Fall Capsule 2018

my capsule planning

Every day during my morning commute, I can feel the air getting colder and crisper. Although I love the warm summer weather, I am excited for a new season, particularly fall. I wouldn’t say I’m ready for the Canadian winter yet. This fall capsule is a bit of an experiment for me as I’m still learning to adjust back to the temperatures here in Canada because 17 degrees here is not the same as an Australian 17 degrees! I’ve broken down the way I planned my fall capsule into three steps - gather, curate, wear.

gather

First is to gather - literally gather information. I search for the general temperatures for the next season and then begin by looking at my previous capsule to see what I can transition over. If you haven’t already read my previous post about transitioning your wardrobe, take a look at that post if you’re curious! After I have chosen some transitional pieces, I take a look at what I have for the upcoming season. From my current fall/winter clothing, I take out some pieces that I’d like to put into my fall capsule. Bring on the turtlenecks and knits! I’m totally a turtleneck person, so I was super excited to whip those out. From my summer capsule, I transitioned a few tops I thought I could use for layering. After all, fall is really all about the layers!

curate

Step 2 is a bit of a mix between gathering and curating because you kind of need both for this whole process to work. However, I would say this is the bulk of process where I begin to “curate” my wardrobe.

Since I recently started a new job, I wanted to make sure my capsule would be flexible enough for my corporate life, be casual for the weekends, and still have my style captured. Now is when I decided to add some pieces to my capsule. After settling on the clothing I already have, I look to see if there are any gaps that need to be filled or maybe there is a piece that you’ve been eyeing. Now is the time to bring in something new! With capsule wardrobes, I find that it often takes time to fill those gaps or maybe you never end up finding a piece that you’ve been looking for before the season ends. That’s definitely happened to me before! For this fall, here are a few things I’ve been looking for and am still on the hunt for. A classic white button down, warm-toned trousers/pants, black Chelsea boots, black denim. These items are not “musts”, they are just items that I’m keeping in mind.

Now is when I go to Pinterest. I think a lot of people start here, however, I find Pinterest helpful for putting outfits together and it helps me use what I already have in my wardrobe! I try to look for pictures and styles that I like with pieces that are similar to the ones in my closet so that I can get more wear out of particular pieces. Here’s a little peak at my Pinterest board, but if you’re curious to see what I add throughout the season, head over there to follow along! Clearly the warm rusts, oranges, and sand colours are really inspiring me this season. Hoping to add some colour to my wardrobe this season for a bit of a change. Any changes you’re making to your wardrobe?

These photos are not my own.

wear

Time for the fun part! The final thing I do is to style my capsule wardrobe and discover different ways to make the pieces I have versatile. I think the most challenging thing so far for me this season is to style interesting corporate looks. Corporate looks can be a little sterile sometimes because of the guidelines, but I’m hoping to spark some creativity into my wardrobe.

Let me know below, would you be interested in some how-to style posts around office outfits?

How-to

transition your wardrobe

As the warm summer nights begin to fade and I start to pull things together for my fall capsule wardrobe, it has really got me thinking about how to store my summer capsule and keep my clothes lasting longer. I'm all for purchasing quality pieces and having a long-lasting wardrobe, and I believe that a big part of extending the life of your wardrobe is in the clothing care. I have just recently started pursuing a more sustainable life, and though most of my clothing is fast fashion that I purchased in the past, most of it has been with me for a few years and will continue to last if I take care of it. A big part of slow fashion is not to go and purchase a whole bunch of ethical and sustainable clothes, but to appreciate and wear what you have. As we move from summer to fall, let's get into a few of the ways I prepare my wardrobe for a new season. 

1. Clear out, Clean out

If you know me well, you can probably attest to the fact that I'm a bit of an organizational freak. I really appreciate a clean space and for me personally, it really helps me to be more productive and creative if the space around me is not messy. This also includes my closet! My first tip for transitioning your wardrobe at the end of a season is to clear everything out of your closet. Give the shelves a nice wipe-down and vacuum up those dust bunnies that have been collecting there all summer. A new season gives you a new opportunity to organize and store your clothes well. 

