Capsule Wardrobe

Black T-shirt • H&M | Pink Graphic T-shirt • H&M | White T-shirt • H&M | Black Blouse • H&M | Striped Shirt • H&M | White Blouse • H&M  | Grey Pullover • & Other Stories | Black Sweater • & Other Stories | Brown Striped Sweater • Zara | Black Cardigan • Mango | Blazer • H&M | Black Trousers • H&M | Dark Denim • H&M | Black Jeans • H&M | Skirt • Zara | Black Polka Dot Dress • & Other Stories | Red Print Dress • H&M | Jacket • H&M | Skull Print Scarf • Azalea | Black + White Scarf • H&M | Black Purse • Fiorelli | Boots • DKNY | Brown Flats • Zara | Black Flats • Soludos | Red Purse • Zara |

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Many of us have a separate work and home wardrobe. The clothes you wear to work during the week are not the same pieces that you wear on weekends or when going out. Sometimes it’s a uniform, sometimes it’s a suit, and sometimes it’s clothes from the store you work at even though it’s not your style (ahem, been there). I’ve worked all three. Then there are the lucky ones who work in a somewhat casual/business casual atmosphere where your work and personal wardrobe are seemingly interchangeable  (obviously to a certain degree) and this is who this capsule is for.

I have a work/personal capsule for a librarian today who lives in California. So note that some different choices might need to be made or things added if you live in a place that experiences all seasons. She is a new mom, loves mostly H&M and Zara clothes, and wears mostly dresses but is looking to branch out in to dark denim/pants.

Style: black on black, edgy, and a mix of rock ie: librarian who likes metal 🙂 I feel that I channeled that, and this capsule will be extremely versatile. I plan on putting together a bunch of different outfit options featuring the pieces to show its versatility for the next post.

In the meantime let me know how you like this capsule and check this post to see what I came up with for outfits.

Side note: I am super digging that skirt from Zara, and the more I see it the more I can envision how I would wear it. I do have the brown striped sweater and brown shoes, both are true to size and great pieces (the sweater is not long, it hits perfectly at the low waist/mid hip level. And the H&M Shaping Jeans are a godsend. I have two pairs, one in greyish black and one blue. I would like to buy more but my local store sells out of my size fast and I prefer to try them on vs buying them online because you need to size up in them. They are kind of like spanx and that makes the fit smaller.

Are your work and personal wardrobe interchangeable?

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White T-shirt • & Other Stories | Striped Shirt • & Other Stories | Black Silk Blouse • & Other Stories | Green Long Sleeve • Mango | Floral Print Top • Mango | Pink Sweater • & Other Stories | Classic White Blouse • & Other Stories | Black Sweater • Mango | White Sweater • & Other Stories | Grey Cardigan • & Other Stories | Blazer • H&M | Dress Pants • & Other Stories | Grey Slacks • Topshop | Wide Leg Pants • H&M | Skirt • & Other Stories | Dress • Mango | Trench Coat • & Other Stories | Leopard Scarf • Nordstrom | Black Floral Scarf • Echo | Skinny Scarf • Nordstrom | Leopard Belt • Ann Taylor | Black Purse • Cynthia Rowley | Boots • & Other Stories | Leopard Flats • Ann Taylor | Black. Flats • Jeffrey Campbell | Brown Purse • Madewell |

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When it comes to work, capsule wardrobes are your friend. It helps you to have a nice, curated collection of work appropriate pieces that streamline everything and makes getting ready for work easy.  When you are coming out of school and starting your first job one of the top things that come to mind are “what am I going to wear”, and the next is “how am I going to afford it?” Because let’s be honest, most of us who are starting our careers don’t have a lot of money to be spending on a brand new work wardrobe. This is why a while back I made a blog post titled A Simple Teacher Capsule Wardrobe Built from Your Closet in Steps. In that post I laid out 5 steps that would help you to build a work wardrobe out of many pieces that you already own. These steps don’t just apply to teacher wardrobe which can lean on the more casual side of business casual work attire but will also work for any new job.

