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Spring Capsule - WIW most often and take-aways. (long)

Star

Veteran

Hi Everyone

Living in a four season climate I have just spent 2 months wearing a Spring capsule I loosely put together, that was for April and May. The following is what transpired:

I wore 44 items. The items I wore most often were:

Navy Parachute Pants
Navy Ponte Skinnies/Leggings
White Snake Print Skinnies

Black Button Downs (various)
Black Short Sleeve Tees (various)

White 3/4 Sleeve T

Navy/White Striped Long Sleeve T

Gray Striped Long Sleeve Sweatshirt

Emerald Green Cardi
Orange Zippered Sweater Jacket
Fuchsia Knit

For the first (and last time) I tracked shoes and bags:
I mostly wore:
Blush Puma Sneakers
Blush Knitted Sneakers
Dark Blue Combat Boots
White/Blue/Red Slip on Sandals
Red Bucket Bag

There were actually 50 plus items in the capsule but I only wore 44. The ones mentioned are the ones I wore multiple times. What I see is that:

I preferred neutral tops and bottoms and added bright colour with my toppers. Yes I do think of my white snake print skinnies as more of a neutral :).

That I am really enjoying bookending my newly coloured hair with blush footwear. It has faded from copper to strawberry blonde.

The red bag that I thrifted during this period proved to very versatile. It is more on the 'wine side' of red and I think it will be good for Autumn and Winter months too.

That 40 items per season may be my sweet spot, which translates to 160 for 4 seasons, which matches the 150 in total I have in mind, excluding footwear, bags and accessories.

I am not going to be tracking footwear going forward. I can wear 3 pairs in a day for various activities and I don't think the numbers are that valuable to me. Same for bags. I tend use one for as long as it goes with the outfit I am wearing, and only if it seriously clashes in a bad way do I change it. I think this also means I do not need that many bags in my future.

This Spring the weather was much warmer than usual so this is not an accurate template for all Springs. Usually heavier jackets would be worn a lot more as well as turtleneck knits. This exercise was more out of interest for my analytical brain and as one who wants to reduce her wardrobe going forward this information is useful.

Today, 1 June I changed over to a summer capsule. The weather has suddenly turned hot. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Does anyone else have a Spring capsule and have any take-aways to share?

Dressing

19 replies

Latest reply was from Star

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Interesting! Do any of your items overlap between seasons, or is the weather so distinct that you don't really overlap?

Do you think you will continue to count wears of clothing overall? I go through periods when I count, and then periods when I don't. I find that once I glean some information from the practice, I don't need to do it again until I experience a lifestyle or a significant style shift. But my first round of counting helped me see what an ideal sized wardrobe is, for me. (Turns out if is about the same size as yours.)

I agree about not really counting footwear. I change footwear multiple times per day depending on activity. Having said that, I did count footwear last winter when I was keeping track and this proved to me the value of my indoor shoes. I wore them every day and felt so much better in them than in slippers.

Runcarla

Veteran

I don’t have seasonal capsules, but rather everything available all the time. (The exception is the family clothes closet where heavy winter coats go into the basement closet until needed.). This year spring was cooler than usual, and I was wearing sweaters through most of it!

Correct me if I’m wrong, but most of your tops seem to be dark neutrals - or colours, vs white/cream or lighter colours? I’m the same, and have been wondering if this is because my colouring is light and low contrast and dark colours provide contrast? It turned warm last week and I was wearing a navy linen top on repeat. I have the same top in white and light blue, but I kept reaching for the navy. (Last year it racked up twice as many wears as the lighter versions) I even pulled out the iron to give it a press when it came out of the laundry so I could get it back in rotation sooner!

Bookending footwear with hair colour is always a great idea. It can be a challenge when hair colour isn’t a conventional colour - so it’s genius that you recognized blush footwear works with your ‘pink’ hair!

