Capsule Wardrobe Inspiration

Posted by Julie on August 06, 2019

1/ So what is a Capsule Wardrobe?

Here's a link to give you some of the historical highlights. Funnily enough, the concept comes from a woman who owned a boutique shop in London. Thanks Susie Faux for the idea that we all seem to find intriguing. She's still blogging about things like downsizing your wardrobe and shopping smart.

"According to Faux, a capsule wardrobe is a collection of a few essential items of clothing that don't go out of fashion, such as skirts, trousers, and coats, which can then be augmented with seasonal pieces"

2/ What interests you about a capsule wardrobe?

Do you crave more time and simplicity in your life? Would you like to struggle less in the morning when you're getting ready for the day? Would you like to eliminate some decision fatigue and create a "uniform" that works for you? Is it that you need to present yourself well to feel confident and professional, but don't like to shop? Is it because you'd like to reduce the wasted clothing, wasted money and learn to curb your impulse purchases to be more careful of your budget or environmental impact? Is it perhaps ....all of the above?

The first stages of my "uniform" came from living out of a suitcase for work for 20+ years. I would have a car full of samples when I was a rep and could only sneak in a small bag for my own stuff. No one cared what I was wearing as long as I was clean and tidy, but if I didn't bring the samples, I didn't make the sale. And when you're a self-employed, commissioned sales rep, you learn pretty fast that you need to make the sale.

Skip forward to me arriving at my first international sales conference wearing a black tank top, a pair of shorts and sneakers. They were cute sneakers, but still.....as the evening event started and I realized that the 30+ degrees of summer that I had left was met with very cool desert evenings and my sweater was in my luggage and guess where my luggage was? You got it! I learned a valuable lesson that night as I wore a borrowed sweatshirt, shorts and sneakers to a cocktail party, that I needed to arrive prepared and I needed to be organized enough to jump off a plane and go straight into meetings and look and feel good even if my luggage didn't arrive at the same time. After traveling almost 300 days of the year one year, I realized that I only wore what was in my bag, washed it and packed it again and it was easy and I actually kind of liked it ....I realized that simplicity was actually something I really enjoyed. I also have always liked classic, timeless style and good quality well made clothing and when you have well chosen clothing that is comfortable and versatile, you really can go anywhere in them.

So what's your reason? It's good to have a think about this so that it can inform your personalized minimalist wardrobe.

3/Is a Capsule Wardrobe One Size Fits All?

Here's one that popped up when I googled Capsule Wardrobe and here's a link to see how they describe exactly which styles we all NEED. Now here's where I differ from this. I think it's difficult to have the same pieces work for everyone and I prefer to riff on the concept and help people to develop what works for them.

You get to a stage of your life where you don't want to wear exactly the same things as everyone else. What sounds like an amazing uniform to me would be boring to someone else so it's hard to say how many pieces makes the perfect combination. My recommendation is to assess where you are, what about this appeals to you and then decide what you have in your current wardrobe that works well.

What's the outfit - the luggage is lost and you have to wear this for everything outfit - that you really love?
What do you reach for to wear all the time and even consider digging it out of the laundry basket to wear again?
What outfit or item do you get the most compliments when you wear it?
What's your style?

If you would like to book an appointment to get some help to get started, we offer personalized shopping appointments If you think you can do this on your own, here are my top three tips when choosing new clothing:

1/ Do you love it?

2/ Can you wear it for at least three seasons by layering it?

3/ Can you wear it at least three different ways or make three distinct outfits with it?

We're working on a wardrobe checklist for you, to help you with the in between seasons to assess what you have. But here's an idea from Spring with styles that we thought might fit the requirements. Maybe instead of adding more "summer" clothing, you could think about adding something to your wardrobe that could work well now and into the fall. One of our all time favourite suggestions is this basic bamboo layering tank, but we're sharing more of our easy style below for some outfit inspiration.