As autumn rolls slowly into winter, updating your wardrobe becomes less of a want and more of a necessity. Ensuring you have enough warm clothes to see you through the cold months is essential, but not everyone wants or is able to spend a small fortune on revamping their closet.
To help you make the most of your capsule wardrobe this season, fashion journalist and stylist to the stars Corina Gaffey joined Today with Claire Byrne to share her tips.
"I think building a capsule wardrobe is a real personal endeavour", Gaffey says."I think we need to look at what reflects your style but also your lifestyle. Basically a capsule wardrobe is, in a sense, a set of interchangeable items that work for you, for day-to-day.
"People always have this conception that capsule wardrobes have to be neutral and classic, and I go myself between wanting to be that girl that is the classic pulled together person, but then also wanting to wear all the prints in one go."
She adds: "The capsule wardrobe that you put together should be the pieces that you feel comfortable in, that you feel an easy elegance in."
Social media is full of capsule wardrobe "check lists", namely the classic white t-shirt, the perfect denim jeans, the goes-with-everything blazer, but Gaffey isn't as strict with her take on a capsule wardrobe.
"I definitely think it's good to have some core basics, and I think that's what the list is usually, but I don't think it's right to sit here and say these are the 10 things everybody should have in their wardrobe, because everyone dresses differently, everyone feels differently when they get up in the morning and decide what they want to wear. I think it comes down to your mood as well."
Central to this is your lifestyle and what events or locations you're dressing for. If you have a desk job, you'll want trousers that are comfortable and have some stretch to them, Gaffey says, or if you're a mam on the go you might need some classic jeans and trainers.
Building a capsule wardrobe should be cheaper in the long term also, Gaffey says, with these core basics operating as "the workhorses in your wardrobe".
"I think a good way of maybe trying to see what are the items you wear the most, some people set up a little pop-up rail where you, as an experiment for a week if you have the time, put the items you're wearing the most in that week and see what you keep going back to."
Gaffey suggests you can also create a pie chart of the kinds of outfits you'll need during a week based on your activities. If you were wearing work clothes every day of the week, it's about finding the most versatile pieces that you can rework every couple of days.
"Cross-over pieces" are key, Gaffey says, meaning the items you'll wear at work, at home and socialising.
"We're so overwhelmed by trends, we're becoming weary with what is supposed to be in, what's new and I think people are going back to basics: cleaner, there's that whole thing on TikTok, the "clean-girl" aesthetic, the "that girl" aesthetic. It's oversized blazers, it's minimalism."
To listen back to the full interview, click above.
