Instant Outfits

Dresses and my jumpsuit are the easiest things to wear in my closet.  You literally pull them and you have an instant outfit.  Add shoes and you are out the door!  I also love how they help me beat the heat.  I am not a fan of wearing shorts.  It has been hot here lately so my dresses have been in heavy rotation.  

P.S.  I found my supportive flats!  I purchased these flats last week and I LOVE them.  They are from Skechers and are super comfortable.

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Eliminating Items from my Spring Capsule

I have made the decision to eliminate some items from my capsule wardrobe.  After living in my capsule for just over a week, I have decided that certain items in my wardrobe are not working.  I included a pair of skinny jeans that "fit", but honestly they are so uncomfortable.  None of my button up shirts actually close over my bust and the t-shirts do nothing to hide the remnants of my "baby bump'.  I chose to dive back into capsule wardrobes to minimize the punches to my self-esteem and these items just were not flattering.  At all.

The beauty of a capsule is that it helps you discover what you love and what you dislike.  Right now, a lot of my former loves are not fitting well.  That is okay.  I will remove them from my capsule and hang them up.  I am sure that when I start trimming down more, the items will fit again and hopefully even flatter my figure.

The removal of these items take me down to 28 items.  I think that I can find plenty of outfits within that number.  I don't have any outfit pictures for you this week because I was trying to find a way to make the above items work.  My outfits did not fit well so I am going to keep those to myself.  Onward and upward!

Spring 2018- Capsule Wardrobe Reveal

The weather has finally turned to Spring!   Hooray!  I have made my Spring Capsule wardrobe and I am so excited to wear it.  I spent a couple hours over the weekend trying on clothes and seeing what would look good.  I am still not fitting everything but I did find a good number of items that fit.  My capsule is larger than last time at a total of 33 items.  As always, my capsule does not include athletic clothes or accessories.  I will possibly add 2 more items to this wardrobe, bringing the total to 35.  I am looking for a stretchy black tank top and a pair of supportive slip on shoes.

Shoes (4 pairs):

Pants (2 cropped pants, black leggings, wide leg pant, boot cut jean, skinny jean):

Tops (3 tanks, 3 tees, 2 long sleeved button ups, 3 cardigans, 1 sweatshirt):

Dresses/Jumpsuit (1 chambray, 1 tank dress, 1 maxi and 1 jumpsuit):

Vests and Jackets (3 vests, 4 jackets):

Happy Wednesday!

Postpartum Capsule Wardrobe

My youngest daughter is currently 2 months old.  Like most women, my body does not currently resemble the body that I had before I got pregnant.  It can take a long time to lose the baby weight and it is important to be gentle with ourselves as we go through that process.  I find dressing my postpartum body to be a challenge.  Very little of my pre-pregnancy wardrobe fits and my maternity clothes are all too big.  My clothes also have to be nursing friendly.  I recently built a small postpartum capsule wardrobe to help dress me in this stage of my life.

At 16 pieces, my postpartum capsule is by far the smallest capsule I have ever created.  It includes my tops, bottoms and jackets.  I didn't include my winter jacket and boots in the photos.  I will change these out with a lighter jacket and runners when Spring finally hits my neck of the woods.  I didn't include any accessories in my count.  I don't currently wear much in the way of accessories. 

My capsule consists of 10 tops, 2 jackets, 2 pairs of pants, my winter coat and my winter boots.  I plan to replace my maternity jeans soon with a pair of regular jeans that fit my current size.  The maternity jeans are not fitting well and constantly fall down.  They will have to do, however, until I can go shopping.  I didn't include any skirts or dresses in this capsule as nothing I own fits well.  I can dig something out of storage if I absolutely need to wear a dress or skirt, but we have no events that require this in the near future.

TOPS:

PANTS:

Do you have any tips for dress a postpartum body?  I would love to hear them!

Spring Wardrobe- 2017

I love Spring.  Everything comes to life and the weather turns warmer.  I love the sunshine and hearing the birds chirp.  Naturally, when Spring arrives I am completely fed up with Winter.  I am ready to chuck all of my heavy winter clothes into storage, which is something that a Canadian on the prairies can never completely get away with.  

