With Wearing It All Summer complete, I moved onto Wearing It All Autumn. I didn't know how long I'd keep it up for as the deeper into Autumn we got the more the weather thwarted my efforts to take daily outfits shots outside, my efforts to take photos inside has always been fruitless, but I continued for as long as I could.

I don't rejoice in the arrival of autumn, I prefer the warmer months when I can go out without a coat, the first time I wear a pair of socks after the summer always elicits a sigh of resignation, no more sunshine for a while...

I like jumpers, scarves, lighting the wood burner but letting go of summer is always a bit of a trial. This year it seemed that summer vanished overnight, replaced by howling winds and lashing rain. There was no gentle transition.

By the time I'd started week four of my autumnal Wearing It All, and I'd given up on trying to wear just one layer or going sockless. I wore scarves, and three layers on some days.

I started this challenge with a haircut. I did it myself, after watching a number of YouTube tutorials I decided to give it a go. It looked OK (it now needs another trim). I've yet to find a hairdresser that cuts my hair exactly how I ask them too, so in terms of getting what I wanted it's a success. Sure, it wasn't technically brilliant, but it was good enough, and I saved myself £35 and half an hour in a chair wearing a face mask, making small talk.

So, five paragraphs into the post, here's week one of Wearing It All Autumn. The first two days saw the last of the sunshine. I actually took off the long navy cardy and pottered in the garden relishing the feeling of the sun on my skin. But the next day it started to rain, then the wind got up (see day 5) and it didn't get much better.

Day 3 and 4 I wore one of my new tops. With the Summer Wearing It All challenge I know I have to wear something different everyday otherwise I wouldn't stand a chance of wearing all of my warm weather clothes. The summer challenge caused a lot of washing, and it took me a while to work my way through the resulting ironing pile! But as I have fewer cold weather clothes I can wear them more than once. I normally rarely wear something just once and then wash it, unless I dribble my dinner down the front (which happens more often than it probably should). I'm happy to wear something 3 or 4 times before dropping it into the laundry basket, especially if it's been worn with something underneath. How many times do you wear your clothes before washing them? My Aunt will wear something a maximum of twice, but my Uncle will wear something all week - if my Aunt lets him get away with it :)

The rain continued into week 2.

Out came the thicker layers, I did try to go bare ankled on a few days but usually by midday I'd pulled on a pair of socks and some slippers. It was socks weather from this point forward.

I went out twice during week 2, you can tell by the fact I'm carrying a bag. One was a trip to the supermarket, the other a trip to the post office, charity shop, and garden centre. I filled the boot with plants, some for the garden, others for the hanging baskets. I was so focused on the plants that once I'd wandered about outside I was half way round the inside before I realised I'd forgotten to put on my face mask. I was mortified and hoped no one had noticed. There were only a few other customers, and I hadn't been in spitting distance of anyone (not that I spit, it's disgusting), but I still felt awful, I'd been so engrossed in my own thoughts that simply hadn't registered the fact that I'd passed from outside to in.

Week 3 and I grabbed all of my jumpers and cardigans out of storage, and every last item of summer clothing was stored away. The long mustard cardigan is my most recent clothing purchase. I'd popped to my local charity shop after my friend told me that they're getting loads of items donated but not much custom. I'd hate to see it close so I made a few purchases - every little helps right?

This is where I stopped photographing the Wearing It All challenge, the weather was miserable and didn't allow for daily photos so whilst I still tried to wear as much of my wardrobe as possible, I just didn't document it, and I'm sure there's only so many photos of me standing in front of a wall that you can stomach.

We're well into winter now with icy cold winds and gales, overnight frosts that last all day and the threat of snow. It's rather nice not to have anywhere to go at the moment.

I hope you're all well, take care, and keep warm!
xx

The warm weather already seems like a dim and distant memory doesn't it? Thankfully the last few weeks of my Wearing It All Summer challenge had enough warm days for me to wear a few more items from my Summer wardrobe.

