With a few more weeks of summer to go, I feel ready to reflect on the season's successes and fails, so I can prepare for my warm fall capsule, which I plan to haul out in probably the second or third week of September.
I haven't taken photos of every outfit this summer, or showed all outfits -- but as usual, many were repeats or near repeats. You have seen most "first tries" and some experiments as well. Below are a few that I don't think I showed at other times.
What's obvious right away is that our weather was different than usual. In what other July would I be wearing a wool sweater? (Pic 3. I actually popped a blazer on top of that!)
So some of what I loved and some of what I loved less about getting dressed this year may be related to our peculiar and unusual weather this season. I need to keep that in mind for next year, when the season is unlikely to be so chilly.
The Stats:
Number of items: 55 (not counting shoes). Counting (non-gear) shoes actually worn — 60
(5 dresses; 3 skirts; 3 pants; 5 jeans; 9 shorts; 4 jackets; 5 LS shirts; 10 sleeveless tops; 6 tees; 5 sweaters.)
Items worn more than expected: Summer knits and jeans. It is normally too hot for knits and jeans in summer here, but not this year!
Number of trips taken during period of capsule: 8
Packing mostly stress free. Clothing travelled well. This is extremely important to me, given my lifestyle.
Happiness factor for outfits: very high on the whole -- highest ever on average.
And now for some reflections.
I felt great about my clothes and my wardrobe this season.I had so much fun shopping in June! And overall, when I looked into my closet, I felt the happiest I have ever felt with what I saw there. Getting dressed was fun and easy, I was never bored, I ran into very few laundry bottlenecks, and I never had that: "I hate my clothes" or "What can I wear?????" feeling.
But..um...seriously....let's take a step back here.
HALF MY CLOSET WAS BRAND NEW!!
Is this what it takes to make me happy?
In my own defence, I really have been in closet "building" mode and it is possible I would not need to purchase so many items in another year. I had to retire at least 10 tops this season due to wear and tear and the fact that they were no longer current cuts.
But yeah, there is the rub --- I seem to demand "current" if not "trendy" from my clothes, and that is going to necessitate a bit of churn no matter what.
I do not think it is a coincidence that the unworn dress in #8 is 3 years old. I loved it at the time, but it no longer feels perfectly fresh, even though it is in great condition and is, I think, quite flattering. And Mr. Suz loves it on me.
On a more positive and less self-critical note, I feel really good about this approximate number of items for a 3 month capsule. It seems to work really well for me, and I'm going to keep it as my benchmark moving into my fall capsule. Of course there will be plenty of overlap with denim and some shirts into the next capsule, and I will build my variety with footwear, other tops, jackets, etc. as the weather cools.
Thank you for reading this far and I welcome your observations and thoughts.
This post has 8 photos. Photos uploaded by this member are only visible to other logged in members.
If you aren't a member, but would like to participate, please consider signing up. It only takes a minute and we'd love to have you.
