It is no surprise that I am in a constant journey seeking for fashion, garment and style related knowledge. After the pandemic, I was left with an urge to reconnect with my personal style, my love for sewing (which I kinda lost) and my wardrobe. And I KNOW I'm not the only one because there are tons of online content on this an people asking for more BUT before we all get overwhelmed with the oceanwaves of content, I believe that by organizing and creating lists FIRST, we can conquer.
I have no clue on which zodiac sign reigns the lists arena, whichever it is, I am sure I have tons of it. Creating lists, action plans and organizing is my passion, sadly tho, I don't always get to complete everything listed, that's just the truth. But, making them to plan my sewing has been a proven method into not losing my already overflowed head.
In this post I will share with you my MO (modus operandi) for creating my own capsule wardrobe, and what do I mean by that?
All garments mus have more than one viable combination.
Most garments must be able to be dressed down & up.
Having more base garments than "special" ones (beware, by base I do not mean basics).
Try and balance different categories of garments, such as not having one pair of trousers and 3 newly bought outerwear (as I do right now).
Everything has to fit and be in good condition. There's no room for overly thight jeans not worn in ages or ragged, discolored, abandoned items.
It is worth mentioning a few extra *very personal* terms for my wardrobe. You could have none, or different terms, too.
Stay away from black, I want to add and experiment color.
Comfy Everything (Not thinking of only loungewear here, but good fit, quality fabric, etc)
Owning more me-made than RTW.
In case of buying RTW opting for local, sustainable, ethical brands instead of fast-fash.
Ideally, choosing sewing patterns that include new, challenging techniques.
Choosing my fabrics carefully, trying for better quality and better, cooler prints.
Consider my style root and kibbe body types.
Alright! Let's dive right into the step by step so you too can create your own wardrobe that does work!
At the end of the blog post I am sharing my pinterest board with current style, my fav pattern designers, where I buy fabric from and the template to create your own list and sewing wishlist.
STEP ONE
In order to decide which garments I will sew or buy, first I needed to identify what I already have and what gaps my closet has.
I start by creating a digital list of all my garments, separated by category. This list is by heart, remembering what I have in my closet, this would be the first "filter" - If I forgot anything, maybe it wasn't worth remembering.
My main categories are Tops, Bottoms, Jumpsuits, Dresses, Outerwear & Shoes ( I don't categorize lingerie, underwear, nor sportswear).
With this first draft done, I actually go to my closet and revise. If I did forget something, I ponder if I should add it or toss it.
In this particular case, I did forget a relatively new dress that I actualy wear quite a lot and my white tailored suit I wore for my wedding (oops!).
I added them all to the list because they are still relevant and worn.
STEP TWO
Color code all garments by category and use. My main categories are:
Base (Green) Everyday garments, building blocks for all my outfits. I does not mean basics only. For instance, I added my Blue Velvet Zadie Jumpsuit and it is anything but basic. Ideally, I want to own more base garments to really squeeze their juice daily.
Especial Ocassion (Yellow) Items worn on weddings, christmas, etc - not so much for everyday grocery shopping.
Seasonal (Blue) Garments such as merino wool layers, heavy coats, snow attire or summer dresses, bathingsuits, that are only worn on their specific weather.
Lounge (Mint) My category for clothes that I have a difficult time letting go of, but I do not wear. And it is ok if you are on the same boat with me, this is meant to be enjoyable! Don't get rid of anything if you don't really want to.
Not Current It is signaled with the asterisk, meant for clothes way beyond their life span - torn, ragged, discoloured, unwearable garments (thanks for your service, sir) the only trick here is to ponder if they play an important role in our closet, if so, should I buy a new similar one? Recreate it? or was it not longer relevant?
STEP THREE
Number all garments by category to see how's the balance. This doesn't mean all categories must have the exact same number of items, instead, a balance by use.
For instance, I currently have more outerwear than tops, when in reality I always need to wear a top and not always some form of outerwear, so I have an unbalanced closet, does that make sense?
This is exaclty where I start to notice gaps and need in my wardrobe.
Doing this, I came up with another term I want to add - Not owning more than 80 items in total across all categories. Right now I am up to 57.
Is 80 too much, too little or average? I would dare to say the average total is a 100 items, what do you think? Or how many do you own?
