The modern way to own a capsule wardrobe

The capsule wardrobe has had a modern update. It’s no longer about owning several timeless pieces such as a white shirt, black trousers, a navy belted coat, etc etc, a capsule wardrobe for now is just a regular wardrobe of perfectly interchangeable pieces that work for you. The number of pieces in your capsule wardrobe is dependant on your style, what your lifestyle is and whether you have a need for variety or don’t mind repeating outfits relatively frequently. There is no perfect number, but using clothes from your entire wardrobe rather than just seasonal opens up more outfit possibilities.

The reason the idea of a capsule wardrobe is current again is down to sustainability being at the forefront of fashion right now. More and more we are becoming conscious of what we are consuming, what we are spending our money on and where the product comes from. In 2020 it’s not #vintage that is the most buzzed about hashtag, now you’re more likely to see #preloved #reusedfashion #sustainablefashion #notbuyingnew and with fashion and style Instagram accounts leaning towards not buying anything new, it has become the most desirable fashion trend this year so far.

Project333 is a great example of this change in trends, Courtney Carver has written a book that is out this week outlining her minimalist fashion challenge that proves less really is so much more. "Be more with less’ is her over-riding message. Wearing just 33 items for 3 months is her challenge to the world, she has taken this simplistic approach to living and never looked back. She believes by stripping back your wardrobe, focusing on the core 33 pieces you will find joy that you have been missing. Read more and buy the book here.

The attitude to fast fashion is changing, outfit repeating is currently a badge of honour with finding new and inspiring ways to wear items of clothing is becoming the most coveted fashion idea to date. But in the real world, away from social media inspiration, is the capsule wardrobe actual attainable? Why build a capsule wardrobe and can we retrain our brain to not constantly seek something new to make us feel better about ourselves?

The benefits of a capsule wardrobe underpins all that I do as a personal stylist, I just talk about it as a ‘working wardrobe’ when chatting to clients and perspective clients. Building your own capsule wardrobe is a great way to become a smarter and more thoughtful shopper. If you have a wardrobe full of pieces that all work well together, then this will curb your impulse to constantly buy. As it’s your wardrobe you need to take a look inside it and see what works for you; what do you wear the most, what do you love wearing and what suits you the best?

You will find your own capsule wardrobe in amongst the stuff crammed into your wardrobe, and I bet you only wear 20% of what you have. That 20% is what you need to base your capsule wardrobe and your style on. It’s items you can rely on to make you look and feel good with minimal amount of effort and stress. The blazer is a building block for my wardrobe, something I can wear and rely on time and time again. I can put it with skirts, dresses, trousers and even joggers and the blazer instantly pulls the outfit together.

Pieces I find that work the best have minimal amount of fuss, can make a statement but are not trend driven and are versatile between my smarter work commitments and my casual weekend laid back styling. By identifying these pieces in your wardrobe you might start to see a pattern emerging within your choices, the things you like and what you wear the most. You now need to be able to jigsaw these pieces together to work as a versatile capsule wardrobe. The more carefully you plan your capsule and select your pieces, the better.

With sustainability non-negotiable, we who love fashion are trying to find ways to tease our passion apart from over-consumption. In 2020 capsule dressing looks cooler than ever, a streamlined wardrobe frees a little more of your time and your sanity and you might just find your happy place too. To get me putting this into practice more I am giving up shopping for Lent. Today, 26th March marks the start of 40 days of breaking the habits of consumerism and spending money on things I don’t possibly need.

Join me in this challenge, I will be showing you my daily styles over on my Instagram page and tag me using the hashtag #edits40dayschallenge and let’s inspire each other to shop our wardrobe for 40 days without adding anything new. I have a great modern capsule wardrobe and I will be showcasing my styling, giving you tips and inspiration for you to dig out pieces in your wardrobe that you might not of worn in ages. With £140 million (&rising) of clothing ending up in landfill every year it’s time to break those buying habits and appreciate what we already have.

My best buys from Autumn Winter 2019

As many of you know Autumn 2019 was a turning point for me in my style journey. My littlest one started school and after 6 years of working for myself as a personal stylist it was time to review my wardrobe with more gusto rather than methodically of recent years. I really did ask myself “do I REALLY like myself in this piece of clothing”. Then it either got sold, went to charity or I popped it back in my wardrobe. Autumn saw me invest money, time and knowledge of what I wanted my style to look like into my wardrobe.

