Willow in Winter

A few weeks ago, I read the book Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas, in the book, she explains that the average shopper buys 68 items of clothing every year and that the average garment is only worn seven times. The book focuses on how the clothing industry, fast-fashion specifically, is affecting our planet and the people that make the clothes we wear.

Every time I read about the dangers of fast-fashion I realise that even though I’m aware it takes 5,000 gallons of water to produce one t-shirt and one pair of jeans, I still buy new ones every year, ignoring the fact that I don’t need them.

Why Start A Capsule Wardrobe

After reading the book, I decided it was time to change. I hadn’t bought many clothes this year because we’re in a pandemic and I have been wearing pyjamas all day since March. But now that in England we’re starting to go out again, it makes sense to start a capsule wardrobe to avoid unnecessary shopping.

A capsule wardrobe, is a set number of clothes, usually between 25 to 50, that you can mix and match with one another to create as many outfits as possible. The most common capsule wardrobe is the 333, which means wearing the same 33 pieces of clothing for 3 months, and then update them for the next season. Hardcore capsule wardrobe followers don’t buy a new piece of clothing until one of their current pieces breaks and they need to buy a replacement. I aspire to be a hardcore capsule wardrober, but since this is my first time, I think we’ll start by seeing how this goes.

How to create a capsule wardrobe for Autumn

During my research into capsule wardrobes, I found multiple guides with different steps and tips that often contradicted each other, so I decided to follow the most common techniques:

1. Start by selecting the clothes that you wear at least once a week.
2. Think about your lifestyle – what are the most common activities in your weekly life? Choose clothes that are most relevant to that.
3. Create your colour scheme: pick your main dark colour and 2 to 3 accent colours. 
4. Add some basics and neutrals and select a few patterned items
5. Pick the shoes and accessories that compliment your outfits

My most worn weekly outfit is my blue denim jeans, a white crop top, and favourite my green jacket.

In terms of lifestyle, I chose three outfit categories that best represent me:
– Daily: working from home, running errands and baking
– Date nights: Sunday brunches, going out to restaurants, visits to museums and art galleries
– Active: hiking and walking around parks taking pictures for my Instagram

For colour schemes, I decided to go a bit rogue and have two main colour schemes with their own accent colours. In Autumn, I usually move between black and brown, with different shades of green and tan.

For fabrics, I wear a lot of corduroy, denim, wool and cotton.

My capsule wardrobe

I selected 33 items that I love wearing, and that offer multiple combinations and styles. I thought it’d be harder to choose only 33 items but knowing I’ll be able to update the pieces for Winter made it easy to select the clothes.

I’ve created some outfit examples, but the combinations are endless.

Having a capsule wardrobe doesn’t mean you have to get rid of the clothes that don’t make the cut. Instead, you store them away and only keep your capsule clothes in the wardrobe, which makes dressing up in the morning way easier.