Hi friends, a cool couple of mornings has turned my thoughts to glorious fall (and that wretched season that follows it!). My wardrobe is in good shape at the moment - I did a bit of summer refreshing, which was great, and feel good about my CPC (classic, polished, casual) closet right now. Although there are some tempting styles around this fall (it's been a long time since retail shop windows have really inspired me!), I am shifting my focus to creating a much nicer cozy-casual capsule for this fall and winter.

I've always been resistant to a true capsule of this sort - as a stay-home/work-at-home suburbanite, the fear of putting on yoga pants and never taking them off again is real! BUT our lifestyle includes cottage trips, weekend hikes, cozy Sunday afternoons on the couch watching movies, and the hibernation months of January/February - when there is just no clothing item that can make me happy if it's not fleece-lined. Therefore, I'd like to build up an intentional, cozy-loungy capsule that is just polished and classic enough to still be my style.

Here are a few items on my consideration list (I'm not planning to buy all of these! Just to keep them in mind when I feel the urge to shop):

• leggings and/or slim joggers - because jeans and January just don't mix. I'm hoping to find deep navy but black will do.
• a casual chambray for layering. Went to buy one in the spring; came home with a linen, chambray-coloured blouse that needs ironing *sigh*
• a tall boot - going to look for brown blondos for this item I think
• t-shirts that are more substantial, and with a bit of texture, like a wide rib or waffle texture; maybe a longer one for legging butt coverage
• a fall hat of some sort - a faux-suede baseball cap, or a new beanie of some sort
• a navy hoodie with a slim fit
• a crewneck sweater
• a proper winter-weight chunky pullover; maybe a cable-knit or similar pattern

I think items like these will keep me warm and toasty in the crappy weather. I also think they'll mix in well with all the things I already have. As to palette, my thought is to base it around my dark neutral of navy (black where unavoidable, e.g. maybe for leggings), with white, light pink ('my gray', or mid-neutral), and burgundy/plum/wine as an accent. Some of my current cozy pieces are gray, which I've started avoiding, but they will stay in the mix until I build out the rest of the capsule.

What are your cozy-casual cold-weather essentials (or hot-weather survival pieces, for our Southern Hemisphere fabbers?)

xx