Happy summer! I spent the last 3 months wearing my neutral spring capsule wardrobe. The weather changed a lot recently, so it's definitely time to shift to a new capsule. Here's what's on tap for this post:
- How things went with my spring capsule
- My tips and tricks for designing a capsule wardrobe for summer
- Things I changed from spring to summer
- Did I buy any items for my summer capsule wardrobe?
- Details about my summer 2021 capsule wardrobe
How things went with my spring capsule
Everything went fine as far as not needing any extra clothing above what I chose. In fact, I didn't need a lot of items that I included. Here's a summary:
Among my shoe choices, I only wore my running shoes.
For outerwear, I only used the gray zip-up hoodie.
Out of all the tops, I only wore the Old Navy road trip T-shirt.
As far as bottoms, I used the black Capri-length leggings and I think I wore the gray leggings once.
I didn't wear either of the dresses.
From my jewelry, I wore my smartwatch every day and wore the essential oil diffuser necklace several times.
In accessories, I used the backpack (once), the sun hat a few times, the sunglasses frequently, and only the black cotton purse.
So out of 33 items, I only used 11 items!
You may be wondering, what did I wear the rest of the time? Well, I spent most of my time at home. I don't bother to get dressed if I'm not leaving home. So I was either in my PJs or my workout gear.
If I was planning on working out, later on, I'd put on those clothes in the morning and still be wearing them if/when I went out during the day. Plus, as I mentioned in a previous post, I very often wear clothes more than once before washing. Or at least I did before it got so hot--I had to change clothes after a single wear during the recent heatwave, and even now it's still pretty hot where I live. I also sort of have capsules for my sleeping clothes and workout gear, though I don't plan it out that much.
My tips and tricks for designing a capsule wardrobe for summer
If you haven't seen (and don't want to read) my previous post about my spring capsule, I will do a quick recap of how I decided what to include in a capsule. Basically, you want to choose clothes and accessories that you enjoy wearing, that will last through the season, and that is versatile enough to work with several other pieces. A capsule should include fewer items than you would normally wear, and the rest should be stored away so you can easily view and access the capsule items. Capsule wardrobes typically don't include undergarments, pajamas, workout gear, or a work uniform that you don't have a choice about.
If you've ever seen how kids dress when they first start picking their own clothes, you can take some cues from that about how a capsule wardrobe can be assembled. Kids gravitate toward choosing their favorite pieces of clothing and wear them over and over again. As an adult, it might not be your style to pair yellow rubber rain boots with a Princess Elsa dress worn over brown corduroys. 😆 But the mindset behind a child's wardrobe decisions is very similar to how you can decide what to put in your capsule.
I know it's likely there will be a lot more events like concerts, festivals, parties, weddings, etc. coming up that maybe weren't available last summer. If you have something like that in your future, think about whether you want to include outfits for those events in your wardrobe. In my opinion, if you have an item you're only going to wear once or twice, I wouldn't bother having it as part of your capsule. I personally would set aside that piece to go in my storage area so it isn't cluttering my capsule closet for 3 months when I only need it one time. An alternative is to think about whether you can wear things to events that you use more often. For example, are you comfortable wearing that "little black dress" or your favorite suit to more than one event? If it looks good on you and is appropriate for the occasion, why not?
Things I changed from spring to summer
My spring capsule was neutral, with 99% of the outfits some combination of black, gray, and white. I think this is a great idea for someone who prefers not to wear a lot of colors or isn't interested in taking the time to work out which colors go well with others. If you buy pieces based on how they look individually, I can totally see why this would be the case. It's hard to bring something home and figure out after the fact how it will look with what you already own.
But I want more color in my wardrobe than I had in the spring capsule, so this will not be a neutral capsule. I'm also leaving out dressier pieces that I put in for spring, thinking I'd have occasion to wear them. I didn't. I prefer to dress casually, so I wasn't about to put on clothes I would wear to work or an event just to run to the grocery store. There's no point in me cluttering up my wardrobe with these items just so I can pass them over every day. They're staying out of my closet to hang out with my off-season items.
Lastly, I'm in the process of making some items to add to my wardrobe. This isn't because I really need more clothing, it's just a fun project for me and a way to use items I already had on hand. I was hoping to get these done before summer, but life got in the way. So as I add them in, I'll mention them in a post about my crafts projects.
Did I buy any items for this capsule?
Kinda. As I mentioned above, I have some items that I'm going to add. A few of them were clothes I thrifted with the intention of altering them to fit me. I bought them a while ago, and knew they would be for summer wear, but didn't get to them in time as they weren't as important as other things, like re-organizing my apartment.
Also, I was all set to use the same flip-flops and other sandals I've had for 3+ years. They're both cheap pairs I got from Target, the kinds with the foam soles. But they're both falling apart. I want to replace both of them with a single pair of sandals that are more sustainably made and will last longer. I'm looking into options and when I make a decision, I'm probably going to include what I found in an upcoming post about eco-minimalism.
For now, I'm just including a single pair of sandals, since I don't wear flip-flops outside of the house.
Details about my summer 2021 capsule wardrobe
You'll notice this list is way pared-down from last time. I'm also going to include some things that I've been told were "against the rules" in terms of including them in my list: workout gear. I feel like it's only fair because I sometimes leave the house wearing them to do things other than work out. However, I'm going to group them as a single item in the "tops" category, because I don't know how much I'm going to integrate them into my wardrobe. The bottoms are all full-length leggings, and it's been way too hot for that, so I'm leaving those out.
Anyway, here's my capsule wardrobe.
Shoes: ðŸ‘
2. Black lace-up sandals
Outerwear: 🧥
3. Gray zip-up hoodie
Tops: 👕
4. Black cotton tank top
5. Gray cotton tank top
7. Turquoise eyelet and cotton sleeveless top
8. Turquoise tank top
9. Workout tops (old t-shirts with the sleeves and necklines cut off)
Bottoms: 🩳
10. Black cotton shorts
11. Black short biker shorts
12. Turquoise capris
13. Black capri-length leggings
14. Navy casual skirt over shorts
Dress: 👗
15. Strapless knee-length sundress in black
Jewelry: 💎
Accessories 👛👒🕶
18. black cotton purse
20. sun hat
21. sunglasses
Quite a bit shorter than last time, but it still seems like plenty of clothing. Stay tuned for crafty updates.
