Spring Capsule Inspo: 2022

And Winter Capsule Debrief

Happy Spring Capsule Week, Reader Dear!

Spring comes early at our latitude.

And doesn’t last long.

It will feel like summer before we know it. Sigh.

SoI jump on the Spring Wardrobe well before the calendar says it’s time.

Why? Because your wardrobe should serve YOU, not the other way around.

If you feel trapped by what’s hanging in your closet, it’s time to take a good hard look at what’s going on in there.

Style isn’t therapy. (Although it can be eye-opening!) Your wardrobe won’t solve your problems. BUT… Your wardrobe can make your life easier or more challenging. That’s up to you!

I’ll take easier. I’ve got enough challenges in my life without adding getting dressed every day to the mix.

Winter Capsule Debrief

Desultory. Not how I felt about my wardrobe, mind you, but about life in general this winter. It was taking everything I had to keep mind, body and soul together. That’s part of why I took a break in January. I need to thank you again for your patience with that. With desultory as an overall theme, let’s see how that Winter Capsule Wardrobe worked out.

This video describes what and how I pulled to include in my Winter Capsule. (Desultory hadn’t yet kicked in…)

High Wear items were my: Levi’s 501’s (Surprise? NOT.), Navy Sweater, Grey V-Neck Sweater, Leopard Skirt, Dark Grey (Faded Black) Sailor Jeans, Soft Mint Cardie

Low Wear items were my: Green Skirt, Chanel-style jacket, Teal Moto, White Shirt

No Wear items were my: Pink Tweed Dress (Snug after holiday feasting.), Pink Cardigan, Navy Brocade Jacket (WHAT?)

The sleeveless sweater as sweater vest was a fail. In all caps. I wore it once and pulled it from my closet. Sometimes ideas just don’t work out as planned. My break in January also meant a selfie-break, so much of this is running from memory and looking into my closet! That same break is the reason many of my dresses and jackets didn’t see much wear. I was rocking a super low maintenace vibe and wearing lots of cozy sweaters rather than shirts and blouses.

Spring Capsule Inspo

Here’s what my Spring/Summer 2022 Inspo board on Pinterest looks like right now. (As I write.)

To make matters more complicated, on a January trip to Savannah, I fell in love and knew I’d found my spring inspo. Yup. This year it’s a pie plate. Last year it was a tray. Go figure. Is this actually all about food? Possibly.

To complicate matters further (Thanks, Anthro.), I also purchased the wine colored shirt (Breaking all kinds of Liz-specific style guidelines) you see below. The shirt’s not really spring-y, but the embroidery is and made me think of my favorite fireworks. The chrysanthemum ones that spread out and then make baby fireworks make my heart sing. I’m all about the surprise of new sparkles and the fizzy sound they make as they spread out and reproduce.

Now, flash back to last fall when I let go of quite a few no-longer-faves and started a rebuild of my wardrobe from all items I love. It’s a brilliant but messy idea that creates a wardrobe (or capsule) that doesn’t always play-well-with-others. Plays-well-with-others is something I highly value in my wardrobe and capsules. (ANS is one of the reasons I went back to palette and planning for winter.)

Making Messy Work

How will I combine the items-I-LOVE starting point with the more structured planning approach AND my Pinterest inspo? Trial and error. (Like all of life, right?) Let’s look at that board more closely. I started by adding my inspo pie plate and the trousers from my recent Style Obsession: Pattern post AND my new shirt from Anthro. It was an incoherent mess. How do you reconcile the groovy 70’s pop art floral with the more subdued pie plate and the wine fireworks chrysanthemum shirt?

I went back to my Pinterest board and noticed the overwhelming number of pattern mixes. So I added a few of those, in colorways that reflected the pie plate. I noticed a lot of blue and white (Yes, that pair was a color obsession last year.) on my Pinterest board as well, so let’s make sure there’s some more blue: jeans, a bag, the bird. Maybe I’ll bore of blue by summer? Now the board is starting to hang together better.

What Do I Need for Spring?

There’s not much on our social calendar except for birthdays galore! No more weddings I know of. Yet. Work from Home. Networking and some Chamber events.. Maybe a couple of dinners out. Dance with Mr. CP, but that has its own mini-wardrobe! I need everyday clothes for an everyday life.

I cleared out a LOT of worn shirts last fall. Let’s call it an edit. That sounds so much more stylista! Our summers here are hot and sticky and light colored shirts often only last one or two seasons, so it is past time for some new shirts. Lucky I’ve already sorted one of those out, hunh? Clearly, I need more prints and/or patterns! (More on that in the upcoming French 5 post.) I edited my shoes back in February. (See how much better that sounds?) Now, it’s time to see how it goes as I start pulling wardrobe pieces for this inspo board. I’m hoping I have what I need and can keep the inventory low-ish? Seasonal shopping flings conflict with my long term wardrobe goals. (More on that in another post.)

I’ve got a spring makeup clean out in the works…

How About You?

Has something with NOthing-to-do-with-your-style ever assaulted you and accompanied you home? What was it? What are your favorite fireworks? Are there any new styles or colors are you thinking of trying? What might you like to add to your wardrobe? Or are you on a shopping break? Do tell! I love to hear from you… You inspire me to learn more!

Stylishly yours,