2. Keep, Donate, Repair

Now that everything is out of your wardrobe, you can take the time to go through your clothes and separate them into three piles - keep, donate/give away, and repair. If you have a capsule, decide what you're going to keep as transitional pieces for the next season. For example, I kept a few of my summer camis that I know I can wear in the fall as well. Next, evaluate your wardrobe. Is there anything you want to keep to try to wear? Is there a piece you know you want to give away or donate? Once you've decided on those, take a look at any garments that may need repairing or maybe simple hemming job. I actually had two pairs of pants that have been sitting in my closet - one that needed to be hemmed and one that needed to be repaired. I plan to take these to the tailor soon! 

3. Wash & Dry Clean

The next step is to wash your clothes in preparation for storage. Washing your clothes properly is so important in having a long-lasting wardrobe. Make sure you are reading and following the care labels correctly. I only ever wash my clothes on a cold, gentle cycle and hang dry almost everything. The dryer can be very harmful on delicate garments so I only put things like undergarments, bedding, and linens into the dryer. 

4. Proper Storage

Since your closet is empty because of tip #1, it is now ready for storing your next season's selection! Proper storage is equally important for helping clothes last longer. I typically hang most of my tops except t-shirts and especially not knitwear - I'm sure we've all had the experience of hanging a nice knit only to find it's developed some strange ears when you go to wear it! My tip is to develop a storage system that works for you. I like to hang my tops based on sleeve length and my closet is also somewhat colour coordinated from light to dark, as I don't really have much colour in my wardrobe to begin with. Maybe for you, it's more practical to store based on colour or type of clothing item (activewear, workwear, etc.) - find what works best for you in terms of practicality and space!

Now that you've gone through these steps, you're well on your way to enjoying your new capsule wardrobe!  

Summer 2018 Capsule Wardrobe

a recap

After moving back to Toronto from Sydney, I've enjoyed my back-to-back summer. However, I am really looking forward to some cooler weather and am excited to change up my capsule for the fall season. I've missed layering up with turtlenecks and cozying up in wooly sweaters. This being my first "official" capsule wardrobe, I wanted to share some of my thoughts and insights, along with a few things I've learned about my personal style and clothing habits. 

First, a quick summary on my capsule. My summer 2018 capsule consisted of 40 pieces, including tops, bottoms, outwear, and shoes. 

A Second Chance

My goals for this first capsule was to get more wear out of a few select items as well as to minimize unnecessary shopping. Prior to organizing and planning this capsule, I went through all my clothing and gave away items, donated, and sold items that weren't getting any wear or were just worn out. However, I hung onto a few pieces I thought I'd give another go at to try to get more wear out of them. These included my converse shoes, my striped culottes, a floral camisole, and a knit t-shirt cardigan. These were items I felt were very good quality and couldn't bring myself to let go of them yet. By doing this, I learned that it was possible to re-love some older items. Particularly with my converse, I got a lot of wear out of them this summer and really enjoyed styling them. However, some pieces, although beautifully made and great quality, I just did not gravitate towards anymore. 

I Could Live on Less

Although I lived on a capsule wardrobe, I found that there were still items I barely touched. Simply put, I could live on less. I think the reason why I didn't wear some of the items as much was usually because of comfort, weather, or fit. The more I journey through sustainable living and explore ethical fashion, the more I realize how important it is to find quality pieces that fit well and that I love. It's simple - If I don't feel comfortable in something, I naturally won't gravitate towards it. 

Moving Forward

As much as I loved my 40 piece summer capsule wardrobe, I want to experiment this coming fall. I will still call my wardrobe a capsule wardrobe, but I don't believe that living an ethical and sustainable life has to be about hard and fast rules. We're all human and sometimes we make mistakes, sometimes the weather changes drastically and you've got to pull out sweater that wasn't originally in your capsule! I want to give myself a bit of breathing room. Although I'm not following exact rules, my goals for my capsule will stay the same. I still want to wear what I love and continue this journey in defining my personal style. I still want to be a conscious consumer and strive to only bring things into my closet with intention and keeping in mind the sustainability and ethics behind the products. I think blogging about slow fashion and sustainability has really taught me to find a balance, as part of the job allows me to explore new and ethical brands. I am still figuring out how to share all the amazing ethical brands out there without going overboard. I hope you'll stick with me for the ride!

Those are some of my thoughts and lessons learned from my summer 2018 capsule wardrobe. If you made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope you'll share with me your own thoughts about capsule wardrobes below!