My travel capsule wardrobe

Each season I create a capsule wardrobe of 33 items of clothing, as part of Project 333. In my winter capsule I have nineteen long-sleeved tops, three jackets, three long cardigans, three pairs of trousers and one skirt. I also have a wool coat and trench coat for outer layers and a couple of dresses (not shown) for parties. This gives me plenty of variety over the winter months, however I am now planning to go on holiday and I can't fit everything into my suitcase! How do I decide which clothes I'm taking on our trip to Portugal?

I plan to take one of these long cardigans and possibly the brown tweed jacket.

I will be away for nine days so obviously don't need all twelve tops shown above! I'm definitely going to pack the lace top for going out in the evenings and will be selecting other tops that will go with the long cardigan and also the bottoms that I'm taking.

Do I take the winter coat or the trench coat? Or both? That will depend on the weather forecast! I won't be taking either of the jackets as, if I feel I need one, my brown tweed jacket will be the best option.

The blouse in the first picture above will go with the rest of my travel wardrobe, so it's a possibility.

These are all warm tops so I may pack either the green or cream one if the weather is going to be cold. 

Finally, the red skirt will be packed for when we go out to dinner. If it's cold I'll make sure we find a restaurant close to our hotel! I'll definitely be taking the chocolate brown and camel trousers. The jeans may be included if there's room in my case as I will be travelling in one pair of trousers and packing the other pair.

I intend to take two pairs of casual shoes, one of which will be trainers as I expect to do a lot of walking, plus a smarter pair for the evenings. Similarly I will have a tote bag for daytime and a smaller bag for going out at night. Apart from enough underwear for nine days, and nightwear, that will be all my clothes. Anyone who knows me will take it for granted that I will have a selection of scarves and jewellery to make my outfits more colourful.

In the photo above you can see the final selection of tops and bottoms that were packed for my holiday. I have realised that two of the items shown weren't in my winter capsule, so I'm guilty of cheating a bit! My excuse is that I have been exchanging a couple of items as I plan my Spring capsule, and realised that they would be useful for my travel capsule as I could add layers if need be. You can see a lime green long-sleeved top, which has replaced my cream warm top, and a leopard print tunic, which I took as an extra top for evenings. The camisoles are allowed as extra layers under the leopard print top, so I'm not cheating with them! This travel capsule proved to be perfect for our holiday, as the weather was changeable.

I have now returned from our holiday (we had a brilliant time, though the weather could have been better!) and am concentrating on my Spring capsule wardrobe. I do have a visit to London to see my children soon, so I will definitely need to keep a few winter items out for that. 

Winter capsule wardrobe

It's time to start thinking about my winter capsule wardrobe as part of Project 333. For those who don't know, the idea behind Project 333 is to limit yourself to 33 items of clothing each season to cover the 3 months. I've already packed away many of the short-sleeved tops from my Autumn 33 and I've added some long-sleeved tops, including a few new purchases. New additions to my wardrobe are shown in the first picture below. Yes I know that this includes a short-sleeved top, however it's a lace top for winter events when I want to look a bit more dressed up
and when I think that it's going to be warm enough to wear it.

The following tops featured in my autumn 33 and will mix and match well with my bottoms. Living in Spain, we do have some sunny days during the winter months where we don't need to layer up, however they will also go well with my cardigans and jackets on colder days where I need an extra layer.

   

I've included my new red ruched skirt - although I probably won't wear it very often over the next few months - as I think it's going to prove a versatile purchase. I wore it with the beige sparkly jumper when we received our Hypnos award in the theatre before Christmas. I will be wearing it with the new red top shown in the first photo when we go to a dinner dance on 6th January. It will be packed in my case when we go on holiday at the beginning of March, with a selection of tops, for going out in the evening. I'm sure it will score well on the cost per wear ratio!

As well as the three pairs of trousers shown above, I have a grey wool pair as seen in the following photo. These four pairs and the skirt will be rotated throughout the next three months and, with nineteen different tops, plus three cardigans and two jackets, I can create dozens of outfits. Obviously outer layers are very important during the winter months and my capsule includes the burgundy coat, copper trench-coat and beige puffer jacket shown above and the burgundy puffer jacket shown below.

I've mentioned before how it is sensible to build your capsule wardrobe around neutrals, in either warm or cool tones depending on your individual colouring. My neutrals here are mainly brown, camel and beige as well as dark navy jeans and grey trousers. The tops are mostly warm colours, including gold, orange, red and lime green. Accessories have a very important role to play in capsule wardrobes. They can provide contrast if your outfit is too dark and they can provide colour if your outfit is a bit dull. Above all, they will add personality to your outfits. 

