Tired of staring into your closet trying to come up with outfit combinations, only to revert to the same ‘ole, same ‘ole? Me too, that’s why I wanted to try a Summer capsule wardrobe, based on a minimalist idea, to come up with 36 different outfits from 18 items I already owned (and you probably do too!)
I get a LOT of writers and companies asking if I’ll post their articles, or links to their companies, on my blog.
For the most part I say no – mainly because the due diligence involved in making sure that they don’t post hateful content (racism, sexism, gambling etc) on their own blog either prior to me adding their links, or even years afterwards is beyond manageable.
I’m sure most people are wonderful and it wouldn’t be an issue, but since it’s not something I can guarantee I don’t usually do it.
Also, Google frowns on “follow” links – which most companies want – so I’d be hurting my ranking by taking the requests.
BUT, one writer caught my attention with her submission of a “Go Green and Downsize your Life with a Capsule Wardrobe”. I won’t be using her article (again, due diligence) but I will give her all the credit for this idea – thank you Adriana! (I’ve checked out her business site and it seems legit 🤞🏻)
Years ago now I worked with two stylists and we created a program that taught you how to dress for your body shape. Each day we’d send out a new outfit (don’t worry, they did all the styling, not me) to show you what to wear.
I LOVED having my clothing chosen for me. I have almost 0 fashion sense and for those few months I received compliments almost every day on what I was wearing.
Adriana’s idea, based on Project 333, was to create a capsule wardrobe of just a few items and then mix-and-match to create enough outfits for a month.
Project 333 – which stands for 33 articles of clothing over 3 months – seemed fantastic!
I decided to modify it a bit for my casual summer style and see if I couldn’t put together something similar.
Summer Capsule Wardrobe items
Black skort
navy shorts
khaki shorts
jean capris (without the chain 😂)
black overalls
white capris
Then some of my favourite tops (and a couple I don’t wear as often, but should)
red racerback tank
white racerback tank
black t-shirt
floral t-shirt
summer sweater
blouse-ish top
and a sweatshirt for cooler, campfire evenings
Project 333 says to include shoes and accessories in your 33 item capsule wardrobe – as part of the 33 items.
I don’t wear anything too fancy generally, so I just included my white Crocs, orange Converse, black sandals and my sunglasses. (My kids call them “Mom sunglasses” so forgive my less-than-current fashion).
*Disclaimer – that is not my spectacular body in any of the images (unfortunately). So the outfits that look spectacular in the photos, do look a little more ‘plumped out’ on my body. 😂. Hey – it is what it is right?
Normally I would wear the red tank with the black skort and that’s it. I never think to mix and match different items – frankly I don’t want to take a lot of time getting dressed in the morning, especially when I spend so much time getting sawdusty.
BUT, when playing with photos of your clothing it becomes really easy to see tons of different combinations!
I used ShopLook.io to create my outfit combinations and it was kinda fun!
My plain-jane red tank top goes with my capris jeans
white capris,
khaki shorts,
navy shorts,
my overalls,
AND my black skort!!
Sure, it seems obvious now that I have photos – but staring at my clothes in my closet, it would never have occurred to me. I just don’t have the imagination and become overwhelmed.
Wanna see how my floral t-shirt works? (not pictured above)
I’m not sure I’d wear it under my black overalls, but here are 5 other options!
I didn’t end up using 33 items for my Summer capsule wardrobe – I feel pretty confident that the 18 items I chose will cover me for the rest of the summer.
In fact, these 17 items created 36 DIFFERENT combinations!
That’s a Summer capsule wardrobe where you aren’t wearing the same outfit for 36 days!
Same few pieces, but a crazy amount of options!
What did I learn from this?
- That my closet contains far too many unused and unnecessary clothes.
- what pieces I need to fill out a my Summer capsule – for example, I don’t own a pair of black sandals
- that I have more than I need already in my closet
- that perhaps Crocs don’t go with as many outfits as I wear them with 😂😂
As a sidenote, there is an app called Cladwell that will put together an outfit for you every single day. All you have to do is upload photos of the items in your closet, or similar items found online and it will message/email you something daily. I WISH I could get it to work, but it just wouldn’t download on my iPhone or iPad. My daughter did have luck with it though, so it might just be my firewalls or something.
I’m going to finish out the rest of the summer testing out my Summer capsule wardrobe and see if I don’t feel a bit better about myself with a bit of variation.
If it works, then come Fall I’ll come up with a new capsule wardrobe – perhaps a bit fancier and with layers – that will up my game next season too.
While I rarely shop for clothes on Amazon – most of my stuff is from Old Navy – I thought I’d send along some (*affiliate) links so you could get an idea of what’s out there.
For full Amazon affiliate disclosure, please see the sidebar or the bottom of this post.
Now go hit your closet!!
Have a great one!