My (Accidental) Capsule Wardrobe
how i ended up being the most boring fashionista ever
i've had many requests to share my fashion tips,
but I only have about 3 outfits
so I have to dole them out carefully.
Here's an intro to my FABULOUSLY creative minimalist wardrobe.
I always think it's wild when people say I'm stylish. "Eva, I knew if I was coming to your party I better look fly." What? Why? I just wear the same thing every day.
I actually wear the same thing basically every day. Recently I found out that fancy people call that a "Capsule Wardrobe" and if you wear the same thing every day intentionally you are minimalist and fabulous and creative. So that's me. I own a capsule wardrobe I've decided. Not only because I only wear a few things. It's because I'm minimalist and fabulous and creative.
Apparently the person who made this a super big deal is Caroline Rector of Unfancy, and after investigating I suspect I need to become an avid reader of hers, especially if I want to maintain that my capsule wardrobe isn't just an accident.
The official, "I did this capsule wardrobe on purpose" situation according to The Everygirl is "Caroline started her blog, Unfancy, as a way to document her minimalistic style—wearing only 37 (yes, that's thirty-seven) clothing pieces for three straight months. After three months, she'll pick new pieces to add to her rotation."
The "I did this capsule wardrobe after years of wearing the same thing every day, and am now claiming it's on purpose" situation is to continually shop for different items, pull them all out whenever you are going anywhere, hold them up to the mirror, show them to the dog, get ready to go, and then at the last possible minute, take it off, put on the same outfit you wore yesterday again and then show up late for your destination and eventually accept this as the way things are and stop trying to buy fun things. This is also known as the
Eva Capsule Wardrobe Method
I wear a black, striped or white T shirt and jeans, a black, navy, striped, or white silk tank with jeans, a black silk maxi dress, a jumpsuit or umm, actually that might be my whole wardrobe. I also have some work clothes that don't excite me at all and exercise clothes too. (I know that my work clothes should excite me too, but that's another post) Technically a capsule wardrobe includes work clothes too, but workout clothes are excluded, but it doesn't matter as I sort of pretend I don't own those things. Annnd guess what. My work and exercise clothes are all black, navy and/or striped as well.
Here's the real talk about how I ended up dressing this way all of the time.
real talk
I'm not sure what order of importance these go in. I think that like a lot of things in life, they all kind of add up together to equal a conclusion that you find out about yourself at some point when you're years into a behaviour.
I'm really big.
I sweat a lot.
My sense of style seems to have started to match the Vancouver weather.
I can't afford expensive clothes, but I really like high quality fabrics.
I own some RIDICULOUS things.
I think wearing different JEWELLERY with a different black shirt is equivalent to wearing a whole new outfit.
I'm really big
Arguing this point with you is a full different post, so just accept that I am in fact, a fairly large person. And, like apparently every woman on the planet, I find it really difficult to find clothes to fit me. For me this difficulty most specifically is that even when I'm "really thin" I'm bigger than most clothing stores make clothes for. Once I find a store that makes clothes that I am able to get into without crying I just keep going back there. I also try to dress my body to make it look, um, not smaller, but uh, not big? What's a nice way of saying that?
I know how to dress my body to make my body look it's best, so that limits some of my clothing choices.
I sweat a lot
For whatever reason, sweating is like one of the worst things you can do as a person. It's so embarrassing. Humiliating. It started in high school where I would not put things in the top of my locker because I didn't want to have to reach up and risk someone seeing my armpits in my shirt that would be soaked. People used to regularly make fun of me for sweating until I started dating Kyle who sweats even more than I do, so he draws a lot of attention away from me onto him (sorry I just threw you under the bus honey pie, loooove you.) What it comes down to is literally every clothing decision I make I consider if it will show sweat. Mostly black and navy and stripes don't show sweat and so that's what I wear on my top. Simple as that.
Patterns hide sweat too, but see the next point.
I dress like the Vancouver weather
Dark and dreary. No, but really, I used to wear colours and patterns other than stripes sometimes, like I had a skirt that was printed with sailboats that I wore with a striped top, but I just donated it the other day as Kyle and I decided I don't wear it enough to justify keeping it. I was sort of thinking- what happened to me? When Kyle pointed out that our house and my clothes are now just like the Vancouver sky- "gradients of slate." I think part of it is getting older, and part of it is my style changed a bit, and part of is it is I love black and navy and grey and white. Sometimes, possibly last week, I go shopping for floral patterns and then just end up at the cash register with a black tank top. That maybe possibly happened.
Theoretically, if that were to have happened it was probably a nice tank top. And hypothetically I might go get a second one, as per the next point.
I buy fancy fabrics i can't afford
Rather than buying lots of clothes to mix up my look more often, I buy less, but higher quality clothes. I just saw a picture of me wearing the same thing I did 4 years ago. No, not inspired by the same thing. Not, that looks similar. Literally the same thing. I am a bit of a mess generally, but I take really good care of my nice clothes. I invest in high quality fabrics, hand wash and dry clean a lot of my clothes and they last for a long time. Sometimes I try to buy some less expensive things but I don't like the way they feel, even if they look fly AF.
This goes so far as to buy two of the same so I have one for outdoors + one for fancies. For example, I fell in love with a black silk maxi dress and bought 2- one for wearing to picnics, and one to wear for fancy outings. (I tried to get in blue too, but it showed sweat right away so I just stuck with the black.)
This is where intention comes in. I have decided that instead of owning lots of things, I will own less but they will be nicer to touch and last longer, and I invest time into making sure they last.
I own some ridiculous things
All this being said, I still have fun with my clothes. I own things that I wear every. single. day. for years. and years. But I also own things to mix it up and make it seem like I'm wearing different things, or just things that feel really fun to wear. I own a sequined dress, and a maxi dress with giant florals, and a silk top with giant chunks of sparkles on it that my hair gets stuck in (see below, that shit will tear your hair out. updos only), sheer tops to pair with neon bathing suits and sky scraping high heels I can't walk in. I have culottes and jumpsuits and a faux leather [ahem, according the salesperson, it's vegan leather, appealing to my self-righteousness like a boss] skirt (but those last three are basic staples.)
Accessories change everything
I don't own a lot of accessories either, but I wear my black T and mom jeans with different necklaces, and when I switch it with converse sneakers, heels, or flats I think the entire outfit is basically brand new.
so get ready.
700 ways to rearrange 5 shirts that look almost identical + 1 pair of jeans + 2 necklaces + 3 shoes will hopefully be coming at you on the regs.
Can’t even wait to start wearing my metallics and sequins and match them with red lips - but before I treat myself to another shade, I reveal my tried-and-tested hottest tips for picking your bold red lip this holiday season. You’re going to want to rush out and buy some for your holiday party too.