Hey everyone, welcome back to my corner of the interwebs. As I type this we are having a bit of snow and winter weather. Surely the kids will be out of school for the majority of the week—good thing that I stocked up on wine! Just me? As I sit here with my coffee and my long socks...see my post about my favorite cold weather accessory, here, I am thinking about the complexity of creating a capsule wardrobe. Why did I say complexity? Well, because to me it is a complex idea...maybe it’s not supposed to be, but let’s take a look at what having a capsule wardrobe means, shall we?

 

Basically a capsule wardrobe means that for every season, you have on average 35 pieces of clothing in your closet. The pieces are versatile enough that they can be mixed and matched to create a number of different outfits. Y’all this includes shoes. And that’s the part that has me like...nope. Now, the number of items can vary for each person, because we are all different and have unique needs. For instance, I don’t have an office job, so my capsule wouldn’t include any office wear. You could also decide that workout clothes don’t count, but then they have to be used for working out only and not sneak their way into your daily attire. Set a basic guideline for yourself...you can always change it a little bit as you get more used to the idea.

(one of the outfits that I put together based on my capsule choices)

 

So, I decided to challenge myself to put together a capsule wardrobe based on things that I love and would wear. Do you think I succeeded? Well, It was tough, and I spent a long time on it...and I only made it down to 41 pieces. Some people say that you should include jewelry, handbags and all accessories, but y’all I can’t handle that. So here is what I came up with, all images are from the Cladwell app (I will talk about that another time).  They are similar to pieces that I own. In reality though, you are supposed to dump your closet out and only put back what you will be including in your capsule for that season. I will be honest, I simply can't do that—it would literally take me YEARS. And, since I am over here dreaming of spring, this sample capsule is made with spring in mind. 

First up, dresses and skirts. I pretty much live in them as soon as it's warm enough. If my capsule wardrobe didn't have a good selection of dresses and skirts...I don't think I'd ever leave the house. I'm not joking. Notice that I included different cuts and patterns as well as solids. Probably would need to make adjustments, but you get the idea. Of course, I cannot forget about shorts and jeans. Especially since spring can offer up some crazy mixed up weather. Pictured below, I chose a few skinny jeans, my beloved (and on trend) flare leg jeans, and a pair of shorts.

Ok now here is where it gets a little dicey. Tops. I need to rework this a little bit...but I think the basic idea is here. Different cuts and styles, mixing both patterns and solids and one or two on trend pieces (polka dots and tie dye). Remember that you can always tie up shirts or side tuck them if they are too loose for your outfit.  

Next up...outer layers. Again this part was hard, because around here, spring can be Sprummer,  Sprall or even Sprinter.  Haha, get it? I tried to include different textures with the denim jacket and faux leather, as well as incorporating longer cardigans and trench coats. Do I need more than one trench coat? Probably not. But here we are, with two.  

Lastly, shoes. This was difficult, because I believe that shoes make an outfit, and I am not about to give up the majority of my shoes, that's a no from me. However, I gave it my best effort to narrow it down to a few choice styles. Notice I didn't include flats...that's because I never wear them. I'd have a pair of converse in my workout wear...so I'd cheat on my capsule and wear those with an outfit if I had to. Rules are made to be broken right?!? And, truthfully, these few wouldn't be enough for me. I'd probably have to include at least 25 more pairs. 

So, now you need to make sure you can create enough outfits for the season....so that's 3 months...with the pieces that you have selected. It might be a good idea to photograph them, so you have a "look book" so to speak, of all the outfits. If you find that you are struggling with your choices, try changing it for something else, nothing is set in stone! Below I put together a few outfits using the pieces that I chose, and it was actually a lot of fun to do! Maybe I could just work up outfits for OTHER peoples capsules, because while I do see the benefits to capsules (ease of making outfits, less stuff, less expense), it is not something that I will do in my own closet.  

 

 

Even without doing a capsule wardrobe, I am still using these outfits as inspiration come spring.  They have me wanting to pretend it's warmer outside and dress for spring.  Will you be creating a capsule wardrobe? 

 

-xo