20 Items, 20 Outfits: Building My Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch for Summer
I have so many beautiful clothes, but I often find myself at a loss on how to style them. Throwing together an outfit on the go is convenient, but I end up looking sloppy, which really affects my mood. Does this sound familiar?
This dilemma has been a constant struggle for me, so with the last bit of summer heat lingering, I dedicated a Saturday to sorting through my summer wardrobe. I pulled everything out and tried on every possible combination, using Apple’s Freeform app to create a visual outfit board.
My summer wardrobe includes 6 tank tops, 7 bottoms (5 pairs of shorts, a skirt, and a pair of pants), and 6 pairs of shoes. After trying everything on, I came up with 20 outfits that I’m really satisfied with.
The goal of this article is to offer some outfit inspiration. I’m not claiming that my styling is perfect — I’m just a regular person still learning and growing through trial and error.
Spending time to try on and document the best combinations of my clothes really helped improve my styling. This is why the concept of a digital wardrobe continues to gain popularity.
Below is a glimpse of my outfit archive. The process was quite exhausting; changing into so many outfits and shoes in one afternoon was overwhelming, but recording the process on video helped me stay motivated. The images are mostly screenshots from the video, so the quality isn’t the best — but the idea is that I can understand them!
I categorized my outfits by pants/bottoms and paired them with the appropriate tops and shoes, resulting in seven rows.
I started with bottoms because they connect the top and shoes, making them the foundation of the outfit.
Unlike the perfectly curated posts on social media where each piece is shown individually, I tried everything on myself so the styling effect is clear. It was time-consuming and tiring, but worth it.
I don’t have a lot of clothes right now because I declutter every season, keeping only the pieces I truly like. Since I’m still exploring my personal style, I’m being cautious with my choices.
Even though these outfits are now archived, some combinations will need time to settle in, and I will eventually refine them to select the best-looking ones. This is just the first stage — creating outfits based on my digital wardrobe. The second stage involves wearing these outfits in real life and further eliminating those that don’t make me feel great. My main criterion is whether the outfit makes me feel happy and comfortable.
I also made a video specifically for this styling session.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6W8OGhkVWs
Let’s embark on this journey of creating a capsule wardrobe that truly makes us feel good, one outfit at a time!
by: pamperherself
