Turns out I'm a little late to the game on the whole "Capsule Wardrobe" thing, but I figure a great idea like this is something you can pick up any time. I stumbled across the blog un-fancy.com and was totally inspired by the author's style, chic looks and realistic way to pare down her wardrobe.I definitely struggle with over-shopping. It's not so much that I buy a ton of expensive stuff, more so that I tend to buy random crap just because it's "only on sale for one day" or "kind of my size" or "ridiculously discounted in the Target clearance section" (my weakness).In fact, here's a confession: I recently purchased a pleather mini skirt at The Gap outlet because it was only $4.00. I mean, come on. You can't beat that! And while I love the idea of a pleather mini, the only one they had was a size too big. "I'll take it!" I thought as I threw onto a growing bundle in my arms. "I'll just trim down the sides."I still have plans to try to slim down that skirt but it really made me realize that I was just buying things because they were inexpensive. Not because they were high-quality or something I'd wear often. Reading Un-Fancy helped kick-start another closet cleaning.I've purged my closet a few times in the last year. This time I found several pairs of pants that I hadn't worn in at least 4 years, a bunch of ratty t-shirts and a few nice dresses and sweaters that I had never worn simply because they didn't fit right. Of course, all found in the clearance section.I've decided to try out a winter capsule wardrobe even though we're halfway through the season. After doing a bit of online shopping (and returning things that just weren't right) I combined my new items with pieces I already own to create this winter capsule wardrobe. Of course, as a designer, I tend to think best when I have a visual, so creating the actual clothes and putting them together into outfits was key to figuring out what I should keep/buy.
So that's where I'm at with it! Everything that I purchased was, of course, on clearance. But I really tried to only buy things I would wear all the time and if they didn't fit I brought them back. I'm excited to stick with my capsule and see how much wear everything gets. These outfit layouts are going to be my cheat-sheets for when I'm feeling uninspired.
winter