The January sales can be very tempting, especially if your capsule consists mainly of neutrals and you love colour as much as I do. Did I mention that red is a neutral in my wardrobe? Just saying! If you're finding it hard to resist the sales, why not look for a colourful scarf, a statement necklace or sparkly earrings instead of yet another "bargain" dress or top that hardly gets worn? Something that will give both you and your wardrobe a lift. As for me, I'm going to try and resist temptation until it's time to start thinking about my Spring wardrobe. After all, with the above 33 items of clothing, I've got more than enough clothes to see me through the winter months.

Winter capsule wardrobe for Project 333

My autumn capsule wardrobe worked really well, however winter has definitely arrived so I need to retire a couple of short-sleeved tops until it's time to think about my spring capsule. For any new readers, the idea behind Project 333 is to limit yourself to a maximum of 33 items of clothing for the next 3 months. It may sound limiting to some of you, however if you choose your 33 items wisely your capsule wardrobe should prove to be versatile and far from boring.

Even in sunny Spain it's a lot colder during the winter months, so I rarely wear dresses or skirts at this time of the year. I've included four neutral bottoms in my winter capsule: grey trousers, navy denims, chocolate jeggings and sand trousers.

To create a column of colour (to help me look taller and slimmer!) I have included a navy cardigan, grey jacket, navy and grey jacket, brown cardigan and sand cardigan. I can't resist a bit of colour though, so you will also see a red cardigan, an olive one and my hero cardigan, which is shown in the last picture.

Now to a selection of tops to go with the bottoms. This is where I break away from the neutrals and have a bit of fun with my winter capsule. True there is a chocolate brown top, however the lace sleeves add some interest, and the olive top has sequins round the neckline, but as you can see I've also included blue, purple, red, lime, teal and orange. You may spot some striped tops too: I never can resist a striped top!

I like to show off my mathematical skills, so I've calculated that there are 16 tops and 4 bottoms in the capsule, which gives 64 different combinations. Don't forget that there are eight cardigans and jackets, so this increases the possible permutations, although admittedly not every top, bottom and jacket goes together. It's clear though that I can wear a different top every day over a two week period, so there's no need to become bored with my capsule. Remember that I can use those all important accessories to add even more variety to my wardrobe. 

Talking about maths, there are only 32 items shown here: this allows me to introduce a dress if we're invited somewhere smart or a wildcard in case I find something special in the January sales! Finally, two puffer jackets, a burgundy coat and my new copper trench are shown below: these should cover me for all types of weather and all occasions.

If any of you have been thinking about having a clear out of your wardrobe and/or building a capsule wardrobe that will give you plenty of variety, why not start it now? Click on this link to find out more about Project 333. I should admit here that I do bend the rules, as I don't include accessories, jewellery or shoes in my 33 items, but trust me: my wardrobe is definitely a lot less cluttered and more organised than it was before I started Project 333!

Project 333 following 7 Steps to Style

This is where I start using the lessons learnt through following Imogen's 7 Steps to Style system to create my latest wardrobe for Project 333.

For any newcomers, Project 333 refers to creating a wardrobe of 33 items of clothing to cover three months.  Here is my Winter 33, which is from the beginning of January (I know, I'm a bit late!) to the end of March.
      

Winter outerwear, including my new mulberry coat

Signature colours are ones that relate to your personal colouring and therefore flatter you the most. In my case the neutrals are dark brown (the colour of my hair) and grey (I have some grey in my eyes, and the odd pesky grey hair appears amidst the brown ones from time to time). I am also including navy, as the rim round my pupils is navy and I already have several navy garments in my wardrobe.

Here are some of my favourite colours (rather than neutrals) from the Enigmatic swatch. I'm hoping in time to cut the number down from sixteen (yes 16!) to just a few signature colours. However judging by the colours in my capsule wardrobe above, there will have to be at least one red, teal, green and purple in there. I know that some of the tops in my existing wardrobe are a bit cool, however I can't afford to replace them all at once. What I can do is add scarves and necklaces in my Enigmatic colours until I can phase them out. I will also use accessories to provide high value contrast where needed.

My style is casual chic and it is winter, which can be surprisingly cold in Spain, so I decided not to include any skirts in this capsule. The 33 items above include a pair of dark grey trousers, navy jeans, dark brown jeggings, aubergine leggings and black jeans.  Yes, I know that black wasn't mentioned in my signature neutrals above, but I can't afford to replace them at the moment and at least they won't be near my face, so they should be fine when worn with my new tops.

Six cardigans may prove to be excessive, but I do like to wear layers at this time of the year and I decided to make keeping warm one of my priorities.  If I find that I'm not wearing them all then I may replace one or two with another long-sleeved top. Four of the tops are short-sleeved, so they will definitely need to be worn with a cardigan until the weather improves. You may notice that, although they are different colours, the style is the same for all four of them. The v-neck is flattering for those of us who have rectangular or H shaped bodies, plus it also helps petites look taller. The cross over effect and ruching helps to disguise my lack of a waist, which has to be a bonus. Three of the tops (coral, brown and teal) go really well with my swatch too.

