Why I'm an advocate of the capsule wardrobe.

The capsule wardrobe has really taken off over the past year or so, with many influential bloggers (think British blogger, Anna Gardener of Viviannadoesmakeup) loving the whole concept & providing their readers (or watchers, if they're YouTubers) 3-monthly updates. There are blogs dedicated to this new way of buying and wearing clothes (my favorite is un-fancy.com), so in February, I decided to give the whole thing a whirl.

I sat there one evening and got brutal with myself. I took everything out of my wardrobe, put it on my bed and thought about what I actually wore on a regular basis (hint: it was less than 25% of my wardrobe..). I put everything that I didn't wear at this point in my big suitcase and just left it there, only looking at it when my three month period was up & I could change up my capsule wardrobe (another hint: not a lot changed..). However, when my most recent change up came around, I actually sat down with my case of clothes and chucked the stuff that I knew I wasn't going to wear: I'm very aware that I'm probably going to be moving another 3,000miles away next summer, so I'm desperately trying to stop this hoarding tendency I've got going. Some clothes went to my friends and family, some went in the bin as they were just ruined and too old, others have gone to GoodWill.

Just in case you hadn't figured by now, I'm a huge advocate of this capsule wardrobe trend. The idea is that you have a limited number of pieces that all work together: it's a very minimalist approach to fashion. I change mine up every three months to help me combat the joyous seasons that Massachusetts offers me. However, there are 'constants', I suppose you could call them, in there. For me, that's a pair of jeans that I wore almost every day during the winter and I wear rolled up during the summer months, a constant supply of striped t-shirts and a slew of black leggings (thank you @ Forever 21). I do try and add in some more exciting pieces, some color. At the moment, that comes in the form of a pair of red printed floral shorts from Abercrombie & Fitch that work super well with all the tank tops and most of my striped tees too. 

There are other things that my capsule wardrobe is teaching me though. The first of these is that I actually do know how to dress for my body shape. This is something that I’ve struggled with a fair bit since a) hitting puberty and b) losing weight over the past 18 months. I have this odd shape – if we’re comparing me to the classic ‘apple’, ‘pear’, ‘column’, ‘hourglass’, etc., I’m probably most akin to an hourglass. I have fairly broad shoulders with a small waist and then big hips. However, I have absolutely no chest to speak of, so not your typical hourglass. My legs are long, in fact I’m just a long (well, tall) person. Put all of this together and buying clothes is my idea of hell. Dresses that sit just above the knee on most models fall about 2 inches past my backside. 32inch leg jeans are ankle grazers on me. But I’m getting there. I’m choosing clothes that work with my figure, that aren’t necessarily the latest fashions, but instead items that I can keep in my wardrobe for a long time. True capsule pieces, if you will. 

The other thing? I'm saving money. I find that I go back to the same pieces over and over again, meaning that it's very rare for me to go out and buy new bits of clothing. I already know what's going in my fall capsule wardrobe in a few months time.. 

If you're interested in this whole capsule wardrobe thing, give it a whirl: I promise you won't be disappointed! I no longer stand at my wardrobe for 20 minutes a day trying to figure out what on earth I want to wear..! Be sure to check out the posts about it on my blog (kathrynfirth.wordpress.com) too.

Over and out,

Kathryn :-) X