What an interesting read this has been! I'm just diving back in and you guys are making me excited for fall. My problem with capsules is that I become mulish about which tops and which bottoms go together best and I refuse to wear other potential outfits because they just don't look as good to my eye. I tend to be happiest if these is some degree of matchiness there, so that may have something to do with it.

Suz, you have had some amazing insights! I think the thing that resonated with me the most was this:

I'd been having the toughest time and feeling badly that I had stuff hanging up that I didn't reach for on a daily basis. Yet without it, as soon as I'd have to go off on a trip, I would feel completely lost and get in a "I have nothing to wear" panic.

My small closet is pretty much one mix and match, seasonless, day-to-evening capsule, BUT, you're right, certain things are event specific, even if there is a lot of intermingling.

This is a really interesting read. I have been struggling to come up with capsules to mimic the blog post one's even though I own at least half of the items pictured! I'm still working on assembly for myself. And time is a big factor. It appears I need a much larger block of time than I keep planning for. I do think it will be a good way to identify a true wardrobe hole though, so I keep trying to put aside the time to sort through everything.

Oh my goodness...a light bulb just went off!!! I've been thinking all along for whatever reason that it was just one capsule for fall...Angie, thank you for stating the obvious for me!!! Of course I can have more than one capsule per season. It's not just the three bottoms/six tops, etc. for the season - it can two or three of those capsules.

I suddenly feel completely different about this exercise - and I can have one or two of the items from one capsule translate into another capsule.

Oh I think I'm gonna have fun in my closet now...

I think of the capsules kind of like that old parenting trick of hiding half your kids' toys and then bringing them out again in 3 months so they think they have new stuff. I don't really get rid of the stuff that doesn't make the capsule cut, but I do store it away somewhere.

The other thing for me is that the capsule play highlighted some realities in my closet. I have a few items that I'll pull out, try on with an outfit and decide that there's a better choice. In my mind I thought these items were still versatile and useful. After trying 60 combinations out I realized that if an item didn't work in a single picture, it's probably not worth keeping around. I have a leather bomber that may get purged after this exercise. I'm a little sad about that, so I may post a pic to see if anyone can help me sort what's going wrong.

The outfits I came away with weren't really representative of what I'm going to wear every day because I'm probably in dresses 75% of the time and in outfits with bottoms only 25%. I had a pair of jeans in my capsule, but I really only wear jeans less than once a week.

I kept it down to just the two pairs of shoes, booties and knee high boots, but this is not realistic for me. Even with my most comfy shoes I have to switch up shoes more often than that for comfort. The tall boots were great for the dress, but I wouldn't wear them with trousers and don't find the tall boots over skinnies look flattering on me.

So, bottom line is I really enjoyed the exercise. I think I was so inspired by Ingunn's post because she showed every single iteration, not just the best 20. When I tried it myself I made myself try on several combos that I wouldn't have tried without the challenge and I was surprised by several of them. I have a dark chambray shirt that I almost never wear, but it was the best piece in my collection of outfits. I won't be limiting myself to the 15 items I used for my capsule, but it was a fun morning of play.

I think my peculiar version of capsule paralysis is simply an outcome of a badly needed wardrobe overhaul without the time or budget to proceed as fast as I would like. I have for the most part a pretty dated wardrobe (or two!) that never really spoke well for me. I cannot build much of a capsule, for any functionality, because the items are disjointed---not enough of the old sets after purging, not enough of the new.

I actually also really like to shop in capsules as I simply haven't the talent or memory to figure out how things will play in my existing closet. Too many cautionary tales! But have not been able to do this recently. I don't necessarily require huge modularity or versatility in the wearing,though, being a serial repeater of favourites.

Oddly, I find I always have to do a split or twin capsule when travelling...because I actually travel in the mode Suz calls neither fish nor fowl: a professional traveller pretending to be a leisure traveller when not pretending to be a business traveller.

Having moved in a fashion counter to well-laid plans recently has also really hamstrung some existing capsules. Stuff has gotten split up and shaken up one too many times. I may have brought a certain size or fabrication over only to realise it is the wrong size now or I have another season or three to weather. Some very makeshift 'capsules' then happen.

Interesting reading and a lot of food for thought here! I guess I've not needed to think about capsules in the past because I pretty much wore one style of tops (fitted knits) and one type of bottom (wide leg trousers) and all of my colors worked together. Now, with changes to my weight and shape over the last 6 months or so, I have been rebuilding my wardrobe with different silhouettes. Every top won't work with every bottom anymore so I do need to take the time to try on different combinations to discover what works with my new body and what doesn't.

Moni, I could have written the first part of your post when I joined YLF. I just didn't have enough pieces to make a capsule in the first place. I felt lucky to have one or two outfits that I didn't feel embarrassed to be seen in. So it was a process of slowly adding to those.

Traci, that's exactly how I see it, too -- like hiding the kids' toys!

And Shannon, I definitely will have more than one capsule. You don't have to organize by function, either. Angie sets out a bunch of possible parameters. For me, function is probably best. But I'm not limiting myself to 6 tops in my work-at-home capsule because realistically, I might need as many as 8 (given laundry or the possible need to change in a day). And so on. I might add an extra bottom as well, and I will certainly add a belt and some extra footwear.

I hope to take pics later this week of what I've got and ask for input in addressing holes.

This has been very interesting an something I want to try. I have been going over items in my head all morning. Great exercise to ramp up the creativity.

Yes, I was thinking that sounded like a lot of work to do a whole Fall capsule, until I realised it was a Fall casual capsule, a Fall work capsule, etc. Manageable chunks.

