Today I’m sharing a classic capsule wardrobe for fall 2020. I’ve been participating in capsule wardrobes for a few years now and I credit them with helping me to discover my true personal style. I’ve come a long way since my first capsule and now I use them more as a guide for each season rather than a strict guideline to include everything I can and can’t wear.
Since I was so strict to begin with and used capsules as a way to figure out what I actually wore and what made me feel good, I no longer need them to curb impulse shopping and help undo my past ways of dressing and curating my closet. As a result, I no longer pack away everything not in my capsule and I don’t try and stick to a strict number of pieces but I still like setting aside a few items at the front of my closet that help represent the wardrobe goals I have for the season and anything I’m exciting to wear. I use this capsule as a starting point but still give myself access to the rest of my closet.
With all of that in mind, today I want to share my classic capsule with you. I’ve also filmed a corresponding video that will be live next week.
COLOR PALETTE
Let’s start off with the color palette I’ve selected for this capsule.
For my base colors I’ve selected a beige/off-white, black and navy/blue and for my accent colors I’ve selected emerald green, camel and grey.
Below, you can see the break-down of how many pieces contain each color, which is what I use as way to determine which colors are the base and which are the accents - more equal the base and fewer equal the accents. Beige/Off-White: 2. Black: 5. Navy/Blue: 3. Emerald Green: 1. Camel: 1. Grey: 2.
4 TOPS
Now I want to share the pieces I’ve selected for this capsule starting with tops. I have 4 tops and surprisingly no t-shirts. You can of course add t-shirts but I wanted to give myself an excuse to not wear t-shirts as often as I have been this summer with lockdown and nowhere to go. To help shift my focus, I want to be intentional about getting dressed every day and if I include t-shirts in my capsule I’m afraid I’ll feel like I’m wearing the same old same old.
The tops I’ve chosen are a navy cashmere crewneck sweater, off-white cropped cashmere sweater, oversized off-white turtleneck and a grey balloon sleeve cashmere sweater.
5 BOTTOMS
Now for bottoms I’ve selected a floral emerald green skirt, navy pants, casual jeans, faux leather leggings and plaid skirt.
3 OUTERWEAR PIECES
For outerwear I’ve selected my oversized camel coat, thrifted double-breasted vest and oversized black blazer.
2 PAIRS OF SHOES
For shoes I have two pairs, my classic Chelsea boots and black and converse sneakers. In past capsules I would have given myself a dressier shoe option as well, but I have no plans in the near future that will require fancy shoes so these are perfect.
ACCESSORIES (NOT PICTURED ABOVE)
To round out my capsules every season I love accessories. I’ve tried counting these as official capsule pieces and not and my preference is to leave them out of the official count. Instead, I just give myself access to all of my accessories but for the sake of a cohesive capsule, I want to call out a few that I’ve styled along with these outfits. For jewelry I chose a pair of chunky hoop earrings, long necklace, fancy pearl statement earrings and my usual rings. For scarves I chose a large shawl sized, wool blend printed scarf, medium sized silk twill scarf and small chiffon silk scarf. I also set aside two bags - my new vintage emerald green clutch and small off-white top handle, structured purse.
SOME OUTFITS
Now I want to share a few base outfits that you can create with these pieces to help inspire you. In my video coming next week I’ve styled these bases with accessories to change them up even more. You can also of course add the vest, blazer or camel coat over all of these.
