Hi friends, and welcome to a little three-part series I’m doing over the course of the next couple of weeks about something I like to call capsule wardrobing.  Here’s the premise:

Imagine your boss/teacher/other half calls and informs you of an unexpected trip to an unknown destination.  The details are few and far between, but you are advised to prepare for formal and informal activities both indoors and out, the latter in a variety of weather conditions.  You can only take one suitcase with you, but you must make sure that you have clothing to cover all eventualities in it.  You have five minutes to pack before your lift arrives to take you to your destination.  What do you do?

Turn to your capsule wardrobe, that’s what.

The capsule wardrobe is a wardrobe that works.  It’s not necessarily a minimalist wardrobe, although it certainly can be if minimalism is your thing.  The idea behind the capsule wardrobe is that our clothes should always be prepared for the unexpected, whether that’s a three-day business trip, an impromtu fortnight of heavy snow or a black-tie ball you’re invited to at short notice.  The capsule wardrobe is one that can take unforseen circumstances in its stride, leaving you free to concentrate on other, much more important things.  It’s organised, it’s accessible and it’s full of clothes that fit, are in good condition and make you feel great, so that in the event that you do find yourself having to pack a suitcase in a rush, you can happily avoid sartorial meltdown.

I’ve split the series into three parts: Part 1 I’ve called Laying the Foundations; Part 2 is Construction and Part 3 is A Word on Shopping.  Please do feel free to join in with any extra ideas you have, or comments you’d like to make – I’m forever on the quest to perfect my own capsule wardrobe, so I genuinely would love to hear your thoughts!

And so to Part 1…

Laying the Foundations

Go to your wardrobe.  Open the doors and look inside.  What’s your first reaction?

My first reaction to my wardrobe is always ‘bloody hell, that’s a lot of stuff’.  Always, without fail.  I make no secret of the fact that I, like many other women (and a sizeable number of men I should add), have a bit of a thing for clothes.  To me, fashion is a form of art, and getting dressed in the morning has never, for as long as I can remember, been something I do without thinking.  I wish it was.  I wish I was content with two pairs of jeans, a handful of jumpers and a pair of sturdy walking boots.  But the fact is, I’m not.  I see what I wear as an expression of my personality, in the same sense as the books I read, the music I listen to and the films I watch.  And try as I might (and Lord I have tried), I simply don’t feel like ‘me’ when I’m not wearing my kind of clothes.  Does that make sense?

But although I have a deep-set appreciation and fondness for clothes, I also have a deep-set hatred for wardrobes that are full to bursting with badly-made, ill-fitting clothes that do nothing other than hog valuable space and make us feel guilty.  Fashion may be a form of art, but it also has a practical purpose to serve, and the wardrobe that doesn’t fulfil that practical function in an effortless way is, to my mind at least, more of a burden than any kind of pleasure.  It also desperately, DESPERATELY needs to be capsulized.

But how do you do it?

You can’t build a capsule wardrobe unless you have some idea of what you already have.  In a nutshell, this means that you’re going to have to take everything out of your wardrobe, and I mean everything.  All those tops that are screwed up into little balls and stuffed at the back; all of the broken shoes that have found their way to the bottom and all of the underwear that’s escaped down the back of your chest of drawers and is now languishing, unworn and forgotten about.  If the idea of completely gutting your wardrobe in one fell swoop makes you feel even moderately queasy, spread the task out over the course of a few evenings.  With the UK weather scene being what it currently is, there’s never been a better time for Brits to block out a few evenings during the week for tackling big projects like this one.  Put some good music on, get some snacks and a tea supply together and enjoy yourself.  You can also split the work up into sections: dresses and skirts one night, for example, accessories and shoes another.

Once you’ve emptied your wardrobe, or the part of it you’re working on, lay your clothes out in a place where you can see them.  The bed is a good place for this, as are the living room floor and the kitchen table.  Make sure the lighting is decent - you don’t want poor visibility talking you into making bad decisions.  Now comes the fun part: deciding what to keep and what to throw away.  This can be a difficult process, so here are some tips I came up with to try and make it a bit easier:

