Friday 17 March 2017

Capsule wardrobe challenges; body types

I always enjoy taking part in style challenges, partly because it encourages me to be more creative when putting together outfits, however mainly because of the great feedback from other participants. I thought it might be fun to share some of my outfits from the 40+ Style Club challenges that gained the approval of others taking part.

The first challenge was called the Body Type Challenge: the idea was to try to flatter our varying body types as well as meeting the criteria of the daily challenges. We did this over a period of two weeks. I'm a rectangle (shoulders and hips are a similar width and so is my waist), verging on an apple because of my tummy! I thought it might be interesting to show you the six outfits (out of ten) that gained the most favourable comments and what everyone liked about them.

Outfit 1
Outfit 2
Outfit One was commended by one person because the circles in the necklace picked up the polka dots in my top. Comments were also made about the contrast between the polka dot top and the tweed jacket.

Outfit Two was liked for a night out and in particular for the necklace (which is the same necklace as in outfit one).



Outfit 3

Outfit 4 
Outfit Three. Many people commented that they liked the pendant, as well as the colour of the cardigan.

Outfit Four.  The mix of stripes was a great hit, plus the pop of red. One person loved the jacket, which happens to be one of my favourites as it's from the Principles petite range so fits me well.

Outfit 5

Outfit 6
Outfit Five. Everyone liked the pop of orange showing under the tunic, as well as commenting that the tunic had a lovely light look.

Outfit Six proved very popular, with people loving the colours on me, plus the contrast between the tweed jacket and the top.

Some of these outfits I've worn before, however the two outfits with the tweed jacket and the mixed stripes look were new ones that I tried out because of the challenge. Which of these outfits do you like the best?

Saturday 11 March 2017

My travel capsule wardrobe

Each season I create a capsule wardrobe of 33 items of clothing, as part of Project 333. In my winter capsule I have nineteen long-sleeved tops, three jackets, three long cardigans, three pairs of trousers and one skirt. I also have a wool coat and trench coat for outer layers and a couple of dresses (not shown) for parties. This gives me plenty of variety over the winter months, however I am now planning to go on holiday and I can't fit everything into my suitcase! How do I decide which clothes I'm taking on our trip to Portugal?


I plan to take one of these long cardigans and possibly the brown tweed jacket.




I will be away for nine days so obviously don't need all twelve tops shown above! I'm definitely going to pack the lace top for going out in the evenings and will be selecting other tops that will go with the long cardigan and also the bottoms that I'm taking.


Do I take the winter coat or the trench coat? Or both? That will depend on the weather forecast! I won't be taking either of the jackets as, if I feel I need one, my brown tweed jacket will be the best option.


The blouse in the first picture above will go with the rest of my travel wardrobe, so it's a possibility.


These are all warm tops so I may pack either the green or cream one if the weather is going to be cold. 

Finally, the red skirt will be packed for when we go out to dinner. If it's cold I'll make sure we find a restaurant close to our hotel! I'll definitely be taking the chocolate brown and camel trousers. The jeans may be included if there's room in my case as I will be travelling in one pair of trousers and packing the other pair.

I intend to take two pairs of casual shoes, one of which will be trainers as I expect to do a lot of walking, plus a smarter pair for the evenings. Similarly I will have a tote bag for daytime and a smaller bag for going out at night. Apart from enough underwear for nine days, and nightwear, that will be all my clothes. Anyone who knows me will take it for granted that I will have a selection of scarves and jewellery to make my outfits more colourful.



In the photo above you can see the final selection of tops and bottoms that were packed for my holiday. I have realised that two of the items shown weren't in my winter capsule, so I'm guilty of cheating a bit! My excuse is that I have been exchanging a couple of items as I plan my Spring capsule, and realised that they would be useful for my travel capsule as I could add layers if need be. You can see a lime green long-sleeved top, which has replaced my cream warm top, and a leopard print tunic, which I took as an extra top for evenings. The camisoles are allowed as extra layers under the leopard print top, so I'm not cheating with them! This travel capsule proved to be perfect for our holiday, as the weather was changeable.

I have now returned from our holiday (we had a brilliant time, though the weather could have been better!) and am concentrating on my Spring capsule wardrobe. I do have a visit to London to see my children soon, so I will definitely need to keep a few winter items out for that.