2023 Capsule Wardrobe Post

As I'm sure you know by now, 2023 started with moving and downsizing. As a result, not only did I put all of my too-small lolita items into storage, I even went through those items that fit to make a capsule wardrobe of sorts. I say "of sorts" because it it by no means a perfect capsule...in fact, maybe I shouldn't even call it a capsule, just a small wardrobe.

But whatever I call it, I'm surprisingly really happy with the reduced collection I'm keeping with me. I like the simplification and realistically...it's still quite a lot of clothes! I thought I might feel limited, but in as weird way I actually find it a little overwhelming...not sure what to do with that feeling!

There will be a video of putting this wardrobe together on my YouTube channel in a little while and for that I wanted to take some pictures of the finished product. Then I realised...I should post those here as my 2023 wardrobe post! So here we are ^__^

I held onto five main pieces: BTSSB's Tartan Check, Meta's Camellia Cat, Meta's Teddy Chocolatier, our Wonderpunk print Jurassic Party and Meta's Rose Stripe Shirring. A bit of an eclectic collection! Realistically, I simply ended up keeping my comfy main pieces that weren't black...

 

For tops I have two Glittertale blouses (top row), an offbrand blouse and a handmade cutsew that I just finished (sewing video also coming to YouTube soon). Again, this was really a matter of keeping all the fitting non-black items. Ultimately, that's the theme of this wardrobe so I'm going to stop repeating myself ^__^

However, regardless of how it came about I like this variety of tops, I think it gives me lots of coording options.

For outerwear I have a vintage haori, two BTSSB capelets, a Peace Now cookie bolero and a Maxicimam Lovely bolero. I enjoy that this version of my wardrobe has proportionally a lot of capelets.

Shoes are very simple - all Bodyline except for the lavender pair from Taobao (or Aliexpress, I don't remember). I am definitely going to need to replace the brown pair sometime this year, they are falling apart.

I feel a bit weird about my sock collection. Obviously...there are quite a few pairs! But at the same time I feel like my choices are quite limited. I'll be interested to see how it goes as I start dressing out of this capsule.

In the top row we have Meta, Innocent World x4, a handmade (or at least, laced) pair, then 3x Angelic Pretty. Bottom row all offbrand except the bright red AP pair.

Next up - large items of headwear. These are all offbrand or Taobao, and the fur hat is vintage. As always...I have a lot of berets ^__^

 

And, of course, headbows and the like! I definitely want to get a bit more colour variation in here. Brands are (going row by row) Taobao, Mia Dreaming, Angelic Pretty, Lyris Design then Taobao x3 and Tokyo Disney then offbrand and BTSSB x3.

Also, this seems like a good moment to mention that a. I am not picturing my small hair accessories or any jewellery items and b. I am actually keeping those collections intact and with me, since it's really not worth separating them. Plus, it will give me a few more options when coordinating.

I put the majority of my fawn fur collection into storage, just keeping one full matching set of accessories from Sweet Dreamer on Taobao. And two other offbrand collars, because of course I did. Might change out the ribbons on those two...

 

In terms of other "big" accessories I'm hanging onto an offbrand lace collar that I forgot I even owned and a bunch of wrsitcuffs. The first two pairs are AP, the third is BTSSB and all the others are from Taobao (and the little red bows were converted by James for me from some shoe clips). Like with headbows, narrowing things down into a capsule has made me actually realise how limited some of my collection is and that makes me want to get crafty!

 

Then lastly - handbags. Top row is my trusty BTSSB bag that is quite banged up if you look closely, and a Taobao bag that I practically never use. Bottom row is Innocent World (and oh boy, is it falling apart!), BTSSB and Axes Femme. This is an excessive amount of handbags for a small wardrobe, but they are all showing signs of age so I plan to use them until they become unusable rather than put them in storage where they'll still degrade but without the upside of being used.

So that's my wardrobe post for 2023! Absolutely not what I had thought I'd be posting...though to be honest I probably wasn't going to do a wardrobe post at all because there's been very little change in my collection overall.

I'm actually really excited by this capsule wardrobe. Everything fits comfortably, and while not everything matches per se I do have multiple options for each main piece. Reducing my wardrobe is also letting me see gaps and areas for improvement that I don't think I'd ever noticed before, so this is going to be a cool opportunity for wardrobe improvement as well.

In the future (especially if I do finally get onto the fitness bandwagon and fit more of my pieces) I am absolutely open to rotating the capsule and pulling different items out of storage so I don't really have any concerns about this capsule, just excitement ^__^