• Look for ways to save things.  If you don’t like the colour of something, consider dyeing it.  If you dislike the buttons, consider lopping them off and sewing new ones on.  You can also change hemlines, add piping, lace or ribbons.  A whole world of possibilities awakens when you open your eyes to alterations, and the good news is that you don’t have to be a sewing goddess to do a decent job.
• Don’t keep what you won’t wear.  If you haven’t worn something for over a year, what are the chances you’re ever going to put it on again?  Be realistic, and try to remember that the test of the capsule wardrobe is wearability.  Things you don’t wear fail that standard, so take the plunge and get rid.
• Having said that, if in doubt, err on the side of caution.  Don’t work yourself up into a frenzy of ruthlessness and discard absolutely everything you’re unsure about.  What’s trash to you one day might well be treasure another, so take your time, and only get rid of something if you’re absolutely sure you want to.
• Don’t be bullied by your wardrobe.  So something cost a fortune and you’re determined not to let it get away despite the fact that it repulses you and you’d rather never see it again.  My advice in this situation is to get rid, and get rid fast.  We’ve all made unwise purchasing decisions in the past.  The best thing to do is to learn from our mistakes and resolve not to do it again, not to put the thing back in the wardrobe because we’re scared of admitting we wasted our money.  And the chances are, if an item genuinely is worth a bit of cash, someone on eBay will be interested in buying it from you.
• Don’t give in to emotional pressure.  Of course your best friend might be offended if you get rid of the bracelet she gave you, but does her temporary irritation really outweigh your having to carry the thing, whatever it is, around with you until the world implodes?  The short answer is no.  Tell your loved ones you’re on a mission to downsize your life, and remind them that getting rid of their material gifts doesn’t mean you love or appreciate them any less.  It might also discourage them from buying you more crap in the future, which will save them money.  Remind them of that as well, and everyone’s a winner.

As you work your way through your clothing collection, make a note of anything you think is missing.  This will come in handy when you come to build your capsule wardrobe at stage 2.  Pay particular attention to essentials and practicalities – base layers such as vests and tights and useful items such as jeans and plain cardigans.  The key to the capsule wardrobe is layering, so the greater your quotient of mix and match basics, the more effective your capsule wardrobe will be.  Keep a note also of anything that needs repaired or dry-cleaned (my nemesis is always broken-heeled shoes).  The idea behind the capsule wardrobe is that everything in it is ready to be worn at short notice, so all those pesky repairs you’ve been putting off for months really need to be sorted pre-capsulizing.

Once you’ve fought your way through your wardrobe and decided what to keep and what to shed, you’ve completed Stage 1 – Congratulations!  Now you’re ready for Stage 2 - constructing your capsule wardrobe.  Join me next week to find out how…

Image above from Flickr – purplemattfish.

This is the cardigan I dyed at the weekend.

It used to be white.

I now anticipate sunny autumnal days when I look at it.

Plain and boring white buttons off…

…exciting, sailor-esque buttons, taken from an ancient skirt, on.

Instant new look (of course I’ll use the white buttons for something else).

Result!

Happy Tuesday x

I really fancied some pub-type grub to go with my watching the football last night (it just doesn’t feel right to be eating anything fancy while I’m simultaneously drinking beer, shouting at the television and jumping up and down like a mad person). I also have all things America on the brain at the moment, which is probably why the idea of home-made burgers and chunky chips popped into my head as easily as it did. Here’s my recipe…

Wolf ‘em down burgers with pub grub-style chunky chips

For the chips…

It’s probably a good idea to get the chips prepared and into the oven before you even think about making the burgers. I used 4-6 medium sized potatoes from my farm box, which I washed and scrubbed, and then cut into thickish chip shapes (leaving the skin on – it turns a lovely, crunchy golden brown in the oven). I put mine on a pizza tray, because it has holes in the bottom to allow the heat to get in from underneath as well as from on top. Before putting my chips in the oven, I sloshed a generous amount of olive oil over the top of them, and sprinked them with salt and coarse black pepper. Mine took 30-40 minutes to bake at around 180 degrees.

For the burgers…

It’s probably wise to consider the size you’re planning on making your burgers when deciding how much mince to buy. I was exceptionally hungry last night, and so bought 500g of mince, from which I fashioned two of the largest burgers I’ve ever seen in my life (please note that I only ate one of them!). The same amount of meat could easily make three or four medium-sized burgers.

I put the raw mince in a bowl, and added one finely chopped onion, a sprinkling of dried chillies for a little spice and one beaten egg to bind them nicely together. It would be worth experimenting with different types of herb or spice to suit your tastes – I’m picturing myself adding dried rosemary, thyme, basil and/or oregano to my burgers in future. Perhaps even some ginger or cinnamon (just a little) would also work well in bringing out different flavours. Last night I fancied some spice, however, so flaked, dried chillies it was.

Now for the fun (or digusting, depending on your viewpoint) bit: get your hands in the bowl and mix all the ingredients together! I divided my mixture in half and then set about patting it into some round, flat burger shapes, making sure I used every last scrap of mince.

