Why The Capsule Wardrobe Will Likely Never Work For Me (My Tentative Personal Conclusion Regarding Color Choices For My Wardrobe)
OK. I think that must have been the longest blog post title I've ever used! :D
I was spending a lot of time recently, looking at some color palettes on Pinterest regarding Capsule Wardrobes, Travel Wardrobes, or Clusters of Clothes.
Now, if you've read my earlier posts on Capsule Wardrobes, you probably saw that the *original* idea for Capsule Wardrobes always state that you work with 3 main colors for that particular group of clothing...
Now, I've been on so many style and color adventures in the past 5+ years, ranging from David Zyla's wear your 8 personal body colors, to following Brenda Kinsel's suggestions to inventory each of your jewelry/accessories in color groupings, dabbling into DYT color guides, getting a professional 4 Seasons based color analysis, as well as venturing into Fashion Feng Shui colors, learning about the new 16 different color based seasons, colors for astrological signs, AND also learning about how your contrast level is really important, as are your hair/skin/eye colors.
Anyhow, this post is really about how I figured out that I will likely NEVER be able to live with a 3 color based Capsule Wardrobe. Here are the run-downs.
a) The Capsule Wardrobe concept is not a 'complete' system in that they advise you to create multiple capsules for different roles you play or categories you need. I am turned off by its incompleteness. It doesn't seem like the optimal way... Besides, I think it costs a lot of money to have ALL of those items in such limited color palettes.
b) Wearing the same colors over and over is totally boring. Even if you had a lot of accessories, if they are the same color, I think you'll look like you just don't have a lot of clothes. I need my clusters of clothes to be a LOT more versatile than a 3-color-based decision matrix.
c) Even just choosing which 3 colors gives me a headache. Enough said!
d) If your color is white, laundry becomes an issue. Not nearly effective unless you like washing single items by hand or whatever.
e) Initially, I wondered if 2 of the colors WERE neutral colors, would that extend the utility and versatility of the wardrobe? My research on Pinterest proved that no, no matter how many items, a 3 color base wardrobe just won't cut it. I NEED variety!
* * *
Having explained myself, here ARE my personal needs-based range of colors I want for my clothes clusters.
Note also, how I am now opting for the word 'Clusters' more so than using the word 'Capsule' -- Clusters are more flexible and can be larger than a 'Capsule'!
:-)
1. The 5.5 Core-Colors Cluster
I think this is a cohesive yet versatile set of clothes... You could look both put-together with these number of colors, AND still not look like you're recycling your clothes too often!
I was spending a lot of time recently, looking at some color palettes on Pinterest regarding Capsule Wardrobes, Travel Wardrobes, or Clusters of Clothes.
Now, if you've read my earlier posts on Capsule Wardrobes, you probably saw that the *original* idea for Capsule Wardrobes always state that you work with 3 main colors for that particular group of clothing...
Now, I've been on so many style and color adventures in the past 5+ years, ranging from David Zyla's wear your 8 personal body colors, to following Brenda Kinsel's suggestions to inventory each of your jewelry/accessories in color groupings, dabbling into DYT color guides, getting a professional 4 Seasons based color analysis, as well as venturing into Fashion Feng Shui colors, learning about the new 16 different color based seasons, colors for astrological signs, AND also learning about how your contrast level is really important, as are your hair/skin/eye colors.
Anyhow, this post is really about how I figured out that I will likely NEVER be able to live with a 3 color based Capsule Wardrobe. Here are the run-downs.
a) The Capsule Wardrobe concept is not a 'complete' system in that they advise you to create multiple capsules for different roles you play or categories you need. I am turned off by its incompleteness. It doesn't seem like the optimal way... Besides, I think it costs a lot of money to have ALL of those items in such limited color palettes.
b) Wearing the same colors over and over is totally boring. Even if you had a lot of accessories, if they are the same color, I think you'll look like you just don't have a lot of clothes. I need my clusters of clothes to be a LOT more versatile than a 3-color-based decision matrix.
c) Even just choosing which 3 colors gives me a headache. Enough said!
d) If your color is white, laundry becomes an issue. Not nearly effective unless you like washing single items by hand or whatever.
e) Initially, I wondered if 2 of the colors WERE neutral colors, would that extend the utility and versatility of the wardrobe? My research on Pinterest proved that no, no matter how many items, a 3 color base wardrobe just won't cut it. I NEED variety!
