Category: Capsule Wardrobe

What I Wore: May 2016 Workwear Review

May, May, May. You little heartbreaker of a month. I’ve had enough of you, so let’s talk about something else. Such as … what is going on with these monthly recaps. When I first started posting them, back in the fall of 2014, my goal was to do an honest-to-goodness monthly capsule for work, rotating pieces as my fancy struck. Basically, at the beginning of every month, I would pick 3-4 dresses, 2-3 skirts, a bunch of tops and pants, and plan a sort of 30×30 type of dealio.

Gradually, that began to lose its appeal, and sometime in the last year, I more or less gave up on it completely. I still plan my outfits ahead of time (I’m a type A, list-maker extraordinaire to the death), but I tend to just pick whatever I feel like wearing that month, without making any concerted efforts to remix a limited selection. Out of sheer laziness, I’ve continued to call these recaps “capsules”, but I realized recently that this might be misleading. I do hope that they tend to show how pieces can be mixed and matched (and new things added to build on existing ones), but anyone looking for a minimalist approach to dressing is bound to be disappointed with my approach.

But you guys already knew that, right? Minimalism, c’est pas moi. On to the clothes!

one, two, three
one, two, three
four, five, six
four, five, six
seven, eight, nine
seven, eight, nine
ten, eleven, twelve
ten, eleven, twelve
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen
seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty
seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty

This is a good example of an anti-capsule month, because there wasn’t much repetition or any sort of cohesive theme. With that said, there was a decent representation of older pieces mixed in with some news ones. Some decent outfits, some forgettable ones, a few awesome ones (if I say so myself). It is always interesting to me to see which outfits photograph well (or not) versus feeling great on the body. Which ones felt the best to me? Numbers 1, 4, and 9 for sure, although others certainly didn’t look too shabby (11, 13-15).

Your turn: do you like these monthly (non-capsule) recaps? Do you enjoy seeing the everyday versus only the highlight reel?

What I Wore: April 2016 Work Capsule

April, April, April. What the heck happened in April? The last week has been an absolute blur of work stress, terrible news, and family busyness, and I can barely remember anything that happened before. I’m pretty sure that my second book was published in April, and I went on a weekend getaway to Vancouver, and … that’s about it. Well that and work, and home, and life also happened. I think. I’m also pretty sure that the weather starting warming up like crazy in April, which will be evident in my outfits for the month.

Speaking of which:

one, two, three
one, two, three
four, five, six
four, five, six
seven, eight, nine
seven, eight, nine
ten, eleven, twelve
ten, eleven, twelve
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen
sixteen, seventeen, eighteen
sixteen, seventeen, eighteen

I have been thrifting so much lately that I’m awash in new (to me) clothes, which is always fun. It does make it hard to pick favourite outfits though. I really loved #5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 17, and 18 … which might just be the longest list of faves I’ve ever had (and that’s not even counting some of the ones I simply liked a LOT). I won’t even bother attempting to list favourite pieces, but I will say that I’m proud that all of them came to me pre-loved. But you’ve heard me blather on about that before, so I’ll save the soapbox for another time.

I will say that I’m having a lot of fun with my work clothes at the moment, although I feel like I’m definitely moving closer to “business creative” territory and leaving “business formal” in the dust. Good or bad? Eh … I’m not sure it matters right now, to be honest. About a year ago, when I was still in the thick of transitioning to a new role with different responsibilities, I went through a phase in which I was acutely aware of/concerned with/obsessing over my professional image. Having settled into the role and gained a ton more experience/confidence/security, those concerns have lessened. I now feel like I’ve got a sufficiently good handle on the various expectations I may encounter in different situations to know exactly what image I want and need to present. And most of the time, I get to just wear whatever I like. Which is, honestly, a great perk of my job.

But enough blah, blah, blah from me — how was your April?

What I Wore: March 2016 Work Capsule

March was the month of the never-ending hearing and the never-ending cold from hell (last tally: 5 family members down, each one with his or her own secondary infection requiring antibiotics). You might think that would be the beginning and end of it, but March also had some highlights. I read some good books (including this month’s book club selection), caught up on some excellent entertainment (including BBC’s Zen), spent some quality time with family and friends, and still managed — somehow! — to finish my second book. Gresham Park, a mid-century gothic novel, is available now!! You can buy it HERE (US), HERE (Canada), and HERE (UK). (Or not. Totally up to you. But I am really, ridiculously proud of this book, so I hope you give it a try. And if you do, drop me a line and let me know what you think.)

Also, I wore some clothes. Go figure.

one, two, three
one, two, three
four, five, six
four, five, six
seven, eight, nine
seven, eight, nine
ten, eleven, twelve
ten, eleven, twelve
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen
thirteen, fourteen, fifteen
sixteen, seventeen, eighteen
sixteen, seventeen, eighteen
nineteen, twenty, twenty one
nineteen, twenty, twenty one

There were a lot of really fun outfits happening this month, so picking faves is a bit difficult. If pressed, I’d probably go with #5, 13, 14, 17 and 18 — but only if absolutely necessary. The only outfit I didn’t love was #1, and it served as a lesson in not pushing to make a piece work at all costs; that blazer was a poorly thought-out impulse buy (contrary to what one might think, most of my impulse buys involve some degree of strategic thinking) and I shouldn’t have bothered trying to prove otherwise to myself. It was re-donated shortly after its first and only wear.

Hope March treated you all well — and here’s to a fun, but hopefully less overwhelming, April.