Lessons to date from the capsule work wardrobe - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Lessons to date from the capsule work wardrobe

Sal

Veteran

As many of you know I am trying to develop a capsule work wardrobe so I feel professional practical and enjoy my work clothes. I am no longer looking for any more pieces with one exception - a new handbag that works well with navy. I think an off white bag will be my choice but I want to buy second hand so I am being patient.

https://youlookfab.com/finds/c.....ction=6797

In it I have

One wool coat
Four blazers
One leather jacket
Three long sleeve knits/sweaters
Two long sleeve blouses
Two sleeveless tops
Four tees/short sleeve tops
One sweater dress
One skirt
Two pairs of jeans
Three pairs of trousers/work pants
Three bags
Two pairs of dress sneakers
Three ankle boots
One tall boot
One pair lace up oxfords

I do add in things from my casual or evening closet and 1-2 days a week I wear jeans and a logo puffer vest to be warm and casual.

The lessons I have learnt:

1) It is easier to stick to one dark neutral - I have two. This makes it a bit less versatile but a bit more interesting.
2) It's okay to have pieces that only work in one outfit. I would repeat a whole outfit at least once a fortnight and that is fine. The yellow blazer is my least versatile piece and will probably only get worn once a month - that's absolutely acceptable.
3) Don't get hung up if everything is "on trend". I think at least two of my footwear choices and two of my bottoms are not trendy. But mixing those in with newer pieces makes them feel plenty current.
4) I don't need a red capsule or a yellow capsule despite having a couple of pieces in these shades. These older jackets work well with neutrals and are fine as stand alone colours.

Anyone else got some capsule lessons to share!

General

18 replies

Latest reply was from Sal

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Love the lessons! I am not at all a capsule dresser but do tend to wear sets of things for a while until I move on. Agree that one off pieces have an important role to keep things interesting and also they create a sort of signature look.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

This is really interesting, Sally. I am not really a capsule dresser either, except where travel is concerned, but I can understand where you are coming from. I think the bulk of your clothes tend to be casual, and then you have a real dressy streak and a love of dressing up, so it would be easy to let the business capsule languish a bit and just make do with this or that. By setting the goal of creating a strong capsule, you ensure that it really does work well and lets you get on with your professional life feeling great. You've bought some really standout pieces for this capsule (like your wool coat and the blazers and your new suit.)

SO interesting about dark neutrals. I seem to work with THREE (for my everyday and work clothing). Navy, obviously. (And dark denim). But also burgundy (esp. in fall/ winter). And also -- just this year, I added a bit of charcoal. I was worried this might feel like too much, but fortunately I seem to be treating the charcoal much as I tend to treat black in my summer closet -- more like an accent colour! But it proves your point about there not being a need for a complete matchy complement for every item in your overall capsule.

ETA, I completely agree that not everything has to be trendy. If you buy two to four items per year that update the items in your capsule (and retire things that need retiring) it will all feel plenty fresh and new.

For my trip, I'm bringing several items that are new this year -- but most of my tops are very old, up to 10 years old, and that feels fine to me! One of the bags I am bringing is very old. The newer items make it all feel current (to me at least!) I think your new blue suit has done that for you this year. The wool coat did it another year. On still another it was the double breasted blazer.

Sal

Veteran

Thanks Jaime - yes I agree totally.

Thanks Suz - I haven't really done the capsule thing either strictly (and I am not that strict about it) but I do need those FFBO! I do think that blend of old and new is what makes style personal anyway.

Brooklyn

Veteran

Interesting. I’m not a capsule dresser but I’m a fairly determined mix and matcher. For me, I try to avoid overbuying on statement tops because I think they are the least versatile in terms of mix and matching. A statement top tends to be memorable (not as easy to repeat wear) and if it has, say, a print, harder to wear with just about anything. I still do have some statement tops, I just try to think hard about them! I also try to avoid over buying solid black tops. I always think they will be versatile but in reality I tend to find them boring. (Hence the statement top temptation!)

Sal

Veteran

I do agree with statement tops - I also can tire of them. I have been good avoiding them but added this one a couple of ago.

View Info

cat2

Veteran

I agree it can be really helpful to pull out capsules from your wardrobe for specific purposes; then you can see if there are any gaps, and know what to shop for. I do take a different approach to prints; I find they are a great way to tie together colors I didn’t think worked together. If I find a print with two of my neutrals it will get a lot of wear. Even better if it has two neutrals and an accent color.

Star

Veteran

Interesting points Sal. No, you do not need a red or yellow capsule. I think these items of yours are some what like 'The French Five'. Are you familiar with this concept?

I have been building capsules in theory for summer. I have three on the go. All items are already in my closet. One is brown/rust/olive, one is black/white/grey and the third is navy/red/magenta-pink. This has come about because of my rather unexpected hair colour change. Now my rust/brown/olive items look fab again with copper hair, so having fun making lists of what I have in various colours and what goes with what.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Interesting and valuable insights, Sal!