Week 10 saw two days wearing DIY clothes, but the other days I focused on items I hadn't yet worn. I'd been waiting for the weather to warm up and the week started out warm enough to wear a sleeveless shirt, and then a knee length dress. I'm keeping the dress but the shirt (kept twisting) and the jeans (just a tad too tight) have already been donated to charity.

Week 11 started with my very long wide leg trousers. Now that I'm thicker around the middle than when I purchased them they sit higher up so aren't as trip-hazard long, but they could still do with being taken up. Which I will do, along with some mending that's needed around the waistband (a result of treading on the too-long hem).

It was lovely to wear my paisley dress again, I used to wear this a lot and it always reminds me of our honeymoon. I don't like the grey tee paired with my new-to-me stripe skirt so it's an outfit that won't be repeated. The final few outfits of the week allowed me to wear my old black jumper a few more times. I keep thinking 'this will be too tatty to wear soon' but it just keeps going.

Week 12 The dresses were both birthday presents, I liked the red one paired with jeans when I wore it but now that I look at the photo I don't like it nearly as much. The final days of the week were deliciously warm and allowed me to wear a few of my summer tops - something I didn't think I'd be able to do. It was nice to be able to enjoy a few days of sunshine. I was aware that each sunny day could be the last one of the year, and spent time outside to enjoy it before autumn made it's presence felt.

The challenge got me out of my habit of wearing the same items on repeat, and it helped me slim down my wardrobe a little, which hopefully is something I can continue to do over the coming weeks. Whilst I'm not someone who rejoices in digging my jumpers out of storage, it will be nice to continue with the challenge wearing my cooler weather clothes.

I finished my Wearing It All Summer 2020 challenge yesterday. I've shared weeks 1, and 2 and 3, and weeks 4 - 6, so here are weeks 7 - 9.

These are the final few weeks of August, turning into September. Week 7 was a week of dresses. The final three were ones I had in the pile of stuff waiting to be listed on ebay, but I tried them all on first before doing so. I'm keeping the white one, it's about 5 years old and this is only the second time I've worn it! But I love it so it's staying (this could be my favourite outfit of the summer). The navy dress with what looks like a dolka dot pattern (it's actually raindrops) has a peter pan collar and a narrow band of pin tucks up the front, it's lovely. I picked it up at a clothes swap years ago but this is it's first wear. I think it's a little too short though so I won't be keeping it.

The burgundy polka dot dress hasn't been worn before either, I purchased it in 2016 and have no excuse for not wearing it, it's been saved from ebay... for now...

The only dress I'm not keen on out of these is the floral midi dress, which is a shame as I purchased this online at the beginning of lockdown, and I loved it when it arrived. I'm going to try it with different shoes, possibly add some accessories but if that doesn't work it'll go on ebay.

During Week 8 I actually went out! (you can tell by the wearing of a face mask). The first instance was just to the supermarket to pick up a few provisions. Day 5 was a photo an hour and a trip to the seaside for art galleries, and tea and cake.

Many tops worn over this week are rarely worn, the pink v neck top and black dress are items usually worn at Latitude (easy to wear and do not crease), but the blue dress is a new-to-me purchase, picked up from a charity shop on my way home from Aldeburgh the day before.

At this point I was starting to run low on clothes that hadn't been worn for the challenge that I could wear, I needed more sunny days so I could finish wearing all my summer tops and shorts but that wasn't to be...

Week 9, the weather was less than ideal and definitely not shorts weather. I took the opportunity to wear my recently purchased preloved stripe midi skirt again, which has knocked my green skirt off it's top spot, and it was lovely to wear my navy jumpsuit again.

I'm thinking the green dress is destined for ebay, it's pretty but rarely gets picked over my other dresses and I don't have the room to keep them all. The point of this challenge was to purge my wardrobe and it's worked to a certain extent, but I still have items I'm dithering about. Even though I want to wear all my clothing items as much as possible (ideally 30 times or more), if  something doesn't work I'm not going to wear it, so there is no point in keeping it.

I'll post the final update in a few days. In the meantime I've turned my attention to what to do next...

