Dressing for the cold season requires thoughtful planning. You need to keep warm without compromising on style, which understandably seems challenging when you need to do it every morning. Curating a winter capsule wardrobe for women is the ultimate solution to every woman’s style needs for the colder months.
A capsule wardrobe for winter means having a set number of items that you can mix and match to create outfits according to your personal style. Your collection of the perfect winter pieces allows you to start the day on a positive, stress-free note by picking up a stylish outfit quickly.
This blog will add to your knowledge regarding winter wardrobe basics in a capsule wardrobe and some cute outfit inspirations according to 2023 fashion trends.
What To Expect In This Article?
What is a Winter Capsule Wardrobe and Why Should You Build One?
A definite number of clothes, footwear, and accessories for winter according to the style aesthetic you follow is called a winter capsule wardrobe. The best way to define it is by having versatile outfit options with a limited number of essentials. Optimized style is the best feature of a capsule wardrobe as every outfit from it makes you look great.
There are lots of benefits to building a seasonal capsule wardrobe. It helps you stay organized, express your personality in the best manner, and serves the purpose of intentional living. Winter clothes require a bulk of space, unlike the lightweight summer staples. The limited number of clothes helps you avoid having a messy closet.
Wardrobe Prep for Winter
Before fall and winter officially begin, it’s very common to feel that shopping impulse to get ready for the new season. However, you should hold it back and instead spend some time to reflect your current wardrobe staples and your style. Assess the role of versatile items like a custom denim jacket in your winter layering strategy to ensure you’re prepared for the cold in style.
When you organize the wardrobe before shopping for new clothes, you will get a chance to assess which pieces can be kept, which need slight repairs, and which have completed their term in your wardrobe. Until you have a clear mindset regarding what you already have, refrain from buying new things.
What to Keep From Your Current Wardrobe?
Prepare your closet by purging all the worn-out and outdated clothes. Give them to a charity so that someone needy may get a few more wears out of them. Clear out items that you don’t wish to wear anymore.
After that, store out of season clothes like tank tops and ripped jeans. Your stylish biker shorts maybe your favorite item of clothing, but they won’t fit into a capsule wardrobe for winter. Keep all of those away in properly labeled bags until next summer.
Now, you will be left with a few pieces that are either transitional or can be used as innermost layers in fall and winters. Take out the winter stuff that you kept away last year. Conduct an audit and see whether the winter essentials you own pass the following checks.
Does it,
- Fit you well?
- Fall into the fashion trends?
- Portray your personal style?
- Make you want to wear it every day?
Any clothing item that doesn’t fall into these categories should be given away.
Time to Shop: Guide to Stocking Up on Staples
To create the ultimate winter capsule wardrobe for 2023, you first need to decide upon a number of items that you want to have. For instance, how many pants you should own depends upon how often you do laundry and the dress code at your workplace. The number and types of dresses, tops, bottoms, outerwear, footwear, and accessories, everything highly depend on your lifestyle.
Depending upon the region where you reside, choose staples like fall jackets and insulated down jackets that keep you warm in that specific temperature range. After that, make a winter capsule wardrobe checklist of interchangeable essentials that would help you create several warm and comforting outfits. After all the above-mentioned steps, both your wardrobe and your mind would have enough space to accommodate new items. Also, finalize the color palette for your capsule wardrobe.
You must think of winter outfit ideas you will be wearing at home, at informal meetups like a friends gathering or shopping, or on dressy occasions such as weddings or parties. Therefore, items as versatile as a women’s leather motorcycle jacket must be included in your capsule wardrobe basics. As the season goes on, you can add a few more pieces to your wardrobe if required.
Color Palette for a Capsule Wardrobe
Most of the items that you will choose in your winter capsule wardrobe should be in neutral colors. Colors like white, grey, beige, taupe, black, and navy are immensely versatile. They look good with other neutrals and can be used not only for neutral outfits but also pairs well with vivid colors, and also with pastels. In this way, mixing and matching become a lot easier. If you want, you can also go with a black, white, and grey wardrobe for a sophisticated monochrome winter style.
If you are a woman who stays on top of the current trends, the voguish colors for fall and winter 2021 are classic blue, plum, military green, rose, and fired brick.
Winter Wardrobe Wishlist for the Contemporary Fashionista
The staples mentioned below make up the 2023 winter closet essentials for women. If your style comprises unisex fashion elements, you can refer to the men’s capsule wardrobe guide for more clothing and outfit ideas.
Winter Wardrobe Basics
Keep a mix of classic staples and some luxe elements for those special occasions in your closet. Garments like crewneck t-shirts, white sweatshirts, straight jeans, grey wool coats, and a few women’s leather jackets are a must-have. Exotic pieces like a fur bomber jacket and a cashmere shawl also make a valuable addition to your wardrobe to feed the exclusive fashionista’s impulses.
Along with your existing pieces and newly bought ones, here is what you can start your winter with.
Tops
Different types of shirts for women, tops, and blouses make the primary layer of your outfit and are a deciding factor in the overall look and silhouette. For your casual outfits, keep at least three long-sleeved cotton t-shirts, preferably in black, grey, and beige colors. Along with these neutral pieces, it’s good to have a striped t-shirt, a white collared shirt, a ruffled peplum top, and a pretty full-sleeved blouse.
Light Weight Layers
Next comes the lightweight layering clothes which you will wear as outerwear in the beginning of fall and departing winters. They also form excellent mid-layers, making them an integral part of a deep winter capsule wardrobe. These may include a lightweight grey crewneck sweater, an off-white fluffy hooded sweatshirt, and a dark-colored cardigan for morning-to-night outfit transitions.