I especially like that you're fine with wearing your bright yellow items frequently, and wearing one item in one combination only. No need to stress about it!

I loosely build capsules and complements - more intuitively than consciously! - so that I have complete and pulled together outfits that work and nothing is left stranded.

That said - like Brooklyn and Jaime- I create daily outfits that mix and match as my mood dictates to me that day. And there are no official capsules that I draw from. I MAKE SURE THAT MY WARDROBE ITEMS RELATE TO EACH OTHER WHEN I AM ADDING ITEMS!!! As long as my colour-rich wardrobe has enough items that match - (complements and colour stories) - the neutrals - (blues and whites) - do the underpinning, completing, and everything falls into place.

Dee

Veteran

I don’t really do the capsule thing either, I mostly concentrate on creating a mix and match wardrobe so that most items will work well with each other.
Always fun to have a wildcard in the bunch though, and I think your yellow blazer adds that extra zing when you want to change things up a bit.

Suntiger

I'm funny about having one off colors for some reason, but on team All The Dark Neutrals My wardrobe is mostly mix and match, but probably cause I generally keep prints to my bottom half.

I do love your yellow blazer though, plus it matches your slide sandals!

Sal

Veteran

Thanks Suntiger - I do have a few other pieces in yellow (bag and shoes as you picked) and in red I have a scarf.... And with red there is always lipstick.... These are both older pieces that I still like, I would happily add more golden yellow/mustard though. The red jacket is a bit bluer than I would like ideally but it is a good jacket for work.

Thanks Dee - I haven't really done it before except on a micro scale. My work needs have gone beyond that now - I do need several outfits a month that are smart FFBO for meetings and conferences.

Angie you are the master (mistress) of capsules that work for you across many years. That's where I am aiming too - this will be the base for next year when I can expand out a bit further again.

Star - I do loosely look at adding 5 each season (statements or splurges or big ticket items) along with the rest being replacements. I used to add too many patterned statements and not enough simple pieces so keeping that balance right is important.

Cat2 - yes I do agree that some patterns are really useful. Especially for me if they contain white. I hope that the two blues, brown and white blouse works that way - it works with denim, lots of my shoes, and I think will be versatile.

Star

Veteran

I think your take on your red and yellow items is in line with how I understand the French Five. They are complements to your capsule. They don't need to match each other.

Helena

Veteran

Fab insights Sal ... I especially relate to your dark neutral point ... One keeps things easy and simple, two adds a little complexity but also interest!

Runcarla

Veteran

Really good insights, and some fab contributions in the comments. Totally agree that not everything has to be ‘on trend’. I’m of the opinion that it’s not any one specific item that provides modernity to an outfit, but the styling of the pieces as a whole.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I don’t have any work capsules as such. What I wear to work crosses over to casual weekend shopping or dinners out, for at home weekends I often wear a more casual pant though which I can also walk in, go to playgrounds in. It’s interesting to see your several jackets which are mostly more blazer-like than mine which are easy to look slightly more formal in for meetings or conferences. I guess I just wear my softer jackets for those and look less formal! Sometimes I would wear a dress to increase formality.
These items of yours are all really nice.

Sal

Veteran

Thanks Jenni - yes I use a blazer to smarten up jeans often. I rarely wear tailored pants and a blazer but with a tweak in our business I will have more occasions where I am networking and I have been advised that suits are expected. I could wear blazer and pants (not matching) or potentially a nice shirt, smart pants and leather shoes but I am going to be pushing my work wardrobe a bit harder due to this need.

Carla - do agree on the styling. I don't want to look too 2024 either.

Thanks Helena. It's easy to mix light and dark neutrals in various combos but I don't find it as easy to mix dark neutrals. Eg camel, cream, white, grey, blush all work with navy and black and dark brown, but it's harder to mix the navy, dark brown and black together. I am up to the challenge though.

Star - I agree. It's often those legacy pieces that we still like but maybe the complement has departed. The red jacket has been in the edit pile more than once but I do enjoy having a red piece every now and then.

Carol

(website)

Veteran

What I really enjoy about this...is that it looks like you really spent some time developing an intelligent capsule. I also like that it incorporates color in a way that feels fresh.

This makes me wish we all had an assignment to create a capsule.

In terms of "anyone else got any capsule lessons to share?" Probably not, as I never really built one. But I can't not answer a prompt. So I think of my mother, and how she stuck to the same shapes for years--jersey turtleneck, crew neck sweater, leather boots or booties, etc. I think "knowing your shapes" would really help in this case.

Sal

Veteran

Thanks Carol. For me there have been three reasons why I have taken this approach.

1) A tendency to underbuy for winter.
2) My increasing need for simple smart work clothes - we have industry functions and I need to attend these.
3) The desire to plan so I do add cautiously pieces that will be used.

It will be interesting to see how I get on!!