One of the lessons that I learnt doing the 7 Steps was that creating a column of colour makes me look taller and slimmer. How wonderful is that? My navy cardigan will go with the navy jeans, the grey cardigan is just right with my grey trousers and as for the multi-coloured patterned cardigan, there's some dark brown in it, so today I'm wearing it with my brown jeggings. In all of these examples the column is on the outside, however I could wear my green cardigan over the brown top and jeggings, in which case the column would be on the inside. The other members of the 7 Steps group approved of the outfit below, including Imogen, so it seems as if I'm going in the right direction. The aubergine cardigan is shown in the fifth picture tied at the waist, but I think I prefer it loose as it has a lengthening effect.

Because you are working with a more limited wardrobe when doing Project 333, it is advisable to choose items of clothing that will mix and match with each other to create as many outfits as possible. Of course you can do this by choosing mainly neutrals, but my style recipe is "Parisian Casual Chic with a Dash of Colour and a little bit Quirky". Yes I've changed it yet again, however you'll notice that the word colour is still there, justifying the number of different colours in my winter capsule.

The advantage of working with a colour palette is that all the colours work together, so how many potential outfits can I make from my Winter 33? I'm going to ignore the aubergine leggings, as they are mainly for when I do Tai Chi or hiking, though I can also wear them under the two tunics shown above in the sixth picture.  There are four other pairs of trousers and jeans, which can be worn with any of the seventeen tops.  Grab your calculator and work this one out: yes, that makes 68 different outfits, not including the two tunics. As the teal tunic is almost knee length I can actually wear it as a dress too, with thick tights.

I nearly forgot the cardigans, Remember that I said the navy one makes a column of colour with my navy jeans and the grey one works well with my grey trousers? If I add a cardigan to any of those 68 outfits it will create even more variations. Did you think that a wardrobe of 33 items of clothing wouldn't provide you with enough options? Hopefully I have convinced you otherwise. If you follow the link above and read the rules for Project 333, you'll notice that I've bent the rules slightly and not included shoes and other accessories,  Hopefully Courtney won't pop over to Spain to check my wardrobe!

If you've been reading my posts about the 7 Steps to Style system, don't worry, I'll be back with the final three steps very soon. The next step ties in very neatly with Project 333 too: Step 5 Your Wardrobe.

Wardrobe review

In my previous post I looked back over the year, however in this one I am looking forward to the next 12 months and in particular to having a wardrobe that works for me. I am following Project 333 and have sorted out my 33 items of clothing to cover me from now until the end of March and I'm hoping that some of you might join me in this project. Click on the link Project 333 to find out more.

The official version of Project 333 includes shoes and other accessories and also jewellery. My cheat's version of Project 333 means that I have limited myself to 33 items of winter clothing that are hanging up in my wardrobe as we speak, however I have excluded accessories and jewellery. The rest of my winter clothes have either been donated to charity or stored away as "maybes". If I don't pull out any of the "maybes" on the basis that I have realised that they are "must haves", they will be donated next time round.

There are a lot of temptations in January shopping-wise, both on-line and when walking down your local high street. I'm talking about SALES or REBAJAS as they say here in Spain! The capitals are deliberate as most shop windows (or tempting emails in your inbox) have dramatic signs that you really can't miss, with the promise of amazing discounts to lure you in. I'm not trying to spoil your fun, but before you hit the sales why not do a review of your wardrobe to see what you really need? This is particularly helpful if you are taking part in Project 333.

When sorting out my wardrobe, I realised that it is starting to look a lot more coordinated than a year ago. About half of last winter's 33 has been retained (16 items to be precise); some items have been replaced (for example I bought a new pair of navy jeans), three tops were thrown out as they were past their best and a few things are now in the "maybe" pile.

Although you are restricted to 33 items of clothing, it doesn't mean you can't buy new clothes. Just remember the rule of one in, one out.  If you do decide to buy something new, make sure that it goes with other clothes in your wardrobe.  I have printed out photos of my winter 33 as an aide mémoire for when I go shopping and it really helps me to avoid those impulse buys that never really go with anything else.

Does this all sound a bit daunting? Are you put off by the idea of removing everything from your wardrobe and sorting it into 3 piles: things you love; things that should be thrown out or donated; your maybe pile? Do not fear, in my next post I will share an excellent way of clearing out your wardrobe with an idea borrowed from Janice of The Vivienne Files - so watch this space!

From a Common Wardrobe to Project 333

Hopefully I've persuaded you that it's possible to have a versatile wardrobe with just twelve items of clothing, as shown in my Common Wardrobe series of posts. These were inspired by Janice's "A Common Wardrobe" in The Vivienne Files. The link is to one of her posts giving a variation in pink and navy, which seemed the most relevant one after I'd written "The Common Wardrobe: Pretty in Pink?"

