CREATING A CAPSULE WARDROBE FOR FALL

By now, you know I love a good capsule wardrobe. I always create one for when I travel. It involves planning out the least amount of pieces that will create the greatest amount of options, while minimizing the amount of space used in my suitcase.

It works pretty brilliantly for travel, but I never thought to create one for my own closet, and what I wear day to day. I had a lightbulb moment when I revisited a line that, to be honest, never appealed to me before. Often stereotyped as something for ladies my mother's age, I ended up finding tons of versatile pieces from Eileen Fisher that can be mixed and matched all season long. Cheap, no. But well built, and tailored to perfection, yes. They just feel good on your skin.

Fall is a time of big wardrobe buying for me. With the climate I live in, I can get wear out of the pieces I buy this time of year almost year round. I tend to spend a lot now, save a bundle when you might be buying cutoffs and sandals.

This season, I decided to limit myself to a certain number of pieces that can be mixed to create an outfit for every need. That magic number for me? 30. You probably have some of these pieces in your closet already, and you can use those to build your own capsule for fall.

THE 30 PIECES

Tailored Jacket  |  Oversize Jacket  |  Waxed Jacket  |  Denim Jacket  |  Chambray Shirt  |  Silk Asymmetric Tank  |  Grey Cropped Tee  |  Grey V-Neck Sweater  |  Leather Trim Bone Sweater  |  Silk Drape Pants  |  Olive Moto Pants  |  Jeans  |  Black Jeans  |  Black Racerback Tank Dress  |  Grey Silk Dress  |  Plaid Pencil Skirt  |  Black Tights  |  Rebel Gold Bar Pendant  |  Black Ankle Booties  |  Brown Fedora  |  Mixed Metals Cuff Bracelets  |  Black Stripe Flats  |  Black Fedora  |  Mixed Metal Stacking Rings  |  Taupe Ankle Booties  |  Oatmeal Beanie  |  Topaz Drop Earrings  |  Pyramid Stud Earrings  |  Shibori Scarf  |  Burgundy Scarf

I could create enough outfits to last me months with these 30 pieces, but here are a few to get you inspired.

CONQUER YOUR CLOSET SERIES - ALL TOGETHER NOW

I'm mildly sad that this series is coming to a close - mainly because I've enjoyed hearing your stories about your own closet clean outs, vision board creating, and finding pieces that really work for you. But I'm excited to knock this one off my 30 Before 30 list and move on to the next big project.

The best thing you can do for your sanity is have a clean, well organized closet. Why?

Prevent overbuying or re-buying
It's impossible to see if you already own a pair of black skinny jeans if you haven't seen them in so long you can't remember, because they're crumpled up after falling off the hanger in the back of your closet. Knowing what you already have is essential before you shop.

Save money on clothing maintenance
I once ripped a hole in a very expensive cashmere sweater when it came in contact with a high heel after being tossed on my closet floor. I know, I know. This is incredibly immature of me, but admit it - something like this has happened to you. Or maybe you didn't hang up that dry clean only silk top after you came in from a night out with friends, and now it needs to be dry cleaned again, even though it's not dirty. Not taking care of your clothes costs more money. And wouldn't you rather spend that on a great new bag?

Save time and prevent stress
When everything is put away and easily seen, you'll make your choices that much faster. You get an extra fifteen minutes of sleep in the morning, you can linger longer in the shower, and be out the door much less frazzled than you would be if you were searching for the black tights instead of the navy.

Want to see photos of my own closet, and get some tips on how to organize yours?

CONQUER YOUR CLOSET - COMPLETE THE PUZZLE

Since you've cleaned out your closet, defined your style, and selected your key pieces to define your closet wishlist, it's time to put it all together.

Looking at my key pieces, I knew that I wanted to stick with my color palette, but add in a few items that could be mixed and matched. I decided to pick the one trend I love right now - burgundy - and go with it.

I knew that I would get lots of mileage out of a burgundy pencil skirt, and I happened on a great steal on this Marc Jacobs bag on Poshmark. A textured sweater in a neutral hue can be worn all year long in chilly San Francisco. And though I already have a trusty black basic blazer, I love the leather trim and the asymmetrical zipper on this one. Black ankle boots can be dressed up or down, and the comfy wedge makes them walkable.

