Following on from Jane's Capsule Wardrobe Challenge in which I participated in the beginning of October I have had a number of thoughts about the viability of a capsule wardrobe in my life.
How many clothes are enough in a capsule wardrobe?
As a student, my daily routine entails attending class, reading in the library, having a few drinks or tea in student pubs and common rooms, hanging out at people's house and occasionally venturing out on a Saturday night. This greatly simplifies the requirements I have from my daily wardrobe- comfortable, fun and casual could be the central themes of my wardrobe. If you throw in a couple of tops for going out and the requirements of my wardrobe are fulfilled. However if I had a full-time job with a smart-casual dress code and like to dress down on the weekend or had a busy social life, a capsule wardrobe would be much more difficult to implement.
However when you step outside the quantitative needs of your wardrobe and start to examine your qualitative relationship to clothes, you may find that you may be more drawn to a capsule wardrobe or completely reject the idea out of hand. If you love high quality clothes but are on a minimal budget, a capsule wardrobe in which you buy clothes which flatter you to perfection would be an obvious. However if like me, you love experimenting with new looks and enjoy having a wide range of clothes in a variety of styles to choose from each morning, a capsule wardrobe perhaps wouldn't be a solution to your wardrobe needs.However I do think there are two important lessons which can be taken from the concept of capsule wardrobe. The first is the importance of certain basics which make your wardrobe function. Every wardrobe has its basics, regardless of whether its owner's style is funky, boho or classic. This may be a perfectly fitting pair of skinny jeans, a black pencil skirt or a denim mini skirt. It could be a white shirt or the perfect bag. It is worth spending the extra few euros here to get a flattering fit or unique details.
The second and most important lesson is that regardless of the amount of clothes in my wardrobe, I still often focus my style around a couple of central pieces within my wardrobe. For example in the summer, my wardrobe centred around grey and black leggings, skinny jeans, 2 pairs of delicate flat shoes and three dresses.I had many other summer clothes which supplemented those central pieces but mainly worked around those eight pieces of clothing. During the winter, this becomes more complex, as my summers are invariably short and often spent wearing a uniform for work, but certain central pieces are still apparent. In fact, I think that if you went into my wardrobe and removed underwear, tights, camisoles and slips, layering tshirts, summer clothes that I haven't packed away yet and clothes I don't wear regularly, I would probably have about 25 items of clothing in my wardrobe. Underneath it all, I have a capsule wardrobe but I just don't have the conscious capsule wardrobe mentality.
Do you have a capsule wardrobe?
*eLLa*
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