I am recapping last week’s outfits, week 5 of wearing my “deep winter” capsule. If I intend to wear this capsule for 10 weeks I am now at the midpoint so I thought I would do a bit of thinking about the experience so far.

How my capsule has evolved: So far I have added 3 items: Black woven popover, blue bird print scarf, light blue-gray cardi. Standout is absolutely the scarf — can you believe I was feeling sheepish about having bought it???? I have also upgraded another 3 items: black long sleeve tee, black jacket-y cardi, black long cardi. Of these items 2 were bought new (the tops) and the remainder secondhand.

Burgundy and light/medium blue seems to be the signature color combination of this capsule. This was not so much an intention I started out with as something that has emerged from the items that I happen to have. I’ve repeated the favorite combination of long burgundy cardi and blue “winter village” scarf in the set of outfits below. My intention now is to find other examples of this color combination in my capsule and wear them.

In theory, I like the idea of black/white/gray with pastels (this is sort of what I imagined up front would be the signature color combination of the capsule), but in practice I tend to shy away from this combination. I think it too easily becomes a little too 80’s for me. Blue and pale aqua are easier, but pink and lavender are especially tricky.

I’m drawn to the idea of adding metallics to this capsule. They would fit with the winter landscape theme (stars in a clear cold sky; sun glinting off snow) and I think could provide a contemporary/current feeling element to contrast with my vintagey items. I wonder how much staying power people think the metallics trend will have?

As has been clear from the beginning, this capsule would be more functional with more tops, and more patterned items. I’m on the hunt for both. One thing I’ve been trying to get clear on is what might become the signature patterns of this capsule. I think Nordic knits, plaid in light colors, maybe paisley?

Those are some scattered musings. I’m hoping to do a more detailed analysis of items worn so far, etc. in the next day or two.

Here are the outfits from last week:

1-2: gray skinnies, black long sleeve tee, burgundy long cardi, winter village scarf, cognac riding boots

3-4: medium-wash straight leg jeans, white pin tuck popover, gray shawl collar cardi, tan heeled oxfords

I like the top half of this outfit, not sure about the bottom half. I keep trying to make these jeans work, but not feeling it!

5-6: black skirt leggings, pale blue layering sweater, gray long cardi, black ankle boots

Kid was off school so was juggling her + work — wanted to keep things simple and minimal. Hey I actually felt good in this top!

7-8: black ponte leggings, white tuxedo popover, vintage gray-blue cardi, cognac riding boots

9-10: medium-wash skinnies, white tuxedo button-up, medium blue cardi, gray tall boots

As always, thank you for reading, and I would love to hear any thoughts, observations, or suggestions you may have.