But now we hit 2020, not quite Spring yet, but a transitional few weeks in the fashion / retail calendar when stores get refreshed, new pieces hit the shops and after Christmas I get excited about new styles, colours and fashions out there. It’s been a big part of my life since my career started and I can’t switch that passion for fashion off. So before I look ahead to the next season, I wanted to look back at what I had brought over the past few months and learn some lessons from the purchases I had made.

In this blog post I am going to look at my best buys of the past few months and in next week’s blog post I will share with you my lessons that I learnt that I will take forward into 2020. I want this exercise to set me up for the season ahead, make me aware of the positive buys vs the mistakes I made and to avoid those pitfalls again so that I am not wasting money or spending money on something that doesn’t fit my lifestyle.

Today I pulled out all the newer pieces in my wardrobe and thought about the things I love the most, the ones I wore the most and will enjoy wearing for years to come. I have brought more than any normal season for me (normally I limit myself to my 5 updates per season), but that was down to my circumstances, but I still made measured decisions based on what I wanted my style to be, and I wanted pieces to last me so that I wasn’t buying throwaway fashion.

I’m hoping that my list will inspire you to take a look at your wardrobe and reassess what you brought last season, looking at the good pieces and perhaps making note of some bad habits you might be in.

---

So here are my best buys from Autumn 2019 to inspire you to look at yours -

---

GRENSON NANNETTE BOOTS

These boots were by far the best investment I have made in a long time. From the moment I brought them they have barely been off my feet. I wear them with everything and any outfit I put together looks different with these beauties on. They are not for everyone and a year ago I thought they weren’t for me, too chunky, too much hype, BUT now I cannot stop gushing (or wearing!) them. Investing in a great pair of boots that you love is an easy way to update your Autumn style.

---

ZARA EMBELLISHED JUMPER

Zara always pulls some great knits out of the bag on the run up to Christmas that have something a little bit special on them. I dubbed this my Christmas jumper but I have worn it many times since Christmas and will continue to. With high street stores like Zara its worth investing a little bit more money into higher prices items because the quality is better, the embellishments are nicer and they will last you longer. I find that if I wait for something special to come along and spend more money on it then I love it more. This jumper has definitely been one of my biggest hits and I’ve only had it a few weeks.

---

KITRI STAR DRESS

I felt so fantastic when I wore this dress. I snapped it up as soon as it came out online as I knew it was exactly the kind of dress I would love and it didn’t disappoint. I have only worn it the once, so I need to start wearing it a bit more often but I perhaps will leave it for more occasions rather than everyday, purely because I love it so much, it’s a dress that I will keep forever.

---

TOPSHOP WHITE JUMPER

Topshop every year seem to get some pieces of knitwear just spot on and for me this was one of them. I love the cable styling, the length, its so soft to touch. Granted the colour might put people off but I have found that I’ve reached for it often as it’s one of the only lighter colour pieces of knitwear that I have in my wardrobe. It’s been great for layering over dresses, wearing with skirts and I can even tuck it in the front of my jeans - a fab all rounder.

---

WHISTLES PRINTED SKIRT

I was on a mission to add a new skirt into my wardrobe this season as I detoxed a couple out of my wardrobe that didn’t fit me anymore. I ended up getting this one from ASOS with a discount code and I have worn it countless times. It is so versatile with jumpers, t-shirts, blazers, boots, heels and trainers I am sure I will be continuing to wear it when I ditch the tights in the spring.

---

&OTHER STORIES SPOT DRESS

I had shopped this dress for a few clients on the run up to Christmas and knew how fabulous it looked on, so I ended up not being able to resist it for myself. It was a great Christmas day dress but one that’s easy to throw on in the daytime as wearing it with my Grenson boots or trainers really help dial the Christmas feel of it down. It’s so comfy so makes me want to wear it everyday.

