Do you remember our post on creating a capsule winter wardrobe using the Method from Dressed? This week we are back with another edition, this time for spring! With the weather warming up here in France, and spring just a couple of weeks away, there is no better time to start planning your wardrobe for the upcoming season.
Just to recap, in Dressed we taught you how to design a capsule wardrobe, using the patterns from the ebook as an example. However, there is no reason to limit this technique just to those patterns—in fact, you should be applying the Method to your entire pattern collection and garments already in your closet. To demonstrate this in our first post, we expanded from the book and used the entire Deer&Doe catalogue to design a winter wardrobe. Today we will show you how to do the same thing, this time designing for a spring collection.
First things first, we must define the goal of this collection and the context we are designing for. What situations and circumstances do we need the garments for?
Defining the Context and Criteria: Warm Weather Outings
- Daytime outings with friends, like going to brunch, shopping, or getting coffee. Outfits need to be chic but not too formal.
- Springtime. Pieces should be selected with transitional weather in mind. We need to include a jacket that can be easily added or removed to different outfits.
- Casual and comfortable. Garments will be worn with sneakers or cute sandals to allow for lots of walking and enjoying the sunshine.
- Overall style: romantic, feminine, colorful. Emphasis on skirts and dresses.
Creating a Moodboard: Romantic Casual Wear
Once the context and criteria is defined, it’s time to start curating images that feel inspiring. This process will help us identify our favorite silhouettes, styles, and think about our wardrobe in complete outfits rather than individual garments. In the example below, we’ve done this multiple times, stopping only once the moodboard felt cohesive and satisfied the criteria defined above.
Based on our inspiration photos, it’s time to take note of colors, textures, and other qualities.
- Outfits are feminine, light, and casual.
- Fabrics are light and feature fluid drapes.
- Textures: matte, smooth, opaque, and sheer.
- Patterns: solid, and floral prints.
Planning the Outfits
With a better sense of our desired style, we are ready to get specific and start planning garments. We will do this by determining the exact number of outfits we need, and the number of pieces required to achieve that many outfits (you can find the exact method for producing these numbers, including an an easy formula and worksheet to help you, in our ebook Dressed). Here is what we’ve determined we need for this particular capsule wardrobe:
- Outfits for March through June: An average of two outings per week, for a total of 34 days.
- Each outfit will be worn 6 times, which means a minimum of 6 outfits required.
- Preferred Silhouettes:
- Maxi dresses with a fitted waist; styled with a short denim jacket and sneakers or sandals.
- High-waisted midi skirts paired with close-fitting tucked-in tops; styled with a short denim jacket and sneakers or sandals.
Choosing the Patterns
Now that we have specific numbers in mind, we’ll identify 7 sewing patterns that will fulfill our criteria and provide plenty of outfit options for the season ahead.
- Passiflore Dress (Version A)
- Magnolia Dress (Version A with Version B neckline, omitting slit)
- Pensée Camisole (Version B)
- Dressed T-shirt (Version A)
- Azara Skirt (Version B)
- Chardon Skirt (Version A, lengthened into midi length)
- Lupin Jacket
Outfit Combinations
Outfit planning is often the most fun part of building a capsule wardrobe. This process will help ensure that our pieces all work well together, and that we’ll have plenty of outfit combinations to get us through the months ahead. We previously determined that we need at least 6 different outfits, and luckily these garments will provide more than enough: there are over 12 great combinations!
Fabric Selection
Last but not least, it’s time to acquire any fabric you need to make these garments. Keep in mind that it’s not always necessary to purchase new fabric, especially if you already have some in your stash (see this post for ideas on how to make the most of your existing collection). Before shopping, we will refer to our earlier moodboard and notes regarding textures and prints:
- Lightweight fabrics with a lot of drape.
- Smooth hand feel.
- Solid colors and floral prints.
Note that we didn’t touch on how to create a color palette in this post, but you can find more information on that in Dressed, as well as a technical tutorial here.
