Some of you might have noticed that Part 2 of the capsule wardrobing series was mentioned in the Guardian last week (the link is here in case you want to take a peak). This was a complete surprise to me, and a real delight – it’s absolutely lovely to see something I’ve written endorsed by a publication I hold in such high regard – I’ve had a grin the size of Scotland on my chops ever since! A big hello to any new readers who have found the blog as a result of that link. I hope you enjoy your time aboard HMS Thrifty Chick wherever in the world you are and please, do feel free to drop me a line and say hi!
But anyway, back to our capsule wardrobes. The subject matter of Part 3 is shopping…
As much as I enjoy and appreciate clothes, I’m not a big shopper these days. It hasn’t always been that way, but ever since I discovered the joys of a life based around thrift I’ve shopped on only a fraction of the scale that I used to, the majority of the time in charity and vintage stores as opposed to on the high street. These days, I only really venture to a shopping centre when I’m in dire need of something, and even then there are a whole raft of stores that I’ll no longer go anywhere near for reasons of principle (that’s right Arcadia, I’m talking to you).
The capsule wardrobe isn’t a tirade against shopping. Plenty of people like shopping, including myself, and while excess consumerism is never going to be something I’ll hold my thumbs up to, a moderate level of considered and – where possible – ethical shopping most certainly doesn’t make you a bad person. The problems only begin where shopping becomes a mindless game: an attempt to shore up flagging confidence levels by spending lots of money on new handbags and ‘wear once’ dresses. If you can’t feel good on a night out unless you’re wearing something brand new and shiny, then that, to me, is when trouble abounds.
But what’s the code of capsule wardrobe shopping? Well, you’ll be pleased to know that it’s both simple and largely based on common sense. Common sense which can be distilled into three simple, albeit golden, rules:
- Buy what you need
- Buy what fits
- Buy what you like
1. Buy what you need
A capsule wardrobe should cover all of the necessary bases: balance is key. Like I said back at stage 2, there’s no point in having a ten cutesy summer frocks if you don’t have anything to layer either under or over them on cold Winter days such as these. If you have the correct quotient of all of the things you need in your wardrobe, you’re ten times more likely to find that it works for you in exactly the way you want it to. Keep the idea of balance in mind when shopping, and always, always ask yourself whether you really need something. The answer should tell you whether to buy it or not.
2. Buy what fits
Clothes should fit. Period. Don’t cajole yourself into buying something unless you feel completely comfortable in it and DON’T make the mistake of promising yourself that you’ll drop a couple of pounds in order to fit into something you really like. If it doesn’t fit perfectly at the time you try it on, for the love of God don’t buy it. All that will happen if you do is that the item will languish, unworn, in your wardrobe for months making you feel terrible every time you look at it. A waste of money and a colossal guilt trip. Don’t fall for it.
3. Buy what you like
Only buy things you like. A wardrobe that’s full of clothes you love and enjoy wearing is worth a thousand wardrobes that are full of fashion fads, bought because they featured in Cosmo or your friend looked good in one last week. The logic is simple yet powerful: if you like something, you’ll wear it, and if you don’t, you won’t. And if you’re not sure, why not give it a week and see how you feel? If you find yourself immersed in regret, wishing you had bought whatever it is, then you’ll know you actually did like it so you can go back (unless you saw it in a charity shop in which case it’ll likely be long gone). And the converse is also true: if you don’t give it a second thought after exiting the store, you were right to leave it on the hanger.
Simple right? OK I lied above: we’re not quite finished yet. While those three rules are what I consider to be the bread and butter of capsule wardrobe shopping, it’s worth bearing some of the following in mind as well…
- Beware of shopping in groups – Have you ever bought something because the person you were shopping with demanded that you should, even though you yourself weren’t actually sure? Yes, you’re nodding, I’m nodding. This is the group effect. Unless you have a shopping partner with whom you can be brutally honest (and who can be brutally honest with you), don’t shop in groups. We impulse buy a lot more; we cave in to the desires of others as opposed to ourselves and we often don’t feel like we can spend as much time deliberating over whether to purchase or not. Having five friends waiting at the door for you intermittently checking their watches is a fast-track way to making a bad decision. Be brave and go it alone!
