9.16.2019

My capsule wardrobe experiment

     Hey guys! So I missed last week, not because of Dorian (it hit the Bahamas really hard, but completely skirted us) but because I'm lazy and not motivated. But I'm here this week to make up for it!



     In August I set myself a challenge that I've been wanting to try for a while - to have a capsule wardrobe. I don't think I'm good enough at this to actually only wear clothes from a capsule, but I thought it would be fun to try for a month. (Technically slightly less than a month - I started August 5th but.. technicalities.)

     A capsule wardrobe is technically defined as "a collection of a few essential items of clothing that don't go out of fashion, such as skirts, trousers, and coats, which can then be augmented with seasonal pieces". So I guess according to that definition my "capsule wardrobe" wasn't exactly a capsule wardrobe but... we're gonna go with it anyway. XD

     Basically I thought I would share what I had in my capsule, and then just ramble a bit about what I thought about it in general. Total, I had nine shirts, four jackets/sweaters, seven bottoms, three dresses/jumpsuits, four pairs of shoes, and then about seven accessory pieces. I didn't include pajamas, swimsuits, or the Packer gear that I wore for the first preseason game. XD

     I went with a color palette that the clothes I owned already would fit into. It ended up being a green/navy/white and a bit of brown palette. And here's a more detailed rundown:



     First off, my shirts. I originally chose six shirts, but decided to add two more about halfway through. These are pretty basic t-shirts. The fanciest by far are B, F and H. Those were more of my night church/Bible study shirts, even though I did wear other shirts with a necklace and nice sweater. I'm gonna include a little list of where everything is from plus links if I can find them after each section...

A - Old Navy; I've had this for a while so there's no link. Old Navy always has good graphic tees though.
B - hand me down (89th & Madison); from my cousins. I love the lace and the zipper detail on the back.
C - Amazon; I think this might be my absolute new favorite piece of clothing ever. Super modest, super comfortable, and I'm ordering some white ones and if those aren't see-through I'm completely sold on these shirts.
D - Green Ember graphic tee; I got this at a homeschool convention. It's related to a book series that's pretty good, and I loved the color/design so I bought it. It's probably one of my favorite shirts.
E - hand me down (Merona/Target); also from my cousins! Tanktops are so nice in Florida, but it's also pretty hard to find modest ones so I was super happy to get this one.
F - Old Navy; I bought this pretty recently, but I couldn't find the link online... Sorry. XD
G - Old Navy; this style of shirt is one of my favorites. I have another shirt that's exactly the same but a different color.
H - thrift store (Gap); This was the find of the century - a basic white tee shirt that's not see-through! Plus it has a cute zipper on the back. 

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     Next up are my shorts. These were my regular, weekday bottoms. I really only wore three of these, the fourth (B) was just my "lay around the house" comfortable pair. I've had all of these shorts for a pretty long time, so I couldn't find links for any of them.


A - for some reason, I managed to lose these shorts between the end of August and now so the ones pictured aren't actually the pair I wore. The actual pair is a bit darker. And I have no clue where these shorts are from. XD
B - Children's Place; again, these were my "comfy lounging" shorts. They work really well for that. And yes, I do fit in children's clothes still...
C - thrift store (DKNY Jeans); I love these because they aren't jean material, they've got some fun-ness to them. They're a tad bit loose in the waist, so I wore my belt most with these.

D - Apt 9 (Kohls); these are my favorite kinds of shorts. I have the pair pictured above, and then two pair that are a bit darker (actually that's what I used for A).

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     These are my nicer bottoms - my capris for Bible study/night church, a pair of jeans and then my nice skirt for church.

A - Jennifer Lopez (Kohls); these are my favorite capris. They're pretty high-waisted and just look super good on me. At least in my opinion. XD
B - Old Navy; Old Navy is my go-to place for jeans. I think all of my jeans are from there. Except for maybe one hand-me-down pair... But this curvy straight is my favorite style from Old Navy.
C - Sonoma (Kohls); I've had this skirt for a little while too. It's an A-line, which looks super good on my body type, and it goes with pretty much any shirt.

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     These are mostly church clothes. I did not want to rewear church clothes during August, so I planned this out pretty carefully. I started with only three Sundays left in the month, so I included two dresses and then the skirt and this nice top for my third church outfit. Maybe cheating, but whatever. XD

A - the jumper is from Old Navy and the shirt underneath is from Target; I got this jumper pretty recently too, and this was actually the first time I'd worn it. It's super comfortable and looks good too.
B - thrift store; I get a lot of church clothes from thrift stores... I love this dress because it has a pocket. The fabric is really comfortable and breathable too, especially here in Florida.
C - thrift store (H&M); I'm not the biggest fan of this top, but it's green and fits nicely so... That's all I could ask for. XD
D - Old Navy; we got this last fall, and I've only worn it a few times but I really like it.