The last time I mentioned my Wearing It All Summer 2020 challenge was back in July. I've shared weeks 1, and 2 and 3, so a catch up is in order. If you have no interest in my daily outfits, look away now.

Week 4 was the last full week of July. The challenge has given me the opportunity to weed out the items in my wardrobe that I don't like, and those that aren't working. Each item is being assessed and I've already donated a number to charity and listed other items on ebay without wearing them for the challenge. Some items I picked up and simply thought a very definite 'no', and that was that. Other items I'm dithering about. 

I realised that my decision to buy only one clothing item per month this year, was partly due to not having room for any more clothes. I want to wear everything as much as I can but if I don't love something, or have a use for it, then it needs to go. A purge is long overdue.

From week 4 the green cords are going. I bought them from ebay, they're preloved and have been worn over 30 times. I dyed them last year from khaki to dark green, which I like but I just don't wear them anymore.

The other items are a mix of hardly worn, and worn a lot. The wide leg jeans, yellow maxi, and navy jumper have all been worn over 30 times. The jeans worn on day 5 and 6 are over 11 years old, and patched so many times I always wonder if they'll survive their next wash!

Week 5 took us from July into August. I decided to wear my face mask in any outfit shot taken on a day when I'd need to wear it, to keep a record of when I venture out, which as you will see isn't very often. This instance was a trip into town, my first since March. 

During this week the temperature started to rise and it finally started to feel a little more like summer again. Dresses and skirts came out of the wardrobe, and I dared to bare my arms. The khaki maxi dress has been mended, I'll tell you the story in a future post, and the skirt worn on day 6 and 7 was one of the three items I purchased in town earlier in the week.

Week 6 starts and ends with tops I bought on my trip into town in week 5. I'm not completely sure about the navy / orange vest top but I think I'll persevere. If I decide against it I have a few people in mind who might like it. 

The weather really started to heat up over the course of the week, hence the wearing of shorts on 4 consecutive days. I could've worn shorts on day 3 too, but I left early for a trip to the beach when it was still overcast, and I didn't trust it to warm up much. I wore the mask for a minute when I went inside to buy ice cream. The day before I'd been into Tesco, popped to the Post Office, and thoroughly enjoyed wandering around a garden centre for the first time in months!

The burgundy heart print shirt has been mended recently too. I sat down one Saturday and mended a number of items, which was such a satisfying way to spend an afternoon.

I'll leave this here and catch up on weeks 7 - 9 in another post. I still have items unworn (and some new-to-me items to wear!).

How are things with you?

In previous spring seasons I've found it hard to put a capsule together because the weather can be so unpredictable. This spring I decided to tweak it every month, hoping that I'd be adding more summery clothes each time.
I have 24 items in this capsule, six fewer than in April, which is more than enough to see me through the month. Twelve items remain from the April capsule, with twelve added, and only seven items are brand new, 76% is pre-loved - a statistic that brings a smile to my face.

April was a mix of cold days and delightfully warm days, my capsule served me well, but I did wish I'd added more lighter tops and fewer jumpers (why did I think I'd need ten jumpers?!). I've redressed the balance for May, and dared to hope that I'll be in need of a pair of shorts.

I wanted to add some rarely worn items to my May capsule. I do have a habit of reaching for my favourite items which leaves things languishing in my wardrobe, forgotten and unappreciated. I've sidelined my trusty navy jumpers for now. I feel little bereft at not having either of them in this capsule, they're usually to hand, season after season. But not having them will make me wear other things, and it's likely I'll find other outfit options that I like because of it.

In addition to trying to wear my less worn items I've also had a really thorough wardrobe clear out and listed a lot of items on ebay. I feel there's little point in having a capsule wardrobe if I'm constantly adding more and hardly wearing the vast majority of it. Better to sell it and hope someone else will make good use of it.

The point of having a capsule was to limit my spending and to make the most of the items I already own. I enjoy having the capsules, and I do feel like I wear more of my wardrobe because of them but it's failed in curbing my spending, I'm still adding too many items.
I now have, what I hope will proved to be, a wardrobe of clothes that work well together and are a joy to wear, making putting together capsules much easier, and easing my guilt at having clothes I simply do not wear.