* * *
Having explained myself, here ARE my personal needs-based range of colors I want for my clothes clusters.
Note also, how I am now opting for the word 'Clusters' more so than using the word 'Capsule' -- Clusters are more flexible and can be larger than a 'Capsule'!
:-)
1. The 5.5 Core-Colors Cluster
I think this is a cohesive yet versatile set of clothes... You could look both put-together with these number of colors, AND still not look like you're recycling your clothes too often!
Black
Navy/Light blue
White
Gray
Red
The 'Blue' category is split into a lighter and darker color here, making this a 5.5 color set! :-D
Black
Pink
Blue
Tan/Gold
Orange
The Tan and Gold are similar ranges but slightly different...
Vermillion/Cantaloup
White
Pale grayed pink?
Beige
Navy
Red color split into 2 colors here...
White
Black
Gray
Tan
Blue
(Red lipstick)
Red lipstick counting as a 0.5 color here...!
Orange/Red
Black
Navy
Gray
White
Red split into 2 colors...
Black
Gray 1
Navy/Blue
Gray 2
Gold/Silver
This palette is way 'dark' but there are enough 'nuances' to actually add interest!
Very clever... ^^
Ivory
Light blue/Blue denims
Red
Gold/Light tan
I think this look has 3 broad color groups in it; the lights are beige/gold/light tan, the blue has a lighter and darker color, and then, there is the pop and accent with red.
I guess when it comes to creating ONE outfit, the 3 broad categories of colors with different shades/tones/hues could work, with enough nuances then?
2. The More than 5.5 colors set
Black
Beige
Red
Navy
(Brown/White)
Pink?
White
I initially thought this was another 5.5 color cluster...
The blacks and navy are so dark they read as two different darks.
The brown and white patterned cardigan reads more as a dark/light color.
And the red and whatever color skirt that is also read as the same family.
Again, it's the contrasts, accent, and nuances that keep this family of colors really versatile yet interesting! :-D
I LOVE these!
pink
white
gray
beige
silver
black
darker beige
blue
taupe?
I love the high contrast AND varying contrast levels offered by these groupings of color! Add to that a nice feminine pink! I could be really happy wearing this for a month. With a few more colors that add interest in shoes, bag, and jewelry, I think this could be a real 'winning' set for a work based cluster!
ivory
black
gray
light gray
red/white
metallic white or silver?
dark red
white
light denim washed
Another great cluster! Enough neutrals and color variations...!
Some key pieces like pops of green or gold/silver accessories, or even black/white/gray jewelry could all transform these looks!
white
violet
red
brownish-red?
light gray
black
cream
teal
light taupe?
navy?
OK. So my eye sight's not that great for reading some of these colors, but this is probably as far as I'd push regarding number of colors.
This cluster has the following groupings:
Neutrals - Black/grey/navy/taupe/cream/white
Accents - Violet/Red/Brown-red/Teal
That's 6 neutrals and 4 accent colors.
And note that these are ALL tops. No bottoms here.
I think anything that goes beyond this range just won't work as a cohesive unit. It loses the integrity of being read as a 'family' of colors. It will look like you lack a 'core' thereby losing an 'identity.' Therefore, not that clever as a strategy. Well, at least for my coloring and aesthetics anyway! ^^
* * *
Having said that, here's what I chose previously as a color palette recently:
I believe it still loosely follows the above guideline -
Neutrals - Black/White/Gray/Beige
Accents - Light blue/Denim blue/Pure blue, Orange/Pink, Yellow
Tally goes -
4 neutral colors & 6 accent colors from 3 loose color groupings.
The colors I didn't use here are, red/green/brown/purple.
Or actually, I guess my accent colors are...
Orange/Blue, Yellow/Pink.
The blue category split into 3 for nuances.
Well. Maybe that's my *formula* for now then.
My 4 neutrals being... *black/white* and *gray/beige*
My 4 accents being... *shades of Blue/Orange* and *Yellow/Pink*
Giving me a total of 8 colors or would that be 8.2 colors?
But, you get the idea...
Hope you can relate to my musings here...!
With love and delight ^^V
xoxo
Jessica
Comments
Post a Comment