But the real fun comes when you start mixing these pieces in to what you already own. While the combinations are infinite, I decided to show you how you can take just one new piece and add it to what you've already got. With just a single strategic piece, you can create a new outfit for work, and a new outfit for the weekend.

 

Four completely different looks from just two new pieces. As you can imagine, there are so many additional options. What combinations would you come up with? I thought it would be fun to let you play a sort of "mix master" game and see how many you can put together.

What's your favorite combination? What pieces are you adding to your closet this season to get the most mileage out of what you already own?

CONQUER YOUR CLOSET SERIES - COMPLETE THE PUZZLE

If you've done The Big Purge and used your pins to Define Your Style, now comes the really fun part - shopping!

This is not to be treated as a free for all, buy as much as you want, replace as many things as you purged sort of shopping trip. Instead, this should be treated as strategic. What pieces are you really missing to build the outfits you admire on your style board?

Begin by taking an inventory of everything you own. Yes, everything. This is how you'll avoid purchasing a second black pencil skirt or a pair of boots similar to ones you already own. Admit it. You've done it. I'm guilty of it too. We all are. But let's stop that today!

After you inventory your closet, define your key pieces. For me, these are the accessories and clothing that I knew I could mix and re-mix to make several outfits with. In fact, I could be content with just these items. But since I'm looking to step things up a notch, I'll show you how you can take your key pieces, add a few strategic purchases, and people will think you bought a whole new wardrobe.

Tomorrow I'll show you how I used these pieces, along with my defined style + my vision board to map strategic purchases I needed to add in - and how to maximize those selections.

What pieces do you have in your closet that you wear again and again?

SHOP MY KEY PIECES

Blouse: http://ow.ly/hu7Bq
Watch: http://ow.ly/hu7EV
Link Bracelet: http://ow.ly/hu7uz
Taupe Ankle Boots: http://ow.ly/hu7Kn
Dark Skinny Jeans: http://ow.ly/hu7O2
Riding Boots: http://ow.ly/hu7SE
Black Bag (Exact): http://ow.ly/hu89b
Pencil Skirt (super clearance!): http://ow.ly/hu8hO
Tees (Exact): http://ow.ly/hu8rz
Stripe Tee: http://ow.ly/hu8ZM
Glasses (Exact): http://ow.ly/hu9jB
Black Pumps: http://ow.ly/hu9R9
Brown Bag (Exact): http://ow.ly/hu9us

CONQUER YOUR CLOSET SERIES - DEFINE YOUR STYLE

Style is a very personal thing, and for me, it's something that's in constant flux. Things I preferred a year ago are vastly different from things I prefer today. As I look at my pins, I notice an evolution from the beginning of this year until now. My pins go from very feminine, to less feminine, to very tailored with a masculine edge.

Over the last month, I've made a point to pin intentionally, to only pin outfits to this board that I would actually wear. As I did, I noticed that patterns began to emerge. This roadmap guided me when I did The Big Purge, and I'll show you how it helped me make strategic purchases in next week's "Complete The Puzzle."

More than any other pattern, I noticed that I'm particularly drawn to outfits with a skinny bottom, paired with heels or boots, and loose tops like blazers, leather jackets, capes, and tunics. For my body type, this works best since I am both petite and curvy. Wide leg pants or flowing bottoms tend to make my bottom half look heavier than it is. By reversing the proportions, my outfit makes me look thinner.

Living in San Francisco requires a coat year round, and usually a scarf too. I noticed multiple pins of classically tailored coats like trenches and car coats with large, chunky scarves. And if you happened to notice, both of these outfits are also paired with skinny bottoms. Catching the patterns?

Nearly every outfit is also a combination of something masculine with something feminine. This was a lightbulb moment for me. It's how I prefer my interiors, why wouldn't it be how I prefer my wardrobe? I tend to lean towards the gender neutral side, but with a bit of warmth (or in this case, feminine) thrown in. A boyish tee is paired with bold baubles, heels, and a lace skirt. A flowing maxi dress is paired with a tailored bag and a leather blazer.

Now you try! I think that Pinterest is the best way to keep track of what you like. It's an easy visual reference to pull up on your phone or iPad while shopping, and you can see the link to the original source which often times has purchasing information. If you're hands on, you can save photos from magazines or catalogs and paste them into a notebook to carry with you and keep in your closet - my mom and I did this as early as 2002!

