Tales of a (Sorta) Capsule Wardrobe

I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of a capsule wardrobe.

Or, okay, mostly I’ve been enticed by the beautiful pictures of clean closets that are practically empty. (Be still my wannabe minimalist heart.)

I thought about it a little more seriously when we went to Europe (btw, we went to Europe) because we only took backpacks. Large backpacks, but still. We were gone for two weeks. So I had to do the mix and match, very deliberate outfit planning thing. And honestly, it was pretty fun. And I didn’t really miss the bulk of my wardrobe that I had left behind, but that may have had something to do with the fact that I was, you know, in Europe.

As much curiosity as I’ve had about the idea of getting rid of 80% of my clothes, I’ve never really been able to commit to a capsule wardrobe. For something that’s supposed to make your life simpler, it always seemed pretty complicated.

Just in case you have no idea what I’m talking about…a capsule wardrobe is basically a wardrobe that’s made up of a smaller number of timeless pieces that can be mixed and matched to create a lot of different looks. (See this post or this post for examples.)

So I love the idea, but didn’t think it would be realistic for me to execute. And then, one fateful day, I was listening to an episode of a podcast I love that was all about capsule wardrobes and fall fashion.

The guest, Alison Lumbatis, owns a company called Get Your Pretty On. The concept is this: you purchase a guide to building a capsule wardrobe for each season. The guide tells you what to buy (including links to various versions of that thing), possible substitutes for everything, and about 25 outfit combos that tell you exactly how to mix and match everything to create styled, put-together looks. Each capsule is referred to as a “Style Challenge.”

It’s the capsule wardrobe made easy, aka my dream come true.

The podcast episode came with an offer for a free “Casual Basics” style challenge, which works year-round. (I’m not sure how long the offer is good for, but you can try to get it by going to the show notes, here, and then scrolling down to “Get your FREE gift,” towards the bottom. You can also listen to the podcast episode there, if you want more details.

So I got the casual basics challenge, and I was very impressed with how well it was done and how easy it made it seem. I was going to just build a capsule based on that challenge, but then the Fall 2018 challenge was released and I decided to go for that one instead, because look how stinkin’ cute:

The capsule contains more pieces than are pictured; this just gives you an idea of what’s in there.

So I decided that if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. So I took a few days, figured out what I already had, hunted down some great stuff that I was missing, joined the Facebook group, and went for it. I didn’t have to buy too much, and some of the stuff was stuff that I’d been wanting to buy anyways (e.g. a pair of boyfriend jeans).

We’re technically on Day 4 of the official “challenge,” but it can be joined any time. One caveat to that. So you purchase the challenge, check it out, and see if it will work for you. At that point, you’ll be able to see the shopping list, get the shopping links, and see a week’s worth of outfits. If you decide the whole thing isn’t for you, you can get a refund, but ONLY until 9/29/18. After that, all of the outfits for the capsule will be available, so you can’t get the refund anymore.

So I’ve done my best to stick to the outfit ideas for the past couple days, giving myself a little wiggle room to account for things I’m missing or for things that are too hot (because…fall? What’s that?).

Want to see my outfits?

I won’t show you the outfit prompts, because you know, ethics. But I’m happy with how the looks turned out! I think the whole thing will encourage me to pair things that I never would have put together…like the green pants and burgundy top on the right (yes, the pants are dark green). I was skeptical about it, but I think as a whole look, it totally works.

I also love that I can feel “put together” without putting a ton of thought into it. The outfit ideas include accessories, including jewelry, bags, and shoes, so you don’t even really have to think about it at all. It’s kinda nice having someone tell you exactly what you should wear. ;)

Another thing I’m excited about is that because it’s so hot here, I feel like this capsule will totally transition into “winter” for me. (Yes, “winter” always gets air quotes around here.) Not sure if I’ll end up purchasing the actual winter capsule when it gets released, but I’m loving this one so far, so I guess we’ll see!

I guess that’s it. It’s just a fun thing I’m doing so I thought I’d share! I’d love to know if any of you have tried this or if you’re capsule wardrobe people, or would like to be, or think the idea is stupid (this is a safe space, you know).

Oh, and maybe at some point I’ll get around to blogging about Europe. I had all these visions of getting my posts ready on the plane ride home, but then I watched like half a dozen movies instead so…yeah. But maybe keep an eye out for that!

Also, you are awesome. Just thought I’d throw that in there. Thanks for reading!