If you have never seen a bandwagon jumper….open your eyes right now. Get ready. Keep them open.
BOOM. That’s me y’all. I’m jumping on the capsule wardrobe bandwagon so hard I might make the wheels bust off. That’s right. I’m here to tell you that this past February I decided that I would be starting a spring capsule wardrobe. AND I DID.
So what is a capsule wardrobe? Well, mom, it’s basically still a wardrobe….a collection of clothing….but less items than what people typically have in their closet and all the pieces need to be either versatile or complimentary or intentional. Instead of having a bunch of different jeans in a bunch of different washes and fits and styles, you have just your FAVORITE. The one that you will always grab because you love how it looks on you, makes you feel and goes with all your tops. The capsule wardrobe can be on the larger side of things (I’ve seen ones with 50 items including accessories) and it can be on the smaller side of things (think under 20). I have heard of people doing capsules for a year, a month, a season and even for 6 months. There are a million different ways to do a capsule but for me, I decided I wanted to try it out for a season and see if it is a good fit for my life.
A few months ago, I started my plan. The first part was easiest for me. I decided that in order to make my pieces work together, I would tackle this from a color scheme starting point. I knew that this spring I would wear a whole lot of jeans and would want options for this crazy spring weather. Since most jeans are blue, I knew that navy would be one of my colors.
I also find myself drawn to blush pink for spring and including that color made things really simple for me. I tend to have some staples in army green so that was in. And then there are my neutrals that I love in a lot of outfits – gray, white and tan.
Once I had the colors chosen, I then decided on some patterns I would like to incorporate. I like simple florals, stripes, camo, eyelet, gingham and of course, solids. I know the camo is kinda random but I wanted to be sure I had some pieces that I could wear outside and not feel overdressed. We do live in the country y’all. The idea of the patterns is to have a couple that dress up and a couple that dress down.
And lastly I had to decide on how many items. I honestly don’t know the answer to that question. Spring is tricky here in the south. It’s hot. It’s cold. It’s wet and not. It’s outdoorsy and inside-y. It’s a little bit of everything. One day you will want to wear shorts and a tank and you will sweat like a pig. The next day you need a couple layers. I researched a bunch of ways other people do it and I decided to not count workout clothing (I also do a lot of building in these types of clothing and they get covered in sawdust really fast!) or lounge clothing and I would only count items that I would wear when non-family-other-people see me 🙂 Basically these are my leave-the-house clothes.
Today I am sharing the bottoms. There are pants and shorts. I’ll share the skirt with the dresses and tops and shoes in the next capsule post. I am not really done picking out the shoes so if you have any musts that will last into summer, I’d love to hear them!
Ok….so for pants I chose five different jeans. What can I say….I am pretty predictable. I would have loved to include a tie-waist wide leg pant but I don’t actually go in at my waist so I am working with what I got. If you do have a waist…embrace that thing because some of us envy you. A lot. A waist is a terrible thing to waste. Also rompers – I want to find the one. I LOVE this one but I haven’t tried it on. I’ll let you know when I do. ON TO PANTS!
- The white jeans are to replace my current white jeans….which are maternity. I consider them my ‘fancy pants’ because they look really good with a blousy top that oozes that fresh bright and light feel.
- Highwaisted distressed jeans were on my must-buy list this year and these do not disappoint. They stay up. They cover up my GP’s (that’s granny panties if you were wondering) and they don’t get saggy butt syndrome.
- I went out on a limb with these lighter colored distressed jeans and it turns out, I love them. I really do. I grab them to lighten up an outfit if the top is darker and the wash is still flattering if you are in double digit sizes (like me!).
- My capsule had to include my favorite jeggings. I have probably four or five pairs of these but I’m gonna try to stick to my non-distressed, darkest wash for the capsule because they are the most versatile. I can dress them up or dress them down. I can wear just about anything with them and feel confident and COMFORTABLE. I do not wear a whole lot of front tucked shirts or short shirts so the lack of true waistband/button/pockets doesn’t bother me….I just will opt for the distressed ones if I need to wear that kind of top!
- Lastly I included another pair of my favorite jeggings….this time distressed. I found that the comfortable waistband is just simply great for chasing kiddos. And yes, apparently I really like Old Navy but whatever….I hope to not be in this size forever and stretchy pants are literally the best thing ever especially when they are 40% off 🙂
Following the lead of the pants, I chose shorts pretty similar. To be honest, so far, I’ve worn shorts very few times just simply because the weather has been more jeans friendly. I think that the idea of having a few options is good though. Like I said before…you just never know what you will get. And having shorts already in the brain for summer is great. Especially since I stuck to a similar set up as the jeans.
- This first pair are the distressed ones and I went up a size to be able to sag them just a little. I haven’t worn jean shorts this short in a long time so embracing them at my biggest size seems contradictory but surprisingly the fit works if I push them down around my hips. Go figure.
- Darker wash jean shorts are also new….and I think of them as my do-anything-shorts.
- A pattern on bottom can help with outfit mixing – that’s a tip I read from capsule wardrobe experts so I grabbed one bottom in a stripe for mixing it up!
- I bought scalloped edge shorts as soon as I saw them. I am obsessed. Nothing feels more instantly put together.
Soooo I have been wearing the bottoms already and loving the limited choices. It’s probably because I know they all fit so as long as there isn’t yogurt fingerprints or mustard droppings on them, they are easy picks.
Here are they in action the past couple months….
Lighter jeans / top / shoes
Lighter jeans / floral top / shoes / jacket
distressed jean shorts / top (it’s actually a dress!) / shoes
distressed jean shorts / top / shoes
distressed jeggings / bag / shoes
distressed highwaisted jeans / dark jeggings / pink cardigan / floral top / shoes / similar scarf
distressed highwaisted jeans / striped top / scalloped shoes / similar necklace
distressed highwaisted jeans / sandals
distressed highwaisted jeans / cardigan / shoes
distressed highwaisted jeans / scalloped shoes
So that is what has been on my brain for a while and I’m experimenting with it. Have you done a capsule wardrobe? Interested in trying it? Maybe you aren’t into it? I don’t know that it’s a good fit for me long term but since I feel like I’m in a weird transitional place with clothing, it seems to feel like a natural solution. I like the fact that it limits me too….makes me compare one blush tshirt to another and pick the VERY best one vs the one that has the lowest price tag (which is my instinct). Now I look at it as a member of a team….will it play well with others? will it get along with my other layers and choices? If it doesn’t, it seems like an easy pass which before would not be the case.
Anyhoo….I’d love to hear if you are doing a capsule and how many pieces you pick. I feel like I will be more drawn to tops and variety there and with shoes. I’ve read like ALL the bloggers accounts on how they do it but I really want more input from my readers because YALL ARE THE BEST AND MOST AWESOME. Well I gotta go….laundry to do and I’m sick (again) so I am fairly certain I need to disinfect all the things 🙂