Creating a Christmas Capsule Wardrobe

Creating a Christmas Capsule Wardrobe

When all my favorite catalogs begin to show up in my mailbox, looking like everything good for Christmas, I get tempted to splurge and buy several new outfits to wear during the season, even when I know my events calendar is fall from full. Somehow, they seem to promise the joy of the season, and you can't put a price on what that's worth.

But these days, it seems more important to find the Christmas mood elsewhere and use what I already have in my closet. After all, no one I love is going to care if I am wearing the latest and greatest. They might enjoy seeing me choose to wear red or green, but beyond that no one really cares.

So why bother going Christmas crazy with my wardrobe? Is it worth it?

How do you handle the Christmas impulse? These are the competing messages you may be receiving...

Slow Fashion would suggest that you purchase good quality, eco-friendly items for your Christmas capsule and fill it with pieces you can wear again and again, that will last for a long time.

Minimalist Principles would guide you to work with fewer pieces for your capsule wardrobe, insisting that you really only need a basic Christmas uniform, with a few alternates for variety.

Style Magazines & Catalogs will encourage you to start fresh and buy at least a few new updates to wear with whatever you already have in your Christmas closet.

In this post, let’s have fun imagining each possibility, and then you can make a conscious choice that fits your fashion sensibility. Just for fun, we can pretend we have an unlimited budget, and any curtailing of impulses will happen on principle, not because we have limited resources.

SLOW FASHION

So here, you might buy a red or green wool coat, with matching gloves and a scarf you can wear each year. You might add a couple of cashmere sweaters, a nice dress or two to wear to Christmas parties and accessories to match, all made by brands you trust, and all of them built to last.

For fun, you might throw in a tacky Christmas sweater for your best friend’s tacky sweater party, but even that would be a good quality sweater, and you would expect to wear it again any time the situation called for it.

MINIMALIST PRINCIPLES 

Here, you might decide on a basic Christmas uniform of colored jeans and a pullover sweater. You might have the red sweater and matching red socks already, but you’d add red jeans, and a green sweater to wear with your regular jeans.

You’d dig through your jewelry box until you found the Christmas tree earrings that would go with both outfits, and if any Christmas parties appeared on your calendar, you would probably wear the little black dress you wear for all your rest occasions and you’d accessorize with that same pair of Christmas tree earrings, just for fun.

STYLE EXTRAVAGANZA 

It's time to place an order! How about a red Christmas cardigan, and a green one? And a long red dress with flats to match. 

But you can’t leave out the ivory duster. Or the dark green corduroy pants.

That beautiful red knee-length cable knit sweater dress would be wonderful, too, with those new boots you saw on the same page in the catalog.

And look at the beautiful jewelry! Everything comes in three colors - reds dark green and ivory - so why not get them all? Christmas is going to be so much fun this year.

CHOOSING YOUR OWN STYLE & CREATING YOUR CHRISTMAS CAPSULE 

Before you decide how to create your capsule, consider your budget, your Christmas lifestyle and your style. Don't buy anything you wouldn't normally wear, and shop your own closet first.

Ask yourself several questions…

​(1) You may not buy anything this Christmas season, but if you wanted to, how much could you easily afford to spend?

(2) What do you own already, that's still in good condition, that you feel good about wearing, that would work for your Christmas capsule wardrobe?

(3) What neutral pieces do you have that could be combined with Christmas colors?

(4) What is coming up on your calendar that you will need outfits for, this season?

(5) Which approach, that we explored, most closely matches your values and your budget?

Once you know the answers to those questions, you will be ready to create your own Christmas capsule wardrobe.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas season!

​Love, Jeanine
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