You can also keep an extra sweater in a bright color such as yellow or plum for special occasions. We suggest keeping a washed denim jacket with a shearling lining for your winter and autumn capsule wardrobe if you wear denim jacket outfits during fall.
Heavy Weight Layers
Winter outfits call for a lot of warm layers, so keep at least four heavy knits like a grey or cream turtleneck, a dark and a light neutral cable knit sweater, and any of the best leather jackets for women like a bomber or a cafe racer jacket.
Coats
Even if you are building a minimalist capsule winter wardrobe with a few basic clothes, a winter coat has to be a part of it. If you live in an area with frigid weather conditions in the colder months, you may consider keeping two or more winter coats. We suggest a stylish women’s trench coat, a winter parka, a grey wool coat, or a long quilted coat.
Bottoms
The answer to how many jeans you should have in a winter wardrobe depends upon what type of outfits you wear. At least two slim-fit jeans, one dark, and one light are a must. You can keep boyfriend jeans or mom jeans for informal outings. For casual wear, ripped jeans(with the holes filled in) are a fashion-forward choice.
Other than jeans, you can keep two warm leggings for layering and to be paired with dresses and skirts. Keep one pair of joggers and faux leather pants as well.
A plaid skirt will be an excellent addition for elegant styles, such as a dark academia outfit with a dark brown sweater and a blazer.
Footwear
To save your toes from freezing, keep two pairs of sneakers and three pairs of boots. For the beginning of fall, canvas sneakers will be needed. Other than that, you can opt for chic leather sneakers for your casual looks. A pair of Timberland boots and classic ankle boots will be a versatile choice, whereas snow boots will be your savior for outings on bitterly cold days.
Accessories
A cool winter capsule wardrobe must have a few accessories to add flavor to your looks. The basic ones would be two or three beanies, a lightweight wool shawl, woolen socks, cable knit gloves, leather belts, and a knitted beret hat. You can also add a colorful pashmina scarf, merino wool tights to elevate your wardrobe to a deep winter capsule wardrobe.
Keep a few stylish bags according to the color palette of your wardrobe, choose a tote bag, a chained shoulder bag, and a crochet bag for those cute winter outfits.
Do’s and Don’ts for the Winter Wardrobe
When designing a wardrobe with a few clothing essentials, you may go wrong in a few places. Here is a quick list that may help you curate the no fail capsule wardrobe that actually works.
- Do add pieces that are your favorite. You will put your best foot forward in the outfit you like yourself.
- Do play with patterns, but avoid contrasting two bold or two intricate patterns together.
- When layering, make sure you do not look like a bundle of clothes. Layer wisely using lightweight textures that don’t look bulky.
- Don’t go for all black looks every day. Do them occasionally, or add a bright colored accessory to add accent to your outfit.
- Avoid wearing white shoes when it is snowing heavily.
Winter Outfit Ideas 2024
- Basic winter outfit with a hoodie, a denim jacket, and black jeans.
- A black crewneck sweater, a mustard trench coat with a black beanie.
- A burgundy sweatshirt and black jeans with knee high boots.
- A pale blue turtleneck and a light blue leather moto jacket.
- Black leggings, a pink longline coat, and a merino scarf.
FAQs
Are Capsule Wardrobes Realistic?
The concept of a capsule wardrobe takes your style to a higher category and saves you from a messy wardrobe. If done right, capsule wardrobes are pretty realistic. You don’t need to restrict yourself to a few basics all season. You can add and subtract pieces as required as long as it makes your outfits more stylish.
What are Some Cons of a Winter Capsule Wardrobe?
One of the few drawbacks of a winter capsule wardrobe is that you may need to do laundry more often as the number of clothes is few. Secondly, if you buy clothes of average quality, they will get washed out super quickly, and you may need to buy them again.
If your wardrobe staples aren’t versatile enough, pairing the same essentials, again and again may become boring after a few days.
How Many Pants Should a Woman Own?
If you are creating a capsule wardrobe for yourself, keep at least three pairs of jeans, two khaki pants, two joggers, and a skirt. Keep the colors diverse to ease outfit creation.
How Many Pairs of Jeans do you Need in a Winter Capsule Wardrobe?
There are many types of trendy jeans for women, and you may find it challenging to give up on any of them if you wear all of them occasionally. But, many jeans piling up in your closet are against the idea of a capsule wardrobe as you will struggle to find the right piece each time you open the closet.
It is better to bring down the number to five and keep two slim fit jeans in white and dark blue, a faded one in boyfriend style, washed mom jeans, and fabric lined ripped jeans. You can wear these versatile jeans in a lot of ways.
What are the top 10 Essentials for a Winter Capsule Wardrobe?
Here is a list of the top ten clothing staples in a winter capsule wardrobe.
- Crewneck T-shirt
- Collared shirt
- Plaid shirt
- V neck sweater
- Parka jacket
- Cropped leather jacket
- A maxi dress
- White Slim fit jeans
- Blue mom jeans
- Ankle boots.
What Fabrics and Materials Should You Opt for a Winter Capsule Wardrobe?
For your winter wardrobe basics that keep you warm and comfortable, go for linen, wool, velvet, silk, and flannel. Fleece is also a suitable material, especially for transitional weather. For jackets and boots, go for warm and durable cowhide leather.
What Type of Accessories Should you Have in your Winter Capsule Wardrobe?
The must have accessories for women’s winter wardrobe are wool mittens, scarves, beanies, berets and socks.
Conclusion
Who doesn’t find it frustrating to waste time in front of the closet daily, rummaging through piles of meaningless clothes? To put an end to this issue once and for all, building a seasonal capsule wardrobe is a great idea. Not only does it let you save time and money, but you will love it as it contains only the essentials that you love the most.
