So many clothing options. So many styles, colors, patterns. It can be overwhelming. With all of these choices, shopping without a plan can leave us with a wardrobe identity crisis. It’s understandable to want a variety of styles to mix things up, but a lot of times that leaves us wearing a few favorites repeatedly and other pieces (that were much better in theory) getting shoved to the back of our closets.
How do we solve this dilemma of grabbing things that look great on the rack, but not so great in our lives? Enter the Inspiration Board. If you’re on Pinterest, you probably already have one. But even our Pinterest boards can start to look incohesive as we pin all of the pretty things that come across our screen. The solution? Create a smaller, more purposeful board that will help you narrow down and define your style. This can be done easily on the computer with photo editing software like Photoshop, with good old-fashioned poster board and scissors, or on Polyvore (which is my method of choice).
I used my Pinterest board as a starting point, choosing the pieces that stood out most to me as my favorites.
From there, I visited fashion blogs to get more ideas. I took into consideration my lifestyle – I like to be comfortable, and my day-to-day life is pretty casual, yet I still need to look put-together. I don’t typically wear dresses and skirts, but I added some that I loved and that looked like they would fit into my life.
Once you’ve narrowed down, put them together on your inspiration board, so you can get a great overview of your style:
Now that you have a handy visual, look at what the different outfits have in common. For example, mine would be:
- neutrals, solids, or subtle patterns
- slouchy tops in neutral colors
- jackets and cardigans in neutral colors
- skinny jeans in unique material (color, leather, pattern)
- wide-leg or boot-cut jeans
- bright solid accent colors
- drapey, comfortable dresses
You get the idea. This is a great starting point, and this alone will help make your shopping easier and turn you into the girl whose wardrobe you envy. However, if you want to take it a step further, you can use your inspiration board to create a Capsule Wardrobe. If you’re not sure what that is, it is basically having a wardrobe that consists of a few key pieces that mix and match to create a variety of looks. It truly takes the guesswork out of dressing in the morning. This is the epitome of “effortlessly chic”.
I created a sample using the concepts from my inspiration board as a guide. As I picked out these core pieces, I started with the types of things I wear on a daily basis to make it a realistic ensemble that I would actually wear. I was surprised, and glad, to see that some of the pieces I was choosing are already in my closet! As I added pieces to the mix, I made sure that they would go with all of the other pieces that were already in there. As you can see, I chose very neutral colors and saved the bright colors for the accessories. If you’re into mixing and matching colors or patterns, then you’re will look much different – it’s all about what your style is and what fits into your lifestyle. Many of the pieces will also cross over into spring/summer, so when warmer weather comes around and my capsule wardrobe needs updated, I can easily just switch out some of the pieces for ones that are more suitable. Once you have your “inspiration pieces” in mind, then you can start scoping for awesome ethical designers or hit the thrift stores to make your inspiration a reality!
15 pieces is typically a good amount to start at in your capsule wardrobe. I added accessories as an example, so you can take it as far as you want with that. Paring down your closet will already take most of the guesswork out of dressing, so you may be okay with keeping the variety in your accessories.
Once you have your basics, you can slowly add pieces in. For example, if I wanted to start wearing more skirts, I could add a couple of those, making sure that they could be worn with all of the tops in my core ensemble. Traditionally a capsule wardrobe has a limited number of pieces, however, if you add pieces in slowly and thoughtfully, it can expand while still maintaining it’s purpose of simplifying getting dressed in the morning.
If you decide to create an inspiration board and/or a capsule wardrobe, be sure to share it in the comments – I’d love to see it!