I have that wonderfully refreshed feeling you get after decluttering. I don't intend to buy any clothes in May, possibly even June too. The shopper in me is going to have to take a little holiday.

Come on May, let's see what you've got.

Ah spring, it's almost here at last! The warm interlude in February awakened my love of bright sunny days that are warm enough to leave the house without a coat. I'm hoping that the sun will be back with us sooner rather than later.

The improving weather turned my thoughts to my spring capsule, I'm looking forward to wearing some recent purchases, mixing them with older items to create new outfit combinations. My cropped jeans are making a reappearance, and my cropped dungarees their first. And the green skirt is back now that it's been mended and is wearable once again.

I've decided to make my spring capsule monthly, just like I did in the summer. It allows me to wear more of my wardrobe, and it lets me tweak the capsule depending on the weather. Spring and autumn are always tricky to get right as the weather is difficult to predict.

This is what I'll be wearing in April.
I've got plenty of things for cooler days, but have enough for days when the sun comes out.

Happy spring!

July was glorious wasn't it? I'm glad I decided to split my seasonal capsule wardrobe into three, I've loved wearing lots of items I don't usually get to wear but there's a lot more in my wardrobe that deserves to see the light of day.

I don't know if it's the slight tan I've managed to achieve, my new attitude of 'life's too short', or if it's just the sun shining so consistently but I've been feeling good. Really good. Body confident and happy in my own skin.

I can't explain it as I still have the same 'flaws' as I had last year, in fact I've gathered a few more, they just seem to matter less. One thing I do know is that putting on an outfit each day that I love has, in some small part, added to my current frame of mind.

Long may it continue.

These are a handful of the outfits I put together from my July Capsule. I read somewhere recently that capsules are full of style classics, and therefore can be rather dull and uninspiring, lacking in any amount of fun. Pah! What nonsense! I've had great fun with this capsule.


I'm looking forward to the coming months with added enthusiasm, the sun is shining and life is good.

My spring outfits were dominated by three things. My red floral skirt, a pair of pink brogues found in a charity shop in April, and a navy bowling bag I discovered in the Pile of Things to be Listed on Ebay (it's safe to say that it won't be returning to the pile).

Looking at these outfits I'm reminded of how gloriously warm spring turned out to be, before summer came along with it's tarmac melting heat. I'm not complaining, I'm not, I'm just a bit hot.

I'm loving my July Capsule. It's probably the best one so far. I love being able to wear all of my favourite summer clothes as much I am, most summers aren't warm enough for this (see not complaining). (But it is a little hot).

The first quarter of the year went by so fast that putting this together was a bit last minute (as in started and finished on April 1st!) Looking at it now I've realised that I've only included one coat, and that's a denim jacket so this might not be my most successful capsule to date.

I have two spaces 'free' because I'm going on a charity shop rummage with Sophie soon and we always come home with armfuls of pre-loved items.

I have some old favourites here - my yellow maxi, my khaki trousers, my khaki mini skirt and some new purchases - a red floral skirt, a floral skater dress, and ditsy print shirt. It's a real mixture of old and new, new and pre-loved. And hopefully a good mix (if we ignore the lack of a proper jacket) to see me through the cooler days of early spring and the (hopefully) warmer days of late spring.

This time around I quickly put together a chart of possible outfits - the things you do on a wet Sunday afternoon! I'll be ticking them off to see how many I wear. I hope it'll be warm enough for me to wear the 23 different outfits with shorts here - we can but hope, right?

How are you ringing the changes for spring?

Whilst I am utterly useless at writing book reviews I wanted to share all of the books I read in 2017. The above montage is what I read each month. I read just 17 books the year before and so I made more time to read last year. I racked up 46, and read everything that was on my bookshelves at the beginning of the year.

I refilled the bookshelf by buying 53 books throughout the year, but that just gives me another challenge for the year ahead.