This year has been a bit strange.  I haven't perused the malls or looked online to see what is in style.  I haven't made a shopping list and I haven't daydreamed about the new Spring clothes that I want to add to my wardrobe.  I embarked on a No-Spend Year at the beginning of 2017, so there will be no shopping this season.

I have a basket that I keep my off-season clothes in.  I keep this basket in my closet so that warmer clothes are close at hand.  (We have had snow in May.  Ugh.)  I packed away all of my winter sweaters, blanket scarves and my leather leggings.  I also pulled out my lighter scarves, tops, pink jeans and a floral dress for Easter.  I am excited to wear dresses, skirts and cropped pants.

I am eager to learn how to work within my wardrobe.  I am looking forward to learning how to be content with what I have.  I am discovering how to take proper care of myself so that shopping isn't an emotional crutch.  This is an important skill to have.

I am actually surprised that I don't feel the compulsion to shop.  I am shocked that I am not lamenting my inability to add a few new items to my closet.  It feels good to be content.  

Here are a few items that I am looking forward to wearing again this season.  I have taken these photos out of my previous Capsules, so you may recognize them.

Happy Spring!

Simple Wardrobe

I purged my closet again (!) at the end of the year.  I looked through the clothes that I owned and tried to only keep what I actually value and wear.  I managed to take another large garbage bag of clothes out of my closet.  I know that I will not be purchasing clothing this year, so it was much easier to decide which items got to stay.

It never ceases to floor me that I am able to get rid of so many items out of my closet.  Seriously.  What possesses me to purchase those items?  The Capsule Wardrobes were a great tool to help curb my shopping, but they didn't ever completely prevent me from adding new items to my wardrobe, which is what I need at this stage of my life.  I need to stop the influx of "stuff" that seems to invade my life (and closet).

I carefully went through my closet and split my clothes into 4 categories: Fall/Winter, Spring/Summer, "All Season", and Workout/Lounge.  In total, I kept 111 items in my closet.  In the Winter/Fall category I kept 35 items.  I have 45 items in my Spring/Summer category and 16 in the Workout/Lounge category.  My "All Season" category houses 15 items that I seem to wear repeatedly.

I am happy with my wardrobe.  It feels lighter and very "me".  I like splitting into 2 "seasons" instead of 4.  I also like the flexibility of the "all season" items.  I am looking forward to my no-spend year.  I am excited to see how I can make my wardrobe work for me.  I wonder if I will get rid of more items or if I will want to hang onto what I have, knowing that I can't purchase anything new.

My ultimate goal would be to pare down my wardrobe much further and to really love every item in my closet.  It would be fun to partake in a 10 x 10 challenge or something like it.  I am excited to see what this year brings and I hope you will read along with me!

Fall Capsule Wrap-Up

I am really quite done with Capsule wardrobes for now.  Which is kind of strange because this Capsule was by far my favourite.  I like all of the clothes in the Capsule and they truly worked in my lifestyle.  I like finding new outfits within a small set of clothes and I like having less options.  My shopping in the Spring and Summer got out of hand and the Capsule really reigned that in.  

Although I quite like the Capsule Wardrobes, I feel that they have served their purpose for me.  I really don't have an urge to shop right now.  I also don't have the same access to shopping that I did in the Spring/Summer.  I am living in my small town again where it is simple to avoid shopping for clothes.

I plan to move forward in the Winter with access to all of my clothes again.  I also have a few items that I would like to purchase, but the list is quite short and won't blow the budget.  I highly recommend Capsule Wardrobes to people who wish to be more creative with their clothes and to people who need to restrict their shopping habits.  There are great lessons to be learned in these types of wardrobes.

I will leave you with my favourite Capsule outfits!  

Fall Capsule Wardrobe- 02.11.16

We are supposed to have some warm days coming this week.  It has been a really cold Fall and I am looking forward to some sunshine!

I really like this top.  It is pretty and feminine.  Unfortunately, it really hasn't made it out of the closet due to the weather demanding a sweater (and winter coat).  I love the hat, as well.  I have seen them online quite a bit and I wasn't sure I could pull it off.  I found a black hat (black goes with everything!) and the brim isn't super wide.  I felt like the narrower brim and neutral colour made this accessory easier to wear.  