Building a work wardrobe doesn’t have to be expensive because what you are doing is integrating as many pieces as you can from what you already own and then filling in any holes as inexpensively as you can (until you can afford more expensive if you wish to).

My personal wardrobe is quite casual and even I could put together a basic work wardrobe using the above suggested pieces as a guide. Off the top of my head I have 12 out of 16 pieces of the above clothing. I also have all of the scarves, accessories, and shoes that would work as well. That means if I wanted to copy the above list to perfection I would only really need 4 pieces which isn’t bad in the grand scheme of things, especially if you look at sales or second-hand stores.

To show you the variety you can get from a wardrobe of this size I put together 30 outfits below that could be worn. There are so many other combinations that could be made as well so you could easily go over a whole month without repeating an outfit. This list also will easily transition through the seasons without much alterations. If you noticed I stuck to a basic neutral palette of black, white, and grey, and then sprinkled in some colour with pink, green, and a camel trench. I played up the neutral with adding some leopard accessories and a ballet flat (leopard is a neutral) to add some cohesiveness.

Every once and a while I like to redo previous wardrobes because styles and trends change constantly. There is also the issue of many of the pieces I list sell out and people ask me for updated versions.

I hope this helps you to realize that you can start a new job with a great look without breaking the bank. 30 Outfit options are below. Have a great weekend!  

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White T-shirt • & Other Stories | Striped Shirt • & Other Stories | Black Silk Blouse • & Other Stories | Green Long Sleeve • Mango | Floral Print Top • Mango | Pink Sweater • & Other Stories | Classic White Blouse • & Other Stories | Black Sweater • Mango | White Sweater • & Other Stories | Grey Cardigan • & Other Stories | Blazer • H&M | Dress Pants • & Other Stories | Grey Slacks • Topshop | Wide Leg Pants • H&M | Skirt • & Other Stories | Dress • Mango | Trench Coat • & Other Stories | Leopard Scarf • Nordstrom | Black Floral Scarf • Echo | Skinny Scarf • Nordstrom | Leopard Belt • Ann Taylor | Black Purse • Cynthia Rowley | Boots • & Other Stories | Leopard Flats • Ann Taylor | Black. Flats • Jeffrey Campbell | Brown Purse • Madewell |

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Striped Sweater • Gap | Black Sweater • Mango | Green Sweater • Mango | White Blouse • H&M |
Black Blouse • Mango | Pencil Skirt • Stefanel | Dress Pants • Uniqlo | Blazer • Mango Outlet |
Trench • H&M | Leopard Flats • Sole Society | Heels • Michael Kors | Boots • Sole Society |
Black Purse • Sole Society | Blue Purse • Guess

I probably should have included these outfits with the original post of The Back to Basics Work Capsule for Under $250 but I honestly had not finished them when I posted it, so you may want to look back at the original to get the background of this.

In that post, I discussed taking your wardrobe down to its bones so you can see how many items that you already own could be brought forth and used in your work wardrobe.

After you finish that I showed you a small little collection of items that when added to pieces that you already own can give you a very versatile and well-rounded work wardrobe.

I put together 12 outfits from that small collection which will turn in to an innumerable amount of options once you integrate your other pieces.

If I added those to what I currently have in my wardrobe that could be brought forth I could easily put together 2 months worth of work outfits without repeating a day and I don’t have a lot of “workish” pieces.

That is a lot of options for only spending an extra $250.

Now, to a lot of people, $250 may seem like a huge expense which is why I am a huge advocate for finding things in thrift/second-hand stores, Ebay, and thredup.

This will give you the same options for a fraction of the price, and really, who doesn’t like to save money?

I really wish that I had a setup here in the apartment that would allow me to photograph me wearing some of these outfits vs the collages to give you a better visual of how they look once you add accessories.

Kind of like a store mannequin. But I don’t have a DSLR camera, ample lighting, or a proper white background so the collages will have to do for the time being.

I know they can be a bit impersonal and it is something that I am looking to change so I can to give alternate visuals.

I hope that these two last posts allow you to see that you do not have to spend a lot of money to freshen up your work wardrobe, you just need a little ingenuity.

Have a great weekend guys!

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