The weather has officially warmed up around here. We’ve been spending most of our days in the pool, and doing general outdoor things… it’s been so nice! I’m realizing though that being pregnant in the summer is going to be a whole different ball game… we haven’t hit 90 degrees yet, and I already feel overwhelmed by the heat. I think I may have to take up permanent residence underneath an umbrella while my girls are playing outside.
But all of this warm weather has me motivated to get today’s post up… my Summer Capsule Wardrobe 2019. It’s been awhile since I uploaded a post like this you guys!
About a year ago, I said farewell to capsule wardrobes, and while that was the right move for me at the time, the right move for me right now is to put a capsule together again.
You’ll see this as a recurring theme in this post, but I’m learning that flexibility is a necessary ingredient in life. Necessary, but hard for someone like me who likes routine and consistency. And I’m learning that, just because something worked in the past, doesn’t mean it needs to work right now. I lean towards thinking in very finite/black and white ways, but you know what? Life doesn’t work that way.
What am I trying to say? I like the idea of either doing capsule wardrobes or not doing capsule wardrobes, but the reality is that sometimes they make sense for me, and sometimes they don’t.
And if you’re curious how I define capsule wardrobes? Well, I used to define them like this (which is still a great definition by the way), but right now I’m defining them as an intentional selection of clothing that I wear for a specific season.
In other words, I’m not defining them as living with a small, set amount of clothing because ultimately my closet is smaller than a lot of other bloggers’ closets (note how I’m comparing myself to other bloggers, and not the average consumer), so I’m basically always living in a smaller closet headspace. But it’s the intentional decision to live with a certain amount of clothing for a certain amount of time that sets it apart as a capsule wardrobe. This is by no means an official definition, but it’s the definition I’ll be working with.
So in this season of life, while I’m pregnant and already limited to what I can wear, an intentional wardrobe (a.k.a. a capsule wardrobe) makes sense. In my next phase of the postpartum months I’m not sure a capsule wardrobe will make sense, but we’ll see. Flexibility and adaptability right?
There’s a few specific things I wanted to point out about my approach to this summer capsule wardrobe:
1 || I’m giving myself permission for wiggle room.
A.K.A I may add things to this capsule, and I may take things away if I’m not finding them useful. I used to feel that because I shared my capsules publicly with you guys that I had to be extremely rigid in the way I executed them… which is one of the reasons I ultimately decided to take a break from doing them.
But I’ve decided to be flexible (there’s that word again), and admit to myself that as a blogger it’s hard to be rigid with a capsule… and that’s okay. What do I mean?
I have brand partnerships where I am gifted clothing to share with you guys, which is something I really enjoy doing (and you really enjoy seeing). Rather than quitting capsule wardrobes altogether, I’m going to allow myself a foundational capsule wardrobe with intentional brand add ins throughout the season (if you’re curious as to how I handle brand partnerships, read this post).
This basically means my summer capsule wardrobe will probably always be a bit bigger than the average capsule wardrobe, and it will be more fluid than the traditional model, but I’m okay with that. I’m making my capsule work for me, and not the other way around.
2 || I have no idea how successful this summer capsule wardrobe will be
I’m going to be honest with you guys: I put this capsule together in the hopes that it will be what I need… but I have no idea if it actually will be.
Here’s the thing: my memory is not what it used to be (ha!) and I cannot remember how big I got when I was pregnant with Kit (I didn’t take a lot of bump pictures when I was pregnant… something I regret now). I definitely remember how big I got with Ella and Rosie, but that’s not really helpful because… twins. I was huge.
I got rid of all maternity clothes except a handful of tank tops I wore towards the end of my pregnancy with Ella and Rosie, and they are way too big for me now.
What I’m trying to say is:
I’m hoping I can get away with mostly non maternity clothes, but that may be wishful thinking on my part. I did have to purchase some non maternity longer, baggier tops because everything I own is pretty fitted but I made a point to pick out things I would wear in normal, non pregnant life.
But I may end up outgrowing those non maternity pieces, and needing to reevaluate in couple of months. I may also end up living in dresses the entire summer, and this will end up being a moot point.
The point is, I’m allowing myself the flexibility to see where things go and if I have to make tweaks later, I will.
3 || I have a group of alternates
You may notice that I didn’t include any long sleeve or pant options in my capsule, and I did that for a reason. I’ve always added them into my warm weather capsules in the past, and then got almost no use out of them.
Minnesota summers are super hot and humid, and while I may reach for a sweater on the rare night at the lake it’s not something I’m reaching for on a regular basis. I also have a few linen dresses that, on paper, seem like they should work for hot weather, but because they have a longer sleeve I know I probably won’t wear them.
But because it’s nice to have them just in case, I’m keeping them handy… just not in my foundational capsule.
The biggest takeaway I hope you’ll get from the above is that intentionality is the most important part of having a capsule wardrobe. If you’ve always struggled with the idea of doing a capsule wardrobe for yourself, reframe it in your mind as an intentional wardrobe. Instead of trying to whittle your wardrobe down to a predetermined amount of clothing, work on creating/building a smallish (smallish may mean different things to different people) wardrobe that you put together with intentionality.
So often we want a set of rules that will apply to every person, in every situation, at all times. But here’s a little secret:
that’s not attainable.
Allow yourself the freedom to not be perfect, and to adapt to life’s ebbs and flows.
That’s what I’ll be working on this summer, and I hope you’ll join me!
With that said, I’ll get into sharing the individual pieces I picked for my summer capsule wardrobe. Today I’ll just be linking to everything. I will be getting into the nitty gritty about why I picked each piece, but I’ll be doing it in a fun way that I’ll introduce on Monday so stay tuned!
* Denotes Sustainable/USA Made Options. c/o Denotes a Gifted Item. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you choose to shop through them I will make a small commission. Thank you for supporting Truncation!
It feels really good to “embark” on a capsule wardrobe again. I am planning on taking a spending break for the rest of the summer with my only planned exception being that I may end up buying a few maternity specific tees and tanks (and I will allow gifted additions to my wardrobe).
I’m looking forward to a break from shopping. I’ve been in a season of adding, and the pendulum is ready to swing in the other direction. I’m sure I’ll share more of how that’s going in the months to come.
Is anyone else doing a summer capsule wardrobe? Anyone want to join me in a spending freeze?
See you on Monday!
Joining in a spending freeze. Saying it “outloud” for accountability.
Yes! You got this!