one big capsule wardrobe // summer 2015

Do you remember the winter capsule wardrobe I posted at the beginning of the year?
It was working really great until I got an internship, moved to Munich and my wardrobe needs changed completely.
I went from a very casual student wardrobe to a 'OMG I'm working for a big company and everyone looks so fancy' wardrobe within a matter of weeks. Which meant I traded comfy yoga pants and dresses for blouses and dress pants. My HR department is fairly casual compared to other departments but it's defintiely a different dress code than on campus.

Some notes:

• for this capsule I chose 60 (OMG!) pieces. That sounds like a lot (and it is!) but it covers all my clothing needs. I have fancy pieces for job interviews and business meetings, semi-casual office clothes and casual clothes for the weekends. I should also note that my outfits depend on whether I ride my bike to work or whether I take the subway (which makes wearing maxi skirts manageable). 
• some of these pieces are pretty worn out and I'm looking to replace them. When I find a replacement I'll donate the old piece. There are also a couple classic pieces I'm looking for, like a high-quality trench coat and a white blouse that is not see-through (impossible to find in Germany!). These will be added to the wardrobe if I ever find them.
• some of the basic tops are just for layering and my shirts double as sleep shirts because I usually just but PJ bottoms. If I didn't count them I'd only have about 50 pieces. Doesn't sound as bad anymore, right?
• not pictured: clothes worn exclusively at home like PJ bottoms, rain gear, sportswear and two fancy dresses for special occasions. Oh and I also wear underwear like all normal people ;)
• I marked all the items I wear exclusively at the office with one * and all the pieces that are for job interviews/formal client meetings with two **

TOPS: lightweight gray pullover, 3/4 striped top, striped baseball tee, navy v neck, Roots sweater, sheep t-shirt, Lululemon scuba hoodie, navy 3/4 top*, Life is Good "summer starter kit" tee, loose navy tanktop, navy v neck, loose striped top,  navy tank, purple tank, striped neutral tank.
 
MORE TOPS classic fit blue blouse*, charcoal-gray blazer*/**, gray waterfall neck top*/**, light blue striped shirt*, cable sweater (similar style, different color), 3/4 sleeves top*, plaid shirt, light pink waterfall neck**, gray top*, striped tee, jeans jacket, gray tee, navy striped tee, striped linen shirt, 3/4 sleeves cardigan, lacy cotton pullover*, 3/4 striped blouse, lightweight coral pullover.

There are lots of neutral colors in my wardrobe. It makes matching clothes and getting dressed in the morning super quick. You might also notice that there are lots of stripes in my closet. Having lots of tops makes layering very easy. Although it gets pretty warm during the day it is usually rather cold in the morning (around 11°C/in the low 50's F) when I go to work. Thus my sweaters get lots of wear.

TOPS & BOTTOMS gray merino cardigan*, white tank*, beige maxi skirt, red maxi skirt

These two maxi skirts are kind of my wildcards. I love maxi skirts but I usually just wear them on holidays when I don't need to drive, ride my bike or walk many stairs. I've worn the red one in the office a couple of times and got many compliments for it. And there are so many people out there wearing maxi skirts while driving, chasing toddlers, etc. Maybe I just haven't figured out how to handle long skirts correctly?

BOTTOMS skinny jeans, navy linen pants*, well-loved jeans, natural chinos*, red chinos, navy dress pants**, floral dress, coral skirt, jeans shorts, beige shorts, navy shorts*, gray shorts.

My bottoms are the pieces of my wardrobe that I'm least content about. My favorite pair of jeans is falling apart and I haven't found a worthy pair to replace them yet. The linen pants are super comfy but I can only wear them with high heels - which is the opposite of comfy. So they don't get as much wear as I had hoped they would.
My jeans shorts also need to be replaced by a pair that is more flattering. I bought them right before a vacation 5 (6?) years ago because I was in desperate need of a pair of shorts. But I have failed to replace them with a more flattering pair although I've been looking for several years. Finding affordable jeans shorts that aren't destroyed, faded, high-waisted or having pockets poke out are impossible to find. If you have a recommendation on where to find wearable shorts, please let me know!

SHOES suede pumps*/**, black pumps**, gray suede oxfords*, brown leather flats*, sandals, birkenstock arizona(my slippers that I end up wearing more outside than at home, thus I listed them here), gizeh birks, gray sneakers, toms, minnetonka moccasins, Timberland boat shoes.

I have a confession to make. I love shoes. Especially leather shoes. It's a rather expensive addiction (though I don't remember the last time I bought a pair of shoes that was not on sale) but I just can't help it. When it comes to pretty handbags and shoes I'm a typical woman ;)

Oh speaking of handbags, I'm planning to share my accessories with you once I find the time to take pictures of them.

PS: Please excuse the not-so-perfect photos. I live in a tiny apartment and the only possibility to hang the pieces was in the rather dark hallway, thus the limited amount of daylight and the lack of a wide-angle lens made taking these pictures rather difficult.

capsule wardrobe: winter 2015

 
Over the past months I've been purging my closet. In the beginning my plan was just to declutter a bit. Turns out there aren't that many things in my closet that I truly love. So I ended up selling/donating/giving to friends most of my clothes (and storing the rest in the basement). Which left me with a pretty empty closet.
I've been reading about Capsule Wardrobes for awhile now and figured if I don't try this now I probably never will. After all, choosing 38 items from a pretty empty closet is not as intimidating as choosing 38 items out of 500, right?

