The Ultimate Capsule Wardrobe Dream

So much for regular blogging… I’m back though and will attempt, again, to keep this little piece of internet going.

Today I’m going to be rambling about the wonderful world of capsule wardrobes.  This is something that I’ve been bashing on about to people in the real world for the past few months because without wanting to sound too shallow, having a capsule wardrobe has genuinely made my life easier!

To summarise, I used to have a wardrobe packed full of clothes.  Most of them I didn’t wear and if I did wear them, it was only for a few moments before I took them off and went through every other outfit I owned before finally settling for the first one I’d tried on!  I’m sure most women can relate to this feeling…

I stumbled across a blog called ‘Un-Fancy’ during one of my random internet sessions.  
Un-Fancy is a blog by Caroline, who has absolutely nailed the capsule wardrobe concept.  So much so that she has been able to create a sort of ‘welcome pack’ for newbies like me to help transition in to a capsule wardrobe all of my very own.

Reading Caroline’s blog and seeing how stylish she looked with so few clothes got me thinking…  I had about 150 items of clothing in my wardrobe.  I have a uniform that I wear for work each day (a smart navy suit – nothing too offensive) so really, I only wear my ‘own’ clothes of a weekend and the 29 days holiday I get each year.  That means I wear my own clothes for a total of 133 days in a 12 month period making the 150 items in my wardrobe seem completely unnecessary.

So, loosely following Unfancy’s guidelines, I cleared out my closet.  Clothes I hadn’t worn for a while went in to a drawer for 3 months.  Anything I didn’t want to reach for in that timeframe got donated.  I followed that process twice until I was left with a small, manageable wardrobe where everything matched.  I bought a few extra pieces, which tied in to the theme and confirmed what I thought would be my permanent capsule wardrobe rules:

1)      2 wardrobes per year – Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter to change at the end of March and the end of September each year.

2)      No more than 40 items per season – including shoes.

3)      No ‘wild card’ pieces – everything needs to have a place.

4)      Handbags don’t count.

5)      Evening wear and evening wear shoes don’t count.

I started my capsule wardrobe in January and switched out to my next season in April and it has been a-maz-ing.  Genuinely, getting ready has never been so easy.  If I get home late after work and I’m rushing out to a meal, I can be ready in 10 minutes…  There’s no panic about what to wear, no changing outfits a hundred times because nothing feels good.  It’s fabulous.

BUT, I’m still picking certain items over others…  Even with my limited selection of 40 items, there’s still pieces I’m not wearing.  I feel like I’m really finding my style with the things I have been choosing to wear and that I’m steering away from things that don’t quite fit that style bracket.

So, I’ve decided to try for a 40 piece all-year-round capsule wardrobe.  Thankfully, I live in a country where we only have 2 actual summer days through the whole year, so I don’t need to dress too differently between seasons but this is the wardrobe I hope to have in place by the end of September…

6 x pairs of trousers

Black ripped skinny ankle grazer jeans, Navy skinny ankle grazer jeans,  Leather trousers, White cigarette pants,  Black cigarette pants, Khaki skinny jeans.

9 x tops

White Ralph Lauren fitted shirt, Blue stripe Ralph Lauren fitted shirt, Navy blue Ralph Lauren sweater, Cream Ralph Lauren sheer sleeve sweater, White V-neck loose tee, White cami, Black cami, Navy pussy bow blouse, Long cream chunky turtle- neck jumper.

9 x dresses/skirts

Grey jersey maxi dress, White and navy striped shift dress, Black jersey maxi dress, Grey midi skirt, Black skater skirt, Grey skater skirt, Navy shirt dress, Grey sweater dress, Oxblood sweater dress.

7 x outerwear

Black wool overcoat, Beige Burberry trench coat, Long camel overcoat, Black Muubaa leather jacket, Blush pink kimono, White blazer, Black blazer.

9 x shoes

Beige ballet flats, Black ballet flats, Tan leather flat sandals, Black flip flops, Gold anf white Adidas Superstars, Black Nike Roshe Runs, Black Chelsea ankle boots, 100mm black leather pumps, Over the knee boots.

So there we have it, my 40 items.  If this works then the aim is to slowly start investing in higher quality pieces, to create a truly timeless wardrobe.

I’ll keep you updated with OOTD posts on Instagram… 

Thanks for reading

Aimee x

If you’ve managed to conquer a capsule wardrobe let me know your tips in the comment below.  The ultimate goal is a 10 Piece Parisian wardrobe but I don’t think I have it in me to manage that!