Capsule Wardrobe Series Part 1: Finding Your Style
This is an exciting post today! It is the first of a two part series where I take you along on my capsule wardrobe journey. You can read all about why I’m considering a capsule wardrobe here and get a better sense of how I view this concept (rules are made to be broken, amiright?). Today’s post is all about the beginning steps I’ve taken towards creating a more cohesive wardrobe.
Wardrobe Clear Out
The first step I took was to go through my wardrobe with a fine tooth comb and finally say goodbye to all the pieces that just don’t suit me anymore. This is something I’ve been doing fairly often over the past year. This felt like a necessary step as I changed cities, changed jobs and just generally evolved my personal style. There wasn’t a whole lot left that I didn’t wear, BUT there were a Iot of things I didn’t enjoy wearing and/or needed to replace. Everything was split into 3 categories: keep (things I’ve worn in the past year), sell (the stuff I’ve worn once), and give away. I’m planning to reopen my Depop shop too which will be up soon! I filmed this whole process for my Youtube channel and the video will be going up this Sunday so make sure you take a look! (And if you’re reading this sometime in the near or distant future, I will link the video at the end of this post).
Creating a Shopping List
Before I can start shopping, I want a very clear sense of what it is I actually need! One problem I’ve had in the past is buying a lot of trend pieces without having a solid foundation for them. I want to get my basics down before I end up with an incohesive closet. Here’s a list of my most needed items so far:
More nice blouses: long or short sleeve
A neutral cardigan in a natural fiber
A neutral lightweight jacket (not a denim or leather jacket)
Black leather block-heeled boots
A casual dress: mid or mini length
Dressier tank tops: white, black, silky
Closed toed leather flats: possibly a loafer style
A small to medium sized black leather bag
Small, simple earrings in gold
And I think it’s helpful to think about a No-No List as well, things I don’t want to buy again because I know they don’t work for me. Learning from my mistakes, if you will. Here are a few guidelines while shopping:
No 100% polyester ANYTHING.
No trendy patterns until all the staples pieces are covered.
No cheaping out on the basics. These need to last!
No faux-leather upper shoes.
Finding Inspiration
Another step before shopping is to look for some inspiration, be it on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, in print or through brands. I personally prefer to keep an archive of looks I love via Instagram and Pinterest. But I’ve also found it useful (to an extent) to think of your personal style in terms of brands. One such brand is H&M, which I’ve been shopping for ages, but have only recently started to see it as a place for very affordable classic and minimal pieces that really suit my personal style. If you don’t know where to start on the social media side of things, here are just a few of my favorite (almost entirely UK-based) fashion bloggers that I pull inspiration from:
So there you have it, my first steps towards crafting the perfect (to me) capsule wardrobe. Let me know what you think of the process so far and which items you deem worthy of a capsule. Be sure to keep an eye out for next Thursday’s post which will be Part 2 of this fun experiment. Thanks for reading!