In the last couple of years I’ve been gradually cutting down the clothes I have. I have done lots of reading on capsule wardrobes including reading about project 333. This is the kind of challenge I find helpful. The aim is to create a capsule wardrobe of 33 items to use for 3 months.
This would be a bit too drastic for me at the moment but it has inspired me to do a similar challenge to help me identify key items in my wardrobe and to simplify it. I decided to do project 333 x 2! Last week I selected 33 items for a work wardrobe and 33 for a casual wardrobe!
This was quite fun and very helpful.
Stage 1
I checked out the predictions for Spring fashion colours and had a look round the shops to identify the trends over Easter. The Pantone web site is great for this and this image from the web site summarises their Spring colours.
Stage 2
I then decided which colours I would use in my capsule wardrobes. Since I have some basics in starfish I thought this would make a good neutral to base the wardrobe on. I tend to favour brights and have several items in caberet and cockatoo. I also have a couple of pieces with the orange, dark blue and green in.
Stage 3
I then thought about the type of clothes I wear most to work and what would be the most versatile in a capsule wardrobe. I tend to wear dresses the most and usually team them with a cardigan or jacket. I wear separates less option but do like wearing trousers on chilly days when I’m tired and sometimes I wear a skirt.
In terms of versatility I decided to focus on the following
- Pick dresses with more than one colour from my pallete (3 if possible allowing alternative neutrals such as black as one!)
- Pick a jacket or cardigan for each key colour which will match with both dresses and separates
- Pick a couple of skirts and trousers in neutrals (I look better with brights near my face rather than neutrals.
- Pick a few tops with more than one colour in (at least 1 colour of which is bright!
Stage 4
Shopping my wardrobe. I took all my clothes out and put them on clothes rails I have (I took the opportunity to clean the wardrobe). I sorted them into clothes types. I then went through each clothes group and picked out clothes that matched the colour pallette and versatility rules I’d made. I then whittled them down to 33 and put them in my wardrobe.
Stage 5
Each time I wear clothes I turn the hanger round- this way every few months I can check if I have any clothes in my wardrobe I haven’t worn.
I’ve stored the rest of the clothes and if all goes well I will decrease their number a bit. However I am aiming to have 4 capsule wardrobes, one for each season and I want to create it from clothes I have or can make if possible.