genevieve.malarkey In my last post I shared the best tips for getting started on a French-inspired capsule wardrobe. It is super common in France to have higher quality, but less quantity of items in one’s closet; good clothing in France is quite expensive, and the sentiment of “less is more” is a real thing there. A Parisienne would rather have one gorgeous Burberry trench in her closet than several cheaper versions from H&M. Why have three different pairs of brown leather boots from Monoprix, when one designer set will make you more chic and sophisticated? And if you can’t always afford to stroll into Prada and walk out with a new pair of shoes in hand, the concept remains true at whatever budget level you are: good fashion is an investment, after all (or so I keep telling my husband).
I have always been drawn to higher quality fabrics and clothing that gives an air of being more luxurious yet simplistic in style. No shiny polyester for me, merci! And busy prints? Mais non. I believe clothing should put you on display- your outfit should be luxe and stylish, but never distracting from your visage. This is one of the many reasons I was born to be a Francophile! Less is more, and everything you wear should accentuate your natural beauty, not distract from it.
So, if you’re interested in living this style philosophy (not to mention wanting to live more sustainably- think of all the clothes that wont be wasted just sitting in your closet for years), you and I should adopt a capsule wardrobe mindset. Now that I equipped you with the steps for creating your capsule, it’s time I show you how I am faring in the process. I originally planned for this to be the one and only update on this post, but as you will see I am realizing what a lengthy process this can be if you’re like me and have many, many items to sift through. So on today’s post I will share two of the largest areas of my closet: cardigans, and summer tops. The former because, I heart cardigans, and the latter because I live in Florida and mostly wear summery tops throughout the year. Just diving into these two areas has taken me a few days of sifting, sorting, trying on, and photographing.
Are you making any changes to your closet, too?
Cardigans: the comfort blankets of my wardrobe
I started with my cardigan collection, as I had mentioned before that it is a bit out of control. I think cardigans are a kind of comfort blanket for me- the perfect finishing touch to an outfit, they cover you up if you feel like your outfit is too flashy, and they add a dose of coziness we all want throughout the day. That being said, I have way too many. So I first pared down what I know I hadn’t worn in the last year or so, and then I channeled my inner Marie Kondo and also set aside the ones that do not “spark joy.” That left with me with a good handful still- I separated the remaining cardigans in two piles: definitely keep, and maybe keep. The last step is to keep the best pieces that coordinate with the rest of your wardrobe, but since I am an aforementioned “solids” kind of girl, I found that almost all of my cardigans are neutral enough to pair with anything. I decided to keep what I still have at this point until the next chilly season- Summer in Florida is not the time of year to weed out your sweaters (or long-sleeved shirts for that matter), so I stopped there. That being said, I definitely have about four that are my very favorites that I know I will keep around come Winter.
Current season attire: Summer tops, stripes, chambray
The next section I tackled were my summer tops. This is the most useful section for me since it is currently summer and I will be wearing all these tops for the next several months. After pulling them all out of my closet, I realized I had a lot. Like, a lot a lot. I went through each top and separated them into 3 piles: definitely keep, maybe keep, and donate. I ended up having to try on each top in the “maybe keep” pile because while I hadn’t worn some of them in the last year or so, they were still stylish enough and fit me well enough to convince me to keep some of them. Once I weeded through the maybe pile, I had a slew of colorful summery tops that made me wonder how in the heck I would coordinate any of these into a cohesive capsule. Enter: the chambray top, my absolute favorite item of them all, and which brings anything and everything in your closet together (see image above).
Not shown: My t-shirt and blouse summer collection, which are all in similar solid prints and stripes. I will include these in my outfit coordination post.
Bottoms
The last area I worked on for now is bottoms. I didn’t have to do much in this area because I had already gone through my large collection of pants and jeans about a month or two ago, so my collection was pretty much where I wanted it to be. I did add a few skirts to the donation box, as some I knew never fit me great (but were pretty enough that I didn’t want to part with them), or I just hadn’t worn them in forever. I only have a small collection of dresses, being that I really don’t wear dresses very often, so I kept what I have because I am happy with them all still.
Not pictured: boyfriend jeans, black jeans, and wide leg pants for hot summer days. I would say the pieces in the image above are an excellent “base” for a capsule, however, and then you can add in what other styles you like.
So there I had it: tops, cardigans, and bottoms that I knew I loved, but not yet coordinated to perfection like all the capsules you see on Pinterest. This is going to be the hard part: can I really put away the items that don’t coordinate with others, for the sake of the capsule? What if I really love something but it doesn’t “fit in” with the other pieces- do I have to toss it? And what about my easy breezy “mom uniform” tops I keep around to throw on for playing in the backyard? These are my current questions as I work on coordination outfits, as well as shoes (eek).
And at that, I’ll leave you with the seven realizations I didn’t expect to have while transitioning to a capsule wardrobe. Stay tuned for my final update!
– This is a process, not a fun afternoon of idly sifting thought your things. If you don’t believe me, watch “Tidying Up.”
– I must really love peplum tops, because as I went through my tank top and tshirt collection, the majority were just that. I had no idea.
– My stripes collection is on point.
– This is a very difficult process to do with one’s current wardrobe, because not everything automatically coordinates with each other, but that doesn’t mean you should necessarily rid yourself of the item if you love it and wear it often. Finding cohesiveness among all my pieces is my struggle right now.
– While I love everything French, I am also American, and the American girl in me likes to have options.
– A capsule wardrobe might be more something to work toward when making new purchases and paring down your closet; it may not be realistic (or within most peoples’ budgets) to throw out all the things and start almost from scratch just for the sake of versatility or coordination. As I make purchases in the future, I will try to narrow my focus on quality pieces that are versatile in form, but it might not be 100% doable with what I have now- I can’t quite bring myself to throw out items that are outliers but are ones which I adore.
– Nonetheless, it does feel good to be putting some items in the donation box- I have been wanting to do this for a while now, and once everything is back in my closet I know I will feel great about what is left behind.
In about another week I will have a capsule collection that I am excited to share. I initially planned for this one blog post to be a conclusion on the concept, but as I kept working, and strewing clothes all over my bedroom (and my kids kept collecting all the hangers and seeing how creative they can be with them), it dawned on me that change takes time. And while I’ve made admirable progress, I’ve not yet met the ideal I set out to achieve (or not, we’ll see). So no, my closet is not quite French.
If you are doing this too, how is the process going for you? Do you feel more French-inspired – in both style and substance – as you sort through your items? How many striped tops do you have? Here’s to a more minimalist, quality-over-quantity, French-inspired life! I hope.
À la prochaine–
geneviève
