In April 2017, I started my first capsule wardrobe and I really enjoyed it! Wearing and remixing just a few items for three months was a really interesting experiment. I've been trying to pare down the amount of clothes I have for years, and Spring was a good taste of what it would be like to live with less. I couldn't wait to try my hand at the next three months.
It took me a while to finalize my new Summer capsule. I'm still using a pretty loose capsule method, so it may not even be finalized yet! Last time I tried to stick to around 50 items in my capsule. In the future, I'd like to get this number way down, but for Summer I'll have about the same. Even if each season has 50 items, that would give me an over all wardrobe of 200 pieces which is way less than what I have now.
For Summer 2017, I rolled over quite a few items from the previous capsule. I also added items, either from my stash, or that I recently purchased. The skirt above I bought second hand years and years ago and when I pulled it out of my old Summer box, it became my color inspiration for this capsule. Spring was blues, teals, green, and purple with a little black and white and my signature grey. Summer is blue again, grey of course, lots of white, some black and pops of coral orange.
These two band t shirts, plus a shirt from our work picnic and one from a local brewery got the most use and fit this season's color scheme, so I was happy to roll them over. The plain blue shirt, a lighter blue crew neck, and a grey V also got rolled over. The blue silk tee and the striped oversized pocket tee didn't get as much use, but were useful in certain circumstances so I've kept those too.
I have added a few tees to my Summer capsule; a brighter blue V and another graphic tee that can be turned inside out to be a solid tee.
I've been using a lot of over shirts for layering, and wearing a lot of lightweight button downs lately. The white shirt is a million years old from American Eagle via Marchell's. I've had it for at least 15 years. The denim was from a previous job's lost and found. The grey Gap sweater I got from a friends stoop sale in Brooklyn. All three of these got a lot of wear last capsule and will probably be around for a while!
I recently bought this shirt at goodwill. It had lace on the sleeves, which I thought I liked, but ended up hating. I cut it off and the rough edge is way more my style.
I'm adding a few more button down style shirts to this capsule, too. The white is very old, and I have a similar one in blue and white. The plaid is one I bought locally when I lived in Brooklyn but haven't work much. The polka dot and black linen are some of my newest purchases, but both are second hand. I also have a short sleeved grey button down (not pictured).
I had a lot of tank tops in my last collection and I did use most of them (great for layering!). This capsule I still have a lot, but they reflect my new color scheme a little better. Only two or three of these are rolled over.
For Summer I have several pairs of shorts, and a few skirts, and of course, jeans and pants. I've discovered that I really need pockets in all my shorts, skirts, and pants of any kind so it makes it easy to narrow down what I already have. This collection has the skirt I used for my color inspiration, a chambray shorter skirt, and a grey high/low with unique details. I bought a pair of linen joggers 2 Summers ago that I couldn't wait to bust back out. I've been wearing these lightweight orange pants for years now, and they fit it perfectly!
All the jeans I currently have were in my Spring capsule. And all of them are thrifted!
Last capsule, I couldn't decide on any dresses. I tried out a few but none ever really worked. But this capsule, I already have two! Both have pockets - pockets are a must! It's possible that I might add another dress if I can find one that works. Right now, I have the orange one that I bought several years ago from a local Brooklyn shop, and the other I bought about 3 years ago. Although I love this blue dress from Old Navy, it was the purchase that made me decide I would never shop there again.
Not pictured, I have included one sweater in this collection, too. All these items bring this capsule up to 44 items. That breaks down to 27 tops, 14 bottoms, and 2 dresses. As with my first capsule, I'm not including any undergarments, outerwear, shoes, accessories, gym clothes, or hoodies.
This was a fun capsule to work on bc I know the weather/temperature will mostly be about the same. I really felt like I could play around with a wide range of style and fabric. It was nice not to worry too heard about warmth. I'll be interested to see how this capsule progresses. I hope you'll join me for updates over the next few months.
Is anyone else getting their Summer (or whatever season your currently living in) capsule together? Maybe you don't even go by seasons? Shout out any links to recent capsule posts! I'd love to see what some of you have been wearing!