I probably still don't have the energy to document, but I am thinking about it. I'm all about pine green this year, but I think I love the idea of cinnamon and cobalt. So I'm thinking to throw some of that into the mix. And pink.

... whoopsie, I hope that's not the pine green sliding off into the wilderness... Lol.

Great post and such interesting comments, Shannon! So glad you posted. I agree that you really already have capsules--your wardrobe always looks so seamlessly put together. I see you mix and match things all of the time. For me, the capsule was an exercise to see how to make all of these pieces work together more easily. It's not very intuitive for me--I really have to try or else be satisfied wearing the same combinations over and over. (I also feel paralysis at time because I don't know where to start.)

Shannon, I also feel like you have capsules but maybe that's just because you do a great job of combining your things that I was assuming you did.

For me this is an exercise I really need to do as I'm just not very good at creating complete outfits. Or photographing them. And I'm not good at putting an outfit together on the fly in the morning - I prefer having at least some ideas in mind already.

I tried the other day to create a fall capsule and I did come up with a reasonable idea but didn't have time to do proper photos so I'm going to get back to it when I find time.

One of my main problems was coming up with 3 different enough bottoms - but ones that I still like to wear often (mainly because I wear jeans so often). So, a pair of BF darker wash jeans, a pair of light grey jeans and a pair of chocolate brown "jeans" was my first try. Choosing 6 tops was easier as I have plenty of neutrals but then when I started mixing/matching I ended up having to switch out some. The toppers I wanted to use included a black cotton moto jacket and a charcoal gray knit blazer. The tops were three printed (trying to push myself to choose some prints) and three solids. Since my new python belt is reversible to black I get two for one there. I may need 2 shoes to create the most flexibility but I think one bag might do it.

I do really enjoy seeing Angie's capsules as well as other's here because it helps me greatly to envision a complete outfit.

With your explanations and dissection of HOW you came up with your capsules and what worked/didn't work, I feel more inspired than ever. If it's not a gazzillion degrees here this weekend, I'm thinking of taking a stab at a casual capsule to start with (as per Suz's suggestion). This would definitely be a smaller amount of work for me as my workwear accounts for probably 75% of my wardrobe. As well, casual wear is always where I tend to get stumped so it would be a good exercise. Will give this all some more thought - thank you all sooooo much for you input. I always learn so much from all of you!

Hmm, I initially felt like a lot of other fabbers, and opposed capsules on the basis that I'm darn well not wearing the same 3 bottoms for every single activity I do for the next 3 months. I feel like a bit of a dope now that I realize you can have multiple capsules in play.

But now I have a different problem. My wardrobe is all only a few colors anyway. And I've been editing a lot so there are even less outliers. So, I kind of don't know where to start separating one item from another. Can your wardrobe actually get so cohesive it just becomes one big capsule?

Florence, yes, I think it can. For some, that would be an ideal. (See the Vivienne files and similar). For others, that would be limiting and boring. For others still, it would be sort of impossible, because their activities are too varied and the clothing for different activities doesn't really marry all that well. For instance, Annagybe has an "opera" capsule and a "hiking capsule." She is very unlikely to have crossover items for these two capsules! Meanwhile, I have a "workout capsule" that doesn't cross over into my day or night wear.
But my "appearances and night out" capsule does include items that also form part of my "casual-work-at-home" capsule -- as well as unique items that I would never wear while working at home, e.g. fancy cocktail dress and high heels.

This has been interesting reading full of ideas and revelations. Shannon, I think starting with an early fall casual capsule for wearing at home and weekends would be a good place to start since a work capsule would need more thought. I can see some of my pieces carrying over to cooler weather, especially jeans, toppers and tops that can be layered when the weather gets cooler. I can also see casual pieces crossing over to my larger smart casual capsule to wear teaching, most meetings, shopping, etc. Some of those pieces will overlap into a dressier (let's call it business) capsule. While some seasonal items may slide into the next season, something I've tried to do in the past; this time I'm not going to try to winterize a summer item unless I think it might be out of style next year and want to get more wear out of it. Example, colored and coated jeans. This may not work in practice, however.

Oh, I am so late. I have read only a few of the responses. I agree with Angie that you mix and match ALL the time, just look at your posts and see how the same dress jacket skirt or trousers travel through out your wardrobe.

I certainly understand the desire to do it. Creating a capsule is akin to having the space and time to set your closet up like your favorite store with everything in its place and a place for everything. You can just grab what you like and go. It's SO satisfying!

Today -- you'll see later on, when I post. I took the time to actually create a fall capsule for my daily life based on Angie's post from last week. I've had great success creating travel capsules which focused on weather, time restriction and the need to wear a piece multiple times. I thought maybe I should finally create one for my real life. At some point I felt like I had to take my admiration for Ingunn and Suz's skills and use it to create a capsule for the way I really live right now.

I wish I could tell you that I was super organized about the process and it only took me an hour. NOT! The entire process took 6 hours. My inspiration was berry tones. When I had all solids, although the tops were different styles the colors were too similar.This meant I had to work hard accessorizing to make the outfit pop to my satisfaction. So back to the drawing board I went looking for printed tops.

I feel so silly saying this but I am so proud that I was able to put together a capsule that is polished enough to go to work (which I am sure will be coming soon!), sassy enough for date night and casual enough for Saturday errands. I managed to use pieces that I loved but were not being worn enough. It fulfills my goal from January of integrating my "work" wardobe and my "off-duty" wardrobe into a cohesive style that represents my evolving aesthetic in every area of my life.

All of this is a long way of saying that even though you have an intuitive way already in place of creating capsules it is worth it to struggle through the process of creating a capsule because you discover things about you and your wardrobe, what you have too much of, not enough of, etc. At the end of it all you will have this matrix that's literally ready to go.