My February to March Capsule Wardrobe

I struggled a bit with this capsule.  The weather has been more than usually all over the place in February here in Georgia.  I never really know if it's going to be cool outdoors or 80F which is most assuredly not cool and can be downright unpleasant if you'd made the mistake of going out in a pullover sweater with a blouse and cami underneath.   And it's no use saying to watch the weather because I do and I've found the forecast changing remarkably from hour to hour at times.  There's no planning ahead.  I'm finding it best really to just dress lightly and then add layers accordingly when I step to the door and discover what the weather feels like.



In the last two capsules I've made up I had problems.  I found pieces I seldom wear and noted why.  Quite a few things went into the donation pile.  I have a lot of empty hangers at present.  When I started this capsule journey every hanger had an item on it, so that should tell you how I've reduced and eliminated items.

I've also been looking at the capsule wardrobes of others.  I found a new YouTube vlogger, Mirror and Thread.  She is not a capsule wardrobe person but what she does do is buy pieces from various sources and shows them in her videos.  She does feature possibilities for capsule wardrobes.  I especially liked this work wardrobe which she bought at Walmart and I was very surprised at her high end look...Proof positive that it's not how much you spend but what you buy that really does set the pace for a workable capsule wardrobe.  I also noted that she might spend less on clothing and more on shoes and bags or outer wear, which reminds me a great deal of the way my grandmother approached her wardrobe. 

I finally set myself to just go through my clothes and pull a few items.  I have deleted the black jeans at present.  I lost weight to get into them, they remained a little snug.  Over the last month they've only gotten increasingly snug and uncomfortable. I tried on the Olive green jeans and realized that they fit very well and are far more comfortable.  This became one of my base pieces.  I chose these tops to go with the olive pants.

What I am not showing is my black t-shirt.  I think I'd rather wear that instead of the olive green shirt but I have worn that olive green shirt only once.  And part of my purpose in pairing up capsule versions within my closet is to use what I haven't worn in the past.  All but the shirt on the lower left will go nicely with blue jeans, too.  So I'm getting a lot of mileage out of these pieces which is my main goal when creating a capsule.

While I added necklaces and a couple of scarves to pair with these pants I felt I pretty much played it safe with my choices.  I could have tried other pieces and likely will go that further step in the next few days when I am feeling more myself.

The shirt in the left front area is a thrift store purchase and is a silky knit fabric.  Directly behind that is the ruffled sleeve self belted floral blouse you all liked so well.    The next shirt is a pale grey which is shown often on Pinterest with this color jeans.  The olive green is next to the grey and on the right front is a white t-shirt.  This particular shirt has a knot tied front that is okay looking but I'd really like a good classic white t-shirt.

I paired the grey paisley scarf with the grey and white t-shirts.  The scarf atop the white t-shirt is a Target purchase that has evergreen, teal and olive mixed along with the mustard yellow on the background.  I think I could pair that scarf with my black tee as well.

As light outer wear for this set of clothing I'd used the tan sweater cape, black cardigan or blue jean jacket.

I included the really dark wash jeans and the skinny leg medium wash jeans in this capsule.   I also included this navy paisley shirt which is fairly sheer and paired it with an orange tank top to be worn underneath.

I also noted as I was digging in the closet that the teal cardigan played well with the floral print top.  I love the color of the  cardigan but dislike the long tails in the front of the thing.  I'd like to see if I might alter this cardigan in some way.   I do like having an option to use the shirt with this cardigan though and look forward to wearing this.

Last I decided to pull out the maxi skirt I purchased from an online clearance sale at Cato last spring.  This skirt is heavier than the black maxi and if it's a truly cool day I could easily wear a pair of capri length athletic pants underneath.

I paired the skirt with four different tank tops, though I'm showing only two.  I'd wear my jeans jacket with this skirt over the tank tops.  If I had a very snug fitting short  sleeved t-shirt I'd wear that on it's own if it were really warm. 

I'm showing my grey and white tank tops with this skirt but black works well as does a stormy gray blue tank that I have in my closet.  I have even contemplated using my pale grey crew neck pullover sweater on a cooler day.  I think it would look rather nice but need to try the two pieces on together.  What I've already mentioned pairing with this skirt definitely works together well.

I opted to use this skirt because I can wear either my athletic shoes with it or my black ankle boots, or  a pair of grey suede pointed toe flats depending upon the pace of the day and occasion.

I have the option of both wearing more layers or decreasing layers with most of these outfits so they should suit our all over the place weather in the weeks ahead.

I will say that while I got frustrated with last capsule having based it largely on the black jeans which were increasingly uncomfortable, I gave myself a break from wearing capsule pieces for two weeks until I finally pieced this one out.  I found myself often staring at the rack of clothes, unable to make up my mind, feeling I had nothing to wear.  Once I took the time to piece these things together, I realized yet again that I have plenty to wear.  Narrowing down my choices actually increases the wearability of  the pieces I have.

More and more I'm discovering that sticking to a classic silhouette is also the most long lasting and often more flattering look for a long term wardrobe.   So as I go to replace pieces, I'll look for classic lines that don't go out of style and leave the accessories as my trending pieces.

I'm committing myself to six weeks of this capsule and will plan another at the end of March.  I have purchased three tops and a scarf online at a clearance sale.  I'll add that scarf to this wardrobe set but the tops will hold until I plan my spring wardrobe, I think.  I plan to go to the thrift store and one other store to peruse the clearance racks and see what other pieces I might add for Spring and Summer.   I do have a list to help keep me focused.

So there you are.  My third capsule wardrobe for the 2019/2020 year.