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/ 25 September 2014 / 4 Comments

STEP 5: SHOPPING LIST | 5 STEPS TO A CAPSULE WARDROBE

step 5 to a capsule wardrobe

CAPSULE WARDROBE SHOPPING LIST & BUDGET

Alright, ladies! We're at our last stop. And we better get cracking; there's a lot to do.

*New here? Read about what is a capsule wardrobe and my reasons to start it here.
*Want to try it yourself? Start purging your wardrobe here, and read the first step here.

So, let's get right to it, shall we?

CREATING THE SHOPPING LIST

I'm making an autumn capsule. So, from my keep pile, I took out all the autumn clothes and boxed everything else away under the bed. I labeled the boxes by the seasons. Then I laid out my autumn clothes on the bed to have a good view of them. You could also make a collection on Polyvore to be able to look at what you have in a glance.

I've excluded a couple pieces because of their colour - so they go into storage too. You can also exclude anything you just don't feel like wearing this season or something you wore a lot last year and you want to give it a break. Or if you have two pairs of almost identical black jeans, you can store one pair away - it won't look like you're wearing the same jeans all the time :-)

Creating the shopping list takes time!
You should be cross-referencing every decision with: 
your style definition and 

After all this boxing and purging I'm left with 27 items for my fall capsule. 

This is a break down of the pieces - x out of y, where x is the number of pieces I have and y is the number I've predicted for myself in step 2. I have:

3 out of 6 trousers
1 out of 3 skirts
5 out of 7 shoes
6 out of 10 long sleeves
4 out of 5 short sleeves
4 out of 7 sweaters/cover ups
4 out of 4 jackets

MY SHOPPING LIST

So let's see. Jackets I can cross out from my list because I have the number I need. 

This below is pretty exhausting, but basically, I want the things I buy to complement the things I already have. I pick them in regards to my uniform, style and colour palette. That way I'll have a put together wardrobe that looks great, and I get to go shopping! I also look our for what's on trend - either through blogs, pinterest, or fashion magazines. They are a good inspiration, but sometimes I have to remember that I have my own style and I want to stay true to that. 

And so all the things in the I want column have been selected with my three uniforms in mind. Their style and cut was picked with my style definition in mind and their colours were selected with my colour palette in mind. That's a lot to keep in mind!

Here we go:

Katberries' shopping list:

The trousers I have:                                                                  Trousers I want to buy:
1. navy skinny jeans                                                                  4. well fitting black jeans
2. boyfriend jeans                                                                      5. statement trousers
3. Black leggings                                                                       6. berry-coloured trousers
________________________________________________________________________________

Skirts I have:                                                                             Skirts I want:

1. black tube skirt                                                                      2. flowy black maxi skirt
                                                                                                  3. ?

I couldn't think of a skirt I'd like to have and wear as my third choice. So what did I do? I took it off the list! 

I said in step 2 that the number might change a little: I'm going from 42 → 41.
________________________________________________________________________________

Shoes I have:                                                                             Shoes I want:
1. black low heel ankle booties                                                  6. Cognac low/no heel ankle booties
2. brown no heel ankle booties                                                  7. Simple black nike's
3. grey suede lace-up loafers
4. white trainers
5. black canvas trainers
________________________________________________________________________________

Long sleeves I have:                                                                  Long sleeves I want:

1. breton top                                                                               7. navy chambray
2. light blue cotton shirt                                                              8. beige blouse
3. black and grey stripy top                                                        9. khaki shirt
4. light blue chambray                                                               10. ?
5. b&w checked shirt
6. white and grey raglan top
________________________________________________________________________________

Short sleeves I have:                                                                 Short sleeves I want:

1. basic beige tee                                                                       5. basic charcoal round neck with buttons
2. white tee                                                                                 6. berry or taupe top
3. black tee with embroidery
4. khaki tee with lace back

I crossed out number 10 in long sleeves and added 1 to short sleeves. I'm at 9 + 6 rather than 10 + 5.

________________________________________________________________________________

Sweaters/ cover ups I have:                                                      Sweaters I want:
1. black kimono                                                                          5. cosy charcoal jumper
2. black linen jacket                                                                    6. cosy beige jumper
3. black button up jumper                                                           7. off white jumper
{Got a lot of black in there!}
4. jean jacket
________________________________________________________________________________

Pheeew, that's my shopping list. I added it up and I have 14 things on there - quite a bit! I don't have that big a budget plus I don't really want to buy 14 new things! So what I'm gonna do is I'm going to take a peek at my maybe pile and see if there's anything I could use. I can probably find 2 or 3 pieces that I can substitute for something on the shopping list. And 41 is still quite a lot. So I'm going to see if I can leave out a few pieces and work with a smaller number. Maybe leave out 1 bottom? And 2 long sleeves? I'm going to look at my budget and see what I can do!

THE BUDGET

It really depends on your income and what you are willing to spend on clothes. My *ideal* budget for this shopping list would be £300 - a hundred per month, if I spread it out. But at the moment, I don't have that money to spend so I'm working with a much smaller number - around a £100. I'm lucky I don't have to buy jackets this autumn! 

Jackets and shoes definitely get the highest percentage of the budget - quality and comfortable materials are a must here. I like to have good trousers and sweaters too, I don't want them to be itchy or fall apart after 5 washes, so I'm willing to spend a little money on those. What I can skimp on are t-shirts. I've never been the one to pay £40 for a tee anyway and I know I can find nice and affordable cotton tee if I look for it. Let me know if you know of any good shops for affordable and well made tees! 

That's it guys, that's the last step done! How much easier it's been to make a capsule shopping list when you know what style, colour and cut to look for, right? Now onto the fun part, shopping!

*

A big thank you to everyone who's read this guide, tell me if you found it helpful! Tell me if you didn't, too!

I'm going to be revealing my final capsule wardrobe for autumn very soon, and I'll talk about the decisions I've made and how I'm getting on. And I'll obviously be sharing autumn outfits with you too. Keep your eyes peeled, or, you know, subscribe to the mailing list in the sidebar ;) 

Until then,

4 comments:

  1. I am really enjoying your posts about developing a capsule wardrobe. I am working on doing that this Fall/Winter and I've found your ideas very helpful! As for tees, I live in the States, so I don't know if you have access to the same shops. I have had success finding inexpensive ones at Old Navy & JCPenney...on sale for $5-$10. I don't suppose you have Target over there? I've found their Mossimo and Merona tees hold up pretty well and are also affordable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Michele, I'm glad to hear it's helping :-)
    Thank you for the suggestions, I'm noting them down and I will check them out.
    Unfortunately I don't have access to Old Navy or JCPenney in the UK, it's mostly just international shops like Zara or h&m that are both here and in the States. I don't even have access to Madewell or Nordstrom (well I guess I do, but shipping + tax brings the price up). Should start saving up for a trip to the US!

    I'd love to hear about your capsule wardrobe experience once you've given it a try, so if you'll remember to, do let me know! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You're amazing. Thx so much for this great overview!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aw thanks Kim, glad you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave a few words. It always makes my day!

HELLO!

HELLO!

Hi, I'm Kat! A colourful wardrobe advocate and a capsule wardrobe graduate. Need any help finding your personal style and curating your closet? Advice on how to make most of the clothes you have? Or how to pack for an upcoming trip? I'm your girl!
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