July 2017 | Wryght Designs

Capsule Wardrobe Accessories

20/07/2017
by adminwryght

Once you’ve organised the basic structure of your capsule wardrobe, it’s time to start adding your personality and style.

Jewellery

Adding jewellery that reflects your personality is a great way to customise your capsule wardrobe. You can either complement or contrast your base wardrobe with colours and styles.

Jewellery that won’t date is the best long term plan, think classic styles and long lasting features. Great examples would be precious gemstones, pearls and opals paired with classic metals like silver and gold.

If you want to add more contrast go for more unusual jewellery like resins, clays and feature metals like copper and bronze.

It’s great to have some real feature pieces think sculptural necklaces, chandelier earrings or chunky rings, though a minimalist style would let one piece shine rather than layer multiple feature pieces.

Feature Clothing

You know that patterned skirt you love, this is where it fits into your capsule wardrobe. A few key pieces that you adore will add fun to a potentially otherwise boring capsule wardrobe.

If you can, choose pieces that can be dressed up or down, and work well with the style of the other pieces in your wardrobe. One highly structure corporate skirt in a wardrobe full of bohemian florals is unlikely to get much use.

Other Accessories

Now you get to add the accents that make your outfits looks and feel different. Scarves, shoes, belts, tights and bags can all produce a very different look over the same base capsule wardrobe pieces. Sticking to a complementary colour palette will ensure these work well together and help you mix and match with success.

Have you been inspired to reassess your wardrobe? Check out what treasures are already stashed in there that don’t get too much wear and work out how you can maximise the value of your existing wardrobe.

Fashion

Capsule Wardrobe : Your Key Pieces

12/07/201712/07/2017
by Claire Wryght

If the War on Waste has inspired you to live a life with less (or maybe even just live with more awareness) then choosing a capsule wardrobe could be a great start.

In the second of the ‘dressing with less’ mini series we’re going to take a look at the key base pieces that can be the start of any capsule wardrobe.

Basics

simple dark dress
a ‘go with everything’ jacket
plain vests or t shirts – slim fitting not baggy 80s style
some formal options like a blouse or shirt
plain dark trousers
classic dark skirt
dark jeans
block colour shoes

Top Ups

Now it’s time to add your style! If you prefer colour and pattern on top then add more basic block colour bottoms. Otherwise you might prefer fun skirts like me then add more block colour basic tops that you can wear with any pattern or colour of skirt.

Don’t forget to pick out your shoes suitable for the season and if you need to, add a warm jacket or summery slip over.

General

The basis of a capsule wardrobe is to mix and match using quality classic style pieces that won’t go out of fashion.

It’s not rocket science to realise that mixing and matching is easier with a limited colour palette and you might initially think capsule wardrobes are all black, white and grey. But living with a capsule wardrobe doesn’t have to mean every outfit is the same neutral colours. If you pick a few complementary colours you can slowly transition from a red, navy and white theme to a teal, navy and white theme or a red, purple and white theme by changing out one aspect of colour. You can then loop back and create new combos with navy, purple and white then red, teal and white. That’s five seasons from five base colour sets.

Inspired but need more information or structure? Try checking out the 33-3 challenge. Only thirty three items for three months!

Want to buy some clothes with good ethics? I’d recommend checking out the fashion section of Eco Warrior Princess.

Fashion

Wardrobe Colours for Skin Tones

05/07/201705/07/2017
by Claire Wryght

Just liking matching your foundation or lipstick, certain colours make you look good and others simply don’t suit. For the first of our ‘dressing with less’ mini series let’s look at the wardrobe colours most likely to suit your skin tone.

What is your skin tone?

Skin tone is more the colour at the base layers of your skins rather than the actual colour of your skin. Your skin tone isn’t impacted by whether you are fair, light, medium or dark. Instead it sits beneath the surface colour and is categorised into cool, warm and neutral tones.

You can figure out our skin tone by checking the colour of your veins on the underside of your wrist.

If your veins look blue you have a cool skin tone
If your veins look green you have a warm skin tone
And if your veins look blue and green you probably have a neutral skin tone

If you still aren’t sure, try holding a piece of white paper against your skin in natural light and see how your skin looks in comparison.

Wardrobe colours for skin tones

Warm skin tones : will generally suit warm and neutral colours. Think yellows, oranges, warm reds and browns.

Cool skin tones : yep you guessed it, cool tones suit cool colours. Think blues, greens, magenta and even pink.

Neutral skin tones : have the benefits of suiting both warm and cool colours but can seem washed out with too much neutral. Softer colours work best as brights can overwhelm. Think pastels, cream and washed denim.

Remember your skin tone doesn’t mean you can’t wear the opposite colour of the recommended shades, you just need to find a tone within the colour that matches your skin tone.

Wondering about skin tones and jewellery metals? Check out this useful article.