So I fell off the (band)wagon, so to speak, with the capsule wardrobe. Don't get me wrong, this is not me trashing the idea altogether, but I am not sure I can live a super minimalist lifestyle with only 30 pieces of clothing. Also, as I mentioned, I tend to travel a lot and have to have options for all types of weather (i.e., -15 to 120 Fahrenheit and 0 to 95% humidity). Basically, I need to have more than 30 pieces of clothing. With that in mind, I learned a couple of things. First, I became a lot better at learning to dress for the weather, either through capsule wardrobe tracking, actually planning for the weather before selecting an outfit, or just plain old getting used to my environment and weather patterns. Second, I have very different preferences when it comes to dressing for work or dressing to go out with my friends (and different preferences for the male gaze vs. female gaze). Third, planning an all-around capsule wardrobe does not work for my lifestyle. It ends up being that I have to wear work clothes in slightly different styles from my normal wear, which just makes me feel bland and lacking in personality. So, basically, I am okay with a capsule wardrobe, but there just have to be different ones: a work capsule wardrobe, a personal capsule wardrobe, and then different variations for the seasons. Yep, it's super simple. I just need to build 6 to 8 capsule wardrobes easy peasy. Is my sarcasm coming through, you know you can never tell with these written formats.
The Current Situation
As I mentioned, one of the major issues I found with the capsule wardrobe was that I felt like I couldn't express my personality through my clothes. This doesn't mean that you can't express yourself using a capsule wardrobe. This means that I can't have my personal clothes combined with my work clothes.
My work clothes are basically already a capsule wardrobe. My base is a collared button-down shirt. During winter (and the cooler parts of spring and fall) it is a normal long-sleeve button-down shirt. During summer, I have short-sleeve and sleeve-less (cuts off where my shoulder starts, not thin straps like a tank top) button-down shirts. The sleeveless shirts are also made of a few materials: more stiff like cotton and more flowy/almost (but not) see-through chiffon fabric. The flowy shirts are perfect for blouses so I don't get too warm the few times I need to wear a blazer. As for bottoms, I am able to just wear jeans or some of my longer skirts and dresses. I also have dress pants and a blazer for the few times I need to be in professional dress (as mentioned, these pair nicely with my blousy tops). As far as colors go, it is very simple I have white, gray, navy, and black. I also have some shirts with patterns these are all simple geometric patterns (stripes, dots, plaid, etc.) As far as layers go, I have a black blazer, a few cardigans (beige, gray, and black), and several sweaters. The sweaters are where things get a little wonky with colors. I have black, gray, and navy, which easily match with everything else. I also have an oatmeal and burgundy sweater. For now, I think this is pretty much done. It's basically already a capsule wardrobe, with some items easily being traded out for others based on the season.
My personal clothes are where I lack some items. During college, I really only shopped for super simple pieces, i.e. solid-colored t-shirts and flannels. So basically, my personal style has slowly disappeared. I've looked into a few fashion typing guidelines, etc., which I will probably spotlight in their own post, but most of them end up being very restrictive and outdated. I did, however, find a system I liked that is aimed at personal style rather than body type. It's called Style Roots, and it's made by a YouTuber, Ellie-Jean. She does YouTube videos about her style system as well as all types of fashion systems: color analysis, body types, essence types, etc. What I like about her system is that while trying to diagnose where you fall in a style system is super complicated, and you'll probably still question yourself until you go to a professional (if you can afford it), her system is based on your personal style so you're never wrong. I'll do a separate post about what my style roots are right now, but generally, she came up with 8 categories named after different things in nature. These style roots break down the types of impressions someone can give off with certain types of clothing, and the system is based on finding a few style roots and learning to incorporate them into the clothing or outfit you select. It's a very simple process and allows you to have a touch of your personality in each piece of clothing you own, even if it is just a specific color or pattern. You also don't have to fully comply with a single-style root. The point is to pick and choose what you like from the style roots that best suit your personality. They can also change while you do!
My Plan
First, I am going to look at work clothes and personal clothes separately. Ideally, I would have some pieces that can go between to minimize the number of items I have and make packing for a trip easier. Second, I want to be intentional with what I buy. It has to fill a hole I am missing, or if I love it, I have to love it on me. This means that it works with my body (so I will actually wear it), and it fits my style roots (so it'll fit into my wardrobe nicely) and color palette. As I mentioned before, understanding my color season, body type, etc., is more difficult and will probably require quite a lot of trial and error. Figuring out my style roots is super easy in comparison, so that's where I'm going to start. In the end, I am pretty sure I am going to end up with very basic pieces, but I want to develop some signature items or specifics that can be boldly presented in my personal style and more subtly used in my work clothing (just so I don't feel completely void of character). I'm thinking of having a wardrobe filled with solid color neutrals and then picking a signature color, pattern, and material. I'm going to hedge my bets on it being some type of red, plaid, and then leather.
So I realize that I never really listed a plan...haha, yeah. Oh well, it seems like I have a lot of blog posts like this (i.e. starting some sort of new interest and planning ten thousand related posts that get added to a huge list). First things first, I am going to figure out my style roots. Then I'll try to figure out the other systems. Here's a list of posts I plan to make, and hopefully, someday, when they are done, I'll link them!
- Ellie-Jean's Style Roots
- Kibbe Body Types
- Kitchener Essences
- Color Seasons
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