Once I was happy with my burger shapes, I heated a non-stick pan and carefully placed them in, adding just a tiny drop of olive oil to ensure that there was no charring. I then gently fried the burgers, turning them periodically until they were cooked right through. Because of the density, this took around 20 minutes. It helps to stand by with a fish slice in the early stages, just to prod things back into shape if any cracks appear. After ten minutes or so of cooking, however, they seem to hold themselves together without any help. While they’re finishing cooking, slice and butter some rolls, and have them to hand. Pop your burgers in, and garnish with whatever you like. I added a mixture of mustard and mayonnaise to the top, some sliced tomato, a little cheese and a small handful of rocket. Delicious, and perfect for some goal scoring action!

The dress above (picture of which I pinched from the t’internet) is from Oasis. Cute, huh? To my surprise, and amazement, I found one in a charity shop on Saturday morning for a measly fiver. It was priced so cheaply because it was damaged – I’ve no idea what the previous owner was trying to do with it, but it had several holes around the waistband, a few frayed edges and it generally looked a bit shabby. I knew I’d have a bit of work to do to spruce it up, but at the time I thought a little hand stitching around the waist and a nice chunky belt to cover up any flaws would be all that was needed.

I got it home, tried it on and realised, to my profound dismay, that I had grossly underestimated the size of me in comparison with the size of the dress (hate it when that happens!). There was NO WAY this thing was zipping up – I would have had to get rid of both boobs and probably a few ribs as well before it would go anywhere. And forget about breathing after that! I was mad, especially because I almost never take anything away from a shop without trying it on first – Saturday was a freak exception which I put down to there being a crazy person with half the stock of the charity shop in the changing room - I couldn’t be bothered to wait.

In my dismal state I put the dress in a corner and settled down in my rocking chair to sulk for a while, whereupon I was suddenly slapped in the face by a colossal desire to be destructive. Before I knew it I was attacking this preppy pink delight with my sewing scissors, hacking the skirt from the waist, severing hundreds of tiny, and extremely tight, stitches and discarding reams of raspberry coloured thread left, right and centre…

A mess, granted.  But there were better times to come.  I quickly made a black waistband from three random scraps of elastic I had in my sewing box, gathered the newly hacked bottom half at the top, and then sewed the one to the other, exercising lots of patience so as to get as straight a line as I could.  Similar to the 20 minute skirt from a few weeks back…

Ta Da! Nice right? And it fits! I could happily eat three loaded platefuls of carbs in this thing and not feel constricted at all! I’m going to attempt this on Friday at the local Italian…

Oh, and I’ve still got this bit…

I’m not sure what to do with it though – it’s far too pretty to throw away, but if it’s ever to fit me it will need serious expansion work at the back. All suggestions welcome!

Happy Mondays everyone! Hope you all had nice weekends doing whatever it is that makes you happy!

I had a lovely couple of days, relaxing in the sun, catching up with an old friend, sewing, sewing, sewing and eating lots of yummy food, including this brocoli and courgette (and cheese, lots and lots of cheese, mmm) pizza, which I made last night. I took a punt and chucked some oregano and some rosemary in with the dough as it was whizzing around in the breadmaker – I don’t know if I could really taste much difference but it certainly smelled and looked appetising!

I also made a start to my list of mini goals for the month, crossing off the first one (it somehow feels more productive to be starting with the very first thing!). So my previously unloved notice board has had a nice little makeover, and is now hanging in my room, awaiting adournement with lots of eye-pleasing bits and pieces. I covered it with some nice cheery material, and pinned a few cards and flowers etc on it to get me started. It’s nice to have a visual reminder of films I’ve seen or gigs I’ve been to, as well as the odd inspirational magazine article and whatnot – you never know where the next idea might take you!

As well as notice board covering, I began work on re-zipping my old raincoat (goal no 8). Well, what a long time it took me to wrestle the old, broken zip out of its hiding place! I thought Primark was renouned for making crappy clothes destined to fall apart but oh no, that zip was solidly welded to the rest of the jacket – it took me at least half an hour and two cups of tea to set it free with my sewing scissors. It’s history now, however, so I’m going to pop to the fabric store later on to buy a replacement to sew on this evening. It feels good to be getting ahead of the game with almost two goals done in the first five days of the month! I’ve also got another exciting, and very thrifty, sewing machine-related tale to tell tomorrow (can you sense there’s a bit of a sewing craze on the loose here at TC?!), so make sure you tune in!

Finally, to complete the thrifty news roundup, I managed to sell all four items I’d listed on ebay! Massive whoop! They didn’t go for much money at all, but they were completely worthless to me, so any cash I could get for them was a profit in my eyes. I’ve now listed a couple of other things, so am just waiting for the bids to start rolling…thanks to the lovely Kat, Caroline and Elizabeth for their sage advice on this. It’s much appreciated ladies!