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/ 18 June 2015 / 6 Comments

SUMMER CAPSULE WARDROBE UPDATE



Hello, friends! Today, I'm sharing with you why I've decided not to do a full capsule wardrobe this summer. Wait, what? Yes, that's right. But first I have to say that this was not entirely my decision - I wrote recently about my current struggles, mentioning that I didn't have the budget to put together the summer capsule wardrobe I actually wanted. So instead of forcing it and building a wardrobe out of "meh" and "not-sure" and "okay, fine" pieces pulled out from storage and generally the corners of my house, I've decided to take the pressure off and make a few changes to my process. So that it reflects me, where I am, right now. What I'm doing is:

a) I'm not giving myself a set wardrobe number. I'll be wearing clothes from storage and some things from the spring capsule. It's still a limited number, I'm not going to be wearing a hundred items at a time, but it gives me leeway and won't make me feel guilty if I wear something only once. I actually suspect that I'll end up wearing less than 36 pieces, we'll see. So it might still be a kinda sorta capsule wardrobe, but it's not THE summer capsule. But don't worry! I'll keep posting my summer outfits :)

b) I'm lifting the shopping ban. Not because I want to go crazy in the sales, but because I need to shop when I can. That means shopping when I have the budget or thrifting an item here or there, or even buying a couple new things midway through July. I am still going to think about every purchase and apply the same principles as if I was building a capsule.

c) And lastly, this actually gives me the opportunity to do a fun exercise. I'm going to be doing a mini-capsule, a 10 x 10 challenge! Yay! Ten pieces mixed into ten summer outfits. I'm excited! (If you can't already tell.)
I was inspired by Lee of the beautiful Style Bee blog who did it this spring (her style is amazing). I really think it will be fun and of course I'll be sharing everything about it on the blog - like a little project while I collect my summer wardrobe.

I've picked the clothes I'm going to be mixing last week - and you can look forward to some new-to-you pieces! I can't wait. I'll start posting outfits very soon. And if any of you ladies reading are considering building a capsule wardrobe but aren't sure, the 10 x 10 challenge would be a great fit for you - to get a taste of what a capsule wardrobe might feel like. But more on that in future posts.

Truth be told, I actually feel very comfortable about easing up on the capsule rules. I never intended to keep capsuling till the end of my days and this experience will be great in showing me what's next on my minimal fashion journey. And just yesterday I read a post by the lovely Andrea of Seasons & Salt and she mentioned something I couldn't agree more with. She said:
"I am starting to loosen up a bit on my capsule 'rules' because I feel I've met the goals I set when I started out on my 'capsuling' journey."
When I decided to start out, my goals were to cut my spending, be more mindful and I really really wanted to finally find my personal style. I can definitely put a tick next to the first two, while the last goal is still in progress, like I talked about in this post. What I discovered, though, was that finding my own style is a long journey and not something I can determine after just a few seasons. It's ever changing, and doing capsule wardrobes has definitely given me a set of "guidelines" and made the whole thing a little clearer. So yeah, I think I'm almost ready to move on.
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So, dear friends, what do you think about this? I love reading your observations, ideas or advice. Do you think capsule wardrobes are a sustainable way of keeping a minimal wardrobe? Would you consider a 10 x 10 challenge? I do hope you'll keep following me on this journey of minimal fashion, even if my "summer capsule" is a little different than expected. I appreciate every single click and reading your thoughts always makes my day, so thank you! And I'll stop being sentimental now :)
Have a lovely rest of the week and I'll be back very soon with my ten picks for the 10 x 10!

6 comments:

  1. Oh thank you so much for saying all that, KD! It's so great that you're thinking about your wardrobe a little differently - I don't think you even need to do a capsule wardrobe if you can take its principles and apply them to your closet now (Or, start now and improve slowly over time). It's almost more organic!
    I still make mistakes too, but I don't even think they're mistakes anymore. I think it's about finding the balance between regret and spontaneity that results in contentment. :)

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  2. Great post, Kat! I can't WAIT to see your 10x10 challenge! I admire how you're adapting the system to work for you, and it's clear that your capsule experience has helped you "graduate" to this new approach! The lessons you've learned have been invaluable!

