At I don´t claim to have a capsule wardrobe...yet ...but I am working towards one, which I think plays a big part in reducing my spending on clothes.
The reason why I didn´t jump straight into having a capsule is that some of my clothes are not good enough to donate (wouldn´t sell well in charity shops) but I will still wear them for a bit longer (before turning them into cleaning rags or sending them to be recycled).
But in the mean time I am being very careful about how much and what i do bring in (even if it is from clothes swaps and charity shops) so I am gradually cutting down and will finally reach capsule level.
I am still donating some things to charity or bringing them to swaps... when you are only getting second hand, sometimes you have to settle for almost perfect, so if a few months later you get a closer match to what you want, you can swap that out! I think this will speed up the process of getting t to a capsule wardrobe as I will generally be happier with my clothes.
Another thing helps keep me motivated is challenges and restrictions, the photo here shows the 30 items for 30 days that I did in August...it really made me see that 30 items was plenty...and when I was picking them out I realised that I had worn less than 30 in July!
At the end of the month I did go back to my full wardrobe....but only because I felt that the other items were being wasted...so as I gradually wear clothes out or replace them with more versatile pieces I will reach capsule, and until then I will keep an eye out for more challenges to keep me focused on the goal!