January Capsule: For Day-to-Day
Four curated capsule wardrobes to help you weather the coldest months
Periodically, I curate four capsule wardrobes, each meticulously tailored for a specific seasonal palette: winter, spring, summer, and autumn. If you’re new to The Stylish Sabbatical, and you would like to understand seasonal color pallets, and how repeating your innate coloring in your clothing and accessories can benefit you, I invite you to read an article that I recently penned on this topic here.
Today, I’m sharing capsule wardrobes designed to help you weather the coldest months of the new year. These capsules assume that you already have your neutral winter coat – it is mid-January, after all! Whether intended to complement your existing winter wardrobe or to serve as a foundation for building a refined one, these collections contain clothing and accessories that can be combined for the 80+% of time that you spend engaged in routine activities, from running errands and shuttling your kids around to conducting work meetings and grabbing coffee with friends. Each capsule is summarized in full - and the items are linked - at the end of this article. Make sure to click “view entire message” if it has been clipped in your email.
Not so basic basics
High-quality basics form the core of each of these four collections. Versatile and neutral, these wardrobe workhorses transition from casual to dressed-up, and coordinate with various items in the capsule and your broader wardrobe—especially if you're focusing your closet on your most flattering colors. They also serve as the ideal canvas for the handful of distinctive and novel items I've chosen for this edit.
The basics in each capsule are a collection of tops, bottoms, shoes, jackets, handbags, and jewelry in neutral tones. Contrary to popular belief, wardrobe neutrals are not limited to black, grey, cream, and camel. I have “summer” coloring, so my ideal neutrals are soft, cool colors like the chalky whites, misty taupes, denim blues, moody grays, and shades of navy that you might see at the ocean on a summer day.
Autumn neutrals include rich, earthy colors like the mineral grays, spruce and army greens, and coffee and olive browns that you might see in the woods as the leaves change color.
Winter neutrals include cool and vivid colors like the bright whites, icy blues, shades of grey, deep navies and black that you’d see on a powder day on the slopes.
Spring neutrals include light, bright and warm colors like the warm creams, bright shell pink, and lively camels, pecans, and pralines you see as the cherry blossoms bloom.
These images and the associated palettes guided my selection of basic items for each of the four capsules. Beyond their foundational role, these basics boast inherent visual interest. The incorporation of simple patterns like stripes or tweed and unique details like studs or buckles adds visual appeal, while the use of luxurious materials like cashmere or leather lends sophistication. Here are the basic items I selected for each of the four capsules:
Beyond the basics
A tight selection of novel items adds punctuation to each capsule. A chunky necklace, an unusually patterned sweater or a statement coat can introduce other colors from the seasons’ palettes and provide additional visual interest to outfits via patterns and textures. Here are the novel items I chose for each of the four capsules:
Artful styling
The basic and novel items can be artfully combined in countless ways for a variety of day-to-day activities, enabling you to look polished at work and at play. To spark your imagination, I’ve created several looks for each capsule below.
While I’ve only shown a handful of looks here, rest assured that these quality pieces can be worn together – and with other items in your closet – repeatedly, for many different activities. Follow along on @the.stylish.sabbatical on Instagram to see how I continue to styles these items in other outfits over the coming weeks.
Upgrade to paid
Thank you for reading! You can access these capsules via your free subscription; however, in the future, I will only offer select edits, including these periodic capsules, to my paid subscribers. If you wish to continue enjoying access to this exclusive content, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription today. Otherwise, you will still receive my freely accessible, un-gated content.
Click to view summer capsule & links
Click to view autumn capsule & links
Click to view winter capsule & links
Click to view spring capsule & links
Let me know if you’re inspired to try any of these pieces or looks, and feel free to ask any questions in the comments.
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