I received my two new blazers from AT and J Crew - keeperd! I decided to compare them to my current closet offerings in that category, as I haven’t been wearing them all enough. I feel that this could change in the near future, but I still don’t want to keep too many. That said, I’m only really on the fence about a couple of items here. That will change when I get to skirts and dresses, which I will post separately so as not to overwhelm you all.

These are the non-knitwear dressy toppers in my current closet for winter. (I left our anything I use more as casual outwear.) I have to change items out seasonally, but some of these stay in all year. My goal is to make sure that my capsules of the items I wear less during the winter (toppers, skirts and dresses) aren’t hugely larger than I need them to be.

1. New J Crew blazer along with a Tippi sweater in black. I’m delighted that the tippi fits under the jackets. Layering under blazers is often a problem for me.

2. New AT striped blazer. This feels like my old style, which favored cleaner lines and preppier looks. And STRIPES. I am still fond of those things and moving back towards them a bit for work. 90% of the time I will dress things like this down with a tee and jeans. That’s okay.

Anyway, those are the new purchases that are keepers.

3. Anne Klein blazer - This is out of left field. I bought it when I thought I wante a really classic piece, plus I had sale goggles on. It’s beautifully made. My style promptly veered from classic soon after I got it, and I am not sure this color story is me at all, at any point in my style journey. It’s tempting to argue that this should stay because it’s classic and I can wear it for years, which is why bought it. But perhaps it should be set free to find it’s true owner? ON THE FENCE

4. Boden tweed blazer - this is equestrian in a way that feels more like me. I’ve already worn this calendar year. It’s a little itchy at the neck but otherwise I love it. KEEPER

5. J Crew Factory moto - I don’t wear this much, even though in theory it should be a slam dunk for my style. It’s kind of puffy, and I think maybe it should be in an outwear capsule m, whereas I’ve been trying to think of it as a jacket I can wear indoors. I think maybe I should try it like that, but the fact is we don’t have too much weather that calls for jackets of this weight. I would probably wear my leather moto jacket on such days most of the time. ON THE FENCE

6. Loft moto - I get lots of compliments whenever I break this out. It’s unlined so it’s pretty good for warmer days too. KEEPER

7. Laundry grey blazer - have worn already this calendar year, and it looks good especially with T-shirts. KEEPER

8. J Crew Factory wool blend blazer - this is also a more classic style that I still feel comfortable with in my wardrobe. The rest of my comments match the ones for #7. KEEPER.

9 - bonus pic of new AT appliqué knit tee that I think will look spiffy with many of these. KEEPER.

Conclusions - I think this capsule is in good shape because I tend to think hard when adding a blazer to my wardrobe, since they cost a little more. Also I’ve bought most of these in the past year or two, after sizing out of my former collection. Except for the exception of number 4, the colors are all very cohesive and go with many things in my wardrobe. I will have to figure out how to style number 2, but I think it probably for fills the dressier item place that number 3 was supposed to fill and didn’t. It’s probably a further argument for getting rid of number 3. Anyway, any input, especially on the fence items, would help me.

Stay tuned for part 2 on dresses and skirts! I need lots of help there.

NB: I know getting a new mirror would help but a lot of other more important stuff has been breaking in my house recently. It’s on the list for soon, but I want to go in person, not order.

ETA: Results - This is a good capsule to begin with. I'm passing on #3 to find its true owner. #5 is a keep now that I'm thinking about it more as outwear.