Capsule Wardrobe: January's Verdict

Yesterday we (finally) reached the end of Jan 2018! A whole month of this capsule wardrobe experiment is complete. I have to say, overall I've been unexpectedly loving it!

I've enjoyed this experiment so much that I've decided to keep going in February, but am adding in 3 more items of clothing, to bring the count up to 20 (a much nicer number than 17!).

I went digging through the bags under my bed yesterday for my lovely pink velvet jumper and an extra t shirt. Both of these will work with any of the other clothes that I already have in my capsule wardrobe - which is key.

The other thing that I wanted to add was a dungaree dress (or pinafore dress). I wanted one in black denim, and you wouldn't believe how hard the search has been to find something!
ASOS had a couple of options, but their dresses all had distressed edges along the bottom, and that is not my style at all - I just can't get on board with paying £40 for something that's already worn out!
I also tried on a dungaree dress in Topshop but wasn't convinced of the fit, and it came up a bit short when I sat down. (I work for a church so if I can't wear something to a prayer meeting, there is literally no point in me owning it!)

In the end, the dress I've gone for is from Zara Kids! It's a relaxed fit, with pretty embroidered flowers and I love it.

If there's one thing that having a capsule wardrobe has taught me, it's to only buy something if I absolutely love it and if it will work with the rest of my wardrobe. I have to be so smitten that I'm happy to wear it ALL the time.

I'm interested to see how things progress month-by-month. I don't want to put too much pressure on this by committing to a year or anything like that; I'm going to see how things go, and then adjust my wardrobe as the seasons and temperatures change.

What type of shopper are you? Fast fashion or carefully planned purchases?

Lisa x

Capsule Wardrobe: When Inspiration Runs Dry

So here we are: half way through. The middle point. 16 outfits worn, 15 to go.
By this point I've worn almost every item of clothing several times.
I've found that doing this challenge in winter has seriously decreased the number of clothing combinations I can do; because it's so cold that I basically never take off my jumper. So it's pretty much a choice of 4 jumpers with a selection of 2 pairs of jeans or 1 skirt...

I have found that having free reign over accessories has really helped though, particularly with jewellery and scarves. I was very excited to receive this month's Gambettes box (a subscription box where you get 2 pairs of tights a month), as fun tights can instantly make me feel more excited about an otherwise very simple outfit.

I also have to admit that I've started to daydream about some of my off limits items of clothing... a bit sad I know! A velvet green dress previously owned by my mum and Aunty, a cosy and oversized pink hoody, and a pair of black denim dungarees to name a few...

But I am at the half way point! And I'm proud of myself for that and determined to stay strong for the rest of the month.
I'm starting to also think about what to do once January is up: keep it minimal or release the clothes? There may well be a post coming next week all about that...

Do you have any tips for getting through the halfway slump of a challenge?

Lisa x

Capsule Wardrobe: Staying Strong

I'm pretty good at self control in most areas (sometimes too good, but that's another story), but 2 of my biggest weaknesses are snacking and shopping. My main shopping vices are clothes, beauty products and homeware. (Oh and mugs! We have to have them on a rotation as they don't all fit in our cupboard anymore...)

I am pretty terrible at not spending money, unless I stop spending altogether (stay with me here!). I've found that if I can manage to not buy anything at all, then I can hold out for a while; but if I give in just a little bit and buy something small, then that's it: the floodgates are open, my money is gone and my wardrobe is even more full of things I don't need. Things tend to escalate pretty quickly.

This month, as I've been using a capsule wardrobe, I've been trying really hard not to buy any clothes. Here are a few tips that I've been learning along the way:

• Avoid clothes shops
  Don't even walk through the doors. Or past the windows. Basically, go nowhere near them.
  The moment I walk into my favourite shops, I immediately see so many items that I can't live without. Even if I don't buy them in the moment, I'll think about them and find myself making my way back to the store the next day. If I don't go in the shop, I won't see the clothes so I wont miss them from my wardrobe.
  
  
• Same goes for online shops
  This is particularly difficult at the moment with the January sales in full swing. My email inbox is full of offers and sale deductions. My advice on this is to either unsubscribe from the emails altogether or just glance through them and then quickly delete, without clicking on any links to go to their website!
  
  
• Stay away from haul vlogs
  Haul vlogs are a great love of mine, so it pains me to type this, but I can't deny the amount of clothes I've bought after watching them! I know that Alix Coburn (I Covet Thee) recently put up a Topshop haul on her Youtube channel, and I've been resisting watching it ever since. This is because I just know there's bound to be something so beautiful on there that I won't be able to resist buying! If I don't watch it, I won't be tempted.
  
  
• Pinterest
  Build a Pinterest board with outfit ideas using clothes that you already have. Upload photos of some of the outfits that you've enjoyed wearing in the past. I have a secret board like this, so that when I'm feeling uninspired at 6:30am and don't know what to wear, I can bring up the board and pick something from there. Ready-made outfits at your fingertips. 

Do you have any tips for resisting shopping?

Capsule Wardrobe: Week One

I've almost managed my first week of living with a capsule wardrobe, so I thought now would be a good time for a little catch up to tell you how I'm getting on.
To be honest, so far I am unexpectedly loving having a minimal wardrobe! It's been fun to think about the different ways of putting the outfits together (see my saved stories on my Instagram page for the outfits I've worn so far); and to use accessories to bring some personality to the simple clothes (scarves and tights are my favourite right now).
Here's a few things that have come up this week:

1. Washing My Clothes
It sounds really obvious, but I hadn't really thought through the practicalities of having a core wardrobe that only consists of 12 items of clothing. I must admit that I am usually the sort of person who remembers to do the washing quite sporadically, and so often has a washing basket that's full to the brim. I can normally get away with it because I have a lot of clothes, now however, my plan is to do a couple of smaller washes during the week - and to make good use of our tumble dryer - so that the clothes are never away from the wardrobe for long. I just need to remember to do it!

