Fall 2018 Capsule Wardrobe: Midpoint Debrief

My Fall Capsule at the Halfway Mark

Happy day, reader dearest!

Hope you are having a fabulous fall! (Or spring, for my friends in the southern hemisphere…) Our evenings are finally starting to cool off, and mornings are lovely, even if the afternoons are still in the mid to upper 80’s. Since we’ve made it halfway through the season, it’s a good time to take a few minutes to assess how fall’s capsule is and isn’t working.

To refresh your memory, here was my inspiration board:

Fall Capsule Overview

Our fall weather stays hot well into November, so heavy clothes, woolens, and nubbly textures just don’t cut it for fall. (We rarely get to wear those even in the depths of January. Sigh…) I’ll still be wearing sandals throughout the fall season. I find the easiest way to get a fall feeling is to shift into summer weight pieces in darker colors. I’ll wear boots as soon as the temperatures drop into the 70’s. Blazers are normally limited to early mornings, and late in the evenings.

I started this capsule in September, and plan it to last through November. Until now, none of my cooler weather options have been rolled in yet to replace their warm weather counterparts, but yesterday I pulled in my red skirt to replace my wine shorts. I have worn my new white booties a couple of times. (They’re on my feet right now!), and my trusty Levi’s are getting far more wear than they do over the summer. Another new piece, the teal moto, is working beautifully for giving classics new life. I’ve been all over my hematite jewelry this season, and am thinking about adding another piece or two. I love how it lends a darker feel to my outfits, and gives a little rock ‘n roll edge. (Without falling into a black hole!)

Surprises

One evening last week I went into my closet to pull together the next day’s outfit and I stared… Stared at the chambray shirt I have been wearing almost weekly for the past two years (Except for a break was during last fall’s Baker’s Dozen Capsule.) and thought “If I have to wear that shirt again, I’m gonna scream!” Not at all typical for me. I wear the same clothes over and over again, quite happily. Usually until they finally give up the ghost. Now, I don’t believe a capsule wardrobe should be an exercise in suffering, and I can change my mind if something isn’t working for me, so away it goes! I’m not ready to donate it just yet, so I will put it away in my out-of-season box to see how I feel later. I may fall right back in love with it in a season or two. If not, it’ll be time to say goodbye.

Surprise 2: My brown jacket (the outlier) is fast becoming a wardrobe fave. Who’d’ve thunk that something so out of my normal groove would be so happy making? Me! That’s why it was worth taking the (few dollars at the consignment store) risk. I don’t know if it’s the color or the style, or what, but I’ll be giving that some thought as I make more outfits with it in the next few weeks. (It’s featured in one of the snaps below.)

The third surprise is also out of character, or should I say out of personality? (Which means I am changing and growing… A good thing!) I still have not pulled the trigger on a pink/rose tote. I keep looking at them, but just haven’t found one that seems worth the price. I am fickle about bags and totes, and don’t know if my “love” will last, so I hesitate to make the purchase. Maybe this is just an infatuation. That’s okay. I’d rather wait and be sure, than suffer buyer’s remorse, and wish I had that money to spend on something else. I don’t have an unlimited clothing budget, and prefer it that way. It forces me to be a smarter shopper.

Favorite Outfits So Far

It was hard to choose my five favorite outfits to share, because I didn’t take outfit selfies on my trip to New York, but I’ll give it my best!

Let’s start with my favorite jeans, my old (bordering on ancient) Levi’s 501’s. I don’t like stretch in jeans, and 501’s are some of the only ones out there that are still 100% cotton. I cut them off last fall and let them fray, but I think I may need to lop off another inch or so… Time will tell! The shell is quite loose, so I pulled it in with a Kimtuck to tame some of the volume.

I was unsure about adding the skirt below to my fall capsule, as on my body, skirts are harder to get the proportions right. It’s easy to end up with the unflattering 1/2 and 1/2. I loved how the moto jacket took some of the “sweet” from the pencil skirt, blouse, and wedges. The grey handbag in this look and the next is an oldie-but-goodie that I bought when we moved back from Europe back in 2007… It’s wearing at the edges, but that just gives it charm!

This really casual Saturday look felt just right, but worry that a “Tres Chic” tee comes across as pretentious! It was a gift from a client, and I love the sequins. I’m not normally one to wear a statement tee. I’ll try a few more times with this one to see if I can make it mine.

I fell in love with dress-over-pants this summer, and want to keep playing with it this season. I don’t normally wear brown, and certainly not with another neutral and a color, but I liked the cropped jacket over the dress, and loved how the animal print shoes and tortoise shell (Don’t worry! Not real. ) accents tied in with the brown jacket.

In defiance of the no-white-shoes-after-Labor-Day “rule” and in line with all the white out there this fall, this was my new booties first adventure into the world! Even though the white is paired with light pink/lavender, the hematite jewelry and studded belt add some mischief. The grey jacket only stayed on for the very earliest part of the day! Then it warmed up, as usual.

That’s how my season is going. How about you? What are you loving this fall? Or spring if that’s where you are? Which is your favorite look above, or least? And why? I love when you share your thoughts! Let’s start a conversation in the comments below…

Stylishly yours,