Capsule question: items left behind

Kyle

I've read Angie's capsule post and others here that have followed. The examples shown are impressive. What happens to the pieces that are left behind when creating a capsule? A casual fall capsule might only use one pair of jeans, but leave behind some that are also great. Is the idea to make multiple capsules for a category? Would they use different color palettes pulling from what you have in your closet? Is this exercise also linked to the purging process? I clearly need more focus in my shopping and outfit creation.

12 years ago

Dressing

9 replies

Latest reply was from Adelfa

rae

(website)

Veteran

I have never sat down and put together a formal capsule, but this year I am considering it - if only to focus my style and keep it from waffling back to UWP. I have also wondered what becomes of the leftovers; For myself, I like variety, so I feel inclined to do a few things:

keep a separate capsule for work vs. play (thereby utilizing cardis in one and jackets in another, for example)
add more bottoms to each capsule (since my work is pretty active and I need to launder more often now)
eliminate the restriction on shoes (since my abused feet demand that I use many different footbeds throughout the week).

So what about the stuff that's still left over? I think you're right that it might be tied to purging... if it's not in the work, play, or formalwear/evening/date night capsule, when do you wear it? It might mean a certain area of the wardrobe is over-saturated. Or, after you wear the capsule for a while, maybe you feel too limited and realize you need more items than suggested for the general populace.

For us capsule newbs, it may take some experimenting.

12 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

I don't think capsules always have to be small, tightly edited ones to be effective. One person might be fine with two or three bottoms, while another person might want four or five--it depends on your lifestyle, your closet, and your own preferences. Some people might prefer smaller, well-edited capsules that overlap to some degree, while others might like to keep each capsule separate.

I also really liked a point that Angie has made more than once that not every item in our closet has to work within a capsule. If you love a certain top which works best with a particular bottom, that's OK, too.

I agree with Rae putting together capsules can be helpful in making us realize when a certain area of our closet gets over-saturated--as I realized when saw six pairs of black pants and five pairs of identically colored jeans facing me!

12 years ago

(website)

Veteran

I'm with Gaylene here. Not everything is going to fit like a perfect puzzle piece. You might have one top that's so different it will only go with the most basic of jeans, for instance. That's okay. That can be the 'jean top' you know? Or a crazy patterned shoe that doesn't play well with much but is awesome to perk up a plain white dress. That kind of thing. I don't think it means they must be purged, just that they are statements and need supporting acts rather than playing well with many like an ensemble cast. I wouldn't want a wardrobe full of nothing but these, but if you concentrate only on what can work with many other things, you lose a lot of that statement facet IMO.

12 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

EXACTLY what Rae and Gaylene said. Add onto the capsule. Start several others. As your capsules grow both in number and in size, your mix and match-ability strictness will fall. But that's okay. As long as you have enough ways to wear an item - you are fine.

The capsule exercise forces you to think about your wardrobe as a whole. That's how creating outfits becomes easier. At some point, you end up thinking in capsules intuitively - like Sveta, Mary and Ingunn. And that comes with lots of practice - or you just have a knack for it. Until you reach that point - it's a good idea to take the time to think about what goes into these capsules.

Some of my clients have 2 pairs of jeans. Some of them have 28 pairs. People's needs are different, and that's a key thing to understand. You have to find your sweet spot in terms of wardrobe variety and quantity.

12 years ago

Vildy

Veteran

Loved Angie's clarification! Reminds me of one of the original capsule wardrobe books by Janet Wallach. She would have you create a capsule and then take an item, color or outfit from it and use that to branch off into an entirely new capsule. And on and on for as long as you pleased. Her material was about wearability, as Angie points out, and not about restriction for restriction's sake.

12 years ago

Pawprints

Active Member

Making capsules serves two purposes for me.

First, it's like a sieve. Everything filters through the grid of the capsule guidelines you're working with--there are many (color capsules, function capsules, season capsules, personality capsules as someone just suggested, tiny and wide-ranging capsules, predictable and bold capsules) and we get to make the rules up for ourselves if we want.

In the end of a capsule exercise I find out which functional needs are met, unmet, or over-saturated, and the same for relationships (color, proportion, style) that make things work as a wardrobe or stand out as orphans or single-use items. I know where to purge and what to add. I always have new ideas about how things might work together. It's always a little head-smacking for me.

If I never use the capsules as defined units, just hang it all back up and get dressed as usual, my wardrobe and dressing are automatically smarter for the exercise.

Second, of course, is for travel, which I do a lot. I don't have travel capsules per se, but having build my wardrobe around a few color-based capsules it's much easier to choose and mix things around to suit what I need and want for the next trip. Before capsules I would flail around for hours and still not get the packing right.

12 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Very interesting question and comments.

Pawprints, my first successful capsules were travel capsules. (My first unsuccessful capsules, too!) There is something about having to stuff it all in a suitcase, in the full knowledge that you will be wearing it exclusively for a week to four weeks, that truly focuses the brain.

For regular life capsules, I don't think we have to restrain ourselves to the numbers of items that Angie suggested in her blog post. But trying to create a capsule along those lines is an excellent exercise and really brings to light how much (or how little) mix and matchability your closet has. As I noted in my post, I could have made outfits that would have pleased me better with some of my other footwear options or tops. And in real life, I would!! But knowing that these items could be paired as per the capsule is still useful. And seeing what I did and didn't like in the pairings was also instructive.

In real life, I would definitely:

Add more bottoms to my capsule. I like variety there.
Add a dress to my capsule.
Include more colour (swap out the white shirt for a bright button down).
Add more footwear to my capsule.
Add at least one more belt to the capsule.
Add another topper (at minimum).

Or at least -- I would do that if I actually intended to wear that capsule, AS IS, for more than 10 days. Otherwise, I would be bored. Even though I don't bore easily and feel perfectly okay about repeats (and none of my outfits would be actual repeats.)

I like Pawprints' reminder that there are many "capsule seives." Angie's was "casual fall capsule by colour." Ingunn followed that. Mine was more like "Early fall all-purpose for my lifestyle capsule." But it could have been a "work at home" capsule (by purpose or function) or a "city travel" capsule (also purpose or function.) Or it could have been a "night out in autumn" capsule. Or any number of others.

12 years ago

shedev

Veteran

I couldn't relate to the capsule idea until one day it dawned on me that it could mean just a group of items that mix well. Most of my capsules are built around footwear. I do have some that are built around statement pieces. It helps me to have a rough idea of things I might wear with an item.

12 years ago

Adelfa

Veteran

I'm certainly no capsule expert, but I do have one example. For years, my winter work-pants capsule was limited to two pairs of dress pants, one black and one other neutral (brown, gray, or navy). This worked for me and I felt happy with my pants. This year my work requirements changed and I had to wear my pants all through the summer. (Formerly I did not wear pants at all during our very long hot summer.) By July I just wanted to scream when I was pulling out those black or navy pants. Eventually I realized that two pairs of pants wasn't going to work for me anymore.

So--if there are items you are leaving behind, it's possible they belong in the capsule to begin with!

12 years ago

Category