I count for two main reasons these days. 1. To identify the hard working items in my closets and the ones worth repeating or duplicating, and 2. So I can have a thought exercise when I’m considering passing an item along (or tossing it). Why am I passing it on if it’s not worn out/has a low wear count? Did I get good cost per wear?

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Star

Veteran

Suz The seasons are distinct, so much so, that there is what I call Early Spring and Late Spring, as well as Early Autumn and Late Autumn, and I need different clothes for these. I can cross over Early Spring clothes with Late Autumn, and Late Spring with Early Autumn, and I do with some pieces. But you know how Spring and Autumn colors and textures are vastly different so very often I don't.

I started counting wears in 2021 and only paused for last winter. I know now what I wear in winter and it is quite straight forward. I moved continents in 2015 and came from a vastly different, mild 2 season climate. I brought a ton of clothes with but they were mostly too light and the first bunch of knits I bought here were in cotton, which generally are too light for winter. Tracking showed how much less often I wear them than wool knits because I am only wearing them in Early Spring or Late Autumn. So this and lots of other useful info was gleaned. I will continue tracking, just not for winter. My wardrobe is still larger than 150 but when I thrift a new item I make sure at least 1, if not 2 go out.

Star

Veteran

Carla I had to smile because my stroke of genius was more like a happy accident :). Interestingly I have never liked myself in light footwear previously.
I have always preferred myself in darker tops - when my hair was brunette and silver. Only recently I am liking myself in light tops. Previously as a dark brunette optic white was my best and cream was not so good. Now with strawberry blonde hair cream is looking so much better. So interesting to me. I have read blogs where it is recommended that as one goes grey and becomes lower in contrast in general, one should/would prefer lower contrast clothes to match (so that the clothes don't wear you). Totally on the contrary for me. I had visions of pastels looking so good with my silver hair (I have pale skin and light eyes too). No ways - I looked so washed out and felt much better in my black tops. So yes I need the contrast! Maybe not only black but a colour must be saturated. Although a little less now with the new hair colour. Similarly you look fabulous in creams and champagnes and navy, so I think high and some low contrast work for you too.
Also interesting you had a cooler than usual Spring and we had a warmer than usual Spring. We are now set for a hotter than usual summer, which started today, about 1 month too early!
Counting wears definitely helps me when making decisions regarding passing on items too. Also made me aware of how more I wear neutrals than I thought.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Although I am not a tracker or a capsule person, I do tend to wear small subsets of clothes for a while until the wind (or more likely my mood) changes. Regardless, it sounds like this was a very useful exercise for you. Fun about the footwear and your new haircolor!

Star

Veteran

Jaime I use the word Capsule very loosely. Basically I type up a list of clothes I think I want to wear in a particular season. As I have such a large amount of clothes in my wardrobe this helps me feel less overwhelmed and make easier/better dressing decisions. That said I am also a mood dresser, which is why I am a slow editor. I can LOVE a piece for a season and then not like it much for quite some time. Currently I am also a 'what fits' dresser due to a lot of my wardrobe being too small due to weight gain, especially bottoms.

Joy

Veteran

My spring capsule includes outfits with a topper for cold mornings and evening. This year the whole spring season was cold I wore the topper all day every day. I include cold weather things in spring pastels. I gradually shift over to warm weather things and shed the topper through most of the day. Now it is still
cold so i continue to wear the warmer things. Spring is a shifting season. Be ready for anything. Use pastels and florals.

Star

Veteran

Joy Your Spring sounds so similar to how ours usually is, this year was unusually warm. Good idea to use colour and pattern to feel Spring-y even if the temperatures are not corresponding.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

OOOOOOH! Bookending new hair with blush footwear sounds awesome, Star! And the wine coloured bag might match your dark red specs. NICE

Sounds to me like a neutral outfit needs something extra you're looking for - like peach hair, wine bag, statement specs, patterned pants, and non-neutral toppers.

