Q. I am the proud owner of a wardrobe, which is crammed to overflowing with everything from designer dresses to thrift store finds and high street bargains. The problem is that, although I’m forever buying things, nothing seems to work or go together. What’s the solution? Buy more clothes?
A. You say that you are forever buying things and this may, in fact, be the crux of the problem. When you have a closet, which is overflowing with cheap-as-chips high street and supermarket fashion, it’s next to impossible to sort out the mess, let alone look stylish. In 1970 fashion editor Susie Faux coined the phrase "capsule wardrobe" to describe a modest clutch of classic clothing that would, as the glossy fashion magazines put it, "take you anywhere" and all these years later, her advice still holds true.
Take a look at some capsule wardrobe essentials from the high street.
TV's favourite stylist Gok Wan also believes that a capsule is the key to looking stylish every time. “Capsule wardrobes have been around for decades but they're hard to put together because limiting yourself and being quite disciplined is tricky with fashion - we want nice things and lots of them!" Gok explained in a recent interview. "Aim for a working wardrobe with key staples that interact with all your other pieces to create lots of different looks”, he advises.
And Gok is right on the money with this one - capsule dressing by its nature calls for a selection of timeless classics in neutral shades, using accessories to pick up on seasonal trends and colours, so you do have to work on what you've got. Once you get rid of the items you don't wear, you realise your key wardrobe pieces - clothes that work every time. From these you can build an easy to navigate closet that won’t cause you to miss the bus in the morning.
Accessories should complete your overall look and convey your personality, and it's easy to pick up a few eye-catching additions without breaking into your savings. Any stylist will tell you that accessories, such as a silk scarf or a funky handbag, are a disposable way of adopting the season's influences without causing fashion disaster flashbacks in the future. When it comes to more expensive clothing, it's always best simply to nod to a trend. Pick out one key item rather than going for head- to-toe looks. Only the under-18s can get away with full-on trends. The rest of us, sadly, just look like fashion's latest victims.
If you’re still in doubt, don’t worry, because we’ve put together a capsule wardrobe filled with the kind of gorgeous clothes that are designed to turn heads - for all the right reasons.
