March 21, 2016

Spring Capsule Wardrobe

After the past few months of wearing all of these items for my Winter Capsule Wardrobe, I’m excited for my Spring Capsule! Honestly, I can’t believe I actually did it. I wore everything and only dipped into my reserved clothes stash once (we had a Hawaiian themed dinner to go to).

I really loved implementing my capsule wardrobe because:

I was able to be more creative with my clothing combinations
I now understand what a minimalist wardrobe is all about
I loved all of my outfits
I learned about myself & how to manage my shopping impulses

The bottom line is that when I have a minimalist approach to my closet, I can make more deliberate choices about my clothes. The creative challenge keeps it interesting and in the process I found the shapes, colors and combinations that work well with my body lifestyle. I have less clutter in my mind when I get dressed because the choices aren’t overwhelming. My closet is still super CLEAN and I am never feeling like I have nothing to wear. Success!

Ok! So let’s talk about SPRING:

I was looking at the Pantone Spring Fashion Color Rep for 2016 and none of these colors really scream TRACY. Those colors don’t work well with my complexion, so I’m going rogue and doing my own thing. This is great because I don’t really have to buy much for this capsule. The whole idea is to use what you have and I’m gonna do just that.

Now that this is my second time doing this, I went back through my Pinterest Board to compile the looks I liked. I went through and looked at all of the articles of clothing in each outfit and pulled stuff from the clothes I packed away in my guest bedroom closet.

From there I built my color scheme:

Navy/ Gray/ Denim/White with pops of Purple Kelly Green & Tan (the tan comes from leather).

I kept some of my base/foundation pieces from my Winter Capsule because I knew they would easily transition into Spring. I find this super reassuring because it means I’m coming up with my go-to-looks/uniform and perhaps by the end of year of doing this I won’t have to think much about my wardrobe.

Here are my foundation pieces. These are the pieces that I will build outfits from.

I might end up adding a pair of leggings. We’ll see.

And here we have the jackets & dresses. I think I sectioned these off into a separate category because they are filed together on the right hand side of my closet.

GRAY JACKET
NAVY BLAZER *bought for this capsule
ARMY GREEN JACKET
GINGHAM TUNIC
STRIPED SWING DRESS *bought for this capsule
DENIM DRESS

The tops & sweaters are kind of basic this round. I think that I want to play up all of my outfits with accessories and pops of color. I know it’s going to be raining off & on for the next few months, so I have to have a lot of layers. If you live in the Bay Area, you always have to wear a lot of layers. You just never know if the fog is gonna creep in one day.

And we end with the fun part. Here’s where most of the color comes in. I really like mixing floral with stripes so these scarves will help with that. I want to keep my jewelry simple this season. My hair is getting a little bit longer and I’ve been playing around with colorful clips, so I feel like I have to tone it down in the jewelry front.

FLORAL SCARF *bought for this capsule
DAISY SCARF (I have something similar in my collection)
LEOPARD SCARF
NAVY CLUTCH *bought for this capsule
PURPLE TOTE
PURPLE STUDS
BELT
BLUE TOMS
HOOP EARRINGS
SILVER BAR NECKLACE
PURPLE CLOGS
TAN CLOGS

There you have it! That’s my Spring Capsule Wardrobe. It’s kinda preppy and packed with jewel tones, huh? I suppose some of these items could go really well in an Autumn Capsule, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

I’m going to be traveling to Vancouver with some of these clothes and it’s going to be my first time packing for a trip using the capsule foundation. I’m kind of excited about how easy it’s going to be to do that. Hope this inspires you to pair down/edit your wardrobe!

Be sure to check out my Winter Capsule Wardrobe & Closet Organization posts!

Erin@WellPlated March 21, 2016

I absolutely love this concept. It makes me want to be much more intentional about what I buy vs. haphazardly spending $$ on clothes here and there. Also, that floral scarf is perfection! It would match just about everything.

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Elise March 21, 2016

I love that you pulled in color! I love the capsule concept but many capsules that I’ve seen seem to over-rely on neutrals. Thanks for sharing!

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Mary March 21, 2016

Thank you for sharing, Tracy! You are inspiring me to give this a try!

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- Tracy March 21, 2016
  
  YAY!
  
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liz March 21, 2016

I am in LOVE with your spring capsule. Thank you so much for sharing this – it is really making me want to try this myself, I love all the items you have picked.

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Hannah March 21, 2016

thumbs up!

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rachel March 21, 2016

Love it. I’ve just put together my spring capsule – I have the same clogs and am eyeing an open toe pair for in the summer. Love your colour choices – I’ve gone for coral and blush pink with some orange and mustard thrown in for good measure

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- Tracy March 21, 2016
  
  Oooh I like that color story. Good luck with your capsule!!
  
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Flora Margaret March 21, 2016

Love this! In the winter I wrote out 6 weeks of work outfits. My friend laugh-snorted when I told her I had done this. She thought I was joking. As a personal trainer who wears gym clothes to work every day, she doesn’t know the pain. I am going to try this method as it will allow me to get rid of so much closet clutter! Love your style.

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- Tracy March 21, 2016
  
  Love it!!!!!
  
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Amy March 21, 2016

So inspiring, Tracy! I’ve gained a little bit of weight over the past year, which I’m okay with, but I’m still trying to find clothes that work on this body. I’m currently trying to squish a round peg into a rectangular hole. Seeing this post made me realize that I really need to invest in some new pant and skirt styles and use them as my springboard to a capsule collection for my new reality! Thanks so much for sharing – I love your color story, too.