2. Project 333
I found out this week that there is something called Project 333, where you pick 33 items every 3 months, including coats, shoes, etc. It might have been helpful to know about this before I started, as I wasn't sure how many clothes were too many - and having 33 items would help with the practical side of things like washing the clothes! But right now I'm feeling like 12 items as a core wardrobe with free reign over accessories is suiting me well. If I was to continue this past January though, I might expand my selection a bit; plus I like the idea of getting to pick new items for each season.

3. Time
To my surprise I've found that having fewer clothes to choose from hasn't really shortened the amount of time that it takes me to decide what to wear in the morning. With having a smaller selection to choose from, I have to think a bit more creatively about how to put together an outfit that I like and that's different from the day before.
If I'm completely honest, I think some of this time might be because I've committed to photograph my outfit each day and put it on Instagram; it might not take me as long if only I was going to see it!

4. Mood
I have a feeling that this could go up and down over the month, and so I thought I'd log how I'm feeling each time I give an update. So far this little experiment has given me such a lift! It's genuinely been such a fun and refreshing start to the new year; I don't think I've ever enjoyed a January as much as I am this one. I thought I'd feel restricted and bored (although this might be to come!) but so far it's been great.

5. Social Media
I wanted to say thank you SO much to everyone who's messaged me in the past week with kind words of support and encouragement. It's been so helpful to hear from those who are capsule wardrobe pros, and exciting to hear from people who are thinking of giving this a go too! I love that social media can be used in such positive ways, to make connections with other people all over the world, who you'd never meet otherwise. That's my favourite part of using Instagram.

6 days down, 25 to go!

Lisa x

Capsule Wardrobe: Planning & Pinteresting

Hi everyone!
Ok, time to start planning out some key pieces for the capsule wardrobe that are versatile and compliment one another.
As we're in the middle of winter, layers are going to be key, so it's important to take into account that there will be more clothes needed than in a summer capsule wardrobe.

I decided to plan out what my pieces would be from the memory of the clothes that I have - rather than physically going through my wardrobe, as I thought I'd be likely to cave under the pressure of so many beloved items, and start adding extra things in.
So with my capsule wardrobe already selected, I quickly went through my wardrobe this afternoon and packed away everything else before I could change my mind or sneak in any more clothes!

In thinking through which clothes to include in my January wardrobe, Pinterest has been invaluable. I've started a board called ‘Minimal Style’ (my Pinterest account is @lisaerin1, go and have a look to see what's been inspiring me!), and have been adding simple and classic looks that I can easily recreate, whilst also expressing my style. Most importantly, these are looks that I can do using clothes that I already own - no shopping trips needed!

I've decided to stick to the colour palette of black, white (/cream), grey, beige, blue (denim) and red. I realise that this isn't the smallest palette in the world, but I love wearing different colours and found it hard to whittle it down to just those! Also, as I've purposefully picked lots of neutrals this should mean that I can mix and match any of the pieces to create the maximum number of options.
(And remember, as I said in my last blog post, I still have free reign when it comes to accessories, shoes or coats.)

 

Here's the moment of truth, the clothes that will make up my wardrobe:

• x4 vest tops - x2 black and x2 white
• x2 t shirts - x1 white with logo, x1 black
• x4 long-sleeved tops - x1 black, x1 white, x1 black and white striped, x1 red and white striped
• x2 jeans - x1 black, x1 mid-blue wash jeans
• x1 denim skirt - blue
• x4 jumpers - x2 black (1 turtleneck), x1 cream, x1 grey
• x1 cardigan - cream

All of my other clothes are now packed away in 6 big bags under my bed - I just have to resist the temptation to get them out again!

I'll be posting each day's outfit on my Instagram stories (@lisaerinwoodson) so you can see how I'm getting on, and will be blogging about it once or twice a week on here.

If you're joining in on this journey, then let me know what clothes you've whittled your wardrobe down to in the comments below. Stay strong!

Lisa x

A Capsule Wardrobe?

My name is Lisa and I must confess that my clothes no longer fit in my wardrobe - in fact, I can't remember the last time they did!

I've toyed with the idea of a capsule wardrobe (a relatively small number of clothes and accessories that can be interchanged to create an almost endless selection of outfits) for years, but have never quite got around to making it a reality. The problem is, I genuinely love shopping and trying new trends, so I'd be sad to cut that out of my life and worry I'd get really bored of only ever wearing the same things.

So here is my solution, I'm going to start out with just one month as my target.
For January 2018 I'm shrinking my wardrobe to a smaller number of versatile and classic pieces; then at the end of the month, I'll decide whether to keep it up for February, or whether to joyfully rescue the rest of my wardrobe from the several boxes they'll inhabit under my bed.
I've also decided to only do this with my clothes; my accessories (including shoes) and coats are safe - for now!

I'm excited to see what this will be like; can it turn around my ‘fast fashion’ shopping habit? Journey with me over the next month and let's see what happens!
Tomorrow I'll post the clothes I've chosen for my capsule wardrobe, and the process I used to pick them. Then I'll be posting my outfit of the day on my Insta Story everyday so you can see how I've styled them. My Insta is @lisaerinwoodson if you want to follow along.

What about you? Do you have a capsule wardrobe or is this something that you've ever tried? I'd love to know in the comments below.

Lisa x
P.S. Happy New Year!