Winter to Spring Capsule Wardrobe Transition
Spring is here and that means it’s time to freshen up your wardrobe and prepare it for warmer days. That’s why today I’d like to talk about making the most out of your seasonal transition and show you how it works in practice.
There are a lot of approaches on how to put together the perfect spring wardrobe. Some will tell you a trench coat, a denim jacket and skinny jeans are the basics of your spring outfits. Throw in a pair of classic sneakers and you're set, right?
Unfortunately, that's not going to fit your personal style, your needs or even the local weather. There is a way to figure out your spring essentials without sacrificing style. And you can even start the new season with what you already wore in winter.
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Winter to Spring Capsule Wardrobe Transition
Preparing for Your New Spring Style
The wonder wardrobe method is based on a seasonal rotation system that allows you to refresh your wardrobe every 3-4 months by creating a specific amount of outfits using mostly clothes you already have.
It works like this:
Before each season, you take all your clothes and shoes you have out of storage.
Then you start mixing and matching your old clothes with more recent purchases and try to find as many outfit combinations as you need.
If some of the pieces or outfits are missing you might need to add new items that will go well with clothes you’ve already selected for next season.
After you’ve created your interchangeable outfits, you put the rest of your clothes and shoes away until next season.
STEP 1
Figure out how many clothes you need to create a capsule wardrobe
The classic capsule usually is limited by the number of clothing you can include. Some say 33 clothing items are enough, others will tell you what items to include.
But in my opinion, how many items you have in your capsule is irrelevant. You shouldn’t look at your wardrobe as a collection of separate items but as a cohesive collection of outfits.
I have students who have 80 outfit capsules and students who have 10 outfit capsules.
In both cases the results are beautiful. But, most importantly, they help these women put together a ready-to-wear wardrobe that fits their unique lifestyle. They’ve all started the same way.
You shouldn’t look at your wardrobe as a collection of separate items but as a cohesive collection of outfits.
Here’s how you start a capsule wardrobe plan
Put down on paper all the events you need to get dressed for in the next 3-4 months.
Create categories for the number of outfits you need for each activity. The outfits you need for every type of activity should be worn multiple times and can even be used for multiple activities. It all depends on your lifestyle.
Now I’ll divide them all by the number of times I can wear the same outfit during these 3 months. So if I need to dress up 45 times in the next 3 months, I am ok to wear the same outfit 3 times. This means I only need 15 outfits for the first activity and approximately 40 outfits in total.
By doing this simple calculation, you should have a clear view of how many garments you need for a season or for the entire year.
Of course, you can add more outfits, shoes and accessories to your seasonal capsule wardrobes but at least now you know when to stop shopping.
STEP 2
Building a capsule wardrobe in your personal style
You are the main focus of your capsule, and so the resulting fashion style should reflect this. If you’ll just try to copy a style, a fashion trend you will quickly discover that this won’t work for you long term.
Moreover, you would spend a lot of money on clothes that might look great on others but not on you. This will lead to a new pile of unworn clothes and stressful situations from not having what to wear.
I know that most blogs show you the same neutral-looking capsule full of basics like black pants, simple shoes, white sneakers, white and blue shirts, and classic jeans.
The thing is that a capsule can look as fashionable, modern, and cool as you want to. You can express any fashion style or even combine a few to cover different moods and occasions.
Check these examples of wonder wardrobes that all have different styles and unique pieces.
STEP 3
Create a mood board
Start by asking what your personal style is. You might not have the answer straight away. It can be hard to put into words. Try this instead.
Save images of some outfits you like, colors and patterns that attract you, and everything that inspires you from a visual perspective.
Put together a mood board that includes everything. This will help you steer away from unnecessary purchases and focus on what you like to wear for your future capsule wardrobes.
Teaching and learning personal style takes time and a lot of visual practice. Style is more often than not a balance between what we like and what really works for us. I’ve created a special class called The Style Harmony Class that will help you define and evolve your style in your new capsule.
Style is more often than not a balance between what we like and what really works for us.
STEP 4
Pick the right colors for your capsule wardrobe
We’re all attracted to colors for different reasons, but just because we like green, for example, doesn’t mean it will make us look good.
Besides, if you keep picking colors randomly it won’t get you a fully versatile capsule.
Of course, you can go for a basic neutral palette but it suits only a very small percentage of women and might limit your self-expression. Though if your favorite colours are neutral shades like black, grey, white, camel or brown, check this guide on how to use them in your capsule to not look basic or boring.
There are four color types you can belong to: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Each color type can wear a wide range of colors that will increase their natural beauty.
Correctly identifying your color typology depends on the color of your hair, eyes, eyebrows, and skin undertone. The contrast between these features will also factor in when determining your color type.
If you want to do this assessment quickly and safely, I would suggest taking the WoW Course or Color Season Consultation. I will be there to make sure you get your color type right.
There are more steps to creating a capsule wardrobe, and you can follow all of them here.
Winter Capsule Wardrobe Example
This rotating system where you put away clothes that don’t fit with the season will increase the lifespan of your items and it will also keep you entertained and away from impulse shopping.
Let’s say that you would like to add some new items and outfits to your seasonal capsule. In this case, you need to take a couple of more steps to make sure new clothes fit well with what you already have.
As an example of seasonal transition, I would like to show you the sequence of capsules.
Here is the one for winter. It includes 5 tops, 5 bottoms, 2 dresses, 1 cardigan, 2 outerwear items, 2 pairs of boots and a bag. And when I combine these items I get 27 fully interchangeable outfits.
Winter Season Capsule Overview:
This capsule includes 6 tops, 2 dresses, 5 bottoms, a cardigan, 2 pairs of boots, 1 bag
that result in 32 beautiful outfit combinations.
Style: Romantic style with classic elements.
Colour type: Spring.
Body shape: Sharp / Soft.
Method: Wonder Wardrobe
To prepare this wardrobe for spring, I had to decide what items from this winter capsule can be used next season as well.
I kept these tops, jeans and brown trousers, a cherry dress, the bag and the coat. The logic behind it was that these items are suitable for spring as well, meaning they are not too warm, too heavy or too dark.
When I combine these items I am getting only 7 outfits. That’s not enough for the season. I will need to add items to create 20 more outfits. But before looking for new clothes I will refresh the colour palette.
Spring Capsule Wardrobe Example
The winter capsule’s colour palette was medium-dark, warm, and muted. I didn’t include any green or dark brown items in my spring capsule, so I removed them from the palette.
Instead, I added this fresh red and gorgeous orange. These colours will add more contrast and overall the combinations will look brighter and lighter.
WINTER CAPSULE WARDROBE COLOR PALETTE
SPRING CAPSULE WARDROBE COLOR PALETTE
Spring Season Capsule Overview:
This capsule includes 5 tops, 2 dresses, 5 bottoms, a cardigan, 2 pairs of shoes, 1 bag
that result in 28 beautiful outfit combinations.
Style: Romantic style with classic elements.
Colour type: Spring.
Body shape: Sharp / Soft
Method: Wonder Wardrobe
Once you have your new spring wardrobe ready, I suggest creating a visual guide for your new seasonal wardrobe. This will make sure you make the most out of the clothes you have. Once you do this, you’ll never have the “what should I wear today” dilemma again.
