Help me build my wardrobe from scratch!

[RosaBonheur]

I am thinking ahead a bit here because I'm currently on maternity leave, have baby weight to lose, and can only wear breastfeeding clothes. I've spent very little of the last two and a half years not wearing maternity or nursing clothes and I'm ready for a change.

Firstly, I love the idea of a capsule wardrobe because I'd like to have less stuff, but better quality. However, whenever I look for inspiration, I'm a bit stumped. Firstly, the guides say pick either black or navy as your base colour. I'm fairly sure I suit navy better than black, and I have quite a lot of navy clothes I like, but the idea of a wardrobe without any black in it seems a bit limiting. What do you do when you want to wear opaque tights in winter, for example?

I'm also struck by how boring some capsule wardrobes look. I get that you have to wear a lot of neutrals to make everything go together, but a wardrobe made up mostly of black, white, grey and tan definitely isn't me.

There's an Instagrammer called despetitshauts who posts outfits I like the look of. At first glance it looks like a capsule wardrobe but on closer inspection, no, she has a lot of stuff, just sticking to a particular colour palette.

Finally, colours. Is it worth getting mine done? I've always been tempted because I'm never sure what suits me and I tend to waste money on white elephants, but is it worth it or is it a fad?

Finally, I'm in France but not yet very familiar with French brands because I carried on buying stuff from the UK for the first year or two, then Covid hit and I didn't buy anything, and since then it's been mostly maternity clothes. What French brands apart from Sezanne are good? Preferably without breaking the bank as most of my money goes on my kids now.

Any advice about where to start would be much appreciated. I'd like to aim for a refreshed wardrobe in September when I go back to work and have hopefully lost the baby weight.

Thanks!

BA&SH and Claudie Pierlot. Went off Maje a few years back. Sandro always has nice things, have never bought from there though. Sorry I know they’re expensive. Now that I’m having a baby of myself I’ll probably have to step back from those brands too. 😇 I agree Sezane is great.

See what simple stuff they have in COS and & other stories? Both are not what they were though.

I get a lot of designer things on Vestiaire Collective for reasonable amount of money. Bloody brexit has made it more expensive though (wanker brexiters) but you don’t have that problem being France. No customs charges for you 🙂

My advice would be that allocating some budget to getting your colours done is a good idea. I did it recently (a Christmas present from my husband), and I found that as an Autumn, I'd been wearing the wrong colours for years. If you want to have a capsule wardrobe that works really well for you, then knowing what colours suit is key. I'm not supposed to wear black or navy, so neither of those suggested neutrals work. I do look so much better when I wear colours that suit, and it makes shopping easier.

As for a capsule wardrobe, it doesn't have to be about having loads of neutrals, but rather picking a palette of shades that can all easily match with each other. For example, right now I am sticking to purchasing rust browns, olive greens, creams, camel, deep golden yellows. I've still got a lot of colour, but because they all work together, it makes it easy to mix-and-match outfits.

It can be good fun planning it all, especially if you don't have pressure to do it quickly. Just don't wait until like me, you suddenly find you have almost nothing to wear!

I really rate getting colours done professionally, and have found it helpful when building a wardrobe. You may also find it useful to work out your Kibbe type (you can do this by yourself) to get an idea of which silhouettes suit you best.

Instead of having “one capsule wardrobe to rule them all”, you might find it more useful to think in terms of multiple capsule wardrobes (ie. A warm-weather work capsule, a cool-weather casual capsule, a special occasion capsule etc).

for style inspiration I find Pinterest pretty good (if a bit samey). If you’re after styling ideas you can search for something like “navy cardigan” and then add “street style” to the search terms, which will give you pictures of whole outfits rather than individual pieces.

I've just commented on a similar thread 'help me start my whole wardrobe again?'.

I have a capsule wardrobe which is very simple.
It is in fact two capsule wardrobes - winter and summer. Each season's clothes is packed away out of sight as the next season comes along.

In essence - one neutral colour for winter (eg: black) and a different one for summer (eg: navy).
Each season's neutral has two complementary accent colours which suit my colour palette - such as red and green for winter, and white and blue for summer.

Each season I unpack the clothing I already have and shop for any gaps if clothes are worn out/don't fit or no longer suit.

I find when I start to become weary of wearing my winter capsule, spring is not far away and I'm soon digging out clothes I haven't seen for 6 months and revamping the next season.

Each capsule is based around 3 colours - 1 neutral and 2 complementary accents, which makes clothes shopping much easier. It means all items in the summer capsule work well together; as do all clothes in the winter one. I also have a separate small holiday capsule too.

It's so adaptable. If a two-season capsule seems too limiting, I can just add a spring or autumn one by choosing another neutral and two accents.

Thanks, this is really helpful!

@TigerQueen89 Thanks for the recommendations, I've been having a good browse and seen some nice things. It's good to be able to avoid customs issues in both the UK and France!

@SunUpSunDown and @WillowPatternPlate , where did you have your colours done? If I went somewhere like House of Colour, are all the stylists consistently good? I'm a bit scared of wasting money if the nearest stylist to me turns out to be crap.

@seekingasimplelife Thank you, your capsule wardobe idea looks good. I like the idea of doing it by season so I can change the colours round every few months or so.

I think I would think of a capsule wardrobe in terms of what items you will use most often, fit your lifestyle and will form the back bone of your wardrobe which is very personal. Invest in the core items and then go from there.

I would recommend figuring out your colours but I just figured it out myself by reading lots of articles, and doing various quizzes. And looking at difference palettes and holding colours up to my face. It has made a difference in what I buy and how I look for sure.

elementalcolour.com.au/the-blog

30somethingurbangirl.com/free-quiz-what-is-your-seasonal-color/

www.headcovers.com/resources/beauty/how-to-find-your-color-season/

There is a whole palette of colours in each season and it is worth doing. You are not limited to one shade of beige and they all go together.

It's also worth considering your tonal analysis. Are you bright or muted, or in the middle? Dark, light, or medium? High or low contrast? One will be dominant i.e. you can wear the extreme and the other won't ever look great.

In reality, you then pick your favourites. I've picked mine based on complimentary colours to my hair (opposite on the colour wheel), colours found in my skin tone, and adding a pop of my best red, or orange or pink. Knowing your best red helps a lot.

Colours for my capsule are

• (blues) bright navy, aquamarine, oxford blue, hyacinth, aqua, violet

• (neutrals) beige, dove, tan, chocolate

• (warm) poppy, coral, hot pink, light peach

I also have a few orphan colours like bright green, tangerine, cinammon, that I don't really look for but if I see something I like.

To be honest I still buy and wear black but either a small amount in a pattern, or on my bottom half, or a v neck. I'd still buy black shoes but look for details in the hardware and edging .

I had mine done with a HoC rep who has been doing it for literally years. She said she's retiring soon, and that the training she had was much more thorough than it is now. So I guess go on word of mouth if you know someone who has had it done.