Happy Wednesday!

Fall Capsule Wardrobe- 19.10.16

When planning a capsule wardrobe it is important to consider what kind of clothes you require for your day to day life.  I wish that I required pretty dresses and fancy shoes for my day to day, but that is not my reality.  I love the look of lots of outfits that I see on my favourite fashion blogs, but if something requires hand-washing or dry-cleaning then it does not fit my life.  I need clothes that allow me to move, chase a toddler and that can stand up to the sticky stains that come with being toddler mom.

This outfit fits the bill.  I love these "boyfriend" jeans.  They are super comfortable and easy to move in.  The t-shirt is also comfy and the cardigan keeps me warm.  It appears that winter is starting a month early in Saskatchewan.  Ugh.  The bag is from Indigo Books and I use it for our trips to the library.

These sneakers are cute and perfect for running errands.

Happy Wednesday!

Fall Capsule 2016 -5.10.16

I woke up to snow on the ground this morning.  Yuck.  It isn't supposed to stick around, but I still don't like to see it.  Miss. E, however, will be ecstatic!

I have two outfits for you today.  The first I wore to a church function and the second I wore for my family pictures.  Both feature leopard print.  Leopard is beautiful, versatile and perfect for Fall.  Here are the outfits!

Black dress pants, Leopard top, Black Booties

Leopard scarf, Chambray dress with brown belt, Brown Boots

I hope you all are having a great Wednesday!  Stay warm!

Fall Capsule Wardrobe Reveal

I am totally late putting up my Fall Capsule Wardrobe!  Fall started last week, but I only received the last of my Fall pieces on Tuesday (the 27th).  I had birthday money (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and I bought 2 pairs of jeans for the wardrobe.

I love dressing for Fall.  It is my favourite season.  We get a "true" Fall in Canada, so bring on the cozy sweaters and boots!

My Fall Capsule comprises of 36 total pieces.  I didn't count my outerwear in this, as I will have to swap out my Fall coat for my Winter coat when the weather gets colder.  I also did not include accessories in my Fall capsule.  I will be free to draw from whatever I like for accessories.  I have stashed away my other clothes and have made my Fall capsule accessible in my closet.

TOPS

I have a total of 24 tops.  This includes my sweaters, blazers/jackets, t-shirts and vests.

 7 Sweaters

Blazer, Kimono, 2 Vests

11 Shirts

2 (Faux) Leather Jackets

PANTS

I have 5 pairs of pants.  3 are jeans, 1 is a thick legging and 1 is a dress pant.

DRESSES

I only have 2 dresses in my capsule wardrobe.  I basically wear dresses to church on Sunday and to the occasional event (which are always casual).  I included my long sleeve striped dress and my chambray dress.

SHOES

I have 5 pairs of shoes in my capsule.  I have 3 pairs of boots, my leopard heels (which I am still in love with) and my bright coloured sneakers.  I wasn't going to include my runners in the wardrobe, but I wear them all the time and they are cute.  They ended up making the cut.

I am so excited to get back into my capsule wardrobe!  I enjoy having a limited number of choices and it is always nice to have parameters on my shopping.  I tend to like to shop, so the capsule wardrobe helps me to limit and carefully choose my purchases.  

Thanks for reading!  Happy Wednesday!

Quick City Getaway: What I Packed- Day 18

Hubby and I have to make a quick trip to the city this week.  We are going to take advantage of the evening to ourselves and go out for a date night.  In the photo below I have shown you all of the pieces that I plan to wear over the 2 day trip.  We have a 4 hour car ride each day so I tried to pick outfits that would be comfortable.  The forecast is calling for rain the first day and my Hubby likes to run the AC full blast, so my outfit has to be warm.  I made sure to pack a special outfit for date night because a night out is something to celebrate!

From left: 

Outfit #1 (For the car ride to the city.):  Black leggings, light pink tank top, grey sweater, and black Tom's.  

Outfit #2 (For the car ride home.):  Grey sweater, striped tank dress and black Tom's.

Outfit #3 (For our date night.):  Black pleated skirt, black tank, black belt and leopard heels.

Outerwear:  Long trench coat- a must for the rain!