Capsule palette autumn/winter 2015

My palette for the cold seasons this year is just a little more earthy and toned down than my summer palette:

I started with just a mix of all colors I like to see and wear in winter. Then I sorted them into neutral, nearly neutrals and accent colors (from top to bottom):

And finally I picked my palette:

I also started planning my capsule, but this is just a draft. I don't plan to sew a lot of garments. I would like to concentrate on just one or two quality pieces. I bought a pattern for a shirt dress and have been eying a beautiful wool Liberty fabric, which should be just right for it...

I'm looking forward to getting started! If you want to know more about planning and sewing a seasonal capsule have a look at the Colette website. My moodboard on Pinterest is here.

Wardrobe Architect - Summarized.

I started planning my wardrobe capsule back in January. I've been sewing since February. I made myself six pieces of clothing. I have never sewn so much in such a short time. I bought two second hand garments, and just one new: a pair of jeans to replace my tattered, too large old pair. I really bought 3 pairs of the same jeans, because I wear jeans a lot and all the ones I had were worn out. I found a model that suits me (it is large enough around my bottom, but doesn't have a waistband which stands about 3 cm from the small of my back, like most pants do), so I decided I should buy enough for the next few years. Since then I've been losing more weight, however, so I'm afraid they might be too large in another year's time. We'll see, I've always had a full back side, hopefully it will remain round enough to fill those jeans for a year or two, until they are worn out. I have just one item I planned, bought fabric for, but haven't sewn (yet).

So, to summarize:

My final capsule contains seventeen garments and three pairs of shoes. Of the seventeen garments, six were sewn by me this year, two were bought second hand, one was bought new, and eight were already in my wardrobe (of which one was sewn by me, one was bought second hand, and the rest were new, when I bought them). I bought one pair of shoes for this capsule. All through June, I wore only my capsule, cheating only once (more about that in my next post: Wardrobe Architect - Lessens Learned).

My final capsule, shoes excluded.

  I plan to take pictures of all the garments in my capsule, to make this summary easier to oversee.       

Wardrobe Architect - Lessons Learned

1. Basic does not equal boring!
I've always thought I didn't like boring basic colors. I naturally gravitate towards bold and bright colors when looking at clothing or fabric. But to make a capsule of garments which you can combine, you need basics. If you have a lot of accent colors, you end up with a set of outfits which each have to be worn separately, not with a true capsule which offers many possibilities to combine garments into different outfits. So I set myself the  task of including neutrals and nearly neutrals in my palette, sewing with them, and wearing them. And I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. I really liked the look of basic colors on me.

2. Accent pieces in accent colors are fun!
If basic is a bit too basic, you can add accent colors in accent pieces, like a scarf or a piece of jewelry. I found that, with a basic outfit, a piece of jewelry can become more visible, more special, and that it really adds to the overall look and feel of an outfit.

3. White garments in a capsules should have a double!
I love wearing white in summer. It's such a bright and fresh color. But if you have kids, or ride a bike, or cook, or do more than sit in a white sofa all day, white gets dirty very quickly. I can wear a white top for two days, but white pants only survive for one day before retiring to the laundry basket. And that is why I cheated on the 29th of June. I really wanted to wear my dusty pink tunic with white lace color in combination with white pants, but of course they weren't clean. So I got out a double, which wasn't in my capsule. And I came up with this lesson learned.

4. Creating a capsule is not easy!
But not as hard as it seems, once you get started, and with a little guidance. I did a lot of research and a lot of planning when designing my capsule. You can find the resources I used dotted around this blog, but the easiest thing to do is read the articles about Wardrobe Architect at Coletterie.

5. Wearing a capsule is very easy!
And fun. In June I took all my capsule garments from my wardrobe and put them in a basket next to it. Every morning it was just a question of looking at the weather forecast, sampling my mood and picking out a few garments accordingly. Add shoes and some jewelry or a scarf as desired, and you're ready to go. No rummaging through the closet, finding something you'd like to wear, but then not finding anything to go with it, finding something else, but then figuring it might be too hot/cold for that particular item. Because you have a limited options and everything pretty much goes with everything, picking your outfit becomes easy. And fun, because you find yourself wearing outfits you would otherwise not consider.

6. Green is not green.
And that's fine. Pink is not pink either, and grey is not grey. When composing your palette, you have just one shade of each color in it. Ideally, to make mixing and matching easy, you should stick to these shades as closely as possible. But n reality there are so many shades of lime green, you end up with different shades anyway. I find this adds some depth to outfits created from your capsule. If you were to respect the shades perfectly, certain outfits would be too monotone and flat.

7. Restrictions foster creativity!
Try it, you'll see! Having a restricted palette made it easier to pick fabrics and challenged me to try a few new things, like sewing with polyester and trying to sew a cardigan/vest. I've never been so inspired and I've never sewn so much. Having a goal and a brief to fulfill makes it easier to get started.

8. Creating a capsule saves money.
I didn't spend a lot of money on clothes this year, yet I feel I have a more cohesive wardrobe than ever. So I'm really, really pleased I did this, and am already planning my Autumn/Winter capsule!

Wardrobe capsule - day 22 to 27 - from chilly to hot!

I'll take you through past week in pictures:

The beginning of the week was quite cool, I even wondered if I shouldn't have added a warmer sweater to my capsule, ...

... but I added my big multicolored scarf and the chill didn't bother me at all.

Still scarf weather.

The skirt is really sitting too low now. I should take it in, or make a new one (I still have fabric).

Getting warmer. I love the green-green combination.

I really like the tailoring on this second-hand light jacket. It add nice shape.

Most of the day was too warm for the sweater.

Ready to garden on a hot Saturday afternoon!