I've imposed a ban on book buying (excluding books needed for my reading challenge), but I find it so hard to read a book review, and not immediately want to read the book myself. I'll have to be restrained. I don't hold out much hope, but I might surprise myself!

Last year I spent £104.03 on books - mostly second hand - so perhaps I can incentivize myself? Maybe if I succeed on my book buying ban I can treat myself to something pretty, perhaps of the paperback variety in early 2019?

Anyway, the books, I'm here to talk about the books.

I accidentally fell into a habit of reading books in colour order when I read a pile of blue books in March. I carried it on from there, with the odd deviation, but it helped me to narrow down my choice of what to read next, I'm normally so indecisive (I know I'm not the only person to do this). I was able to walk up to my bookshelf and take the next book without having to give it any thought. It was a good system, despite the odd look my brother gave me when I explained it to him. And who doesn't want to spend some time organising their to-be-read books into a pleasing rainbow on their bookshelves?

If I had to pick a favourite of them all it would be the Sylvia Jorrin books, I particularly enjoyed the first one, so if you're going to hold me to picking one favourite Sylvia's Farm would be it. With The Improbable Shepherd being a very close runner up.

I loved Sylvia Jorrin's writing style, and the way she talked about farming really resonated with me. Not that I'm a farmer, but when you live in close quarters with one, you get to understand the lifestyle. Because it is a lifestyle, it's not a job, it's not something you can walk away from at 5pm, switch off from at weekends, and take two weeks holiday away from each summer.

But more than that I loved the way she lived, how she organised her time, how she strived, each day, to make small improvements towards a larger plan. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I know I'll read them again.

I also enjoyed the Rosie books by Graeme Simsion - funny, sweet and insightful, A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart - heartbreaking and heartwarming, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Brown - interesting, informative and thought provoking, made me want to visit Guernsey, The J.M. Barrie Ladies' Swimming Society by Barbara J. Zitwer - heartwarming, feel good, made me want to try wild swimming, and call all my best friends, The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher - sweet and funny, and Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian - heartbreaking, tear jerking, heart warming, and feel good.

To make time for reading, I read for a little while first thing in the morning which is something I've never done before. I'd take note of how many pages the book had and worked out roughly how many pages I needed to read each day in order to read a book a week. It didn't always work but it was fun to keep track and see my-books-I've-read pile start to grow. I also tried to read in the time after I finished work for the day and before Andy arrived home. I used to just switch on the TV but I get a lot more from reading than watching yet another repeat of the Big Bang Theroy or The Goldbergs.

I used to think that I read more in the winter but it's actually the warmer months when I get through the most books, I love being outside with a book, or if it's a little chilly I sit in my greenhouse to keep warm.

So this year I have a bit of a challenge ahead, I need to read even more than last year. I have 54 in my to-read pile, which is everything I purchased last year, plus some books I have been given as gifts. And I need to get my hands on 7 books to be able to complete my reading challenge for this year - a challenge within a challenge, that's not like me (yes it is). Which means I have to read 61 books. Yikes, for me that really is a challenge.

The question is, what the hell am I doing sitting here writing this when clearly I should be reading!

I wanted lots of colour to see me through the cold months of the year, however this didn't stop me from adding two navy jumpers, and a couple of beige items to this capsule. A girl's gotta have some staples, right?

This time around I've got fewer items than I normally have. Having looked back over all my other capsules I realised I always had a number of items that either didn't get worn or were only worn a few times. My very first capsule had 37 times, I'm now down to 30 and I'm confident that this is plenty.

This year I'm going to keep a tally of how often I wear everything in my capsule. I've become interested in this since finding out about the #30Wears campaign. The idea is we can save a lot from landfill, and reduce the demand for new items of clothing if we just wear our clothes for a little longer.

I have no idea how often I wear things, do I ever wear items more than 30 times? And if so, which items? How long does it take to wear something 30 times? I think it'll be interesting to find out.