Why would I want to limit myself? Well, if I don't I will loose myself in too many items, and I don't want to have many garments unused.
In this step, I identify with bold numbers all items that I created, my me-mades, this way I can also keep track of owning more me-mades than rtw bought off the rack.
STEP FOUR
We've arrived to the best part, filling the gaps.
These are some questions I asked myself during this process to help myself answer what to add or subtract:
Which categories are in dire need of renovation or more items?
Which garments can be replicated? With this I mean, having more of a garment you know works, and constantly wear, like button downs or some sort of trousers.
How many more garments do I want, or can I add to my wardrobe?
How many garments do I want to sew, and how mandy do I want to buy?
Once these are answered, we can continue to find inspo in Pinterest or Ig, and of course we could spend ENTIRE HOURS, days even, looking for inspo but I suggest you set a time frame for this precise chore - 40 minutes can be more than enough :)
Or, you could already have an image bank of saves on your phone or socials with more than enough ideas.
When looking for ideas, I try to keep the following sentences in mind to truly find feasible outfits and garments that I will actually want to wear:
**All these, by also making sure I am taking inspiration from sewists or folks with bodies similar to mine**
What items do I already have that would match with this "inspo garment"?
Will I be comfortable wearing such an outfit?
Which garments are constantly repeating in my inspo? For instance, if I am pinning and saving tons of blazers, I might as well plan to sew or buy some.
Which patterns are enjoyable to sew? Whether it be for interesting techniques or detailing.
And lastly, the most important, do I already own a similar pattern? In my huge stash of sewing patterns I regularly find something to work as is or with minimum alterations instead of buying new sewing patterns each time or drafting from beginning to end. Great time, and resource saver here!
STEP FIVE
Number how many items are in your wishlist, in my case having a grand total (adding existing garments + wishlist) of no more than 80 garments, separate them by category (dresses, trousers, dresses, etc) this is my go-to to avoid sewing or buying any more outerwear, when I am in such need of tops and bottoms for the everyday.
This means, that even though I LOVE sewing and wearing jumpsuits, I have a sufficient amount of those and I need to direct my efforts into other categories.
The very last step is identifying by color which sewing patterns are already in my stash and which ones I would need to buy or self draft, and the items that are "selfless sews" meaning things I won't be using myself, but my husband and doggies will, these are not added to the total sum of items in my closet but I like adding them to keep track of them.
To my wishlist items I add pattern, fabric, color and print in case I know exactly what I want. Sometimes I add a note (the tiny black triangle) to save the link to a certain fabric or pattern.
So far you could be wondering, why going through so much trouble if I can simply buy off the rack? and that could be an option too! It's just that it's not MY option, and possibly it wouldn't be either for anyone who enjoys sewing as a hobby, or that want to change their consumption habits (I think we all are up to speed on the S*ein travesty, or any other fast and ultra fast fashion brand).
Creating lists and action plans for the future can be really helpful if you are looking to end the war with your wardrobe and actualy sewing all the garments you took as inspiration, and finally stop staring at your closet thinking you have absolutely nothing to wear.
With this method I know I am able to help my future self in ways such as:
Be on the lookout for discounts or deals on fabrics and sewing patterns I already put my eye on.
If I fall inlove with a RTW item, actualy ponder if it has a place in my capsule wardrobe.
When fabric shopping, looking for yards I'll actually sew and not just buying because. (Although we all know that fabric shopping and sewing are entirely different hobbies that not always one leads to the other)
Refinig my personal style.
I'll be sharing another post creating moodboards with your garments to create cool looks and never run out of outfit ideas. This is something I learned from a friend, who does this in a slightly different way but still effective!
As always, thank you for reading me and please do share with me how do you consume fashion, whether it be actual clothing or news, how you decide which thing to sew, and what pains in the butt you encounter when looking to yor closet, I love reading you, and you can find me at my ig :)
Links de utilidad
Pinterest Board for my style inspo.
Template to Organize Your Wardrobe (this is a Drive file you can copy to your own and edit)
Mood Fabrics for fabrics (duh!) and TONS of free downloadable sewing patterns.
SpoonFlower for on-demand print fabric, I am linking my profile but you can search for anything you can imagine and most probably there will be a print for it.
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