In September, I’m starting a new trial with a monthly Capsule Wardrobe. I already tested the principle of the monthly Capsule Wardrobe at the beginning of the year and it works much better for me than the 3-monthly version I tried earlier. It might be surprising, but the less, I have in my wardrobe, the more comfortable I feel in my daily outfits. It’s probably because with fewer clothes, you have to get much more creative so you don’t wear the same thing every day. On the other hand, each piece of clothing meets my current taste and doesn’t get lost in a mountain of clothes. However, a monthly capsule wardrobe requires a lot of planning in advance. Unfortunately, I haven’t had that time in the last six months. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve closed our zero waste online shop. Since the Ukraine war, sales have unfortunately plummeted as everyone is trying to save money. Unfortunately, sustainability is quickly falling behind. We were lucky that we quickly found a new tenant for our shop. However, this also meant that we had to process everything within a very short time. Quite stressful 😅 Even though the decision was difficult, we feel really liberated and in August I was able to enjoy some free time for the first time in a long time without feeling guilty. And I finally sewed again too 🥳

But back to today’s topic. I usually start my Capsule Wardrobe by choosing a colour scheme. Here I orientate myself on which colours fit into the season for me, or which colours I like to wear in the period. For September, these are autumnal colours for me, such as cream, cognac, khaki or dark blue. The whole thing is completed with a little black and white, the basic colours par excellence. I use these colours to put together my capsule wardrobe, starting with the basics and favourite pieces. Then a few newer or more fashionable pieces go into the wardrobe. A few “maybe” pieces can’t be missing either, because after all, a capsule is the perfect way to find out what can and can’t stay in the wardrobe. For September, I’ve also planned a few pieces that have only been in my head so far. This helps me to focus on sewing projects that I would like to wear immediately. Otherwise there’s too much creative chaos in my head and I don’t get to sew because of all the new ideas. At the moment, I’m still missing a longsleeve in natural-navy stripes and the brown denim jacket. Both should be doable in September so that I can use the full potential of my Capsule Wardrobe. Once I have the first draft, I put outfits together. That way I quickly notice what doesn’t fit into the Capsule or what I don’t need because I already have enough options. This is all done digitally with Illustrator, as I have now traced my entire wardrobe, see below:

Here are my 18 pieces for September:

  1. T-Shirt/Longsleeve off-white – me-made, Rio Ringer Tee from True Bias, fabric organic Interlockjersey from Siebenblau
  2. T-Shirt/Longsleeve natur-navy striped – me-made (the longsleeve still needs to get sewn), Rio Ringer Tee from True Bias, fabric organic Interlockjersey from Siebenblau
  3. Blouse with floral pattern – me-made, Blouse Victoria from Fibre Mood, fabric vintage cotton batiste
  4. Wrap blouse khaki – me-made, Burdastyle 10/2011 pattern #121, fabric cotton silk from Maybachufer
  5. Flanel shirt navy-white check – Uniqlo (alt)
  6. Denim shirt – Paige, 2nd Hand via Vite en Vogue
  7. Sweatshirt off-white – me-made, Burdastyle #129 08/2013
  8. Striped sweater – & Other Stories (alt)
  9. Denim jacket off-white – me-made, Burda #7018, fabric from Minerva
  10. Cardigan off-white – Soyaconcept, 2nd Hand via Momox Fashion
  11. Denim jacket brown – still needs to get sewn, Burda #7018, fabric from Maybachufer
  12. Biker jacket khaki – me-made with my own pattern, fabric organic Gabardine from Siebenblau
  13. Classic jeans with straight leg – Vintage Levi’s, 2nd Hand via Humana
  14. Skinny jeans dark blue– Uniqlo, 2nd Hand via Momox Fashion
  15. Skinny jeans black – Uniqlo, 2nd Hand via Momox Fashion
  16. Corduroy skirt brown – me-made, Sewionista Patterns Rock Merris, organic Corduroy from Siebenblau
  17. Denim Skirt dark blue – me-made, Burda Easy 2016 Schnitt Nr. 1B, fabric from Dutch fabric market
  18. Suede dress – 2nd Hand from fleamarket

Since the temperature in September will fluctuate between summer and autumn, I have planned pieces for warmer and colder days. The t-shirts will certainly be replaced by the longsleeves by the end of the month and also the cream denim jacket has a warmer counterpart with the cardigan in cream. I will show a part of my outfits again on my Instagram Account and daily the sketch of my respective outfit. And what do you think of capsule wardrobes?