Guardian capsule wardrobe article- what items do you agree with and ones that you don't?

[PragmaticDramatic]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/article/2024/aug/24/the-ultimate-capsule-wardrobe-the-only-20-items-youll-ever-really-need
I am assuming you need multiples of these items.

To be fair, ballet flats are back (again). And I've been wearing them fairly constantly for the last 20 years, but that's because they particularly work for me (skinny feet and ankles - the chunky shoe trend made me look like all my shoes were three sizes too big.)

Or indeed, a breton t-shirt

I pretty much hated it, on the grounds that I am not a French size 8. I hated the token curvy girl red dress most of all those. Such a harsh red, so stiff and over-priced, much ugly.

Agree - the wardrobe is obviously curated with city professionals in mind. If you live or regularly spend time somewhere wetter/colder/muddier/more rural then this list is a bag of shite.

I'm all for a small wardrobe, and consuming less, but this would not work for everyone.

(Deleted as a duplicate post)

The accompanying article says that all the experts are unanimous that you only need one coat! Madness.
Even as an impoverished teenager (and we were seriously skint) I had a couple of coats, one lightweight and one warm.

Also, do I get points for once having had a pair of shoes that combined the baller-flat toe with kitten heels?

As usual the Guardian assumes every reader has a lifestyle exactly like a Guardian journalist.

I work in a school. I try to look smart and professional but sometimes I have to clean up vomit. I’m not doing that in expensive dry clean only clothes. H&M has to do the trick. Even expensive clothes don’t last well if you need to wash them often.

What about the slouchy I can't be arsed today pyjamas with long wrap around cardigan to hide the food stains?

Apart from ballet flats, kitten heels and a denim shirt, that pretty much describes my wardrobe. Actually, I don’t have a boxy jacket either as they make me look fat.

My work wardrobe for most of the year is cigarette pants with loafers or wide legged trousers with chunky white trainers. I also have several satin bias cut skirts.

My problem is I have far too many of everything. I need to cull.

It’s the current capsule - they change with fashion, which sort of invalidates the whole idea. Still fun.

I’ve got the Ghost skirt and haven’t ever worn it. Too short. Jumper over Ghost slip dress better.

Camisole no good if you wear a bra. Vest from Cos better.

One jumper?!

To be fair, I am to a ‘capsule’ wardrobe what Atilla the Hun was to the power of diplomacy. I have a ridiculous amount of clothes because dressing up is fun and creating multiple looks is a bit of daily theatre in a sad world. Yes, I can certainly see the clothes in this article would all work together and they’re practical and classic but, but, but so dull! I’d be depressed contemplating that choice every day.

To be fair, they haven't had their feet comprehensively fucked up through being squished into narrow pumps that they have to claw with their toes to hold on, constant pressure on the toe joint or the inability to spread their weight through three points and flex naturally since childhood, have they?

who actually wears white shirts

This would be so boring! I love my wardrobe and getting 'new' things all the time from charity shops and Vinted. Probably have at least 6 times as many items for a fraction of the price of this capsule wardrobe.

I find them so unflattering on me. I bought one ages ago thinking I needed one as a "work horse" staple. I looked like big Dave from IT (I am a woman)

Anyway, even if the suited them, I'd likely spill coffee down the front and ruin it

I think it's a really nice capsule wardrobe, but it's what you might pack for a week away in a city with work. How often would you have to do laundry if this was all you owned? And wouldn't you spill spaghetti bolognese down the white shirt immediately and be left wearing the inappropriate silky vest for all appointments?

Hmm. Some of the staples are available for less.

The coat is particularly awful but I'd like a dressing gown in a similar style.

I do, but I think I should burn mine after reading this thread.

You are my fashion twin.

For those on this thread who have a capsule wardrobe, don't you get bored? And do you find your clothes 'wear' more quickly?

I wasn't being disingenuous, though reading back I can see it sounds that way. I am barefoot 95% of the time, and wondering whether the supportive footwear thing is self-fulfilling i.e. it's shoes that fuck feet up in the first place.

I came to mn in 2009. First time I read about Breton tops was on here. I have a few, but don't consider them fashionable. I wear them if I'm having a French day.

Plantar fasciitis gets worse with age. I've only experienced in since hitting my 40s, and I've worn all kinds of shoes.

I rock a white shirt. But I am lucky enough to have coathanger shoulders, so they hang well.

I suppose I do have a sort of capsule wardrobe.

However, I hate the majority of things in that list!

-Neither cigarette nor wide legged trousers suit my shape
-HATE cargo trousers & Breton tops
-ALLShirts look horrific with my big knockers, so the ‘staple white shirt’ has never worked for me and hell would freeze over before I’d ever wear a denim shirt.
-I don’t own a pair of white trainers
-I haven’t worn slingback kitten heels in 20 years.
-I have no need for a ‘Chanel-style’ jacket and can’t imagine ever wearing one
-I find skirts very tricky to style, and detest the bias-cut satin ones that are everywhere lately. Ugly,

So….Nah!

My capsule work wardrobe isn’t ’on tend’, but it suits my sense of style and shape:
Blazer
Silk blouse
Tapered ankle grazer trousers
Loafers or pointy flats

OR high necked dress, tights, boots with nod to 60s/Mod-ish style

I can make either look more dressy or formal or casual depending on how I style them, accessories, which shoes I wear, fabrics etc.

They're trying to focus on sustainability / UK manufacture / organic cotton because they're the Guardian, so of course it's at the expensive end, but they're doing it really inconsistently, with thirty quid polyester/viscose Zara slacks contrasting with a T shirt for eighty five pounds (!) apparently hand woven by supermodels from spider silk.

I don't exactly have a capsule wardrobe, as I do have a lot of clothes, but I've been trying to streamline it recently and tend to wear the same sort of things in different combinations. I wear scrubs at work 90% of the time and jumpers and leggings/gym clothes usually at home. So my nice clothes are really only for going out, and rarely for the office. I don't get bored because I enjoy looking put together and I have more confidence that I look good and more confidence that the outfit works. Before I put the effort into streamlining my wardrobe I tended to wear the same things over and over again anyway, but it would usually be a safe outfit like jeans, a jumper and boots, while I bought loads of 'exciting' colourful clothes that languished in the wardrobe unworn. At least this way I can pair something a bit unusual with my neutral basics and it actually gets worn.

That's what I thought. And the jackets.

I could probably manage with one padded waterproof jacket, trainers, boots and flat sandals.

But I would need a lot more tee shirts, sweaters and casual trousers.