My Wardrobe: The Spring Plan

I've been reading about Capsule Wardrobes for the past year or so.  In a nutshell, it's breaking down your clothing into fewer pieces that can be worn in many different, complimentary ways.  I clean my wardrobe every season change (so fall and spring, lol), and always get rid of things that I didn't wear even once the previous season.  I have kept a few black things and a white dress shirt for concert wear and some dresses for "mandatory fun" (i.e. a work dinner with J).  Other than that, I'm down to bear bones.  I am also finding myself being more critical of the things I keep.  Does it fit?  Does it flatter my figure?  Is it comfortable?  Now that we are living in Italy, I am having a terrible time finding things to wear in the stores.  1) I am NOT a mall shopper.  Not even in the US where I have an idea of what stores sell what. 2) The markets sell things, but you can't exactly strip off your current  shirt to try on whatever you are looking at, and there are no returns 3) The NEX has eclectic taste, which does not mesh with mine... to say the least.

This leaves me to sewing for myself (gasp).  So I ordered some fabrics and some patterns and decided to really work on this.  Things I have made before never fit right, or I hate it after one wear.  This throws me into a tailspin of body hate and tears.  Which I then self-talk out of (thank you years of therapy and Dr. Lluy).  It's not the clothes, it's my body.  And it's my body in a kinder sense.  It's my body in that it is unique and fearfully and wonderfully made.  I embrace it's lumps and bumps and curves (and non curves).  And now, my tears will be over adjusting patterns and ripping paper rather than over the parts they are trying to cover.

Okay, on with the show.  There are several different ways to create a Capsule Wardrobe.  I am totally visual, so I decided to try the Soduko method.  In this method, you have a 4 x 4 grid full of clothing.  You have 4 bottoms, 4 tops, 4 shoes, 4 accessories.  You make them fit in this grid and magically, you end up with 10 outfits.  I plan on printing it out and taping it to my wardrobe, lol.  If you look closely, you will notice I only have two pairs of shoes.  That's because I only really wear two pairs of shoes.  I also only used two sweaters. My plan was to make all but one of my tops.  I have one done and spring has sprung, so we will see if I get any more done ;)  I'm okay with this since I'm still parading around the house in ratty clothes that really need to be washed more often than they are because they are warm and cozy ;) I'll let you know!

Outfit 1: Sabrina Slim pants in gray, Margo Blouse in raspberry, navy cardigan, black sandals
Outfit 2: White cardigan, brown sandals, jeans, Margo Blouse blue shirt
Outfit 3: Black sandals, white cardigan, Mama Lauren blue blouse, jeans
Outfit 4: Coral Shirt (no picture), gray skirt, brown sandals, navy cardigan
Outfit 5: Sabrina Slim pants in gray, white cardigan, black sandals, Coral Shirt (no picture)
Outfit 6: Margo Blouse in raspberry, brown sandals, white cardigan, gray skirt
Outfit 7: Navy cardigan, jeans, Mama Lauren blue blouse, brown sandals
Outfit 8: Black Sandals, Margo Blouse blue shirt, jeans, Navy cardigan
Outfit 9: Sabrina Slim pants in gray, brown sandals, Mama Lauren blue blouse, navy cardigan
Outfit 10: Black sandals, jeans, white cardigan, coral shirt (no picture)