Week One

So, I only have one good picture. I know that is terrible, and I will try to have more next time, but it took me a few days to get the lighting down. I leave for work often before the sun is up, so trying to find a spot in my house can be difficult. So, without further ado, there is what I've got for the first week:

Purple sweater, tan wool pants, brown flats, black and white polka dot top

Black flats, leggings, gray Nic & Zoe sweater with mint top

Capsule week 1 and I have survived. We'll see how things go from here:)

Fall Capsule So Far...

So... we are two days in and I've already made some interesting discoveries. Of course, my capsule started on what is, perhaps, the hottest week of the whole summer. It was a high of 101* today. Yowza. And though I incorporated a few warm weather items in my fall capsule, I was not really prepared for THAT. In the future, I may have to start the fall capsule on September 15th, or perhaps even October 1. I forget how hot September can be. But by the end of the month is is solidly fall, usually. It's that shoulder month.

I also realized that I have no brown flats. Which is problematic since I have two brown pairs of dress pants (of 4) in my capsule. My brown Toms are nice, but have seen better days. And the brown houndstooth Toms with the houndstooth brown pants is a little too much houndstooth I think.

I know that I said once the capsule started you were not allowed to change anything. But I don't think I have much of a choice. It has become readily apparent that I am not very good with this... haha:)

So, without further ado, I will present to you, my fall capsule, as it currently stands (and hopefully will continue to stand until December 1).

Casual Bottoms (7)

• Miracle Body skinny jeans from D.Diff
• Black skinny jeans
• Miracle Body black leggings from D.Diff
• Navy blue chinos from Banana Republic
• Miracle Body ankle length jeans from D.Diff
• Jag jean shorts from D.Diff
• Jag bermuda shorts from D.Diff

Dress Pants (3)

• brown houndstooth
• dark gray plaid
• tan wool

Dresses (2)

• navy dress from Stitch Fix
• Black dress from Augusta

Casual Sweaters (3)

• Black and Red Nic & Zoe sweater from D.Diff
• Long red and blue Cabi sweater
• Navy Blue Cabi sweater

Shirts (9)

• Green polka dot t-shirt from D.Diff
• Black polka dot t-shirt from D.Diff
• Gray long sleeved t-shirt from D.Diff
• White short sleeved t-shirt from Banana Republic
• White 3/4 sleeved t-shirt from D.Diff
• Blue & white striped shirt from Stitch Fix
• Navy, orange and white striped shirt from Ann Taylor
• Chambray shirt by Lucky from D.Diff
• White tank top

Work tops (6)

• Purple cardigan from Banana Republic
• Gray and silver houndstooth sweater from Banana Republic
• Gray Nic & Zoe Sweater with mint green t-shirt from D.Diff
• Gray cardigan from D.Diff
• Tan & white striped longer sweater from D.Diff
• Orange Nic & Zoe shirt

Shoes (7)

• black Puma flats
• brown Corso Como flats from D.Diff
• Brown Toms
• Toms boots
• tall black boots
• Snake skin wedges
• Black Sperrys

Outerwear (4)

• Orange puffy vest from Lands End
• Brown trench coat from Eddie Bauer
• Black toggle coat
• North Face fleece

That is slightly different than my original plan, but includes 41 items. This does not include Ohio State or Nebraska t-shirts, which will obviously need to be worn on game days, etc... :)

We'll see how I do. This has been hard and it is only the second day... I'm going to try to take some pictures of the different outfits so you can see how I try to pair the different pieces together.

Simplifying...

So, for several years now, I have talked a big game about, "Oh wouldn't it be nice to simplify my life?" "Buy fewer clothes that are higher quality", "It is so socially irresponsible to consume so much more than we need." and on and on and on it went.

It has mostly been talk. Because, let's be honest, buying new things makes you happy in the moment. And for a bit of time afterwards. Recently I was turned onto a book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. I bought it and started reading it. And I want my life to be simpler. I don't want to live amongst heaps of dirty/clean laundry, ankle deep in baby toys that you step on in the morning. I don't want to have a kitchen that kinda always needs cleaned, or a desk that you can never see because it is covered in papers. It makes you feel crazy. At least it makes me feel crazy. It contributes to my thought that my life is out of control. That I'm spread too thin. And it makes it difficult to relax at home when you constantly feel like there is stuff you need to be doing.

So, Marie Kondo says that if you follow her plan, you will never need to "tidy" again. She encourages you to make a change on the inside. To let go of all the things that don't really make you happy. To physically touch each item that you own (she has you go by category, not by room) and decide if it sparks joy. If it does, it gets to stay. If it doesn't then it has to go.

She admits that some things you have to keep and do not spark joy. But overall, this is a good principle to live by. Think of how peaceful it would be to be surrounded by only things that bring you joy. And she asserts that if you do the method correctly, you will not re-accumulate things. You will be me conscientious about your purchases. And you will get rid of things that you no longer need, or things that have served their purpose.

The first step is to purge your wardrobe. She states that you have to take everything, EVERYTHING out of your closet. If it is clothing, it needs to be in the pile. Shoes, purses, scarves, socks, underware, winter coats, EVERYTHING. If it is not in the pile and you find it later, you do not get to keep it. It has to go. Then you touch each thing. You keep only things that spark joy. Everything else goes.

This was my pile of clothes

And all the clothes that were donated...

I was horrified at the pile of clothes. It barely fit in the spare room we used to stage things. I had so much crap! Stuff that hadn't fit for years. Out of style, used to like but now I don't, etc... I got rid of 12 garbage bags full of clothes. And I went from having two big storage bins full of clothes that weren't in season in addition to a full closet, to being able to put all my clothes in my drawers and let Charlie use half of my closet for his shirts which used to be in the hall closet.

my side of the closet with all my shoes

Purses

Jeans and shorts

socks and scarves

sweaters

And it has been several weeks. Sometimes I do struggle to find something to wear, but honestly, I don't miss anything that I got rid of. I have not once thought to myself, "I wish I still had _____".

So, serendipitously this past week I ran across an article and then several blogs talking about capsule wardrobes. It is an idea that you limit the clothes you will wear for that season to a certain number. Some say 33, others 37, but almost always less than 40. That includes everything except for workout clothes, PJs, underware, formal wear and accessories. You commit to your number. You are not allowed to buy any clothes in between capsules. If you wish you had more color, different shoes, more sweaters - too bad. Take that lesson and apply it to the next capsule. Each capsule usually lasts 3 months. At the end of 3 months you make a capsule for the next month. You can use some of the same clothes if you want, swap new ones in, buy new ones etc... You are only allowed to buy clothes in the few weeks leading up to a new capsule. Many people also tell you to limit your spending to a certain amount of money.

I'm going to try it. It may be more difficult because I need to include work clothes, and as far as I can tell all these women are just bloggers and don't have to dress up for work everyday. Some people suggest having a work capsule and casual capsule. That seems overboard since 99% of what I wear when I'm not at work can probably be considered workout clothes or PJs.

So I have my first capsule planned out. It will start in September, and since it's my first one, no new clothes. In the future I'm going to limit my purchases to $250 per capsule. Poor D.Diff ;) I've got 5 casual pants (2 could be worn to work on Fridays), 4 dress pants,  2 dresses, 3 casual sweaters, 5 shirts, 6 work tops (mix of tops and sweaters, some of which could also be casual), 6 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of shorts (since September is still often hot) and 3 jackets. That is 37 items.

As far as the tidying goes - the next step was books. We rid of 2 big storage bins full of books. Medical books I didn't need anymore were donated to students in Africa. The other books were sold to the local bookstore or donated to the library. Next up is papers... because we all have that desk covered in papers...