Questions re: capsules - YouLookFab Forum

Hi everyone! I am a long-time blog reader and forum-lurker who recently decided to start posting over here. It's nice to "meet" all of you.

I am working on paring down my wardrobe and creating capsules. My goal is to stick with one color palette and have kind of a bare bones wardrobe of pieces that I love. This is largely inspired by my upcoming move to a small apartment with very little closet space - which I will be sharing with my boyfriend.

My question is this: for those of who have made capsules and chosen a color palette, how do you handle accessories like shoes and handbags? Currently I feel like I have to have one set of everything in black and one in brown (black casual flats, boots, belt, work-appropriate pumps, professional bag, casual bag, etc and the same with brown). I am one of those people who does not like to wear black clothes with brown accessories or vice versa. Have you found away around this or do you just keep two sets of accessories? I am having trouble committing to one color or the other, but it seems like it takes up so much more space.

One solution I thought of is to keep having multiple pairs of shoes and then cut down on the number of handbags I own by having bags in a different color, like beige, gray, or maybe red or cobalt blue (depending on the color palette I decide to use for the rest of my wardrobe) so they will work with either black or brown shoes. Have any of you done this?

Thanks in advance! Sorry this got kind of long.

14 years ago

ButterflyLady

(website)

Veteran

I haven't actually sorted out a capsule yet, but my first thought, when reading your post, was that a red, purple, green, or whatever colour, bag will work with both black AND brown. And subtle prints like snakeskin, or a muted metallic, are also very neutral and work with lots of colours.

Angie

Fashion Stylist

Welcome to the forum and nice to see you post!

I'm not sure I understand the question. Do you wish to get rid of either your black or brown footwear and bag stash because it takes up too much space - thereby replacing one set with a range of colours?

kmb1

Active Member

Thanks for the responses. Sorry the question wasn't clear (that's what I get for posting before I've finished my morning coffee).

I guess what I'm really wondering is if anyone has successfully limited their basic accessories to only one color, or found a couple colors that all seem to work together (which I don't think brown and black do.) I'm trying to find a way to minimize the number of accessories I need...I guess if I really want to do this I probably need to just pick an accessory color (probably black, not because I like it more but because it seems more versatile) and toss/donate everything that doesn't work with that color, but that would mean getting rid of a few pieces I still like.

Suz

Oh dear. You might not find us much help here, I'm afraid! A number of us actually like the combination of black and brown together. And many of us sport mostly non-neutral shoes and accessories!

But if you really want to limit yourself to either brown or black, what are your neutrals for the clothing capsules? What colours do you wear best? Are you cool or warm complexioned? If warm, you might choose brown. If cooler, you might choose black.

I used to be a "one bag" lady before joining YLF. I still have not fully succumbed to the lure of an enormous bag collection, but I definitely like to have a couple of different ones per season. As for shoes, my current favourites are a pair of taupe (nude for me) booties, a black and white platform saddle shoe, and red flats! So this is what I mean about not being very much help to you. And I am at heart a wardrobe minimalist!

rachylou

I have a (very loosely held to) color palette: navy, lavender/purple, grey, cognac, teal. My work bag, which is the only one that sees serious use, is cognac. It's in the "brown" family, but it's a rich one, a redder brown. I find that while black and brown can be ick, black and tan is another ball of wax. Blacks and browns on highly polished, "wow" items also play better together, IMO.

I do have bags in navy, purple and "greige". They're sort of Saturday lunch deals. The greige should probably go...

I took the leap away from neutral basic bags this last year and bought a purple everyday bag. It goes with 90% of my wardrobe, surprisingly. I also, somewhat subconsciously, moved away from brown, back toward black, as a main neutral over the last year or two. For reference, I mostly wear greens, purple, blues and some reds with a bit of grey and blush thrown in. Black, denim and white are my main neutrals.
I don't think in capsule terms, per se, but many of my colors now go together and the remix possibilities are much greater now. Oh yeah, and I made a huge shift away from prints towards solids, which also helps in being able to mix more effectively. I still have plenty of prints, but before it was like a clown or garden had exploded in my closet

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Thanks! I've been thinking that I would love a dark red bag, but then I have a lot of green clothes and I don't want to look like a Christmas tree I also really like cobalt blue, and it would go with most of what I own, but most of the bags I have seen in that shade are waaaay out of my budget. You all have given me some good things to think about.

Incidentally, if anyone has tips for sharing a tiny closet with a partner who has more clothing than you do (he won't admit it, but he really does) feel free to share that too!

Kiwichik

Not sure if this will help but take a look at this :

http://theviviennefiles.blogsp.....brown.html

I have to say, my bf has an incredible amount of shirts. Every year he buys himself 7 shirts and his mother buys him 7 shirts. They don't wear out...

My closet is so tiny, most of my clothing is on my bookcases and my books sold-off or in storage. I have recently switched to those thin thin no slip hangers, and I'm liking them a lot. I definitely believe in double bars and pull out "drawer" bins. Stacking bins are an ordeal to deal with.

Aida

I would suggest to pick one or the other (black/brown) as a core neutral and then focus on getting colorful accessories/shoes/bags to go along with your neutral of choice. If you don't like to wear black and brown together (I'm afraid I'm one of those who loves 'em together ^^), and you want to wear both, then you probably will have to have two sets of accessories/shoes/bags IF you stick to only neutrals. If you go with colors, then you can wear them with either black or brown. I think a dark red purse with green would look just fine, and fully condone getting a cobalt purse

Meredith1953

When I first started working after graduating from college I put together two capsules. One was Gray and one was Navy. I added Burgundy as an accent color and used it for handbag and pumps.

K. Period.

Further proof that Meredith and I could be two peas in a pod! In my early 20s, I fell in love with burgundy as the perfect compromise between brown and black. I also like a nice taupe for accessories. If you've already made the investment in brown and black, though, I would do everything possible to find alternative storage and keep what you have. What about under bed storage?

I second super skinny velvet hangers (@rachylou). They are amazingly helpful for close spaces and nothing slides off of them.

Okay, I'm making progress here, thanks to your helpful replies. I think I realized that while I don't like black and chocolate or other dark shades of brown together, I am okay with tan/camel or nude and black. I think if I just stop buying dark brown pieces I can reduce the number of accessories I "need", and I can keep wearing the couple of brown things I have and still love with the camel/tan/nude pieces. Now that I type this out it seems so obvious, I don't know why I didn't think of it before...I am a law student in the middle of exams, so I will just blame it on the fact that I can't think rationally about anything except contracts, civil procedure, etc. at the moment

Now that I've got this narrowed down I can figure out the rest of my colors and then shop for the perfect purse that will complement almost everything. I think that is going to be my reward for making it through my first year of law school in one piece!

kmb1, that's a great realization! I had the same one a while back and it took me years to realize it hehe. Rewarding yourself with a nice purse sounds lovely!

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