Who wastes their mornings deciding what to wear to work? That 5 to 15 minutes of mentally then physically pulling outfits together can be stressful and frankly, annoying.
Enter the Capsule Wardrobe Approach.
The capsule wardrobe as a fashion philosophy began to take flight in 2014 when Caroline Rector documented cutting down of her wardrobe to 37 pieces on her blog called Unfancy. Since then the philosophy has evolved and matured like good wine, into a choice of mindfulness rather than a strict fashion diet regiment. Now, the capsule wardrobe can be defined as the basic foundations of your wardrobe: You can be flexible in adding trends, colours and patterns each season, with the total no. of pieces being around or less than 50.
Coming back to workwear, it is only natural that someone would want to spend time thinking about how they are going to look for the sunniest 8 hours of the day. So how do we integrate the capsule approach into making the most influential style decision of everyday?
Workwear Capsule Wardrobe Rule 1:
Each bottom piece should match at least 5 tops
Having versatile bottom pieces that you can just pick up with any top is key to making your morning dress up easier and faster. Black and White are the obvious choices here – but a camel or grey pant goes just as well with any tops. Leather is also easy for the winter. Just remember to keep your hemlines as conservative as how conservative your workplace is!
Workwear Capsule Wardrobe Rule 2:
Set a colour palette
Everyone has 2-3 colours that look absolutely stunning on them. Curate a colour palette (easily done here) with a few colours and neutral shades to make your wardrobe visually and practically on-point. This also helps you to match outfits – so you wore that white shirt-camel pant combo yesterday? Put on the white sweater instead! So easy. Few examples down below:
Workwear Capsule Wardrobe Rule 3:
The 7-3 rule
Selecting tops for a capsule can be tricky, as there are so many options. Just remember the 7-3 rule. For every 7 neutral or classic tops, you are allowed 3 statement tops. This will help you restrict your wardrobe to your absolute favourites. As the seasons come and go you can add 1-2 trendier pieces to your capsule – but just remember to ask the mindful question of am I really going to wear this and does it go well with the bottom pieces I have?
Workwear Capsule Wardrobe Rule 4:
Accessorise to add individuality
A huge misconception in both workwear and capsule wardrobe is that it limits your style creativity. Mix and matching your pieces, or accessorising with jewellery that expresses who you are pushes styling options to an infinity. As part of your around-50 pieces, incorporate some accessories to sparkle up your outfits.
Workwear Capsule Wardrobe Rule 5:
Every piece should serve a purpose
Last but definitely not the least, make sure every one of your purchasing and discarding decisions are grounded in purpose. Loving that bold neon green sweater? Don’t you need to buy new jeans, shoes and jacket to style it? It’s important to ask these questions to keep your wardrobe waste-free. Because no matter how beautiful something is, if you are not going to wear it, it’s waste.