I have seasonal items that I wear only in Summer and Winter (or early Spring because Spring can feel like Winter here in Seattle). My Spring and Autumn items cross over more.

I am 100% a mood dresser. Waving to Jaime! Unless I am travelling or there's an event, I don't plan my outfits. So I don't adhere to strict seasonal capsules. That said, my items relate well to each other so they mix and match easily within a season.

Star

Veteran

Angie You are such a Pro! You summed up my current style situation perfectly. I was always all about statements but in recent years I am more into classics and neutrals. Yet I could not pin down why that was feeling a bit off. It seems to have naturally evolved to how you describe it without my trying or realising it. I still need some sort of statement or two! As for my seasonal capsules, they are very loose and I do add anything I feel like from my wardrobe depending on my mood. I should call it a Wardrobe Guideline not a Capsule.

Sal

Veteran

Great work Star - it is interesting to see what is being worn and what is not. Sometimes reality and perception can differ!

Preferences do change - and I think that's absolutely fine!!

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

I always devour these capsule wardrobe and planning posts. I'm in the Atlanta suburbs, and we don't have definitive starts and ends to seasons. It's a little more phase in, phase out. We do get extremes on either end - 90s in high summer/early fall, and some below freezing days December-January. I haven't really placed these into carefully planned capsules since the pandemic. I probably should, because I do go to Florida in the high summer, and Ontario in mid-winter.

My system is more of a list of "don't buy any more of..." and "I have enough of <item type>"

I absolutely agree that preferences for color and style change. Five years ago, I didn't really wear denim, and now I love it. And I've moved away from all-black outfits.

Star

Veteran

Mary Beth I too have "don't buy any more of .." lists!

Thanks Sal!

Sisi

Veteran

It looks like a nice capsule if you have consistent weather. I like the idea of blush shoes! I have a Spring capsule (similar to yours) but I have not been able to wear much of it up to date due to this horrible Spring - cold and super rainy. Today (June 5) is he first really warm day. But more rain and gloomy days are still forecasted in June. Yuck. I envy your hot weather.

Star

Veteran

Thanks Sisi! So strange about your weather because we are reasonably close geographically.

Cee

Veteran

We only really have two seasons here, Star... so for " spring " I may wear a turtleneck on it's own rather than having to layer it under another sweater, sweatshirt or jacket ( depending on the temperature or if I go out at night ).

Other than that, it's jeans, trackpants and winter slacks with boots and sneakers as my mainstays.

Star

Veteran

Cee Sounds a bit like the weather in Johannesburg where I lived most of my life. No real winter. Only Spring and Summer. Gosh I miss that fabulous weather, no humidity.

Suntiger

Early spring here tends to be cool and rainy, basically winter with flowers, but May is nice and I can usually wear my summer stuff. I lighten my palette a little with cognac footwear, salmon, and olive- and less black.

Early falls here are warm and drier, so summer stuff stays through October. Fall is Much easier than spring color wise and temperature wise!

50-70 no matter the month, I consider transitional, it's just a matter of rain or not rain! Transitional means thin toppers, raincoats, sandal booties on the cold end, thin pants, blouses, short sleeves, and mixed (sleeved top + skirt for example) outfits. Above 70 is full on summer, below 50 is full on winter to me.

Star

Veteran

Suntiger I agree regarding those temps you quoted. Olive and salmon additions sound fab, along with cognac footwear. Our early Spring is also still very much like winter too. I call it Cold Spring and Warm Spring, and Warm Fall and Cold Fall. The clothes for the cold shoulder seasons crossover and the warms too. However I do find some of the traditional Fall colours very non-Spring like eg, maroons and rusts. I like to lighten up in Spring after the darker palette of winter too, although you would not say so from my record of my most worn items! I thrifted a light eggplant coloured short sleeve velvet Tee just before Spring and still have not worn it. Just did not feel right the 2x I put it on. I think though it will be fab in Warm Autumn.