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- Tracy March 21, 2016
  
  Yes! Base pieces are the way to go!
  
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Ashlyn @ The Pedantic Foodie March 21, 2016

I love this! You have inspired me. I am such a hoarder when it comes to my closet – I am afraid to get rid of anything “just in case I’ll like it again.” This is such a fabulous concept! Thanks for sharing!

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- Tracy March 21, 2016
  
  I lived in that headspace too! Your clothes can carry so much nostalgia in them too. I kept a lot of things like a ratty old sweater because I wore it when I was pregnant with Cooper and it reminds me of that time. And then there’s a few clothes I think would be nice to wear ONE DAY but honestly I can’t sit here and wait for THAT DAY to come. Time to enjoy the clothes you have NOW.
  
  My problem was that I would find the perfect pair of black pants and feel like I shouldn’t wear them because I would never find the perfect pair of black pants ever again. So then I would just open my closet and look at the black pants and be too afraid to wear them…so they were just sitting there not being used. As I am getting older I’m realizing that OK- I found the perfect pair of black pants…and so I bought another pair as backup once my black pants were too worn. I guess these are things you learn as you get older.
  
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Joy March 21, 2016

Love all of the choices you made! Navy is my black and it looks so good with kelly green!

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- Tracy March 21, 2016
  
  Yes! It does! It’s such a good neutral!
  
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Heidi March 21, 2016

I love your color choices… they totally say Spring but without being super pastel and light. Sometimes those pale colors can feel a little too “foofy” for me. Just wish Gap had my size left in that denim dress!

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Kaye March 21, 2016

Love it…but no tennis shoes/Chuck Taylors? I’d be lost without them!

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- Tracy March 21, 2016
  
  I might sneak a pair in 😉 Or maybe use my leopard vans.
  
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Lauren March 21, 2016

Great choices Tracy! I love your point “I find this super reassuring because it means I’m coming up with my go-to-looks/uniform and perhaps by the end of year of doing this I won’t have to think much about my wardrobe.” This is my goal too, as I find myself wearing the same things over and over again. Knowing that the pieces I have pulled from my capsule are just in another closet down the hall is comforting on some level, but my guess is that I will start getting rid of a lot of those items as I move forward.

Are you planning to post how you combo these pieces on a daily/weekly (and if you said that already, I apologize)!

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Amy March 21, 2016

Love the colours you chose for this, very inspiring 🙂 Now I really want some purple clogs though…

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Nissa March 21, 2016

I love your color story! Really interested in trying a capsule wardrobe since I find myself wearing the same pieces over and over.

I’ve been eyeing the all-day coat for awhile in gray. Do you like one color over the other? Does is run small?

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- Tracy March 22, 2016
  
  I wore my black one A LOT during the winter season, but that’s because it’s the only one I had. The gray one feels softer and that makes me excited because the fabric is pretty soft to begin with.
  
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sarah March 22, 2016

I really, truly, 300% love the fact that you have some affordable pieces listed here. So many things I read on the internet about fashion sound wonderful in theory and then I check the price tag and cry and cry. Thank you for including stylish AND affordable stuff :).

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Celeste March 22, 2016

Tracy you’re seriously a QUEEN. Love this!

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Meredith March 23, 2016

I’ve seen the spring Pantone colors but honestly, your color scheme is exactly what I’m seeing out in the stores! Kelly green, lots of navy and white (especially stripes) and chambray and denim. I think you nailed it. Love the pop of bright purple too.

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Libby March 23, 2016

I started my winter capsule wardrobe using your last post and I found it so, so liberating! I loved it! Also, we moved in the past month and I was happy to say that my whole wardrobe fit in all of my regular luggage! WHAT?! I didn’t know that was even possible.
But then it started going in to spring and I was like, “ACK! What do I do?!” Here you are, just in time for me!
I love the regular combing through and being aware of what you have and what you’re actually using. We both have very neutral basics from which to build upon and I love your idea of throwing in color with sweaters, scarves and bags. So I just ordered a red maxi dress for everyday wear.
Thank you for walking us all through this.

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hillary March 23, 2016

Inspiring as usual. Are you still using the style app you wrote about a few months ago?

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meagan March 23, 2016

yes! so cute! here in texas we have all seasons all year long so i’m currently editing my wardrobe into one big capsule, relying on black and white / aztec print / warm neutrals / army green. it’s already so much easier and i’ve parted with so many wild card pieces!

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Courtney F March 25, 2016

I have very similar tan clogs from Dansko. SO comfortable! And I’m loving the pops of kelly green … Great choices :o)

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Sarah March 29, 2016

I just reorganized my whole closet this weekend to create a capsule wardrobe. I’m on day 3 of using it and it’s AMAZING! I was able to donate 4 huge bags of clothing, and getting ready in the morning is a breeze. What’s nice, is because of the foundation pieces, everything always feels put together with minimal effort. Thanks for the inspiration, Tracy!

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Tricia April 2, 2016

I love these capsule posts! I have never owned a maxi dress, but inspired by your posts I just got my Athleta black maxi in the mail yesterday. It is the bomb!! Thanks so much for linking to all of your wardrobe items.

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Jane Blair April 23, 2016

Love the green sweater pictured, but the link goes to a different sweater. Any ideas on what the pictured sweater actually is?

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- Tracy April 24, 2016
  
  I bought it a few years ago at Old Navy (I found the image online) and that Jcrew version was the only sweater I found that was close to the color of my sweater.
  
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