Lately the forum was swamped with capsule and color posts. Sneaky Angie, how she is making us think and ponder and take the inventory of our closets...Isn't it amazing how thought provocative these posts are!
Anyway I got bitten by the same bug. I don't think I will do a capsule post, not yet anyway but I am beginning to think in terms of capsules (new thing for me) - at least for the colors.

Some time ago I posted color palette question (aka not having one) and a lot of you (and Angie) told me that I don't need to worry about this because my closet is pretty heavily mix-and-match(able). However I keep returning to this color dilemma again and again in my head. The main reason is that I think it will make it easier for me to shop but also I really like the thought of signature neutrals and colors. Just find it very appealing somehow so I guess I need this exercise!

So phase one for me is to take a stock of which colors are represented in my closet right now and I was quickly done the inventory using my wardrobe spreadsheet (less time consuming than pulling everything out and less messy too!). For clarity sake I considered patterns as a color either covering the larger area or having the biggest impact and I counted everything including footwear and coats.
Well, it was eye opening for me for sure, see for yourselves:

Neutrals:
Most heavily represented neutrals were white / cream and black (pic 1). This did not come as a surprise because I like the graphic drama of black and white. They are pretty much equally represented. It is also interesting that I have more black for cool season but more white for the warm one. However the surprise was in the number of them: combined they represent whooping 38% of my total wardrobe! I guess we can safely say that black and white are my signature neutrals, no?
That was easy but determining other "signature" neutrals was not as easy. This is what I have:
Navy / ink - 4
Light grey - 8
Mid grey - 10
Dark grey - 3
Brown (including tan, camel and cognac) - 7
Taupe - 7

If I combine all greys together they are coming pretty close to black / white count so it looks like grey is my other signature color, right? On the other hand it is not very flattering on me and I have trouble styling some of my grey items (especially mid grey). See pic 2
In comparison dark saturated navy and especially ink blue are much more flattering on me but I have just a few items of this color. Pic 3 to illustrate
Brown is a complicated color for me. It usually looks good and for a pure flattery beats black every time...but I find harder and harder to incorporate it into my outfits. Maybe it is because my hair is not brown as before but a much darker almost black shade now? Or maybe it just lacks drama I can get with white and black? I still love my dark brown leather blazer though and will no part with it! (pic 4)
Taupe is a strange animal, a hybrid between grey and brown. I am not even sure the things I consider taupe are really taupe (pic 5 - both jacket and booties).
So I cannot really go by sheer number of items in each color I currently own to determine which ones should be my other "signature" neutrals. I guess I can use your help here
If you are still reading my novel you deserve a medal! I would appreciate your opinion - which neutrals you see as "mine"?
Thanks a lot!