Curating The Perfect Capsule Summer Wardrobe

French Connection Dress, Witchery Bag, Country Road Shoes

As some of you may be aware, a large portion of my wardrobe was lost on my move to London from Berlin last year, and a lot of pieces I had curated over the years were never to be seen again!

Believe me, I cried my eyes out… more than once. But after a little while, I saw it as a little bit of a blessing (apart from the loss of my Burberry trench… that I will NEVER get over).

I was able to (basically) start from scratch again and really think about creating a capsule wardrobe. As many of you know, London is a city where you pretty much sacrifice any sort of “space” in return for living in such a vibrant and large city. Therefore, I have to be careful about the pieces I buy, as I don’t have that much space to work with!

Here is my guide to creating the perfect capsule summer wardrobe

1. Assess what you already have

Most of us only wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time. A shocking but true statistic! Take time figuring out what is it you actually wear and what you don’t. Then make two piles of clothes, one with the clothes you wear on a regular basis and one pile for the clothes you don’t wear frequently. Re-purpose the clothes in the infrequently worn pile!

2. Get rid of the unflattering

You should only have time for clothes that truly flatter your body shape. This is where you bring an honest friend into the mix. Try on the clothes in your “wear on a regular basis” pile. You’ll probably find that most of these clothes are already flattering on you (thats why you wear them 80% of the time), however, take out any clothes that are not flattering at this point

3. Fill the gaps over time

You are now going to find yourself with a much smaller pile of clothes to deal with. Take the time to assess what it is you actually need to buy in order to compliment the rest of your items. That might be the perfect denim jacket, or that might include a whole lot of basic items that need replacing. Take your time with this and don’t buy anything without properly thinking about whether you need it or not.

4. Make sure each item has a spot in your wardrobe

This keeps things tidy, as well as keeping you aware of what you have so you don´t go out buying a similar item!

5. Photograph away

This is the fun part… create outfits with your items and take some polaroid pictures. Stick these on the inside of your wardrobe door for inspiration for those tough mornings when you think “I don’t have anything to wear”!!!

What´s one item you always wear throughout summer?

xx

Photography by Nicole Englemann