Once you lay things out in one, easy to see format, you'll begin to notice your own patterns. Try and examine each outfit. Ask yourself the following:

What do I like most about this?

Is there anything I don't like about this? (The don't can be just as telling as the do, and often times helps you refine your style further.)

Is this practical for my current life situation | office dress code | body type?

Do I own pieces of this look already?

What pattern do I love, but don't own?

Once you answer these questions, you can "Complete The Puzzle." The next post in the series will show you how to use this exercise to create a strategic shopping list to build the looks you've collected.

Is there a particular trend you find yourself pinning over and over again? Or a celebrity whose style you admire? (My faves are Rosie Huntington-Whitley and Gwyneth Paltrow!) Tell me below!

CONQUER YOUR CLOSET

Hello and Happy Monday!

I'm excited to announce today the continuation of the "Conquer Your Closet" Series - started here. What I realized, in writing the original post, is that so many of you face the same problems as I do.

You're stuck every morning looking at your closet, bemoaning that you have nothing to wear, yet your closet is packed to the seams. 

You have really great individual pieces, but don't know how to put them together.

You pin outfit inspiration all day long to Pinterest, but don't know how to replicate the looks in real life.

How we look is an extension of how we feel. I've mentioned often that working from home presents another type of challenge - who am I dressing up for, anyway? But at the end of the day, I know that when I feel pulled together, I feel I can conquer the world.

As I've slowly been working my way through my own closet clean-out, I can tell you that I've learned more about myself in this month than I ever expected. My clothes and accessories that fill my closet these days are a natural extension of my personality. They're things that look good on my body in its current state instead of things I hope I'll be able to pull off one day, or things that don't flatter my figure.

But what I also learned is that the process is more emotional than I ever expected. It feels thrilling to purchase new things that fit your taste, but it can be downright depressing to create a pile of cast-offs and see money wasted on things that just don't work for you. It's a roller coaster, but I hope that by sharing my process with you, it will end up being rewarding for you.

In this series, you'll learn:

The Big Purge - It all begins with a deep dive into your closet.

Define Your Style - How to create a roadmap for your personal style.

Complete The Puzzle [ Part One ] [ Part Two ] - Strategic shopping for pieces that fulfill your style vision.

All Together Now - Organize your closet and put an end to the "nothing to wear" blues.

Starting tomorrow, each Tuesday I'll be sharing another part of the series. If you haven't read The Big Purge - go! We'll be talking about how to Define Your Style tomorrow.

Which part of the series are you looking forward to most?


IMAGE | CURRENT/ELLIOTT STUDIO VIA MATCHBOOK MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2012 ISSUE

CONQUER YOUR CLOSET SERIES - THE BIG PURGE

This weekend, I started to tackle one of the biggest items on my 30 before 30 list, #12. Cleaning out my closet keeps falling to the bottom of my to-do list, not just because it's a huge undertaking but also because of the emotional battle I knew it would be.

For the last three years, I've struggled with my weight and ballooned and decreased in size on and off due to Celiac disease. I have finally hit my stride in the last year to where I've lost quite a bit of weight, kept it off, with only 30 or so pounds to go to be at my ideal weight. That said, the clothes in my closet harbor a lot of feelings. Things I wore when I was big and not feeling like myself. Things I bought hoping to make myself feel better that still have tags attached and were never worn. Things that I spent too much money on, looking for some sort of version of myself to present to others.

Quite honestly, I bought things that at the time I couldn't afford. But I thought, if the first impression of people is that I'm overweight but that I own nice things and have great taste, maybe they would think more highly of me than I felt about myself.

This is a dangerous trap.

It took me reading "Live More, Want Less" to make the connection between my emotions and my buying habits. Then it took a re-read to actually stop purchasing. Even three months ago, I couldn't really open my closet without feeling some sort of guilt, seeing things unworn or that didn't suit me.

I decided before my 30th birthday that this would change. My goal is to go into that year as certain of myself as ever. I've quit purchasing cheap, throwaway fashion and now try to only purchase things I really need, or that are pieces that will last me several years. And I'm trying not to buy too much at all, knowing that losing the last bit of weight is my final goal.

Since cleaning out your closets can be incredibly hard if you don't know where to start, I used the following strategy. Keep reading for tips.