I decided to build my capsule wardrobe in a slightly different way this season. Instead of sitting down and picking out all 36 items in one sitting, I allowed it to develop naturally. At the start of October I simply looked in my wardrobe each morning and picked out an outfit that I wanted to wear. By the end of the week I'd got the basics of the capsule sorted - jeans, green skirt (obviously), jumpers, denim jacket, long sleeved stripey t-shirt, lace motif t-shirt, and gingham dress.

I knew I'd need coats, so I added my grey coat, my wax jacket, and a long grey cardy that acts as a coat (not a coatigan, that's not a real word!!).

I met up with Sophie for our annual autumn charity shop rummage and found a gingham shirt, which of course was added to the capsule. When I buy something new, or new to me, I have an irresistible urge to wear it as soon as humanly possible. I also felt the need to add recent purchases of a vaguely Christmassy jumper and heart print shirt.

Since then I've added some colour in the form of a red dress, pink t-shirt, and burgundy heart print shirt. My newly dyed yellow maxi added a bit of an autumnal hue. It's become a wardrobe staple, it's been in very capsule since last summer.

The rest fell into place over the next week.

I have to admit I've been mostly been living in jeans, it happens every autumn when the sun goes in, my jeans come out and I feel like I've gone into hibernation. I've only worn my green skirt a few times since the summer ended. Last time I wore it, I tripped whilst taking it off (I have no idea how I managed that), and tore the fabric around the zip. I think I can mend it, I just need to buy some thread in the right colour.

Are you enjoying autumn so far?

My summer capsule wardrobe changed somewhat over the course of the season. Some items I decided I wouldn't wear, others became worn out, some pieces I didn't wear because the weather just wasn't up to scratch. So at the end of the three months my capsule looked very different from how it did at the start.




My green skirt was worn frequently, it's definitely my favourite purchase so far this year, but it meant that my other skirts weren't worn as much as last year. And I hardly wore a dress at all.

I added a grey lace motif t-shirt and a gingham dress to the capsule, both of which I was given for my birthday, because I wanted to wear them immediately. I added a blue California motif t-shirt when my favourite grey one twisted a little more each time it was washed, until I had to admit it had become unwearable. I hate saying goodbye to a favourite piece of clothing, don't you?


Thanks to the weather I wore my jumpers more than I'd wanted to, and swapped my ankle grazing skinny jeans for my trusty bootcut jeans, and then added a pair of wide leg jeans having I found them for a bargain £2.00 in a charity shop.

So this capsule was swapped and changed more than any other, and in the end I wore fewer items than the original 36 picked out. But I loved all the outfits it combined to make and really enjoyed the capsule, despite that fact that all my colourful over-the-knee options where rendered unwearable by the weather.

Last year I found putting my autumn capsule together a bit tricky as the weather was still so nice in October, but this year it's going to be much easier, it'll be warm clothes all the way. Bring on the jumpers!

Summer feels like it's taken forever to arrive. I got bored with my spring capsule and started to wear items from this one ages ago, so it seems like this is well overdue but as I normally start my summer capsule on July 1st it's really not all that late.
I'm excited to have so many items that I really, really like in this capsule. I got my spring capsule wrong, I selected too many warm weather clothes and ended up wearing jeans and a t-shirt most of the time. Not that there is any thing wrong with that - I love a jeans and tee combo - I just wanted to be wearing other things, I wasn't inspired by it at all.

To create my capsules I choose my favourite items of clothing and then make sure I have a few things to wear with each item. Then I fill in the gaps with more standard items - jeans, jumpers or t-shirts. I've done some reading on how I 'should' put a capsule together but I've largely ignored the rules set out.

There is a school of thought that says you can wear prints either as tops or bottoms, and you should have a colour scheme with lots of neutrals and a few pops of colour. Most capsulers like to be able to wear any top from the capsule with any of the skirts or trousers. I don't bother with that. As long as I'm able to wear each piece a few different ways I'm happy. I put together these capsules for my convenience, to wear my favourite clothes, not to follow as set of someone else's rules. It means I have an uncluttered wardrobe, I am more aware of the clothes I have, and I have fewer 'I have nothing to wear days'. It works for me.

