A Guide To Your Flattering And Sustainable Capsule Wardrobe
Choosing a perfect outfit can be a daunting and exhausting task: you are staring blankly into your closet and just can’t decide which pieces to choose. Should it be your new oversized blazer with wedgie jeans and sneakers? Or maybe you are really in love with your new leather trousers and would like to wear them, but they go with no other pieces in your closet? Then a capsule wardrobe, a collection of 15-40 interchangeable vital items which can be combined for daily outfits, is something you need. The author of this fashion concept was Susie Faux, a 1970s British fashion icon.
A capsule wardrobe will save you time and money: once you have built your capsule wardrobe, you will be able to dress in the dark, go shopping several times a year and minimize spending money on pieces you won’t wear.
Clean out your closet
Since you will not build your capsule wardrobe from scratch, it is important to empty your closet and take inventory of your wardrobe. Go through your closet and ask yourself, which pieces you aren’t going to wear anymore. Are there any items you wear regularly? Which items are your favorite ones? Get rid of all the pieces which don’t fit you anymore.
Create a digital mood board on Pinterest or Instagram
A digital mood board is a great tool to save ideas about your outfits. First, you will find on Instagram and Pinterest dozens of different inspiring outfits and capsule wardrobes. And secondly, you can also create your digital mood board by pinning all the items and outfits you like to it.
Start building your capsule wardrobe with tops and bottoms
To simplify the process of building your (summer, autumn, winter, spring) capsule, make a list of your capsule including basic sections: outerwear, tops, dresses& bottoms (pants and skirts), shoes, bags, and accessories. To make your list more detailed, you can break dresses&bottoms into two sections and tops into tops, sweaters, and jackets. Try to adjust your capsule to your style, personal taste, and climate needs, and fill the sections with basic items you need and would wear. Make an “extra” category for pieces you aren’t sure if they fit into the basic wardrobe or not.
You can make a checklist of your whole capsule wardrobe or checklists for each season. Here is an example of the autumn casual capsule wardrobe checklist: outerwear items are a beige trench coat, a beige wool coat, and a neutral raincoat, items for the category “tops” maybe two neutral-colored cashmere sweaters, and one neutral open cardigan, two casual white tees. Casual bottoms may be dark wash skinny jeans, straight blue jeans, and a black midi skirt.
All these items can be combined with white leather sneakers, knee high boots, waterproof beige or black boots, so as the appropriate bags (leather backpack in beige, gray or black, tote bag and crossbody bag), and winter accessories. The primary items you should start building your capsule wardrobe with are always the tops, bottoms, and overalls.
Identify all the day-to-day outfit categories you need
A sustainable capsule wardrobe must be relevant to your lifestyle and be a base for all your basic day-to-day outfits. Try to identify the most popular scenarios in your everyday life for which you need outfits, for example, work, daily, and dressy. As a laid-back working woman, you will certainly need other items than a woman working in a home office.
If you regularly visit luxurious nightclubs, and casino establishments instead of enjoying casino slots online for real money, you should consider including in your wardrobe items for at least 2 chic evening outfits (for example, slip dress + pumps or suede mules + cross body saddle bag, and dressy blouse + pants + pumps or suede mules + cross body saddle bag). You can start building your wardrobe from tops and bottoms, then add outerwear, shoes, and accessories.
How To Bring Out Your Personality With Your Capsule Wardrobe
It is important to understand that a functional capsule wardrobe doesn’t have to be overly standardized and boring: even if the capsule wardrobe has the same elements, they can vary according to your lifestyle and preferences. Let me give you some examples of how different capsule wardrobes may be from a neutral, minimalist, and casual wardrobe to rocky, bohemian, french chic, and glamorous ones.
A casual autumn capsule wardrobe may contain a wool coat, a trench coat, white and blue jeans, a crew neck sweater, a button-up shirt, and 5 cotton T-shirts, so as a crossbody, tote bags, and white sneakers. If you have a classic style personality, then you should consider building your capsule wardrobe with a button-up, plaid pants, a tweed blazer, tall slouch boots, and lug sole loafers. To make your outfits less classy, take lug-sole sneakers instead of lug-sole loafers and buy a boyfriend cardigan and a knit hoodie.
To give a capsule wardrobe a “rockier” or grunge vibe, you can just pick a plaid, moto jacket, parka, and acid wash jeans or leather leggings instead of a button-up shirt, trench coat, and basic jeans. A capsule autumn wardrobe for the bohemian style personality may have such signature bohemian pieces as a sherpa coat, flared jeans, a long print dress with flowers, a hat, a fur vest, different tunic tops, wedge booties, and shearling farm boots.
A summer capsule wardrobe in a classic French style would be incomplete without a stripe top, denim jacket, black dress, tweed jacket, simple, but also elegant ballet flaps, and trench coat. Even one signature piece (black wool coat, black puffer coat, long puffer coat, vegan leather jacket) can define the style of the whole outfit. To make your capsule wardrobe more creative, add to it accent colors.
Now you can start building a capsule wardrobe you have always dreamed of. Start with the basics, look for inspiration on Instagram and Pinterest, and let it be flexible: your capsule wardrobe mustn’t be boring and should represent the real you. It may be a bit challenging if you never did it before, but it is certainly worth a try. That’s it!
