As per usual, this capsule wardrobe post has its genesis on the capsule thread on CGL. The thread got massively derailed, so I posted some questions to get things back on track (which mostly failed, but oh well). One of the questions was "When does it stop being a capsule and start just being a small wardrobe? On the flip side, what makes it start being a capsule and not just a couple of coords?"
I still don't have a final answer for my own question, but it made me want to explore much smaller capsules than I normally do. My usual capsule is around 5 main pieces, 4 blouses, a couple pieces of outerwear, 3 pairs of shoes and about 7 pairs of socks and 7 items of headwear. If I include bags there's usually 2. I don't tend to do jewellery, as to me that more supplementary than the core of a coord
So I got to thinking - how small can I go while still having ti be a good capsule? In the end, I picked twelves items because I really enjoy Mariah Pattie's capsule wardrobe videos and she normally has twelve pieces. He wardrobes aren't lolita, so twelve goes a lot further for her, but still! It's what I somewhat arbitrarily decided to do ^__^
And here we have it!
I rather like this wardrobe! I tried to be less "boring" and ran with a wine shoes and bag (and bolero) rather than brown, which is a more standard colour choice. I'm not 100% convinced it was the right call, but I liked trying it out. The brown OP I am also aware is not the more versatile item, nor the most cohesive with the rest of the wardrobe but I felt it was a much-needed point of difference.
If I did my maths right, this wardrobe can yield exactly 32 unique outfit combinations (without going into blouse-less or sock-less territory, or wearing a JSK over the OP which I really don't think would work). Obviously there would be a lot of similarities in them so you could alternatively think that you're going to get three main outfits with each JSK and two with the OP, with minor differences.
Because I'm me, examples below of what I mean ^__^
Love that middle outfit!
Genuinely digging the right coord.
Left outfit is so cute with all the pink!
All in all I'm quite pleased with this. Things are quite same-y, but I think it's still pretty versatile! I found I really chafed at the limited headwear and legwear most of all, even more than having just one pair of shoes! However, if doing a capsule IRL and without arbitrary rules about the number of items, if I could add a bunch more socks, hair things and other accessories but no more main pieces, tops, or outerwear I'd be pretty happy with this as a wardrobe.
I really enjoyed the challenge of putting this together, and think I'm going to give a twelve-item capsule another try with a different ratio of items.
It is hard to decide where the boundaries for couple of coords vs capsule wardrobe vs a small wardrobe sit. I'd probably place it somewhere along the lines of "if you were to wear lolita every day, would you have enough distinct outfits to wear it for a week" - if the answer is yes, then that'd be enough for a capsule.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do like this one, you did a fab job with such a small number of pieces. Though I totally feel you about the headpieces and socks being more limiting than the shoes etc. But as you said, if you didn't set on a specific number, you could probably add one more of each without making the capsule too large, whilst adding that much needed third option.
Yeah, determining size by frequency of wear/number of final outfits is probably the way to go in the end, but it is interesting!
DeleteGlad you liked it (and oh man, I never really just how incredibly strongly I need variety of socks and stuff! It drove me nuts!)
This is a good series & much needed, so thank you for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeletePersonally, when I think tiny capsule, I think no extra baggage fee on planes (aka wear much of it on the flight).
When I think capsule, I think small Tokyo, NYC, HKG 1 room micro-unit studio apartment.
I don't need to have distinct outfits for every day of the week, that's both exhausting & wasteful, not to mention expensive. The American consumerist mentality that promotes over-consumption despite negative ecological impact needs to be re-evaluated.
In both France & Japan, people don't feel the need for a unique outfit for every day of the month or season; & thus they tend buy quality over quantity, as it wears well & lasts! It's nice to see some Lolitas starting a similar trend of ecological & economical fashion despite the made in China replicas & synthetics flooding the market.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you for sharing your thoughts!
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