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      These are my sweaters/jackets. You really don't need a bunch of these in Florida, but during church especially I tend to get so cold. Plus it's nice to have a few sweaters to "dress up" some more basic tee shirts. D is my absolute favorite sweater for that. All of these are either old or from a thrift store so I have no links again.


A - Chaps (Kohls); this is a nice, basic three quarter sleeved sweater. It hits me at about my waist which is a good length, I've found.
B - Merona (Target); this is a long-sleeved sweater and it hits more at the hips than the waist, and still super comfortable. I love the v-neck on this one.
C - thrift store; this is one of my favorite jackets ever. I literally stopped wearing it for a while cause I didn't want to wear it thin. I've been wearing it a bit more recently and I still love it. It doesn't even have a tag on it so I have no idea where it's from, which is really sad. 

D - thrift store (forever 21); I loooove this sweater. It's super cute, not too warm but also enough to keep me warm in church and just. Ahh. I love it. XD


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     Annnd my shoes! I've never been a huge shoe person, so it was pretty easy to keep this to a minimum. There were a few times when I wanted to change it up a bit, but I restrained myself. I really appreciate shoes with good support. For some reason, my back will just start to hurt really quickly and I don't know why. But good support is key in my shoes. 


A - Kohls/Sketchers; Mom got these for me before my road trip out to Florida. They're waterproof which is super nice in a place where it rains a lot. I never have to worry about them, plus they have great support.
B -  thrift store (Hush Puppies); I wasn't hoping for good support when I bought these, I was just looking for a pair of brown heels (something I didn't have yet), but these are actually really comfortable. I love the heels too - not too big but not too small. 
C - Lands End; I'm 90% sure these sandals are from Lands End. These are actually the second pair I've owned. They're super comfortable and have amazing support, plus they're a bit cuter than the other pair of sandals. They just don't do too well if you get them wet, which is why I included the other pair.

D - T.J. Maxx; I got these recently as well, but once again, couldn't find a link to them. These are the only ones that don't really have any support, but since they're church shoes and I don't wear them when I'm walking around a bunch, I let it slide.

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     This is an overview of my accessories. There are a few closer shots below, but I wanted to talk about my purses here...

A - Target; I got this since moving to Florida and I love it. It's big enough to hold everything I need, but not so big that I throw in all the stuff I "need" (if ya get my drift). Plus it's super cute and mature-looking. (Also the exact same style purse as my cousin but I didn't know that when I bought it. Sooo whoopsies there. XD)
B - thrift store; I got this a while back at a thrift store in California. It's what I use as my church purse (the other one is more of a daily purse) and it's big enough to hold a snack and some extra pens/highlighters. Plus it goes with pretty much anything. But I guess I wear it with stuff it doesn't go with so I guess that part doesn't matter as much.

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    This belt is from T.J. Maxx. I didn't end up wearing it as much as I would've liked, but I think it's a great option to make an otherwise bleh outfit look more put together. And I couldn't find a link for this one either...

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     And finally - my necklaces! I think I wore these the most to really help up an outfit or make it look like a new (ish) outfit and not a shirt I'd worn five times that month already. I think it worked quite well. XD

A - Old Navy; this is actually part of a friendship necklace set that my sister and I bought. I think it's super cute and delicate, plus it's more of a rose gold which is just cool. In my opinion. XD
B - Claires or Icing; I got this a long time ago as part of a friendship necklace set for Jessica, Triniti, and I. I love how it's not a traditional color and so it's a lot more of a toned-down necklace. Plus, wearing it reminds me of them which is always awesome. 
C - Forever 21; Mom got this for me on super clearance at Forever 21 right before we moved. I couldn't find a link for it, but I really love it. It's delicate but also meaningful and special. And I also have a California necklace so I needed a Florida necklace. Clearly.
D - Forever 21; I'm not sure if that link is the exact same necklace set that this was part of, but it's definitely pretty similar. This came with another smaller choker, but I really like this one cause it has some fun details on the chain itself. Plus you can make it more of a choker size, or more of a necklace size. Win-win.


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     And that's it!! I had a lot of fun trying this out but was very ready to be able to wear all my clothes again at the end of it. I don't have a bunch of clothes as it is, but I'm trying to pare it down to only what I really need and this helped me (or forced me...) to get a little more inventive with my outfits. 

     I'd definitely recommend trying this out sometime, and I'll see you all again next week! Thanks for reading. :)

~ Anna


Do you have a capsule wardrobe? Have you ever tried one? Do you have any tips for me?

1 comment:

  1. You're not a Calfornian anymore! Maybe a California transplant to Florida!

    ReplyDelete