Wardrobe Inspiration From Your Travel Capsule
Are you looking for some wardrobe inspiration? One way to get more creative with how you style your clothes is to first focus on a travel capsule. So what is a travel capsule and how can it inspire the rest of your wardrobe?
An easy way to understand the concept of a capsule wardrobe is to think of going on a one-week trip with just a carry-on bag. The clothes inside form a travel capsule. Here you will find some versatile and stylish summer outfits to kickstart a summer travel capsule. You can expand this concept to your entire wardrobe to create a full capsule wardrobe.
17 Piece Travel Capsule: 3 Tops, 3 Bottoms, 3 Layers, 3 Earring, 3 Shoes, 3 Bags; © 2024 The Clothing Compass.
Capsule wardrobes are still trending, as many people are becoming more conscious consumers and want to simplify their lives. Even if you are a fashion maximalist, I will cover how capsules can help you too.
If you are a frequent traveler, you have probably mastered the art of packing light, also known as a travel capsule. Have you stopped to analyze the way you choose what clothes to pack in your suitcase? Let’s do that now.
Travel Capsule Building Blocks
Since a travel capsule contains a limited number of pieces, the key is to keep it simple. Weather is also an important consideration. Separate top and bottom garments that can all be worn together and layered make an ideal travel capsule.
Shoes
Since these can take up a lot of space, limiting your shoes will help define the clothes you pack. In your travel capsule, start with one pair of shoes for each occasion, and build the capsule from there. Wear your bulkiest pair of shoes on travel days, if they are comfortable enough for the amount of walking you will be doing, and if they accommodate potentially swollen feet. Avoid packing new shoes, to prevent blisters.
Include One Pair Of Shoes Per Occasion In Your Travel Capsule.
Fabrics
In addition to keeping you warm or cool enough, the next thing you might consider in a travel capsule is how much a fabric wrinkles. Heavier fabrics wrinkle less, but they are are often bulkier and take up more room. Synthetics, other midweight fabrics that stretch, and wool tend to wrinkle less. The less-wrinkly fabrics also tend to keep you warmer.
Thinner fabrics not only take up less room, they are also easier to layer, which gives you more styling options. Also consider the texture and finish of your garments — how does the fabric look and feel? Is the fabric of your favorite garments smooth or rough, crisp or soft, shiny or dull? Keep it simple in a travel capsule.
Comfort is also an important factor. If your garments are close-fitting, stretch will make them more comfortable. Also, avoid packing brand new garments you have not worn or washed yet.
Color/Print
Most capsule advice focuses on a neutral and monochromatic color palette so that everything “matches”. But maybe you are a “more is more” type when it comes to wearing color, and mixing colors and prints.
Instead of hue (name/color), focus on value (lightness/darkness) and intensity (brightness/dullness). Mixing extremely different values in an outfit draws attention — think of black + white. Combinations of items with similar values draw less attention.
These Colors Are Similar In Value, So The Eye Tends To Give Them Equal Attention.
When styling outfits, I combine items with similar color intensities. Have a look at these combinations below and observe what your brain does when it sees very bright items paired with a dull item.
The Bright Yellow On The Left And The Middle Print Have Similar Values. The Light Yellow On The Right Is Lighter In Value; It Almost Disappears Next To The Print.
This can be applied to prints as well, as shown in the photos. Instead of matching prints and solids based on hue, try focusing on value and intensity.
Accessories
Accessories are the easiest way to maximize a travel capsule. These usually take up less room in your suitcase than garments. So if you like to accessorize, choose a couple of plain outfits as a blank canvas and pack more accessories to create different looks.
Accessories Typically Do Not Take Up Much Space; Consider Packing More Of Them And Less Clothing
From Travel Capsule to Capsule Wardrobe
Now that I have broken down the thought process behind the travel capsule, let’s use those same concepts with the rest of your wardrobe.
The goal is to get more creative with what you already own. That means making new outfits by combining shoes, clothes and accessories you normally do not wear together.
How to Create a Capsule:
- Decide on a season (or climate).
- Organize your closet based on the travel capsule building blocks.
- Pick your favorite items from each category (shirts, trousers, head covering, etc.).
- Shoes: start with a favorite, versatile pair
- Bottom garments: Pull all of your favorite trousers, shorts, skirts, dresses and abayas that can be worn with #4
- Top garments: Pull all that coordinate with #4 & #5. Separate the ones that can be layered, as these are more versatile.
- Reduce the number of bottom garments to 3-5
- Reduce the number of top garments to approximately 3 times the number of bottom garments.
- Add 1-2 additional pairs of shoes for other occasions.
- Review the remaining items and decide what to add or subtract.
Staying Flexible
From here, you can create many outfits. Document these any way you like, for instance, by taking a selfie in the mirror each morning. You can also easily adjust your capsule for other climates/seasons. Add outerwear, bags and accessories using the same principles.
16 travel capsule outfits. Use the travel capsule building blocks to create new outfits from your full wardrobe.
But what if a capsule feels too rigid and restricting? In this case you can create an additional capsule. For example, maybe you are a wardrobe maximalist.
Capsules for Wardrobe Maximalists
Wardrobe maximalists often reject capsule wardrobes because they want a wide variety of styles available to match their mood on any given day. If you are someone who enjoys different looks, you may still feel stress around combining these items into outfits. In this case, you can still benefit from the capsule concept, by creating a capsule for each style you like to embody. This does not mean you can only wear the items in the capsule. But by defining a baseline (capsule) for each style you like, you will have some guidelines which will make it easier to create outfits, regardless of how you are feeling each morning.
In Summary
If you travel with just a carry-on, you already know how to build a travel capsule. By applying the travel capsule building blocks to your entire closet, you can combine more creatively and come up with new outfits. One key to consuming less is to make more out of the items you already have. Even wardrobe maximalists can get inspiration from a capsule wardrobe.
Share Your New Capsule(s)
Please share your new capsule-inspired combinations and inspire others. If you post your new outfits on Instagram, tag me at @clothingcompass and I will repost. For personalized help creating a capsule, click here.
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