wardrobe for your child
I like to buy a new capsule wardrobe for my girls at the start of each season or when they jump a size. If those two coincide, yay! I also get excited with a jump in size at the end of a season. Then I can get clothes on sale!
For me, it is easier to buy the capsule wardrobe all at once, as I don’t forget what colors I’m working with for that season and size. (It goes a little different for adults, as we aren’t growing!)
Before you buy a capsule wardrobe for your child, purge their clothes. They only need one size of clothes at a time. Don’t hold on to clothes if you don’t have another child lined up to take over the hand-me-downs.
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Here’s how to create a capsule wardrobe for girls at Target:
Start with your three base colors
I like to start with three base colors. You can start with shirts or pants, but I prefer to start with pants.
Pick timeless colors, and make them solids! Don’t buy prints. Think blue, dark pink, dark purple, or whatever your child prefers.
Pants for your girl’s capsule wardrobe
I do not buy pants with prints on them! Prints make it harder to intermix the outfit pieces.
I used to be the mom that walked into Carter’s and bought the cute outfit that could only be worn as that one outfit. That was dumb. I had zero flexibility. If one piece got ruined, I was out a whole outfit. This practice also required me to buy more pieces, which was an unnecessary expenditure of money.
My capsule wardrobe for girls usually involves seven pairs of pants. This includes several pairs of stretch leggings and two or three pairs of blue jeans.
Get what makes you and your child happy. (My daughter prefers leggings under her snow pants at recess on snow days!)
Admittedly, the leggings wear out quit with hard outdoors play. That’s what my daughter likes though. She wears them for all sorts of play, and they are pretty cheap. Sometimes I’ll buy another pair or two throughout the season.
Blue jeans usually last through a full size and can be passed on to the next kid.
Shirts for a girl’s capsule wardrobe
After I pick out a few timeless colors in pants, I’ll make sure my daughter’s capsule wardrobe has around ten shirts.
I don’t buy fancy shirts. I buy shirts my girls can play hard in. They can paint, cook, or play outside, and I don’t worry about them ruining an expensive outfit.
I buy graphic tees for my girl’s capsule wardrobe. Why? Because she gets super excited about a graphic tee with a cat on it. It’s not my style, but she loves them. I like to love what I wear every day, so I allow her to wear what she loves.
I let my daughters help pick ten graphic tees because that’s two weeks of school clothes. I can totally suck at doing the laundry for over a week (sometimes, yes, I fail at laundry and they wear a pair of jeans twice!), and they still have clean clothes that can mix and match.
Why Target for a girl’s capsule wardrobe?
I pick Target for my girl’s capsule wardrobe because it’s super easy. Every season Target comes out with a new line.
The new seasonal line at Target will have a shelf of leggings. Next to it, they will have a shelf of graphic tees. Nearly every piece will combine with at least two other pieces.
It is super easy to buy a capsule wardrobe for girls at Target and let my daughter be actively involved. After we pick her base colors in pants, she finds her ten shirts that match her choices.
She LOVES picking out the shirts. It’s precious to watch her develop her own style at an affordable price.
Specialty clothes
I build my daughter’s primary capsule wardrobe pieces at Target. Usually, I let her pick out her specialty items while there too.
We usually buy my daughter two dresses. I don’t buy fancy dresses unless we have something specific planned.
My daughter loves the cotton dresses that can be paired with leggings or pantyhose. We can dress the cotton dresses up or dress them down.
Other capsule wardrobe items?
Whether or not you choose other items for your capsule wardrobe is up to you. We usually buy one swimsuit for the offseason. They have two swimsuits for summer.
Our kids have one serious winter coat and lighter sweatshirts or light jackets that are multi-season or even multi-year. I’m all about buying items that have dual purposes and a long life.
I often buy sweatshirts and jackets at thrift stores. We like high-quality winter gear. (We were super pumped to find a Spyder ski coat for my daughter recently at a second-hand store. It looked brand new and is nicer than any coat we own as adults!)
Shoes in a capsule wardrobe for girls
While I’m not so extreme in my clothing limits, I’m super extreme in my shoe choices.
My daughter gets two pairs of shoes per season. In the winter time, it’s tennis shoes and snow boots.
In the summertime, it’s tennis shoes and nice water sandals. I do not buy them cheap flip flops or cute summer shoes.
Yes, they tennis shoes to church. We live in a community of dirt roads. If you are a regular church goer in a regular town, having nice shoes isn’t so silly.
This practice is limiting shoes has taught me a lot about buying quality and only what we need.
Socks and underwear
While my life would be easier if we only bought white socks, that’s not what my girls choose for their style.
While buying a capsule wardrobe for my daughter at Target, I also let my kids pick out their own socks and underwear. I don’t want someone else picking my underwear, so I allow them the same flexibility. It’s super cute to see what they come up with every time they go up a size.
Related post: How to Create Your Capsule Wardrobe
Here is a view of a capsule wardrobe for girls I created at Target:
No fancy photography, but you get the picture! (The four shirts to the left are solids we already had in our collection from Old Navy.)
This is a summer / early fall capsule wardrobe. (It still gets chilly at night where we live.)
I love Target’s Cat and Jack collection. They mix and match easily. The pants (not fully shown) are usually denim, blue, or dark pink. I don’t buy lighter colored pants, given they show stains more easily.
You can create a capsule wardrobe for girls or boys from any number of stores. Target is my favorite because they are affordable and the quality is good enough for the time my kids wear the clothes.
I can usually pass on the shirts and denim to the next kid. The leggings wear out fast, but I get my money’s worth with all the pieces.
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