Capsule Wardrobe: The Building Blocks

Now that I've completed several fairly capsule wardrobes, I thought I'd take a look back at each one to figure out what has worked well and what hasn't. Upon my review, I noticed that each of my capsules has contained 11 of the same pieces, which in and of themselves create a mini-capsule of wardrobe basics. From here on out, it's safe to assume that each of my capsules will build upon these 11 pieces:

Nearly 100% of my outfits from any given capsule will incorporate at least one of these items. Since I try to build a 37-piece capsule, that means I have 26 pieces to play with on top of these!

Since I recently moved to a new climate, I didn't create a capsule for January because I wanted to figure out what works and what doesn't in Portland. I'm working on putting together a February-March-April capsule, so stay tuned for that!

Portland Fashion: Textural Black and White

One of my favorite things about moving to a new place is how everything is fresh and new. Every street has a restaurant or bar you haven't tried or an activity you haven't done. Each city tends to have its own fashion sense, too, and I think it's easier to pick out what makes each city's style unique when you've newly arrived from another city with its own style.

Portland ladies have it goin' on, I must say. There's a lot of black and a lot of boots and booties, which are right up my alley. Clothing tends to be minimalistic but with interesting cuts or layers to make it chic and stylish.

Yesterday I saw a girl at the bus stop and her outfit was just so good, I wrote it down on my phone and decided to make a post of it! She had on a big denim jacket, boxy black and white tweed tank, a black lace skirt, booties, tights, and an infinity scarf. Here's my take on her style:



Even though the entire outfit is black, white, and jean, it was so eye-catching because of all the different textures (lace, tweed, leather, denim). The girl I saw looked like she was heading to school, but I think variations on this style's theme could be made appropriate for work or going out, too:

Have a great weekend everyone!

"Starting Over" Capsule Wardrobe

Hey guys! Hope your new year has started off with a bang! I've been a busy bee since I last posted, as I'm sure you have been too. Since we last talked, I quit my job, got hip surgery, moved to Portland, and started a new job!

As part of the moving process, my boyfriend and I packed up all of our belongings in a shipping container and just prayed that they would make it to our intended destination. Fortunately, all of our things arrived intact, but it did make me think about how I'd rebuild my closet if I had to start completely from scratch.

I recently discovered the store Aritzia (which has a a storefront in Portland! Guess I know where my next paycheck is going.... ;) and I'm in love with virtually everything they stock. So for today's post I decided to build a "starting over" capsule wardrobe entirely made up of items from Aritzia, with shoes from DSW:

"Starting Over" Capsule Wardrobe

Item List: 

1. Chambray shirt
2. Striped tank
3. White tee
4. Long-sleeved blouse
5. Cozy cardigan
6. Dark denim
7. Slim-fit black trousers
8. Striped skirt
9. Black skirt
10. Pencil skirt
11. Colored pants
12. Little black dress
13. Long-sleeved dress
14. Sleeveless dress
15. Black jacket
16. Denim jacket
17. Black heels
18. Patterned sandals
19. Sneakers
20. Black flats

Here are a bunch of outfits you could create from this capsule: 

This isn't even close to all of the options I thought up for this closet, which made me wonder what made this particular capsule so versatile. I think it breaks down to this:

1. Equal distribution of black, white, color, denim, and stripes across various types of clothing (for example, I have a denim option as a top, jacket, and jeans; likewise, I have a black jacket, dress, skirt, and pants).
2. Items that are in and of themselves pretty basic, but layering makes them more interesting.
3. Items can all be dressed up or down, depending on need. 
4. Common colors (denim, black, white, and jewel tones) make everything mixable.

What would your dream closet look like if you got to start all over?