Define Your Personal Style ~ 10 Romantic Basics for Your Capsule Wardrobe
Hello everyone! Welcome to the second post in our series. In the first post we created a sleek, Parisian capsule wardrobe for Madame Chic. Today we come to the aid of a lovely gentle lady needing help in adding a few core basics to her existing capsule wardrobe – especially pieces that reflect her personal style. Allow me to introduce Miss Rose!
Miss Rose is a women’s health and wellness speaker and author, who often travels to conferences sharing her passion. She is a small, curvier lady with bent for comfort along with great style. She tends to be warm natured and prefers layering lightweight fabrics. She likes ruffles, lace, delicate details, and especially loves mixing textures to add depth to her outfit. She loves pink, spring green, and warm tones. She is specifically looking for a couple blazers to add structure and polish to her speaking wardrobe as well as denim skirt that can go from casual Friday to weekend errands with ease. This capsule needs to cover the end of summer and transition into fall. Miss Rose wouldn’t mind second-hand treasures and has a budget of $65.00. She would prefer quality over quantity, so fewer, better pieces are what we will hunt for!
Style Profile ~ Miss Rose:
Personal Style: Feminine and floral with polish. Ruffles, lace, delicate details. Comfort from speaking to the weekend.
Body Shape: Hourglass with more “sand” near the bottom 😉
Outfit Formula: Separates – to better suit curves.
Color Palette: Blush pink, spring green, dark denim, rose brown
Capsule Purpose & Season: Travel and speaking events. Summer through fall.
Shopping Notes: Must find two blazers and a dark wash denim skirt. Keep comfort in mind – look for clothing with stretch.
Here we came across a fabulous blush pink blazer that checked all the boxes! The blazer has a slubby linen texture with a good amount of stretch for comfort. It is tailored at the waist and has softly rounded lapels. I’m thrilled to find such a great staple piece for her to build her capsule wardrobe! We also found the very basic white button down, with a lightweight, super soft windowpane weave, long sleeves that can be cuffed to ¾ for warmer weather. With this blouse being so lightweight it will be the perfect layering piece under the blazer without adding bulk, or being too hot when speaking. The spring green floral A-line skirt is a wonderful find a well! The extra fullness in the skirt will skim Miss Rose’s hips comfortably without adding bulk to her curves. The skirt is extra feminine with the all over floral print and soft silk fabric.
Here are the pieces styled into an outfit. They complement each other perfectly! The blazer is relaxed by popping the blouse collar out and cuffing the sleeves. The ivory macramé handbag carries a summer casual vibe. Imagine this with a pair of camel loafers and a leather camel colored handbag for fall.
Here we simply removed the blazer and tossed on a sheer peachy scarf tied with a sweet ribbon to add delicate details. The blouse is un-tucked for a more laid-back look, but still polished when worn with the vintage heels.
Next we came across the ideal denim pencil skirt. This one fit the bill with enough stretch for a good fit and a dark wash perfect for transitioning to the weekend. We styled with a pair of pewter flats and handbag for a subtle polish. This could be even more casual worn without the blazer and adding the scarf.
Now for some fall flavored looks! The gorgeous rose brown cardigan not only fit the color palette perfectly, but is covered in romantic roses! A perfect top for the denim skirt. In this cardigan we found high quality fabrics and construction. It is by Ralph Lauren and in a wool/silk blend great for many seasons to come. Style tip: With the smooth fabric and ¾ sleeves this cardigan could be worn backwards under the blazer for a great pattern and texture look!
Here we popped the rose cardigan over the white button down to show another outfit option. This meets all the requirements of romantic, polished, and comfortable! This could be worn without the cardigan by adding a shell underneath the blouse.
These five pieces will make at least eight outfits. Miss Rose could pack these pieces as a travel capsule that would cover more than a week of engagements. By shopping online and in the thrift stores we came out well within the budget…
Our Cost:
Pink Blazer by BODY by Victoria – Online for $8
White blouse by White House Black Market – $4
Spring Green Silk a – line skirt by Ann Taylor – $4
Brown rose printed Cardigan by Ralph Lauren – $4
Denim Pencil Skirt by LOFT – $4
Peach Lace Scarf – $3
After taxes, and with my 10% thrift store discount…
$28.00!
Here is a close up if the brand names I found for this capsule – you really can dress like a royal on a dime if you’re willing to hunt! For more tips on building your capsule wardrobe from scratch read this post: From Pieces to Outfits ~ Using Your Capsule Wardrobe.
There is $17.00 remaining in the budget so we set out to find a few more pieces to round out Miss Roses’ capsule wardrobe. She could use a few more casual pieces and still needs a second blazer.
Here are the remaining pieces we found from the thrift store – and they perfectly fit the bill! We found this adorable spring green blazer in lightweight fabric with ¾ sleeves – great for the warmer weather still lingering in the fall. This blazer has a great raised texture and big covered buttons. The wider neckline provides a cooler more comfortable fit while the Peter Pan collar softens the design. The striped cardigan is a soft taupey-grey (the exact same shade as the pencil skirt!), and will provide the polished comfort Miss Rose loves. The whisper weigh pink shell is another great option for layering under her blazers. And lastly, the pink pencil skirt has a delightful all-over diamond jacquard pattern for some elegant texture.
Additional Cost:
Spring green Blazer by Ann Taylor (new with tags!) – $5
Beige striped cardigan by Banana Republic – $4
Pink silk shell by LOFT – $3
Pink Jacquard pencil skirt by Le Suit – $4(50% off!)
Beige pencil skirt by Banana Republic – $4
After taxes, and with my 10% thrift store discount… $16.20!
Grand Total: $44.20!
With the remaining $20.80 Miss Rose can have her clothing professionally dry-cleaned and consider using a tailor to tweak her garments for a perfect fit! These are some of the wonderful benefits of shopping second-hand. Again, I found these garments at these prices in my local thrift stores (the pink blazer I found online). These were two super fun capsules wardrobes I put together and sold online. (Psst… I loved the green blazer so much that I kept it… you may see it featured in a Spring Wardrobe post!). Stay posted for the third post in this series for the those of you who love the classic, timeless personal style!
Now I’m wondering… what is most helpful or inspiring for you in this post? What questions do you have? Please leave your thoughts below!
The wardrobe is so elegant and pretty!
Hello Kstone,
Thank you, this series has been a lot of fun to put together. Thanks for stopping by!
Rachel! This post was so fun to read!! I missed the first one but am certainly planning to go back and read it now! I’ve been struggling recently with how to develop my own capsule wardrobe, and this illustrated example really helped to make things click in my mind.
Hi Liz!
Yay, I’m thrilled that you found this post enjoyable and helpful – I’ve had a blast putting this series together. I was testing the waters to see if you readers would like this kind of post, so thanks for the feedback. Most of all I’m glad you gleaned some good ideas, I’m a visual person too and pictures really help!
This look at a Romantic capsule wardrobe was lovely!! I love seeing how to tie a capsule closet together. Your thrift store finds, the quality, and the brands are amazing!! I can’t wait to read another one of these posts.