Just two more days to go, and I will have completed my wardrobe capsule challenge!

Wardrobe Capsule - catching up day 12 to 21

I didn't get round to posting photos here for a while, so I'm catching up today. I have been wearing my capsule every day!

My butterfly Laura Ashley dress and bright red shoes.

Can you tell I'm happy I can wear it again? I bought it in 2012, but couldn't wear it for the past two summers, because I was still carrying too much post-pregnancy weight...

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

I love how my watering can goes with my outfit!

More subdued colors, which I've learned to appreciate by building this capsule.

It's a very loose fitting top, lovely to wear in hot weather.

Detail of the antique lace (inherited from a great aunt) on the neckline.

My new shoes. I have never bought grey shoes before, but now they were in my capsule plan. I love them, and if I keep wearing them as much as I have until now, they will be worn out at the end of summer.

There that's my outfits for the past week. Only 9 more days to go to complete my challenge of wearing only my capsule this month!

Wardrobe Capsule - day 10 and 11 - hot in the sun, but a cold and dry wind.

You may be wondering if I ever wear an outfit for more than two days? Well, I would like to, because I don't feel something is dirty from wearing it just two days. But on Monday I spilled mayonnaise all over my dark grey cargo pants, so I switched to my blue jeans, and then on Tuesday I spilled toothpaste all over my jeans-colored top, before I got a chance to take a picture for this blog. But anyway, this is what I've been wearing yesterday and today.

Outfit for day 10 and 11. At the playground where we went with 12 kids to celebrate Pieter's birthday.

And with a bit of luck, I'll be wearing it tomorrow!

First poppy in the garden, on our compost heap.

wardrobe Capsule - days 5, 6, 7 and 8 - summer time

This weekend was very hot here in Belgium, but not as hot as Friday. The kids came home from school, soaked to the bone: water games!

Day 5 - no need for a sweater, just a linen top and a skirt I made last year (it sits a bit low on the hips now and it's loose around the waist, but it's still very wearable)

A summer bouquet my father picked to decorate the table for Pieter's ninth birthday party.

Day 7 - strolling in my parents' garden.

I wore my Laura Ashley dress on day 6 as well, to go to the 'schoolfeest'.

Day 8 (today) - my dark grey cargo pants, a jeans-colored top and my pink hooded sweater.

When I leave the sweater off, the necklace still adds a bit of color.

Large gathered side pockets, which were not in the pattern, I drafted them myself.

I also added this elastic in the hem (which I widened a bit)

I can tighten the elastic so the hem doesn't catch on my pedals when cycling.

And it helps keep my pants short for extra ventilation, or to walk in the water at the seaside.

I was a bit chilly when I walked the kids to school, so I added a white scarf.

So far it's been easy and fun to pick an outfit from my capsule each morning. This weekend I went through my wardrobe and threw out most of the summer garments that I really don't want to wear ever again. I still have difficulty getting rid of stuff that doesn't spark joy, but is not really ugly and might still be useful some day. I guess since my wardrobe is really not that big, I can keep stuff as long as it fits into the cupboard and doesn't stop me from getting at my nice clothes. As I acquire more really nice clothes, I will slowly get rid of the not-so-nice-but-still-okay-and-better-than-naked stuff. I started on my winter capsule this weekend. I already have a pretty good idea of colors and silhouettes, and I have a lot of nice things I already own that will fit my capsule perfectly. So it will just be a question of making a few special pieces to pull it all together.

Wardrobe capsule - day 3 and 4 - cool morning, warm afternoon

Yesterday was a bit of an upside down day. I came back from work in the morning (I was on call for the night), went jogging, took a shower and went to bed. In the afternoon I took another nap while the kids were on a play date and in the evening I had to work again, until way past my bed time. I wore my new blue jeans, the dusty pink vest I made and a dusty pink knit fabric shirt I bought about 5 years ago.

Look what I found on my morning run!

A real bird's nest!

It's so pretty, all the textures and soft woodland colors.

We put in the two egg shells Marieke found earlier this year.

I think the long black strands are horse hair, I found the nest near a horse pasture.

I had to combine my photoshoot with watering my poor plants today. I hadn't watered them yesterday and some are really wilted. I hope they perk up tonight, when the air cools down.

Notice how my watering can is also in capsule color! The necklace was a mother's day gift from Pieter 2 years ago.

With matching vest. While I love the dusty pinks, I find that a more 'fresh' color like the bright pink of the necklace or pure white near my face suits me better.

I'm trying tomatoes, red hot chillies and even a winter squash in hanging baskets this year. I'm curious what my harvest will be.

Wardrobe capsule - day 2 - off to work on a chilly, windy day

I've had this raincoat for years, it just happens to match my capsule palette perfectly. I wear it winter and summer when it rains, in winter over a warm fleece sweater. I plan to hem the pants legs to the right length once it's been laundered a few times.

The honey bees are enjoying my front garden this morning.

I take care to plant mostly bee-friendly flowers, with simple blooms and rich in pollen.

My capsule palette in the garden: hot pink and lime green!

The Echinacea looks promising. I have tried and failed raising these from seed for years. Last year I finally succeeded, using seed I harvested myself, instead of store bought. The slugs love these plants when  they're small and tender. So I use ecological snail pellets one time in spring, when they start to emerge, after that, they're fine on their own.

Another bee.

Purple sage and purple geranium.

I love my tangle of flowers in my front garden.

This foxglove appeared without invitation last year, but it goes well with my palette of bright orange, purple and pink, so I let it grow. It's already seeded all over, so I'm hoping to have these bright spires all over next year (it's a biannual, it doesn't flower in its first year). I also like the vertical element it adds, since all the other plants at this time are low and dome shaped, until the Echinacea comes into bloom.

XXX