I really hate fast fashion, to get out of it, I decided to plan my capsule wardrobe 2024.
And once I realized that I was tired of only wearing clothing for a season, and not liking what I bought. I decided to learn how to refine my style and wardrobe. I spent the next few years, refining my style and figuring out what I liked and didn't like. I took the no buy approach first, and now as I go through each season I assess if I need new items, and why I need them. If I find that I have pieces that I can already use I pick those first before purchasing or sewing new items.
Plan your capsule wardrobe 2024
1. Go through your closet:
It might sound silly, but part of refining your style is to go through your closet. This is step one in planning your capsule wardrobe 2024. Pull all of your clothing out, and try on what you already own. Throw out or donate items that do not look flattering on you, or that no longer fit.
The items that look best on you, are going to help you decide styles to pick during your inspiration phase, and colors to stick to. If you find certain colors look good on your skin tone, or you feel most comfortable in, take photos of those items to reference later on.
As your refine your current wardrobe note any items that seem to be missing. A good example is if all your jeans don't fit, you may need to consider sewing or buying that item first before you make something more fun like a party dress.
For myself, I tend to stick to jewel tones as I'm fairly pale with dark hair, and the contrast looks good on me. I typically can't wear pastels, so I stay away from those colors, and only pull in a few items of that pallet. I need items in my wardrobe that are more size adjustable, and are both work appropriate, but could be styled more casual as well.
2. Find some inspiration
Go online to Pinterest, or your favorite fashion brands, and search for items that you feel drawn to. Keeping in mind the items you determined in step 1 that look best on you. Find items that fit that criteria first, and find a few new styles or items that you are interested in trying out.
Try to avoid only picking items that fit a "fantasy" version of yourself. Over committing to any trending style, like the #cottagecore style, when you don't typically wear those items on the day to day. Add one or two to your wardrobe, to see if you like it before over purchasing.
Find 10-15 images total, that you want to focus on for the season you plan to design for first. This way you can focus on a few items to build out.
For myself, I chose a few basics I wanted to add, with a few trendy themes that still felt like I could wear for a long period of time. I knew I needed items that could be designed with size adjust ability in mind.
3. Start sketching
Gather your inspiration items into an art board. Either printed or digital. I use Figma a free design software. Its easy to pull in pictures, and get things arranged. Its similar to Adobe Illustrator, but has less options.
Pick an item you want to start with, and sketch out what you'd like to make from that set of images. I used the pencil tool in Figma for this. Using a touch screen laptop, I drew out a basic idea, and then colored it. This makes it easy to swap colors out and mix and match later.
I found a model silhouette online I liked, that felt similar to my body type to use as my base.
You can also sketch and color on paper. If you do that, you can then cut the items out and rearrange them together later. Just be sure to use the same base model. so its easy to mix and match them.
4. Decide on what core pieces to make first.
Figure out what pieces you need most in your wardrobe and start the search for patterns that you can use to make those items with.
Here are a few brands we love using for their versatility and uniqueness:
If you'd rather draft your own clothing, but don't know where to start. Follow along with the Closet Historian on her how to draft your own pattern videos.
Once you've found the pattern you want to make, purchase the fabric to make it. I really recommend only purchasing fabric once you're ready to make the item. I don't typically recommend bulk purchasing multiple patterns and fabric all at the same time. Just due to the potential to get bored with the plan, and start something else before you've used all the fabric you've purchased.
In Conclusion your Capsule Wardrobe 2024
If you like the pieces we designed in our video, subscribe to our email list to get updates when we launch new free patterns based on the items we're designing.
Let us know below in the comments if there are pieces you'd want to see us design first!