Building a Lolita Capsule Wardrobe #2: Choosing Your Main Pieces

So now that we've covered what a lolita capsule wardrobe is (a small, versatile and cohesive collection based around 2-6 main pieces) and thought about some parameters such as when and where you'll wear the items and what colours you want, the next step is selecting the main pieces. Of course, a capsule can start from anything, but in the majority of cases the dresses some first and everything else comes after.

It's important to strike a balance in a capsule wardrobe in having main pieces that are similar enough that you can get away with having very few supporting pieces, while still being different enough that you aren't wearing the basically the same thing (unless, of course, that's what you want). The main things to consider, beyond the obvious issue of colour, is what types of main pieces you want and what prints or patterns they should have.

Generally we consider three primary types of main pieces in this fashion - onepice dresses, jumperskirts, and skirts. In those three you have different sleeve lengths, different strap arrangements, different waistband styles and that's not even factoring all the myriad of other stylistic differences a garment can have. Consider the following - technically they're all just JSKs.

And on top of that we also have salopettes and ouji pants and miniskirts and cutsew dresses!

Of course, as well as main piece type you have to consider the fabric - both in print and in actual fiber - and colours. Again, I advocate for variety across both things because with a small wardrobe you need each item to be different. But of course, it all comes down to your initial parameters. You want an old school sweet wardrobe? Then having all your main pieces in solid coloured cotton is certainly a good option.

And remember a capsule doesn't necessarily have to be teeny tiny, but try to keep it just big enough for your needs. If you wear lolita once a month, having six main pieces would only mean wearing each one twice a year, but if you wear the fashion once a week you may want to have more main pieces or pick ones that are very super versatile. Me? I love having lots of different coordinating options and colours but you may want to only stick to one or two colours. There's no wrong answer!

But to make this a bit more practical let's put it together in a sort of checklist of steps that should go into selecting your main pieces.

First, decide how many you want! This should mostly be determined by frequency of wear, though in the real world budget may also be a big factor. For most of the hypotheticals I put together I use five main pieces.

Then if you haven't already, settle on your colour scheme. Let's pull up BTSSB's Kumya's Sweet Heart Check from the last post. So our main colour is sax blue, with white as a neutral, and pink chocolate brown as supporting colours.

Similarly, choose themes. These don't have to be set in stone, and I'm always a fan of mixing in some neutral patterns like tartan or polka dots as well as solids. To look again at our starting piece, the main motifs are bears (bunny bears, technically), hearts, laces, and check patterns. More broadly, it has a sweet-country vibe which means it would also match well with chocolate, biscuit, fruit and berry aesthetics.

Then it's time to choose the other main pieces. I prefer to include more JSKs than anything else, as they are the easiest and most versatile to coordinate, so in an example of five main pieces I'd have thee JSKs, one OP and one skirt. In terms of colour I'd have three in sax blue, one in pink and one in brown, though the colours scheme would play out in the prints.

Speaking of prints, I do like to keep variety here as well. Of course, if you have a very specific vibe in mind disregard this, but I prefer to have at least one solid, one neutral pattern and one all over print, as well as border prints.

I don't fuss too much over having a variety of fabric types unless you're keeping to a more limited colour palette or print choices. If you're going for an all-black no-print gothic capsule, for example, the way to get variety is by focusing on different cuts and types of fabric. However, if you're into 2010s era sweet, you could have very same-y and simple cuts in a variety of colours and prints. The key here, no matter the specifics, is to chose pieces that work well together but that are not the same.

So with the Kumya's Sweet Heart Check example, that's a JSK in sax with a border print. I'd like to add a solid sax blue OP, an all-over print sax skirt, and a JSK each in pink and chocolate brown. Since this is a hypothetical example, let's scour Lolibrary for examples!

Now, what happened with me is what's likely to happen with you - my plans changed when met with reality. So in the end, this wardrobe has a sax, a brown and a pink JSK, a sax OP, and a pink skirt. Overall, the colour scheme is now more evenly balanced between sax, pink and brown, with red accents. We've got more of a "cherries and chocolate" theme overall too.

This is okay. Unless you're infinitely patient and/or have a very large budget, your capsule may not turn out exactly as you want it. Of course, you'll also have the benefit when putting together an IRL capsule that you'll know what you actually want whereas this was me putting together pretty things to prove a point - very different scenarios!

So that's a little bit about how to choose the main pieces for a lolita capsule and what to consider when making those choices!