There is no denying that Autumn is upon us. The days might still be sunny and bright but the evenings are drawing in and temperatures are dropping, but the biggest sign is that I'm wearing socks again after months of walking around barefoot.

I enjoyed having a monthly capsule over the summer but I'm back to seasonal capsules now. My autumn capsule still has a lot of my staple colours of grey, navy and black, but there's a lot of colour in there too. There's a mix of old and new, or new-to-me items and I'm looking forward to creating new outfit combinations from it all.


I've got 36 items in this capsule, 14 of which are pre-loved. After watching Stacey Dooley Investigates: Fashion's Dirty Secrets (read more about that here), and discovering just how polluting and damaging the fashion industry is (I knew it wasn't great, but I had no idea about extent of the problem), I have a renewed determination to reduce the amount of new clothing items I buy.

I have plenty of clothes. I don't need any more. And need is the key word here. I've been keeping track of why I've bought the things I've purchased this year and almost every purchase has been made because I wanted it. I don't go out every weekend and buy bags and bags of clothes, I think my purchases are quite small in terms of quantity and most are pre-loved, but when I see the devastation the fashion industry causes, it makes me stop and think 'do I really need to buy brand new?'

The answer is almost always 'no'.

What the fashion industry is doing to this planet is nothing short of terrifying. I feel that the only thing I can do is to restrict the number of new items I buy to the things that I genuinely need e.g. underwear or shoes. I know that I can find anything else I might want in charity shops, they always have plenty to offer, although sometimes you do have to be patient for something specific to turn up.

I have found that having a capsule wardrobe helps me to make purchases that fit my wardrobe, I can tell instantly if I have something to wear with anything that catches my eye. The capsule means that I'm looking at what I have in my wardrobe every season and I'm more aware of all the clothes I have, this means I make fewer purchase that turn out to be a mistake.

Life has been busy so I have to admit that I've been reaching for a uniform of jeans and a jumper recently. So far I've only worn 13 items from this capsule during the first 22 days. The same outfits have been worn time and again.

As life returns to a more normal pace, I'll be experimenting with some new outfit combinations, wondering which item in my wardrobe will be the next to earns it's #30Wears Badge of Honour.