It’s officially fall this week and that means hot cocoa, cozy knitwear, candles, pumpkin spice, and…actually, scratch that. All of that on the gram and pinterest. In this post, we’re talking in practical terms, and if you know me, nothing is more practical style-wise than a curated seasonal capsule wardrobe.
I often get asked if I buy all new pieces for my seasonal capsules and that makes me laugh. Of course not! I neither have the time nor budget to shop new pieces every season. In fact, one of my biggest motivations to curate seasonal capsules is to avoid wasting time scrolling on shopping sites and money on impulse buys. So contrary to popular assumptions, my seasonal capsules comprise a majority of my old (but timeless) clothes that make a comeback year after year. Then depending on seasonal trends and any wardrobe gaps that I’ve identified in previous seasons, I make a wish list that I can shop from and also set a rough budget so I don’t spend above my means.
SORTING OUT LOGISTICS
While I’m particular about the numbers on my shopping budget, I’m not picky about the number of pieces my seasonal capsule should have. I’m more focused on having my capsule meet my needs. Sometimes a capsule wardrobe of 20 pieces is enough, whereas other times 50 pieces might suffice better. In order to truly understand what I need my capsule to deliver for me, I scroll through any outfits I pinned on my Pinterest and sit down with the following five questions in peace.
- What does my day to day look like?
- Do I’ve any upcoming travel / holidays / special events planned?
- What’s the weather going to be like?
- Which pieces did I wish I had last season?
- Any pieces that I didn’t wear a lot last season?
Before the pandemic started, my default was to curate a seasonal workwear capsule because my day to day required a business casual to business formal dress code. On weekends, I had some of my workwear pieces do double-duty or I resorted to loungewear.
This fall, my day to day will definitely be work from home and I might go into the office once or at most twice a week. A lot of my old fall and winter wardrobe consists of tailored wool pants, dresses and skirts. None of these will have much use this year though so I’ve left them packed in the basement storage.
I also don’t have any travel plans in sight, so that’s an easy one to check off. The weather, like every fall in Amsterdam, will be cold, extremely windy, and rainy.
If I rewind to last fall, I had wanted more denim, lighter neutral hues, a black leather belt and rain boots.
WORKING THROUGH THE DETAILS
Overall aesthetic | I’m going for a cozy and casual overall vibe for my fall 2020 capsule because the day to day will be work from home. At the same time, a lot of the pieces I’ve selected have the structure and finesse to qualify as “smart casual” should I occasionally need to go to the office. My favorite more laid back pieces that I’ve introduced in my fall capsule wardrobe are these wool blend pants with an elasticated waist. I’ve already worn them twice and the other day my neighbor asked me where I got them, ha!
Colors | Black, navy, and gray are the base of my fall capsule. I’ve introduced quite a bit of creamy whites, sage and khaki greens, as well as beiges and browns because last year I felt I needed lighter neutrals to brighten up dreary, cold days. This has also been easy to accomplish considering most of my dark pieces were more formal and have anyway no use for my capsule wardrobe this fall. My favorite neutral color I’ve introduced, which is also lately on trend, is a darker sage green. These pure cotton pants in green have been a delight to style with pretty much anything and everything in my capsule (size up for a baggier fit)!
Materials | From past capsules, I know the pieces I wear least are those made up of synthetic materials. So for my fall capsule, I’ve mostly gone for a mix of linen, cotton, wool, suede, leather and cashmere. There are also some fabric blends like linen and wool or wool and viscose that work rather perfectly all year in Dutch weather.
Core staples | One of the biggest advantages of having a capsule over the years is discovering the colors, cuts (especially as a pear-shaped woman), and materials that best suit my life and personal tastes. I’m looking to my black leggings, carefully selected collection of knitwear pieces, and the two new elasticated pairs of pants I’ve added to deliver their worth. I already have several outfits planned out in my head for days I’d go into work, run errands in the rain, or see friends and they all beautifully incorporate my staples.
Items to declutter | Based on the rough wear count of last year’s fall capsule, I plan to declutter my stretched out blue denim. I held on to it longer than I wanted because it is the only denim I’ve in my wardrobe. I also am going to declutter a discolored white button down that got no love last fall. Lastly, I will declutter my beloved pinstripe navy culottes. These are hard to part with considering these have been a true staple the last three years. But the seams began coming apart last fall, even after I hand-stitched them once, and the fabric started pilling a lot. So these must go.
Shopping list | Most of the items I’ve on my shopping list carried over from last year. I want to invest in some classic pieces in lighter colors on my capsule color palette, denim, rain boots, a black belt, and a creamy white coat. I’m not super strict with my wardrobe shopping list, but I do let it guide my purchases majority of the time. For e.g if I want an item not on my wish list in the next few months, I will wait at least 30 days before buying it. This helps prevent any impulse shopping!
My fall capsule has anywhere from 50 to 60 pieces (yet to count) that are complementary to each other and with a few tweaks will carry me into winter too. These include items for work from home, going to the office, seeing friends, running errands and everything else in between. This year, I’m also tracking the wear count of each piece in my capsule in a spreadsheet to get better stats on my cost per wear of each piece as well as understand my personal style better.
I will publish another blog post with an overview of everything in my 2020 fall capsule wardrobe hopefully by the end of this week. Until then, thank you for reading and take care!
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