Most of the time.



As I said my spring capsule didn't work well, I didn't have enough cooler weather options and felt rather uninspired most days. It wasn't until the sun started to shine, and I was able to wear more summery pieces that I perked up, before abandoning it completely in favour of my summer capsule.

Bring on the skirts, the prints, and the dresses!

Some thoughts on my winter capsule.

I was excited to start my second year of capsule wardrobes, but I have to admit that I didn't enjoy this capsule as much as the previous four, but I can't quite put my finger on the reason why. I had a lot of outfits I liked but overall it just didn't hit the spot.

I've been able to weed out some items that I'd been hanging onto despite not wanting to actually wear them. My cat jumper is the perfect example of this. It's lovely but I never feel the urge to wear it. I only wore it once over winter and that's because it was in my capsule and I thought I should.

To my surprise I don't like my new cable cardy as much as I thought I would, but I do like my pre-loved cocoon cardy a lot more. I bought it as a 'chuck on at home in the evenings' type thing but I ended up wearing it every where. It's slouchy and warm, and has super long sleeves. It's like wearing a hug.


Annoyingly my black jeans have suddenly lost their stretch, and my long sleeve stripe t-shirts have seen better days, they're becoming baggy and misshapen. They're staples that I'll definitely need to replace.


I think having 36 items is probably more than I actually need in my capsules but it is nice to have plenty of options. Even if I don't wear something much, as long as I enjoy wearing it it's worth hanging onto.

I'm so glad to have moved on to my next capsule. Yay for spring!

I've been really looking forward to swapping my winter capsule for my spring edition, it means I can wear some of my old warmer weather favourites again, and get my new purchases on my body too!

It took me a while to decide on the final items as spring is a tricky season to predict weather-wise. I've got more dresses to wear, some that can be worn over skinny jeans if the weather isn't brilliant, and of course some options for cooler or rainy weather (fingers crossed these days will be kept to an absolute minimum though), and I've left three spots open to give me some added flexibility.

With more colour and some much more interesting pieces than in my winter capsule I'm looking forward to putting outfits together, mixing new with old and coming up with new combinations.

I've missed dresses for the past few months, and it's so nice to be heading towards cardigan only (or no cardigan at all) territory. Coats are boring. I like to be free from layers, I've had enough of layers now, I just want sunshine and warm days.

I wish spring and summer could last forever.

Although winter starts on December 21st, I start my seasonal capsule wardrobes at the top of the month, just to make it easier, meaning my winter wardrobe runs through January, February and March.

This year I'm recreating last year's seasonal capsules, and this is what I had to see me through winter last year.

This was the only capsule of 2016 to include footwear. Come spring, I decided to wear any thing I fancied on my feet. I have trouble parting with shoes, and I have many pairs, so I decided it would be pointless to let a lot of them go unworn.

Taking my cue from Caroline over at Un-Fancy I chose to have up to 37 items in each capsule, she started with 37 and I figured it was a good place to start for me too.

Having completed four capsules, I think that 37 items is actually rather a lot. In each capsule there were always a few items that were worn only a few times, and some not at all. This time around I wasn't worried about sticking to a certain number, although 36 items will sit nicely in six rows of six for my capsule posts ;)

Of what I had last year I've kept 19 items. There are four items of clothing I no longer own, and I took out the footwear and a couple of other bits I didn't wear much.

I've added 14 items from other capsules, two new-to-me pre-loved shirts purchased in December, and a brand new Tu cardigan - a very recent purchase.

I have no spaces left so there's really no point in buying any new clothes anytime soon *cough* bloody unlikely *cough*.

So here's the winter 2017 line-up


I'm weirdly excited about starting another year of capsule wardrobes, I've made enough changes to keep it interesting, and know that I can create some new outfits from this new mix. I'm also looking forward to recreating some outfits from last year that I really enjoyed wearing.

After a year of reading my posts about them have I convinced you to try a capsule?