    I have yet to do a real capsule for myself, but I'm trying to apply some of the concepts to my wardrobe. I'm trying to stop buying filler pieces, and trying not to compromise on the items that I do buy. I still make little mistakes here and there, but I've learned a lot from your process. Thank you for that!

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  3. Kat, beautifully said! I think 'capsuling' is definitely more about meeting goals than the actual capsule itself, and you are well on your way to getting there. I LOVE the idea of 10x10, what a FUN idea!! I might have to pick up on this later in the summer if I start feeling bored. Can't wait to see your 10x10 outfits! And thanks for linking me! :)

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  4. Frankly, the whole capsule wardrobe thing leaves me scratching my head in puzzlement, because it appears to involve spending significant amounts of cash that I would never dream of spending on clothes. It seems much more practical to take your new, more measured, iterative approach, because, as you say, you can buy the odd thing here and there as you go along. When I add up my purchases as a non-capsule dresser interested in fashion, they come to a lot less both in number of items and amount spent, than any capsule wardrobe I've seen listed online. I buy a mixture of expensive items that are perfect and that I think will be long-lived, and dirt cheap items that I think are fun but fleeting trends. I think you're on the right track. Real life is not really a capsule wardrobe every 3 months, at least in my life. Learn to use what you already have in different ways. It can be great fun. I once donned two of my husband's old shirts, one as a skirt and one as a top, and got no end of compliments on my outfit! You don't have to spend a fortune or wear everything multiple times to justify its existence in your capsule wardrobe. I wear lots of stuff once and then never again in the same configuration, or never again full stop, but little or none of it involves shelling out hard cash. Have fun!

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  5. Oh thank you Andrea! You know I'm so glad you're blogging about capsule wardrobes too, I love how we can share our discoveries :)

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  6. Hi Wendy! Ah, your comment really left me thinking. I have so many things to say. I understand exactly what you mean and yes, I agree, but I also understand why people are attracted to capsule wardrobes. For example, it appealed to me because I was *not* a minimalist shopper (nowhere near!) and I did not know my style - and a capsule wardrobe helped me learn those things. It may sound contradictory, like: I'll go spend hundreds of pounds (or euros, or dollars) to build a perfect wardrobe that I only wear for three months. But actually, I spent £100 when I was building my spring capsule, while if I was shopping like I used to, over the course of 3 months I would have spent twice, if not thrice that.


    And the whole experience - figuring out a way to make a capsule wardrobe work for me, blogging about it, holding myself accountable - it really changed my whole view (about fashion, spending, consumerism that is). I learnt how to identify the whole want/need struggle. It sounds a little bit like I'm trying to sell this to you and I'm not, because when it comes down to it, I don't think it is a sustainable system. I knew from the beginning that this is more of a journey and at the end I decide what I take away from it. But it was definitely nice to have this whole structure while I was learning all these things.


    So I'm using this "new" knowledge and I'm going to add pieces to my wardrobe as I go and I'm going to buy more expensive things, but also cheap things, because I don't need every single piece of clothing to last me till the end of time (like you say, I want to try wear some trends for fun, even if I'll only wear them for one season). But I'm going to be more conscious about shopping, that's for sure.


    If you already know all these things and you're more or less happy with your closet and you don't have a shopping habit, then of course you wouldn't really see the point in a capsule wardrobe - because essentially, you're already doing the things it teaches you :) But if that's not the case, then it does sound attractive! And I mean, just because Caroline from unfancy has a big budget for her capsules, it doesn't mean all of us have to spend so much. There are people who're getting their stuff from thrift stores or just using whatever they have in their closet. That's the beauty of it, you can make it an expensive experience, a cheap experience or a free experience. You try it, you learn things (positive or negative) and you move on. It's just a fun experiment :)


    Thank you so much for your comment and you know what, I'd love to see the husband-shirt-gone-skirt & top, it sounds great! I once saw a girl wrap a big shirt around her as a dress when her t-shirt broke and it looked like she meant to wear that all along.
    Have a great day!
    xo Kat

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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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