Happy New Year! With January being a slower month coming off this holiday season, it felt like the perfect time to do a capsule wardrobe. My sister-in-law, Nora of Purely Nora, and I are teaming up to do this together! Long before our Instagram days, we did mini capsules and outfit challenges together via text all the time. It was so fun and a great way to enjoy what’s in our closets. So, we thought we would challenge ourselves to a month-long capsule this January! A capsule wardrobe is a smaller, curated selection of staple pieces that you remix and wear often.
I am someone who loves color and fun items, but my wardrobe, for the most part, is built on basics. So, this capsule is a great chance to simplify my January by only reaching for these items when getting dressed each day. I think when you have a great foundation, you can build a wardrobe you love, whatever that means for you. It can be challenging to find quality basics and foundational pieces for curves, let’s be honest. So, I am really excited to dive into these pieces, why I love them, and share them each day. I hope that this capsule helps you build a foundation you love, encourages you to love what you already have, and shows you that you can attain quality, staple closet items with curves (and look great in them).
How we approached this:
We had no hard and fast rules, just that we will wear our capsule items for the entire month of January! We each built our capsule in a way that made sense for us with no set number of pieces. I chose 22 pieces of clothing and 6 pairs of shoes. We excluded outdoor coats and boots, because here in NJ the weather is unpredictable. I will still be sharing the Lilly After Party sale, because it aligns with my mentality of acquiring items you love, and this is truly the best time of year to do so. Naturally I included one of the items in my capsule! Any brand partnerships I have this month also tie into this overall concept.
What you can expect:
Everyday, we will both be sharing an #ootd to our instagram pages @simply_elsa and @purely_nora. At the end of the week, we will both do a recap on our blogs, sharing what we wore, what worked, what didn’t, and what we learned. Nora and I have some really fun posts and things planned for this project. Not every blog post I write in January will be about the capsule specifically, however you’ll find that the majority of style posts I write and share will be built from the pieces in my capsule (with a couple exceptions)!
What I chose:
I chose 5 tops, 5 bottoms, 5 sweaters, 1 dress, 5 pieces of loungewear, and 6 shoes. If I am being completely honest, I wear almost this much in about a week or so (yikes, I know)! I tend to change into loungewear around 5pm, or often start my day in it to walk around the block. I chose types of items that I wear often, spark joy, and are great foundational pieces, for me. In another post, I will dive into why I love the items I picked, but for now, here is a quick rundown!
Tops (5)
White button down (regular + plus)
Quilted sweatshirt (regular + plus)
Blue and white Striped Sheep tee (up to xxl)
Blue and white ruffle button front shirt (regular and plus)
Black tissue turtleneck (regular + plus)
Bottoms (5)
Black leggings (regular + plus)
White skinny jeans (regular + plus)
Button fly skinny blue jeans (plus here, regular similar style here)
Black straight leg jeans (regular + plus)
Blue straight leg jeans (regular + plus)
Sweaters (5)
Neutral cardigan (plus here, regular here)
Navy Sweater Jacket/Blazer (regular + plus)
Grey mock neck sweater (regular + plus)
Camel cashmere crewneck sweater (regular here, plus here)
Dudley Stephens fleece (up to xxl)
Lounge/Athleisure (5)
Ivory sherpa zip-up (regular + plus)
Lilly Printed Popover (up to xxl, had to add a little fun!)
Joggers (regular and plus)
Sweatshirt tee (regular and plus)
White t-shirt (regular and plus)
Dress (1)
Cotton grey midi dress (up to xxl, runs large)
Shoes (6)
Leopard smoking shoe (any leopard shoe will do!)
Black boots
Brown leather loafers
Superga Sneakers
Cap toe flats (I have chosen to include my Chanel flats, which I will dive into later on! Similar pair here)
Margaux demi ballet flats