Now I am going to be generous to you - after all it's the season of goodwill! - and allow you to have another 21 garments, giving  you a grand total of 33.  I am talking of course of taking part in Project 333 and what better time to begin than January 1st? I know there are almost two weeks to go, but you need to start planning it as soon as possible. Briefly, the idea of Project 333 is to select just 33 items of clothing to wear over three months. The official version includes accessories and jewellery in the 33, however I have bent the rules slightly.

When I first started doing my own version of Project 333 last year I did include shoes and bags, however I found it a bit limiting.  I suspect that this was partly because my wardrobe at the time was rather haphazard with lots of different colours, not all of which went well with the other colours. There was an occasional wardrobe crisis if I let the washing pile up and realised that nothing in my wardrobe went with anything else in it. By the second season I realised I needed to exclude accessories if it was to work for me. My wardrobe has changed over the last twelve months and is starting to look more coordinated so maybe one day I will be able to manage with less.

To start with, this is my Common Wardrobe, based on neutrals of black, grey and navy, with a touch of red.

Your neutrals don't have to be the same as mine: you may look better in dark brown, khaki and taupe for example. The idea though is to have a core wardrobe based around neutral colours that flatter you and then,  if you wish, build on that with more colourful clothes that go well with your neutrals.

As I said earlier, if you are going to take part in Project 333 from 1st January, you need to start going through your existing wardrobe now! You are aiming to keep only those clothes that fit you, look good on you and suit your lifestyle - then get rid of the rest. If that seems too drastic, then box them up and put them away until the end of March.

My wardrobe is obviously a lot more casual than the wardrobe of anyone who goes out to work. My preferred style is casual chic. Other over 60s may go for a more classic, romantic or dramatic look. Whatever your preferences, it helps to identify your personal style before creating any capsule. You may discover some gaps in your wardrobe once you  have cut it back to only those items that you enjoy wearing, however if you start your clear-out now, you should have time to drop a few hints to family and friends regarding possible Christmas presents.

It's been bitterly cold here recently so I've not been wearing the navy trench-coat, however it's ideal over layers on a sunny day so it will still be part of my Winter 33. The indigo jacket is lightweight but very warm and therefore will definitely be packed for my forthcoming trip to London.

My final three neutrals are a black pencil skirt, a grey jacket that fits well under my trench-coat and a charcoal dress. I don't wear skirts that often, but this one won't date and is good for a dressier than usual night out, which is why I've included it, as is the dress that I wore for a charity dinner last Friday. Now for a bit of colour! I've included fifteen colourful items in my total of thirty-three, but colour is optional if you're a fan of neutrals.

During my recent colour analysis with Fiona of House of Colour in London, my best colours were identified as Royal Purple, Royal Blue, Electric Blue, Lobelia, Fuchsia, Raspberry, Carmine and Dark Emerald. I'm what's known as a Jewel Winter, which suits me as it includes some of my favourite colours. I decided to use these brighter colours wherever possible when working towards my Winter 33. Your own best colours may be totally different, however the principle is the same: try and wear your most flattering colours near your face.  This is particularly important for those of us who are women of a certain age - youthful faces are far more forgiving! Some colours that I could wear when I was younger now look dreadful on me, which I discovered when I was doing my initial wardrobe purge for Project 333 and also during my colour analysis.

I just had to start with pink, didn't I? Interestingly enough, when Janice commented on my previous post, she said that she liked the pale pink best on me, however I've not included it in my Winter 33. It may make a re-appearance in Spring though. These bright pink trousers clearly aren't as versatile as the dark grey pair or my navy and black jeans, however they are there because I love the colour and because I do have some dark tops that go well with them.

I've chosen lots of green plus some blue and purple tops, all of which will go well with most of my skirts and trousers. That's the beauty of starting with a Common Wardrobe based on neutrals: you can still indulge in your favourite colours for tops and accessories.

My final three are a lovely warm jumper that I've owned for several years (however it's good for at least one more winter), a red jumper (red is another favourite colour of mine, especially for accessories) and a dark grey waistcoat. Yes, I admit that it's not colourful, however it makes an ideal extra layer on colder days and blends in with any outfit.

To finish, here are a few calculations. For everyday wear I have 16 tops and jumpers plus two pairs of jeans and one pair of trousers, which gives me 48 possible outfits. Add in the pink jeans, which can be worn with at least half a dozen tops, the two skirts and a dress for smarter occasions and of course there are four cardigans and a jacket ready to swap around - and I haven't even mentioned accessories and jewellery. I hope that you can see how versatile a wardrobe of 33 items of clothing can be. I don't think I'm in any danger of running out of different outfits to wear for the next three months, do you?