---

ZARA BALLOON JEANS

As many of my clients know I live and swear by Levi skinny jeans and for years I have not shyed away from them whilst recommending them to all my clients too. But I wanted to make a concious decision to change up my denim this Autumn so I tried the Zara balloon jeans. Granted they sometimes make me look a bit bigger in size due to the volume, but they are so comfy and if I tuck in a jumper and wear a belt then my eye is drawn to my waist rather than my hips so I am happier with my body proportions. It’s been nice to step away from the skinny jeans but I know they will always be a wardrobe staple whereas these potentially won’t be right for me next Autumn.

---

HUSH BLAZER

I was so excited when I saw this blazer online at Hush, I pretty much live in blazers for my work appointments and wanted to add in a single breasted one that wasn’t as busy as my other double breasted check blazer that I have had for years. I waited for the right one to come along and when it did I couldn’t be happier. It is warm handle though so I won’t be able to wear in the Spring/Summer months as it will be too hot but hopefully I’ll get so much wear out of it before then that it won’t matter. A great investment piece.

---

WHISTLES ZEBRA JUMPER

This jumper is a really nice lightweight knit that I can tuck into skirts and jeans, and with my obsession with green I loved the colour of it. This has certainly been a go to for me this season and a buy that I can always rely on when I’m stuck for inspiration on what to wear that day.

---

TOPSHOP OVERSIZED KNITTED JUMPER

I have lived in this massive oversized roll neck jumper from Topshop. I have to say it is starting to bobble quite a bit now so I’m not sure how long it will last but I have loved wearing it over dresses, skirt, with my leather leggings and jeans, it’s just been an easy throw-on jumper but yet I feel stylish wearing it. I certainly got my money’s worth as I brought it with a discount code and couldn’t of spent more than £30 on it. A great buy but quality wise it probably won’t last too much longer.

---

So those were my 10 best buys of Autumn Winter 2019. It just happened to be 10 and whilst I have lots of other things I love in my wardrobe these items certainly stand out as my favourites, the ones I wore the most, I felt the most stylish in and were also pieces that I felt gave me a renewed sense of style.

I would love to hear what your favourite buys were last year, so please do share them with me.

what i'm going to be wearing from my wardrobe in Autumn

I think it’s time to face it. Summer isn’t coming back.

While the calendar may well still say summer, one quick glimpse out of your window will tell you that meteorologically, we're far from it. But rather than dwell, I am looking forward to the new season’s styling and dressing in fresh new ways, taking the opportunity to maximise what is in my wardrobe whilst we go through the transitional period before the cold temperatures hit us.

Whilst the first drops from the high streets and designers can give us a good indication of what is going to be popular this Autumn it’s also worth looking back to previous seasons and seeing what you can continue wearing but just in a different way. The trends are full of florals, checks, leather, lots of sparkle, puffy sleeves and fancy ruffles. Looking at that list I know I own something from all of those categories so I am going to show you how I am going to style them for this coming season to inspire you to dig into your wardrobe and re-style.

---

The big styling trends for AW19

SHOULDERS

I’ve always loved a big puffy shoulder, some shoulder detailing and pleating at the shoulder - it gives some height to your outfit and adds some style to your tops, jackets and dresses. This Autumn is the return of the shoulder and the high street already has a few of them online, this would be by top tip to buy now and wear all Autumn before the weather changes to having to wear knitwear.

Here is how I am styling my current wardrobe puffy shoulder items -

Here are some new items to buy now -

Puff shoulder blouse, £65, & other stories

Ruffled denim blouse, £29.99, Zara

---

LEATHER / FAKE LEATHER

Top of my Autumn wish list is a leather shirt (or shacket) which I will tuck into skirts, put over dresses and wear casually with jeans. In the meantime I will be pulling out these fake leather culotte’s that are a couple of years old from ASOS and wearing them more casually rather than just for evening as that is what I have tended to do in the past.

See how I will be styling them below -

Here are some new items to buy now -

Burgundy PU shorts, £32, Topshop

Faux leather shirt, £29.99, Zara

---

CHECKS

Let’s face it we all have a check shirt lurking in the back of our wardrobes which we tend to pull out every Autumn and wear it with jeans. This season will see another load of checks out there from ginghams to windowpane checks and Prince of Wales checks. I brought a fab coat from Warehouse in the Winter sale that I will no doubt be wearing alot this Autumn, and this check shirt from Zara which is years old will be styled up over dresses in the coming weeks.

