capsule wardrobe

My Journey to Sustainable Living feat. Encircled by Candice Tay

Ever since I started this blog and began posting more about striving to be low-waste and to be a more conscious consumer, I have been asked many times how I started this journey and what inspired me to pursue this lifestyle.

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Fall 2018: Capsule Planning by Candice Tay

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Fall Capsule 2018

my capsule planning

Every day during my morning commute, I can feel the air getting colder and crisper. Although I love the warm summer weather, I am excited for a new season, particularly fall. I wouldn’t say I’m ready for the Canadian winter yet. This fall capsule is a bit of an experiment for me as I’m still learning to adjust back to the temperatures here in Canada because 17 degrees here is not the same as an Australian 17 degrees! I’ve broken down the way I planned my fall capsule into three steps - gather, curate, wear.

gather

First is to gather - literally gather information. I search for the general temperatures for the next season and then begin by looking at my previous capsule to see what I can transition over. If you haven’t already read my previous post about transitioning your wardrobe, take a look at that post if you’re curious! After I have chosen some transitional pieces, I take a look at what I have for the upcoming season. From my current fall/winter clothing, I take out some pieces that I’d like to put into my fall capsule. Bring on the turtlenecks and knits! I’m totally a turtleneck person, so I was super excited to whip those out. From my summer capsule, I transitioned a few tops I thought I could use for layering. After all, fall is really all about the layers!

curate

Step 2 is a bit of a mix between gathering and curating because you kind of need both for this whole process to work. However, I would say this is the bulk of process where I begin to “curate” my wardrobe.

Since I recently started a new job, I wanted to make sure my capsule would be flexible enough for my corporate life, be casual for the weekends, and still have my style captured. Now is when I decided to add some pieces to my capsule. After settling on the clothing I already have, I look to see if there are any gaps that need to be filled or maybe there is a piece that you’ve been eyeing. Now is the time to bring in something new! With capsule wardrobes, I find that it often takes time to fill those gaps or maybe you never end up finding a piece that you’ve been looking for before the season ends. That’s definitely happened to me before! For this fall, here are a few things I’ve been looking for and am still on the hunt for. A classic white button down, warm-toned trousers/pants, black Chelsea boots, black denim. These items are not “musts”, they are just items that I’m keeping in mind.

Now is when I go to Pinterest. I think a lot of people start here, however, I find Pinterest helpful for putting outfits together and it helps me use what I already have in my wardrobe! I try to look for pictures and styles that I like with pieces that are similar to the ones in my closet so that I can get more wear out of particular pieces. Here’s a little peak at my Pinterest board, but if you’re curious to see what I add throughout the season, head over there to follow along! Clearly the warm rusts, oranges, and sand colours are really inspiring me this season. Hoping to add some colour to my wardrobe this season for a bit of a change. Any changes you’re making to your wardrobe?

These photos are not my own.

These photos are not my own.

wear

Time for the fun part! The final thing I do is to style my capsule wardrobe and discover different ways to make the pieces I have versatile. I think the most challenging thing so far for me this season is to style interesting corporate looks. Corporate looks can be a little sterile sometimes because of the guidelines, but I’m hoping to spark some creativity into my wardrobe.

Let me know below, would you be interested in some how-to style posts around office outfits?