With the arrival of summer, I realized that many of my clothes were unsuitable for the hot weather. Sometimes it is difficult for me to put together outfits with which I feel comfortable. I thought I was stuck in winter. So I set out to create my summer capsule wardrobe as a personal challenge to select the garments that best suit my personality and keep me comfortable this season.
If this has happened to you and you feel like your wardrobe should get a refresh, I’ll give you a few good tips to help you choose your outfits. The capsule wardrobe method will also help you understand your personal style and improve your organization. So let’s go!
First of all, what is a capsule wardrobe?
The capsule wardrobe, in origin, is a set of basics and good quality garments that are considered the foundation of any wardrobe and that, in fact, can form a complete wardrobe by themselves. In other words, if we have the right pieces from that capsule wardrobe, nothing else would be needed to dress, achieving a large number of looks with just a few clothes.
I’m sure we’ve all heard that a white T-shirt, jeans, a little black dress, and a trench coat should always be in every wardrobe; classic and basic garments that always get us out of trouble. However, to strengthen our wardrobe, we must consider other types of garments that adapt to our daily lives, routines, and personal activities, as well as our style and, of course, the season. And by adapting to the season, I don’t mean completely renewing our wardrobe every six months (of course not), but rather selecting those garments that we believe are essential to feeling comfortable in the various environmental conditions, and that we can even wear both in cold and hot seasons.
So, let’s personalize our wardrobes in a relaxed manner while keeping our individual needs in mind. If you want to complement the information, I recommend reading this other article: Create The Best Capsule Wardrobe For You, as we will cover different topics, and this time we will concentrate on summer clothing.
The number of garments in a capsule wardrobe can vary from 10 to 30 or more, depending on what we currently have in our closet; each person decides whether to reduce or increase the number. If you have too many clothes that you might not wear and are just gathering dust, it is best to donate or sell them for a reasonable price. Though renovating these clothes to your liking, cutting, sewing, and turning them into something new can also be a great option. However, if you want a more extensive variety of clothes, you can look in stores that fit your budget. I recommend looking at second-hand shops and bazaars, which always have a variety for any taste.
What is the purpose of the capsule wardrobe?
♡ Create the challenge of dressing only with a certain number of garments for a whole season, many of them surviving the change of season. For example, jeans can be part of both the summer and winter capsule wardrobe, while a light floral skirt will be in the first, but in the second it will be exchanged for an extra coat.
♡ Don’t limit yourself to the number of items, but focus primarily on the quality and not buy in an uncontrolled way: For example, if you already own five pairs of jeans that are functional and fit your needs, it might be wiser to keep them rather than tossing them out and creating more waste.
♡ Realizing the amount of clothing we really need and donating what is expendable to us.
♡ Save time and make getting dressed easier each morning. It is simpler for us to choose a look each day when dressing if the closet contains those essential pieces that go well together and allow for the creation of various looks.
♡ Another purpose of this method is to help us know our style, in conjunction with our lifestyle. If your routine requires joggers to move in, falling in love and collecting evening gowns are of little use. And, however, this can also indicate that, perhaps, you have to make some adjustments to dress as you really want and that clothes are another way of personal expression that is at our service.
Is the capsule wardrobe sustainable?
A garment is sustainable not only because of the materials it is made of, where it was manufactured, how much water it conserves, or how easily it can be recycled but also because of how frequently it is worn. Low consumption and durability are two pillars of sustainability.
A giant fluorescent sequin coat with a feathered hood may be made under the strictest sustainability parameters and have minimal impact on the planet, but how many times are you going to wear that? You have bought a garment like this on impulse and without any kind of reasoning. That is precisely what the capsule wardrobe fights against!
And what about trends? If we want a good wardrobe and key garments, we cannot have all the trends that we are seeing around, in our closet; that doesn’t work, the ideal is to know what fits us and control our rate of consumption. For this, we can combine some new and trending clothes (a small amount) with a constant base of clothes that fit our personality.
If you want to try the capsule wardrobe, these are some tips:
- First of all, think realistically about your style, what your needs are, what pieces you fall in love with, and which ones go with everything. Also, think about those garments that go well with your figure and your personal and seasonal color palette.
- We will start with a closet cleaning, take out all the clothes and we will analyze them to find out what is still useful and what is not.
- We will keep only the clothes from the capsule wardrobe and we will donate or sell the ones that no longer work for us.
Some of the ones that are most often repeated and work with timelessness are:
♡ a white shirt
♡ basic t-shirts
♡a striped shirt
♡neutral color suit pants
♡a dark blazer
♡a trench coat
♡classic sneakers
♡some ballerinas or some moccasins
♡a short or midi black dress
♡a slip dress without too many ornaments
♡a slip skirt
♡a tote bag
But in addition to these garments that are extremely versatile in any season, I will give you a couple of suggestions for summer garments, both basic and trendy.
Tops:
♡Linen Shirt in a neutral color
♡Short sleeve basics
♡Tank top
♡Cropped T-Shirt
Bottoms and dresses:
♡Denim shorts
♡Tailored shorts
♡Biker shorts
♡Romper suit
♡Fresh dress
Outerwear:
♡Denim jacket
♡Neutral Blazer
♡Versatile overshirt
Shoes and accessories:
♡Everyday sneakers
♡Comfy sandals
♡Stylish sunglasses
Finally, I will show you 2 mini capsules that can also serve as inspiration, so you will realize that even with very few clothes we can have a good combination of clothes, enough for our summer looks.
We can mix basic garments with trend garments that go well when combined, it is also important that the colors match each other. But this is just a suggestion, it all depends on your creativity and what suits your style.
If you’re on the lookout for a cute top you can try this DIY Handkerchief Top Tutorial and make one for yourself! It’s super easy and perfect for your summer capsule wardrobe. Try it out!
I sincerely hope that these suggestions help you put together the ideal summer capsule wardrobe. I promise that using this approach will make choosing your outfits easier and more organized. It is also another way to cut back on spending and only buy what is absolutely necessary.
“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” – Coco Chanel
Excelentes consejos para renovar mi guardaropa.
Ya no suelo usar faldas cortas pero tengo un par de faldas larga que aún puedo combinar y usarlas en verano y parte del otoño
Hola Lu de Marie!
Sí, que bueno que te gustaron nuestros consejos! Eso es lo mejor de las faldas largas, son mas versátiles y te dan muchas opciones para combinar con tus otras prendas.