Winter Capsule 2 Months In

Surprises (Pleasant and Unpleasant) and Faves

Happy day, reader dear!

Thank you for visiting today! If this is your first time here, Welcome! If you are returning, Thank you. It’s truly lovely to have you back! This blog is about lots of things loosely related to style, which is after all, my business. Looking back, it seems that the majority of 2018’s most popular posts were about Capsule Wardrobes. Some about my capsules, some about capsule logistics, and others just about the whys and wherefores. You might say capsules are my jam!

Each quarter, I have been filling you in on my inspiration for my coming-season capsule, how that plays out in reality, and how the capsule works during the season. I meant to post a mid-season debrief for winter’s capsule a couple of weeks ago, but January is birthday bonanza time for our tribe. In the middle of the festivities, I ran off to Atlanta for the Influencers of Midlife Summit, hosted by the amazing Robin LaMonte and equally amazing Nina Bandoni. After recovering from the weekend, I realized that I am way overdue for my winter capsule’s mid-season debrief, so let’s get to it!

Winter 2018/2019 Capsule Overview

Here was my inspiration board… For a winter wardrobe, I’m sure this looks very light to many of you, but my coloring is predominantly light, and getting more so with each new silver strand! Also, we live in a mostly warm climate, and our typical bad weather is a stretch of rainy days. That’s why you see no parkas, or blanket scarves here. I have them, but wearing them is the exception rather than the rule.

Surprises

Unpleasant surprises first. I had lots of fun and sweets over the holidays. So… like many, I am battling a bit of a bulge in the New Year. This means that some of the items I selected for my capsule when I was lighter are not getting the wear I expected because, well, they are simply too tight. Arrrrgh! It’s much quicker to put on the pounds than to remove them! I’m working on it, but if my Instagram OOTD’s look even more repetitive than the average capsule season, that’s the reason… (This is all about real life style and its challenges, internet friends, not about selling fashion!)

Now onto the pleasant surprises! I have really been getting into my red jeans (Pun intended. Because they do fit!), and have been surprised by how happy they make me. They started as regular length jeans, but around mid-January I lopped them off and will let them fray like my trusty old Levi’s. I know that makes them less versatile, but I’m okay with the more casual vibe. I still haven’t bitten the bullet on the blush tote… And with one of my 2019 Style Resolutions being to hew more closely to my French 5, I’m still not sure it’s a good choice. Limits make me more circumspect! (And no, I didn’t place a big shopping order on December 31st. Although it was tempting!)

Fave Five

This time it was an easy fave five! Note: these aren’t faves in order of how much I like them, but when they fell into rotation. This first look mixes my #1 favorite old Levi’s 501’s with a blush silk blouse and rose gold granny shoes. This blazer is one of my pleasant surprises! I normally prefer jackets without a collar, or with a curved color, but I dug it out of my storage box in homage to the blonde in the blazer and jeans on the inspo board above, and have been wearing it once or twice a week since. It’s light enough to wear inside on a chilly day, and warm enough as a lightweight outer layer on our typical winter day. The shoes haven’t gotten as much wear as I’d like since we have had an abnormally soggy winter.

I had gotten most of the way into December and still hadn’t been brave enough to venture out in a hat more than once, even though hat was on my board. Enter my old newsboy cap. It has been around for more years than I care to think, and always makes me happy. I don’t know why more women don’t wear them; it’s far more stylish than a ball cap for a bad hair day! It make me so happy that I wore again for the summit in Atlanta!

Here’s the dress I swapped in for the sheath that wasn’t serving me at all. I did a quick FB Live video about it back at the start of the year. A capsule wardrobe isn’t supposed to be an exercise in suffering! It’s an experiment, and I learned that it’s time to say goodbye to that sheath. I know I’ll likely get some “too old” to wear jeans and a dress comments, but it makes me happy, and I feel like a kid when I do. That’s a good thing!

The sweater below has turned into a pleasant surprise! I picked it up at a consignment store in our favorite beach town. It’s cashmere, which can be too warm for most of our days, and a little large, but I am loving it’s slouchy and cozy feel. Again the fave Levi’s 501’s. (That’s for four looks in a row, peeps. You’d think I own no other jeans. I do, but not many!) I don’t usually wear an all neutrals look. My colored eyes mean I look better in a color, and I may have thrown on a pink scarf when I went out…

Finally! A look without my Levi’s. I love a column of color, especially when I am feeling a little fluffier than usual after the holidays. You don’t need to wear black to get the slimming effect, any column will do! The structured blazer sees another day, this time taming the color of the red column, and giving the frayed jeans some gravitas. It’s important to look like a grown-up sometimes!

Here’s a bonus I’m throwing in from the Influencers of Midlife Summit weekend. I want to try this look again soon! Here I am with the lovely Wendy Packard of Fashion over Fifty, in my same old Levi’s, the blush blouse and white booties you’ve seen already in this post. I’m wearing the same jewelry combo as in the leopard sweater look above. I added a cardie for the cold, slipped the scarf through my belt loop, and decided to wear the necklace under the silk blouse. I have absolutely no idea what prompted me to button the blouse up over the necklace, but I love how it creates a shadow effect. I felt vintage, demure and insouciant?

So, what have you been wearing this winter? Lots of repeats, or do you need more variety in your sartorial world? Are you a capsule wardrobe fan, or are capsules only for travel to avoid the fee for overweight and oversize luggage? Let me know in the comments below! I do so love to hear from you…

Stylishly yours,