So what's my interpretation of a Capsule Wardrobe?

• I'm limiting myself to just 38 pieces of clothing, including shoes and outerwear
• the rest of my clothes are in storage
• any handmade items that I'll finish making can be added as extras
• the following items are not included:
• tanktops to add a warm layer underneath
• socks, tights, scards, hats, mittens, underwear, business clothes, workout clothes, chill-at-home-clothes, PJs
• no random shopping. If something wears out I can replace it.

So basically I'm following the same rules as Caroline and Elise with a few modifications for German weather. If you're looking for inspiration, check out their blogs. They tend to be much better at explaining than I am ;)

What do I want to achieve with this project?

• save time getting dressed
• save money
• motivate myself to make more clothes
• own less (but higher quality) clothes

Wait... doesn't it get really cold in Germany?
Obviously I had to make some adjustments to the original rules. Sure it is easy to only wear the same 30-something pieces of clothing in warm climates such as Austin or San Diego. I added four tank tops and one longsleeve shirt for layering that are not visible - so they don't count, right?

I also chose items that are comfortable, warm and practical - not dresses that don't even cover your buttocks(example) and high heels that make it impossible to walk more than five yards(example).

But having real winter weather also means I get to exchange at least half the clothes from this capsule for lighter items in the spring. I chose to do my first capsule from January 15 till March 15, because the beginning of March is usually when I swap my thick winter jackets for lighter in-between coats and heavy boots for sneakers.
 
Dresses & Skirts (5)
I love wearing dresses in the winter because paired with a pair of yoga pants, they're warmer (& more comfy) than pants. Often I find myself wearing colorful dresses with neutral sweaters and boots. Also, dresses double as top and bottom so it's basically a win-win situation.
Purple striped Dress (2014), mini dress (2010), dark red basic dress(new), still light tunic (handmade), denim skirt (2014)

Jeans & Pants (5)
I only have one pair of jeans that I love so I wear mostly pants and dresses in the winter. The black lululemon yoga pants double as tights. They're much warmer than most of my tights and awesome for riding your bike because the tightly knitted fabric buffers wind. Yes, they're super pricy but I've been wearing my first pair for three years and they still hold up great - no holes which is basically a miracle if you live with a cat.
well-loved levis jeans (2013), 'black' cords (2006), pink-red cords (2013), lululemon wunder under pants (2011), cargo pants (new)
 
Shirts & longsleeves (4)
In Germany we have four seasons and they only way to survive winter is to wear layers over layers over layers. I've decided not to count layers that aren't visible, e.g. tanktops and a dark blue longsleeve shirt that I never wear without a sweater.
plaid shirt (2013), chambray (new), striped longsleeve (2013), organic cotton striped longsleeve (new)

T-Shirts (5)
Some of these t-shirts are also used for layering but since they can also we worn just with a hoodie I included them in the item count.
buttercup (handmade), UO top (2008), V-neck tee (2014), organic scoop neck tee(new), red lace top (2014)
Sweaters (7)
I wear sweaters every day in the winter, thus it's the biggest category. Eventually I want all my sweaters to be handmade but that's probably gonna take anoter two or three years.
neutral cardigan (2010), ravello (handmade), red cable sweater(2012), lululemon scuba hoodie (2014), thrifted sequinted sweater (2010), bedford (handmade), little wave cardigan (handmade)

Outerwear (5)
Being a student in Germany means you ride your bike every day, no matter whether it's raining, snowing or whatnot. So outerwear has to be cute, rather than functional. As much as I love the look of thin parkas and denim jackets, it is not realistic to wear stuff like that in Germany in the winter. I splurged and bought two new winter jackets after Christmas, because my old rain coat was getting old and didn't quite protect me from rain anymore. So I bought a new 'double jacket' that's wind and waterproof but also has a detachable fleece jacket inside, which can be worn seperately and removed in the warmer months. I also couldn't resist the Mammut skiing jacket that was on super sale (we're talking 90% off...!) and it's gonna be awesome on those chilly, rainy days. Sure it's not the prettiest of all but certainly the most functional one.
pink down west (2014), vaude yale jacket (new), plaid wool jacket (2008), skiing jacket (new), red down jacket(2013)
 
Shoes (6)
Shoes are probably my worst addiction. Closely followed by bags. It took me a while to find a brand of shoes that really fits but I'm hooked on Timberland shoes since I bought my boat shoes five years ago. I've been slowly growing my collection. The trick with expensive shoes is to buy them off season. All the shoes I bought within the last 5 years were at least 50% off. Summer break is a great time to go hunting for winter boots. My advice: amazon warehouse deals are a great source for affordable shoes :)
yellow sheepskin leather boots(2014), brown leather boots(2012), biker boots (2013), gray oxfords (2013), boat shoes (2010), sneakers (2014)