How to create your capsule wardrobe from scratch

Leggi in italiano

My dear friends who live with a suitcase at the foot of the bed, my beloved fanatics of light luggage as a lifestyle, advocates of the idea that there’s no need to have Chiara Feagni’s wardrobe to be stylish, let’s talk about something we all love: capsule wardrobe!

I had already given you some little indication of what it is, but let me remind you:

“The Capsule wardrobe is a set of essential items that tend to never go out of fashion and are quite versatile seasonally, with small additions and variations if necessary (for example, a white silk blouse, to match with a woolen or cotton cardigan depending on the season).
The term was invented in the Seventies by an American woman, Susie Faux, who worked in the field of retail clothing sales “.

What does the “classic” capsular wardrobe contain?

There are numerical rules regarding how many items a capsule wardrobe must contain, but I’ll tell you right away that in this post we will question them and recreate others, based on your preferences, tastes and on your way of being in the world.
However, for general culture, it is good to know that the most intransigent theories say that a good capsular wardrobe MUST be made up by:

• a black cocktail dress,
• a silhouette shaped white shirt,
• a black blazer,
• 4 t-shirts in various neutral colors,
• 2 more particular tops, but always in neutral colors,
• a cashmere sweater in a neutral color,
• a pair of comfortable and simple jeans,
• classic black trousers,
• one casual day dress,
• one sober skirt
• a trench,
• ballerinas or sober low heel shoes and a pair of high heels shoes.

Now, I understand the above mentioned items are versatile but also terribly boring and impersonal, and if we all, capsular travelers, should decide to follow these tips … we would be an army of soaring souls trapped by sober gray outfits.

Let’s rewrite the rules of the capsule wardrobe according to your personality

Especially for those who travel often and find themselves, in the span of a few hours, to manage several different microclimates, the rules of the capsule wardrobe must be a matter of versatility and practicality, certainly not just a matter of sober colors and uniform patterns.

Actually a capsule wardrobe can be full of colors, personalty and diversity, always staying practical and versatile.

The first thing to do to create your ideal capsular wardrobe is:

Buy quality products, with good and durable fabrics.

This choice grants that the multiple uses, through two or three seasons, won’t spoil the items.

Choose thin but thermally comfortable materials (knit, cotton, wool, cashmere) so you can alternate and combine multiple layers depending of the seasons.

Choose the colors and models that are good for you.

This point is very important: the ideal capsular wardrobe, the one that is more suitable for you, doesn’t care much about fashion and its psychodramas.

Before asking yourself whether animalier patterns are fashionable in the current year, ask yourself if you’ll still like it on yourself after the current season.
It’s not an easy thing to do: to create your ideal capsular wardrobe you have work on yourself wondering which colors enhance your complexion, what kind of necklines you like, you have to ask yourself which parts of your body you love the most and you like to show regardless of what Dolce and Gabbana say.
In short, you have to be your own model, you must focus on yourself and not on the fashion magazines.

If the “standard” capsule wardrobe includes a black dress but, for example, you are not comfortable with it, you must know that that a flared or green dress, like a long boho chic dress, will go very well; then you can match it with a long cardigan when the cold knock at your hotel room. And this cardigan can be yellow instead of “sober and gray”, if you feel better with it.

Let’s go with practice: tweak the rule and create your capsular wardrobe

After these theoretical aspects, let’s come to a practical exercise that will lead you to create your personal capsular wardrobe.

Take the list of the classic capsular wardrobe as above reported.

Then, replace all neutral and classic garments with similar items that you love to wear, but colored and shaped following your own taste (such as a wide dress instead of a cocktail black dress, leather bodices instead of a t-shirt, leggings instead of classic trousers, etc.). No more than 20 items all together.

So try to combine everything taking into account all the possible combinations.
How many combinations have come out of these 20 items? This is your perfect and personalized capsule wardrobe.