A Summer Capsule Wardrobe Edit

Hello Summer, and hello my beautiful summer wardrobe. I could not be more excited to get you out…

Except I’m not really getting you out because most of you I wear all year round, I’ve never been one of those to pack the summer clothes away and get the winter clothes out. I spend most of summer getting annoyed that my winter coat is still in the way hanging up under the stairs, finally taking it upstairs, only to bring it back down again a few weeks later because Autumn is on it’s way.

Also having had an unseasonably warm Spring, most of my summer clothes have been worn many times already.

So why, I hear you ask, am I doing a Summer wardrobe edit? What even is a wardrobe edit?

I guess it’s not so much an edit and more or a stock take. God I hate the stock take job in my catering role, but it is so necessary. Not just for accounts to track spending and sales but for us, the workers using the stock to know what’s there… It is still in date? Is it useful? Do we need it?

The same goes for our wardrobes. It’s always good to have a little stock take. By doing this at the beginning of a season and the end of the last, it will help you to figure out what is really working for you and begin to help you build that elusive “capsule wardrobe”.

Pin me for later….

Why edit your summer wardrobe more than any other season?

For most of my clothes the line blurs between seasons. Layers are added or taken away, jeans go with tops rather than skirts and woolly tights turn the look of a dress around. But as the temperature starts to go above the 20 mark everything changes. Those real summery dresses and shorts, which are probably on the short side now I’m over 30 but hey, make this year debut to supplement my year round clothes. I am all fore an interchangeable year round wardrobe but sometimes you gotta pull out the real summery stuff you’ve been looking forward to wearing. And this is why an little extra edit goes a long way for the Summer season.

How to edit your summer wardrobe.

Pull it ALL out…. It’s only then that we get a real feel for how much we have. I like the hang all my favourites up so I can see them together and see how I can make more outfits out of the same amount of clothes. I find this also helps me shape my style. It’s only when I started doing this I noticed patterns in the things I really love. IpI then looked back at the things I hadn’t chosen to hang up, realising they were totally random and all had factors I didn’t like about them. Over time this pile has decreased dramatically. (Although I still haven’t let go of some of the items I wore when I was travelling. There still a lot of sentimental in me.)

Think about what you need and how much you will actually wear something.

Think back to last summer, or if you’ve been wearing lots of your summer things already, back over the last few months. I found I have been loving my floaty dresses, especially during lock down. Throwing on one item, being cool and comfy in it all day has been the key. There is however a few down sides to the dresses I already have, one is a little low cut, fine on a really hot day but when I jumping up and down all day in the park with a toddler I felt I needed a little more covering. The other dress I had fit the bill shape wise but was a little heavier and too warm for hot days. I saw a gap in my wardrobe and a chance to actually buy something. Something I know I going to wear a lot and something I know I’m going to love. A chance to buy some of that ethical fashion I’ve been lusting after for so long.

Shop ethical fashion.

I went for the “Hannah Dress” from Naked Generation. It’s more than I’ve ever spent on a dress, but I thought if I’m not going to buy something for myself on my 30th birthday when am I going to? Plus I was so pleased to support a small business I enjoy following so much on Instagram. It fit the bill, light and cool in the summer, modest enough I can chase a toddler in it and I’ll be able to pair it with some warmer clothes when the weather turns.

How my summer wardrobe now looks.

Looking at my wardrobe now I think I missing maybe one or two more things. I have the floaty dresses, some easy to wear shorts and light tops to suit all summer occasions but I need some long legs and sleeves I can wear on cooler summer days that’s aren’t jeans. I think after lock down I’ll never be able to wear jeans again. Plus apart from a work caridgan I’ve been throwing over everything I don’t have anything that will go over everything I wear. I found this through winter too and I’m still on the look out so watch this space.

That leaves me with….

1x maxi skirt, 1x midi skirt, 3x midi dresses, 1x short dress, 1x blouse, 2x cami top, 3x shorts, 1x short sleeved shirt. Plus of course the usual basics and lounge wear I wear at home and in the garden. It may not seem like a lot but this amount of clothes has seen me well though the summer so far, other than missing some cooler trousers like I said. I’ve managed by living in baggy harem pants through lock down but as the real world is calling more and more I’ll have to getting my ethical shopping head on.

Be kind on yourself when editing your WARDROBE.

Remember you don’t need to go in all guns blazing and get rid of everything you haven’t worn in a while. I very rarely get rid of something there and then. In fact when I did this process in winter I bagged up the things I thought I wanted to pass on and put them in our cellar, ready to sell later in the year. This gives me the chance to see if I miss any of it. In fact I’ve recently found myself looking for a couple of things. These need repairing as the seams have gone a bit funny but as I’ve been missing them I now think it’s worth taking them to my seamstress.

Nobody has to have the “perfect” capsule wardrobe and if they do I can tell you it has taken them years to figure it out, but once you do I can promise it is well worth it and takes any stress out of “what should I wear”. You’ll no longer worry when going to a wedding or a party about buying something new, you’ll feel so much more confident in what you do own.

How has shopping less effected me?

I had this conversation with my lovely neighbour recently who is very much like me when it comes to sustainable choices. She said to me “once you realise that all the shopping, the new clothes, shopping in season and having a different outfit for each occasion doesn’t actually matter, once you realise no-one actually cares or remembers if you’ve worn that before, its the MOST liberating thing.” She is, in my opinion, completely and utterly right. When you know you love something and you want to wear it all the time, you no longer care what others think.

Have a think about it yourself. Do you ever noticed if friend has worn something before? To a party a year ago? Because I don’t. If I do I say “I always love that dress on you,” because I do.

How is your Summer wardrobe coming along? Are you doing an edit or a stock take of it this season?

Much love

Hannah xxx