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Autumn 10 Item Capsule Wardrobe

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It looks like autumn is finally here in Perth, so that means it is time to update my 10 item wardrobe for the cooler weather that is (hopefully) here to stay. The ten item wardrobe is a concept that I came across (and then embraced) from Jennifer L Scott’s wonderful gem of a book, Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris. Basically, you narrow down your wardrobe to 10 (or so) core items, which are then supplemented with layering pieces, tees and accessories. I am truly not understating it when I say that it has revolutionized getting ready in the mornings!
Despite the name of my post, I have not yet achieved a 10 item wardrobe. My spring and summer capsules both sat around 18 core pieces, and these both worked really well for me, with only two or so pieces in each capsule that I could have eliminated. My autumn capsule wardrobe is slightly larger again, simply because the autumn weather here in Perth is so extreme. A week ago, the maximum temp was just 21C coupled with wind and rain, but in a few days time, the forecast is for 30C and sun!
Like spring and summer, my base colour for my capsule is navy, and as the weather is cooling down, so to do the accent colours, moving away from warmer shades like coral and red to wintry shades of jade, mint, aqua and periwinkle, with one or two shots of burgundy. The pieces that are new to my wardrobe are highlighted in bold, and as you can see, there are a few this season. The navy sweater is a replacement piece for my old one that was literally falling apart because I wore it so much over a few years. The navy velvet blazer was something I’ve been searching for at least 3 years – I really wanted a navy blazer for winter (my linen one just doesn’t cut it!!), but I wanted something that could also be worn for dressier events, as well as day-to-day. When I saw this online at Ann Taylor, and on deep discount, no less, I snapped it up.

The other new pieces were purchased to add a touch of one of this season’s trend colours (jade) to my wardrobe. I picked this colour for three reasons; first and most importantly, I love this colour, but it is also incredibly flattering to my skin tone, and it goes beautifully with my base colour, navy. I think it is really important when curating a classic wardrobe that you add small touches each season/year of something current. Whether you add a colour, a silhouette, or through accessories, I think this can help your classic capsule wardrobe look stylish and elegant and intentional, rather than tired and dated.

For autumn, these are my 23 core items:

  1. grey skinny jeans
  2. dark rinse slim cut jeans
  3. dark rinse wide leg trouser jeans
  4. navy cropped trousers
  5. black cropped trousers
  6. navy slim trousers
  7. brownish grey wide leg trousers

    If I was truly being minimalist, this is where I could absolutely narrow down my wardrobe. However, I have all of these pants, they all fit my body very well, and they fit my style as well, so it seems pointless to pack some of them away just for the sake of this exercise. What it does mean is that I won’t be buying anymore pants for quite a while! You may be asking, “why no skirts?” and the answer is very simple – I hardly ever wore my skirts from my summer wardrobe, and I started to think back to last winter, and the same was true for then as well. So at this point, I’ve packed my skirts away, and if I don’t miss them, they will be sold or given away. And as the weather looks like it is cooling down for good, then the two pairs of cropped pants will be packed away until next spring/summer.

  8. floral jersey sleeveless dress (navy base with aqua and white)
  9. floral ponte sleeveless dress (navy, aqua, purple and white)
  10. floral print jersey short sleeved dress (lavender, aqua and grey)
  11. floral print jersey elbow sleeve dress (navy base with burgundy flowers)
  12. navy and grey polka dot jersey sleeveless dress

    The first three dresses were new purchases this spring/summer, and have got a lot of use already, but the darker colours mean they will still look great through into the cooler weather of autumn topped with a cardigan or blazer. The second-from-the-right dress is from last winter but is still in great condition, while the last dress is a new buy. This Modcloth dress is perfect for autumn – no sleeves means great for the warmer days, while the navy and grey colour means it won’t look out of place with tights and woollen cardigan right throughout winter.

    Winter Capsule Wardrobe Tops by chicmummy featuring a floral collared shirt

  13. Liberty print linen 3/4 sleeve shirt (cream base with pink, blue and green)
  14. Liberty print short sleeved shirt (red, green and blue)
  15. Liberty print short sleeved blouse (navy, white and green)
  16. Liberty print long sleeved shirt (navy, jade and white)
  17. Liberty print long sleeved shirt (jade on navy base)
  18. burgundy lace trimmed knit short sleeved blouse
  19. geo print silk blouse (green, white and black)
  20. geo print jersey long sleeve blouse (navy and white)
  21. blush silk shirt
  22. mint 3/4 sleeve cotton sweater top

    This pic really shows my colour palette, and how I add interest to what are otherwise very plain neutral pants. Again, I could narrow this down further, but having 10 tops really helps me out laundry and ironing wise. While I would love to be on top of my ironing all the time, that just doesn’t happen on a regular basis! Well, that’s my excuse, anyway, for buying so many fab Liberty print shirts!!

 and my extras:

Sweaters/Outerwear

  1. navy linen blazer
  2. navy stripe ponte blazer
  3. navy velvet blazer
  4. aqua knit jacket
  5. navy waterfall merino cardigan
  6. navy short sleeved cotton cardigan
  7. mint cotton cardigan
  8. jade cotton cardigan
  9. navy cotton cardigan
  10. purple cotton cardigan
  11. navy merino wool sweater (replacing my old one that wore out)
  12. jade merino wool sweater
  13. periwinkle merino wool sweater
  14. periwinkle blue ladder stitch cotton sweater

 Tees/tanks

  1. white, navy, coral, and teal plain scoop or v neck tees
  2. navy and white tanks
  3. navy and white stripe v neck tee
  4. navy, white and red striped tee

If you want to discover more of my 10 Item Wardrobe, then check out these:

Can I Achieve a 10 Item Wardrobe
10 Item Wardrobe Versatility
My Summer 10 Item Wardrobe
1 Shirt from Summer to Autumn
Update to Summer Wardrobe
What I Wore Wednesday

PS: the items I’ve used in the polyvore collages are often not my exact items. The pieces that are exact ones are all the shirts except the blush silk, and all the dresses.

Linking to:

Casual Friday @ Two Thirty Five Designs
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