Capsule wardrobe- inspire me with your must haves?

[sundayshoutin]

So sick of never having anything to wear and have decided it’s time to build a bit more of a capsule/ easy effortless wardrobe (not one of the instagram 20 pieces, all navy, camel and white ones) but one that reflects my lifestyle and personality a bit but also makes it easy to get dressed and feel good!

So, please inspire me- what are your capsule wardrobe must haves? What are your go-to outfits? What are your favourite brands for achieving this? What is the secret style sauce to looking more effortlessly put together? :)

For me personally I don’t think a capsule wardrobe would work. What I would say is buy good quality items that you wear a lot such as jeans that work for you in terms of style and shape and tops that dress up jeans and are suitable for wearing for
more casual occasions. I think charity shops, Vinted and EBay are good for picking up things like tops, coats and jackets. I personally think a black cardigan is worth having.

A black cardigan is a good shout- I also find myself always wishing for a thin black jumper but haven’t stumbled across the perfect one, will add it to the list!

Uniqlo merino for your thin black jumper, @sundayshoutin 👍

I have a super thin black jumper with some detail in the yarn by the Isabel Marat Etoille range bought from the charity shop for £20 BNWT and have found it a useful edition to my wardrobe.

For your streamlined wardrobe, how about trying Project 333? Pick 33 things that you already have and see how you get on with wearing those for a month. It might help identify what you rely on most and what gaps you could buy to bring a new outfit - or to go with your favourites and make them work even better.

https://bemorewithless.com/project-333/

It does depend upon your lifestyle.

When I worked predominantly in an office I had two sets of clothes that weren’t interchangeable for work and casual. The work ones were very formulaic so it helped me feel put together.

I am a bit less like this now but have a couple of pairs of jeans that make me feel good - flattering and a shape I love, a range of well fitting cotton t-shirts, in winter several Uniqlo jumpers/cashmere jumpers as basics. And then also have tops and blouses with more statement collars or sleeves from Damson Madder/Cos etc that I mix in for going out day/nightime. And then try and ensure I have a good set of accessories - well kept trainers, leather boots/loafers/pointed flats, leather bags, belt etc that make me feel put together.

Im a boring Instagram capsule wardrobe type of person. What i found is sticking yo the same palette (whatever yours is), and the same type of pattern and pattern size helps. For me, predictably, it's stripes or mainly plain clothing.
It means I have a never ending (sort of) wardrobe that I can mix and match without thinking about it.
My current must have are - loose linen trousers, wide tailored trousers, thin jumpers, a couple of shirts and some tshirts. Having always been a dress fan, I've actually moved to skirts this year, they give me more flexibility.
Snag tights, boots, trainers, flip flops currently.

Barbour do some nice quality middle of the road British basics. I got a black and white stripe tshirt, but more modern and up to date as oversized.

I'm a bit slow on the oversized bandwagon but I want to get a nice oversized white cotton shirt this autumn.

I had my colours done professionally so that pretty much dictates my choices, but I would say every capsule needs a healthy amount of white, your best neutrals, and then you want some of your versions of pink and red to make it less boring!

My best colours are bright but it can look a bit much and be hard to coordinate, so I lean more towards black and creams for work.

Maxi dresses seem to be massive this year.

I've also seen a lot more midi skirts at work. But nice light floral pattern ones.

What is your lifestyle and personality OP?

Why do you never have anything to wear (as in what don’t you like about your current clothes)? And what is your lifestyle?

Thanks for all the helpful tips and ideas all!

@SoScarletItWasProject 333 sounds like a great idea- I’ll give that a go and see what items I lean on most and what is missing. Right now I can only think of about 10 items I like and feel good in so lots of work to be done!

@fiorentinaI think this might need to be me too- I work in a relatively corporate office 3 days per week and am always jealous of my creative friends who can have 1 bigger wardrobe for work and play.

@Seaside3I’m similar, love a wide linen/ satin trouser, t shirts, shirts etc. and trying to incorporate colours that suit me more @PinkZebraStripesthough I haven’t had this done professionally- would you recommend?

My lifestyle is outside of work is relatively active, dog walks etc at the weekend but with a healthy helping of pub lunches and chilled restaurants and bars. I find it much easier to dress in winter (a go to outfit would be good jeans, chunky flat boots, a thick jumper and an oversized blazer). @Gymbunny2025I think my style (relatively tomboy, smart casual) and my shape (short and hourglass) are at odds and I’d probably look better in more feminine styles but they’re not me which makes shopping a challenge!