If you'd asked me how many books I'd read in 2016 I'd have guessed at 30 or more. In reality I only read 17 with the final pages of my last book being finished on December 31st. I'm pretty sure that I either purchased or was given more than 17 books over the course of the year!

On my last birthday I vowed to read everything unread on my bookshelves before my next birthday. I've read two books since then, so I'm going to have to ramp-up my reading if I'm going to have even the slightest chance of success!

I've got eight months to read 29 books (if you don't count the 13 books I've amassed since my birthday!) so I need to read 4 per month, that's one a week. Which is highly unlikely. I read infrequently, and slowly so I've got quite a challenge ahead of me!

I'm kicking off with Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

What's on your to-read list?

I had seven spaces left to fill in my 37 piece autumn capsule wardrobe. I've added a few old favourites and some items found on a recent charity shop rummage, and I think all of them will work well as capsule pieces.

To start I added my first ever preloved purchase - a long Tu cardigan - from the Age Concern shop in Ipswich (which is sadly no longer there). It tends to be my put-on-over-anything-at-the-end-of-the-day-cardigan because it's warm, and some days that's all I'm concerned about.

Next up - my most recent charity shop purchases, a Phase Eight dress (Cancer Research) and Monsoon cardigan (RSPCA). The dress might be made into a skirt, but I'll wear it a few times first to see how I get on. The cardigan isn't exactly flattering but it's slouchy, cosy and warm.

Also, a few old wardrobes faithfuls - Next grey jumper that's been around for years, and New Look grey cardigan, both where purchased new but are now down to mere pennies in cost-per-wear value.

Then we have my preloved stripe jumper, which reminds me of Minnie the Minx, and a check skirt that hasn't been worn nearly enough - so I wore it immediately.

After I enjoyed my summer capsule so much, this ones seems rather boring in comparison, but then I always tend to revert to bog standard jeans and jumper outfits when the weather gets cold. The first few weeks of autumn were lovely, still hanging on to remnants of the sun I was able to go out in ankle grazing trousers and bare legs on occasion, but these days quickly passed.

Cold winds and driving rain have me reaching for layers and I'm less concerned with how an outfit looks, and more with how warm it is. But every once in a while I pull on a skirt or dress and come out of slob mode.

My autumn capsule wardrobe now looks like this -


How are you coping with the weather getting colder? Have you had snow yet?

I loved my summer capsule and have to admit to feeling a little sad that I've put away some of the items until next year. I think it's been my favourite capsule so far.

An autumn capsule feels a lot like spring in that the weather could see warm days and cold, wet days.

I need to cover all bases. Many items from my summer capsule will remain, some have been in all three capsules so far are now making it a full house moving into the forth - my navy boat neck jumper, mid length navy cardigan, and a long sleeve stripe t-shirt.

I currently have 30 of my 37 items for autumn, I've left 7 slots open so I can add things as I go (and I have a shopping trip with Sophie coming up and we always come away with, ahem, a few purchases).

I've kept 19 of my summer capsule items, and have 9 items that have reappeared after being put away for spring and / or summer. So far I have two brand new items - my Next military coat and a long sleeved navy jumper that Andy gave me for my birthday.

I have 17 items that I've bought new, and 13 pre-loved items in this capsule, with most of my favourite pieces being from this category. One day I might add a made-by-me category...


The rules of this capsule wardrobe are simple:
- Pick 37 items from my wardrobe
- Store everything else away
- Accessories, gym clothes (ha!), PJs, and going out clothes are not included the capsule

There is a fourth rule, but it's not one that I seem to be able to stick too, and that's to stop all spending for the duration of each capsule, only making purchases at the beginning of each.

I'm quite relaxed about the rules. If I haven't worn an item I'm happy to swap it for something I feel I might wear more. I find this helps me to identify items that work in my wardrobe and those that don't, as a result I'm regularly popping items in a bag to go to charity.

I am looking forward to getting cosy in a few of my favourite jumpers, and it's time my scarves came out of hiding too. Happy autumn everyone!

Have you ever tried a capsule wardrobe? How did you get on?

My seasonal capsule wardrobe is inspired by Un-Fancy.