- Work out price per wear – It always amazes me that people are willing to spend £100 on a dress they’ll wear only once, but only a fraction of that on the shoes they wear every day of the week (the less said here about those £4 fall-apart-at-the-very-sight-of-rain ballet pumps the better). It’s vastly more economical to invest in the things we use and wear a lot. Try thinking about the price per wear on the things you buy: if a dress is £100 and you wear it twice, that’s a price per wear of £50 (divide the price by the number of wears). Now if that £100 was invested in some sturdy winter boots, worn every single day for four months, then that’s a price per wear of roughly 80 pence. Think about that, and don’t be afraid to take a calculator to the shops!
- Observe the three outfit rule: the essence of the capsule wardrobe is versatility. And that means that things work together. No one item of clothing should be permitted to stand on the sidelines, eschewing the collaborative process. When shopping, I find it’s useful to bear in mind what I like to call the three outfit rule. If I can’t picture three outfits in my wardrobe involving whatever it is that I’m contemplating purchasing, then back to the rail it goes. The capsule wardrobe only works because the clothes in there are open to mixing and matching; anything that doesn’t tick that box belongs elsewhere.
- One in, one out - Some items are bought purely to replace others. If that’s the case, make sure you actually carry out the replacing bit! That means throwing out or recycling the old, ladder-infested tights and the dull, washed-a-million-times work shirts as opposed to simply stuffing the new ones on top. Replacing things will help your wardrobe to remain streamlined and smart, and you’ll be able to manage it better. The same logic should apply to gifts: I got two new pairs of pyjamas as Christmas gifts, so recycled two existing pairs. Neater wardrobe, less clutter, liberated mind.
- Look at the washing instructions – Be honest with yourself: if the top is hand-wash only, are you really going to hand-wash it? Or are you simply going to wear it less often on the basis that it’s high maintenance? And if you have an aversion to ironing, should you really be buying trousers that simply can’t be worn without at least a quick once-over? Always look at the labels on clothes before you buy them, and answer any questions that arise honestly. Remember that the motto of the capsule wardrobe is wearability: if you’re not going to invest in clothes that are wearable to you, you’re defeating the purpose of the entire exercise.
- Accessorise – Finally, if you’re really feeling low about your wardrobe and find yourself wishing for change, consider bringing in some new accessories to brighten up your existing threads. The difference a change of necklace can make to the way you feel about that dress or that top is phenomenal. And shaking up your accessory collection is a much cheaper way to keep your capsule wardrobe interesting than buying vast swathes of new clothing every time you get bored. You could also try having an accessory swapping party: get a few friends to come round with a bunch of their own accessories and have fun swapping. You don’t have to keep things forever, but a couple of weeks with some new-to-you jewellery and a scarf or two is bound to generate some new ideas and get you feeling excited about your wardrobe all over again.
Above all else, the biggest piece of advice I feel I can give in relation to shopping for your capsule wardrobe is to ignore fashion magazines. Under no circumstances should you ever buy something simply because Glamour, or Cosmo, or Vogue says you should. Fashion magazines need to sell advertising space to designers in order to make a profit. Telling people not to buy those designers’ vastly overpriced “pay for the name rather than the item” products isn’t conducive to securing future ad business, whereas the opposite most definitely is. Worth bearing in mind when they’re busy nagging you to pay over a small fortune for the must-have item of the season I think.
And anyway, the most stylish people are who they are because they do their own thing and they don’t pay the blindest bit of attention to what’s hot and what’s not. So throw caution to the wind and your stack of Vogues in the recycling bin: tread your own sartorial path and wear whatever you want, whenever you want. Only buy things you need, like and that fit. Find joy and creativity in using your capsule wardrobe to its maximum effect by mixing and matching. Layer, layer then layer some more and don’t be afraid to experiment. Blaze your own trail by clashing colours; mixing fabrics and piling on accessories. Clothes are meant to be fun, not something that’s ever worth getting upset or stressed over. And the next time you find yourself moaning that you have nothing to wear (which should never happen if you have a capsule wardrobe), remember that for millions of people in the world, deciding what to wear isn’t an option. You are fortunate enough to have that option. So be thankful for it and have fun.
Image above from Flickr – HowardLake.
