Capsule Wardrobe, what do I need?!

[rahlikeatiger]

Hi there,
Having a wardrobe crisis and wondered if anyone here might have any insight as I am pants when it comes to fashion.

My wardrobe resembles a 90s jumble sale. I'm a teacher and want to revamp it over the next few weeks whilst at home. I'm in my mid thirties and am pretty clueless. What do I need for a good capsule wardrobe?

Thanks in advance!

Hi Rahlikeatiger, What's your body shape? Styles you love, styles you hate, any celebs you admire?

Book a free stylist session at John Lewis or Debenhams. They will recommend styles and colours which suit you. There is no obligation to buy so you can use the apt to get ideas.

www.johnlewis.com/our-services/fashion-advice-service?

Uniqlo is good for basics and they stock a lot of cotton & breathable fabrics. It's also well priced too.

www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/home/

Also have a look in pintrest for capsule wardrobe ideas.

Pinteresting as we speak. Not really tried uniglo so will definitely check them out. I have started following some people on Instagram too.

I am pear shaped, currently a size 16 with a bit of a tum. Trying to shape up. I really like dresses, but want to get better at choosing separates.

I will research and stop panicking! :) thanks for your help!

For a capsule wardrobe you need to figure out what colours work for you and with each other, so you can mix and match them.

Start with an item you really love (anything from an item of jewellery to a piece of clothing to a pair ofor shoes. Take a little while to think what it is you like about it.
Match everything to that.

Pick a dark neutral (usually black, navy, karki green, brown,or grey) and a light neutral (usually cream white or grey). Easy way to start is with all the bottoms being a dark neutral and putting pattern and colour on the tops or vice versa. The first way round is easier as then you have more freedom with the jumpers

As a basic rules these numbers work without you having to wash the whole time. You will need to adjust depending on your needs.

10 tops or shirts (these can all be short sleeved or mix in a couple of long sleeved). Can be shirts tops t-shirt etc. Every top must go with every bottom. Should include 3 summer vest or strappy tops. All must work with the jumper necklines

3 smart bottoms appropriate to winter. (Either skirts or trousers)
3 casual bottoms. (Skirts trousers or jeans) appropriate to winter
3 smart bottoms summer appropriate 3 casual bottoms summer appropriate
Nb on bottom halves. If you can double up on the above (eg skirt with tights in winter without in summer, jeans to work etc) you don't need as many. Aiming for a choice of 5 bottoms in winter and the same in summer.

1-3 dresses 1 smart casual, one party, one summer.

3 jumpers (one dark neutral, one light neutral)
3 cardigans (one dark neutral, one light neutral one patterns). If your tops and/or bottoms and fairly neutral the light neutral can also be patterned
This is a bit depending on whether you wear cardigans and jumpers. You are aiming for a choice of 5-6. 3 of theses should be "Carthorse" clothing, stuff you can wear and Wash without too much thought. 3-4 jumpers/cardigans) will do if you are not a big cardi/jumper wearer.

1or2 warm technical mid layers (eg fleece, gillet, hoody, packable down). Must be able to go over a jumper and still be hidden under a coat or blazer (to stay warm but still look smart). Over time I split this into 4 separate items one fleece gilet, one hoody, one packable down coat, one packable down gilet. Most of these can layer with each other and/or the jumpers above. But I'm a chilly bugger and I don't like being cold!!

1 genuinely waterproof coat (with hood) (can be pack a mac) or a decent umbrella.
1blazer and/or leather jacket. Should be wearable with both smart stuff as a warm layer and casual bottoms to smarten them up.
1 smart wool coat.

1 pair of summer sandals
1 pair of winter shoes or boots.
1 pair of walking boots or trainers
1 smart pair of (heeled if you want) shoes in dark neutral

Roughly worked to this when I lost a load of weight and could only afford to replace clothing slowly overy time. Works well for the kids too I find.

That's ace Toffee! Thanks so much, such a good start to help guide me. Have screenshot your reply. Tackling a big throw out later. Need to get rid of some of the weird and not so nice stuff and find things that work together!
Will report back. :)

hope it went well

Toffeelatte where/how did you come up with this list? It seems quite a lot...ideal but I wonder if realistic?

Esther over at On The Spike did a whole capsule wardrobe series in July, I found it really interesting.

onthespike.com

I've found Anushka Rees' blog really helpful. I haven't followed it to the letter, but have found great tips. She's got a book out (The Curated Closet), which takes you through identifying your style and building a capsule wardrobe that works for you - might be worth looking at that?

One thing that really helped me recently was a tip that I think I got off a MN discussion: when you look at each item in your wardrobe, ask yourself "would I buy this if I saw it in a shop right now?".

Good luck!

Really just my experience

Many hours spent browsing capsule wardrobes on pinterest, both the travel and normal varieties. Then losing a lot of weight meant I had very few clothes that fit and had to replace stuff slowly when I could afford to.

Most travel capsule wardrobes i saw worked on 3's. One you are wearing, one you are washing, one you are drying/spare. Assuming that you are happy to wear clothes twice unless dirty and scale it up a little 5 items will give you a week of clothing with a couple of days wear spare. However they dressed it up most capsule wardrobes boiled down to 5 tops 5 bottoms. Assume you wash once a week.

I actually already followed the numbers for my son for many years without really thinking about it. But his clothing is simple character tshirts jeans school uniform, less cardigans more jumpers. I had more tshirts (because I could get away with wearing the bigger sizes for longer) but less bottom halves on occasion so was washing them more often.

The basis of my wardrobe still works this way. It is very simple, there's three varieties of tops all the same colour that all layer in winter and work by themselves summer. mostly i add colour in the jumpers, cardis, and summer bottoms. I don't really have to think to much about what to wear in the morning, the basics cover what i need to do and looks smart. I haven't found the dresses in my current size yet but I have more of the technical mid layers because I do not like being cold. Slowly I've added other bits. Usually looking for stand out pieces that work in combo with the basics. I'm not sure personally I'd stick to it rigidly long term but i could do if i needed/wanted too.

I wear a mix and match uniform from uniqlo - everything goes with everything else, pretty much

Stretchy leggings trousers
Easy care blouses
Supima cotton or heat tech base layers
Merino wool sweaters

I have a very casual work environment so this particular combination wouldn't work for most, but a shop like uniqlo where they have great quality but inexpensive basics in multiple colours means I can get a core palette of white / black / grey / navy / sky blue where it's all mix and matchable

Bloody love uniqlo!

This blog is all about the capsule wardrobe

www.un-fancy.com/

Seeing what you have is an important step in building a capsule wardrobe. Look at what you’ve acquired, what you’ve spent, and what you never wear. It might make you laugh or cry, but either way, you’ll never want to do this again. One tip is before buying a new item to add to your capsule, think of 3 things you could wear it with or 3 different ways you could wear it. That way, any new additions will add maximum value to your wardrobe. Good luck!