I can’t really advise on your style or shape. But for me I have a work ‘wardrobe’ (one pair of trousers, 2 skirts, a few dresses and tops) that I rotate and store when out of season. I then have 4 pairs of jeans that I wear most of the time (with a few summer dresses and shorts in summer) and then I just have nice tops I love. If I buy anything new, something else has to go! I have a seperate chest of drawers for all my undies, pj, lounge wear and gym wear.

I love all my clothes and there’s nothing I never wear. And it’s really easy to get dressed!

just to add I rarely keep going out outfits- if I go somewhere that requires getting dressed up I prefer to buy new then sell on. I don’t go to many fancy events though

I am trying to do this too. I did a massive clear out a couple of years ago and donated/sold a lot but feel I need to reduce further. Did the trick of putting everything back in the wardrobe well ordered and with the coat hanger hung backwards so I can easily see what I am not wearing after 6 months… now just have to do the hard bit of ACTUALLY getting rid of what I don’t wear!

This has inspired me to be ruthless, reorganise what is left and “shop” it to see where any gaps are.

Things I rely on a lot in A/W:

Thin cashmere jumpers from M&S
Good trousers - wide legged tailored and jeans
Well cut blazers, coats and jackets

Am a bit lost this year though. Usually excited by new collections and how I can style what I already have (the benefit of being older and through the fashion cycle more than once!) to freshen things up with a couple of new pieces but it all seems a bit…meh. Following for tips please.

I was very confused what colours suited me and when I tried to have a capsule wardrobe I couldn't decide and didn't want to spend money on things I'd end up not wearing or changing my mind about.

I looked online and it was around the pandemic - ended up down a rabbit hole trying to decide my skin tone so when lock down ended I booked a face to face consultation.

She was really good - I could see the difference my colours made. They were also not what colours I thought they would be ! I look warm and autumn like, but my best colours are bright warm spring saturated colours, not muted. In fact muted is the worst option for me! I think I'd just gone muted as I wasn't sure about any others. Sub consciously maybe didn't like the attention that wearing my best colours bought? But in my early 40s by then I wanted to feel less invisible.

Anyhoo, came away with a palette that I take shopping. I can go round one shop really quick, never buy things I don't wear, everything goes together, I don't have to buy expensive as cheaper clothes in your right colours always look more expensive on you, have opened up more colours e.g red, as I wear the right shade. I rewear and combine things, easier to see where gaps are.

Has paid for itself many times over in savings. I dont religiously follow it; I wear black at work, and I'm not superstrict on exact shades.

I highly recommend it. I've had strangers and colleagues effusely compliment me on dresses. I used to always say oh I've had my colours done, now I just let them be nice 😂

A capsule wardrobe is not for me, but going into autumn/winter things I lean heavily on are:

Good white t-shirts that can be layered under jumpers and cardigans - I like a crew neck and my preferred options are Uniqlo, &OS and Arket
Oversized knit jumpers - Arket alpaca blend is my favourite and I own quite a few colours (obviously very un-capsule!)
Crew and v neck cardis - Cos and Arket are my favourites
Jeans - I’m really enjoying Damson Madder at the moment, also Abercrombie
Leather jacket - mine is Whistles
Puffer long coat - mine is Arket
Leather trainers - I barely own shoes, but have numerous pairs of Adidas Samba and Spezials
DM boots
Gold hoop earrings/necklace stack, red lipstick - done ✔️

I hate tights so tend not to wear skirts and dresses once we get out of bae leg weather. I work in a job where I don’t have to be corporate and can wear smart jeans, and tend not to go to fancy places.

Following as I've lost a bit of weight recently and need to sort out my wardrobe. Can't afford to replace the whole lot at once so I'm going towards a capsule idea too.

'The Set' range at Next is really good for mix and match basics. I've also found Tesco to be pretty good for basics.

I WFH and I'm more on the casual side.

These are staples I'm going with, amongst some other bits and pieces:
White shirt & striped shirt
Basic round neck T shirts in black, white and neutrals (vests too).
Wide leg trousers - black, cream, khaki
White & black cardigans
Blazer
Black and Tan belts
Striped t-shirts
Denim shirt
Couple of graphic T shirts

Winter I'll add
Jeans - black and blue
Jumpers

It's outwear I struggle with, I need an autumn winter coat that's really versatile.