Here is how I am styling my check shirt -

Here are some new items to buy now -

Check oversized shirt, £49.99, Zara

Faux Sherling collar plaid coat, £120, &other stories

---

FLORALS

My Winter jumpers are currently packed away so I know that when they come out I will be wearing them over these dresses with tights and boots into the cold weather. For now I will be adding layers and high tops so I can stripe or keep warm depending on what the weather will do.

Here is how I will be styling my floral dresses -

Here are some new floral dresses to buy now -

Jenna Floral dress, £120.00, Ghost at John Lewis & Partners

Rae dress, Lily & Lionel, £220, from The Dressing Room

how to fall in love with your wardrobe again

...when opening it just makes you yawn.

So you open your wardrobe, do a dramatic sigh and close it again feeling like you hate it all, have nothing to wear and proceed to get out your laptop to start browsing Zara in an effort to feel better. Yep, we’ve all been there, and we’ve all made the subsequent three figure order where you end up seeing sense and returning most it any way (although something always gets through the net doesn’t it?). So if you’re feeling down in the dumps with your current wardrobe then I have a couple of style tricks up my sleeve. Three in fact, that should get your styling juices flowing and should help you find a couple of new and exciting options amongst your current clothes. The best bit is that it’s completely free! No quickie online hauls. No impulse purchases. Just working with what you’ve got to find some new outfits, discover old pieces and learn some styling tricks to spice things up again…

---

EXPERIMENT ONE: FIVE NEW OUTFITS

I can be guilty of wearing the same outfits on repeat. In fact I kind of encourage it in a way, because having these ‘formulas’ takes the guesswork out of putting outfits together. Plus, it’s always handy to know that we can rely on them whenever we’re in a rush and that we know that we feel good in our most-worn pieces. However, they are exactly what cause us all to get into these ruts in the first place. So instead try and find five new outfits in your wardrobe that you have never worn before.

The best way to start each outfit is to have an item that you might not wear that often, that perhaps you’re not sure how to style or maybe it’s a piece that you feel is best suited to another time of year but you want to get more wear out of it. From there you can build; either by the process of trial and error and turning your bedroom into the world’s most chaotic changing room, or by taking a look online or on Instagram to see how other ladies you love have styled it out. I did a bit of both and ended up finding the perfect casual way to wear a blazer that was gathering dust, and I have taken out my dungarees from summer storage to wear over the coming months after learning that big chunky knits look pretty awesome under them. The best bit? I didn’t even need to spend a penny.

---

EXPERIMENT TWO: THE 10X10 CHALLENGE

The wardrobe challenge to beat all other wardrobe challenges! Blogger Caroline Joy gives a detailed account of her 10 pieces, 10 outfits, 10 days challenge here. The premise is that you pick 10 items from your wardrobe and create 10 different outfits over the next 10 days with them. Not only should it help you flex your styling muscle, it also gives you a chance to get ready real quick in the mornings and to see if you’re happy with what you’ve currently got in your wardrobe. I’d say that it’s a good one to crack out at the beginning of each season to get you in the mood and see where the holes are that you need to fill with your new clothing additions.

Accessories aren’t included, so that’s how you’re going to spice things up here – with a colourful bag or a red lip to make our outfits look different if there are repeats. No need to buy anything. No need to throw anything out. No need to commit to minimalism forever. No need to overhaul your wardrobe. Instead, it’s all about trying something new and having fun. Here I wanted to focus on how to get my use out of my skirts rather than just wearing them for evenings and events, for Autumn layering them up with knitwear.

---

EXPERIMENT THREE: STYLE IT OUT

Whereas the other two challenges can be a little time consuming, here’s one to whip out when you’re in need of a speedy dose of inspiration. The idea here is that you find a basic piece of clothing – let’s say a white crew-neck t-shirt and a pair of high-waist pale denim jeans – and then attempt to style it out as easy, breezy weekend attire and then as a more formal outfit option. It’s definitely not as taxing and more straightforward than the previous experiments, but it’s still a good way of seeing if you have the right kit in your wardrobe and a reminder of how easy it is to dial down/up an outfit. A good one to remember next time you’re packing for a trip. Be your own personal stylist here and don’t skip the finishing touches such as a red lip or a clutch bag. Here I used my leather leggings to dress up for a more formal look and down with a chunky knit and checked shirt for daytime.