my spring 2015 capsule wardrobe

Hooray, spring is here! Which can only mean one thing — spring capsule wardrobe time!

Pssst … here’s a refresher course on capsule wardrobes, just in case you want to brush up.

In this post, we’ll be chatting about my process of putting it all together my budget what I ended up with finally, where you can shop for each piece.

Disclaimer: Honesty is awesome, so I chat numbers and dollars in this post. I trust you’ll honor my honesty. Just so we’re clear, everything written here is based on my personal experiences opinions. Not everything I say here will work for you, but I have faith that you’ll take the information presented and apply some of it to your own wardrobe in a new and creative way.

THE PROCESS

I had a bit of a rocky start this time around — mostly because I didn’t want to accept that it was time to change my approach. After one particularly stressful day, it hit me: I would never want this to be your experience. If you were agonizing over fitting your wardrobe into a set of (invented) rules, I’d say scrap it and let’s find a new approach.

So I let myself off the hook. You can read about it all right here.

I’ve got to say, it feels nice. :)

Once I decided to loosen my approach and replace the “rules” with open-ended practices, things became fun again. Joyful!

Considering I only purchased a few pieces, shopping took approximately five seconds.

I had a few must-haves on my list: a longer pair of shorts, some high-waist jeans, a jean jacket, and a pair of flat Chelsea boots.

Can we pretend we’re girlfriends for a second while I tell you this cool story? You have to promise to squeal, jump up and down, and say things like, “NO! No way! You didn’t! Girl, that’s crazy!”

Deal? Deal.

I was searching for some flat chelsea boots at Nordstrom Rack, when something caught my eye on the top rack. It was a lone pair of Frye chelsea boots — I would later find out it was the only pair left in all the Nordstrom Rack stores on the planet. I about freaked out when I saw that they were my size and — oh yes, it gets better — they were on sale for $90! I know! I still can’t get over it. I’ve never even allowed myself to glance at a Frye boot because they are pricey. But now I have a pair of my own … and I got them for a steal. Eeeeee!

Okay, thanks for the girlfriends moment. I knew I could count on you.

Since I made the mistake of going too one-style in my winter capsule, I made sure to cover my bases for spring. I’ve got neutral boho pieces, edgy cool pieces, and straight up classic pieces. Mixed together, I’m excited about the possibilities.

BUDGET

I’ve changed so much since starting to live with capsule wardrobes. The biggest change? No more emotional purchases. No more hitting the stores to relieve stress.

Even though my purchases are now in big lump sums — this spring my budget was $550 — I love that it’s carefully budgeted money carefully planned purchases. Since I’m shopping just once every 3 months, it comes out to about $180 a month.

I can tell you from experience: when I would shop emotionally, I was spending a whole lot more than that each month. But it was harder to notice because it was only $40 here, $60 there, and so on. It was scary just how fast my justifiable little purchases added up over the month. Now, I don’t have to worry about that.

I bought seven new pieces and decided to invest a little more than usual in each one this time around. With a solid wardrobe foundation underneath me, I’m excited to be at a place where I can buy less buy well. The pieces I bought are top notch quality, and I love knowing they’ll wear well be around for a while.

We’re all different, so my budget may be too much or too little for you, but I hope it’s a little helpful to peek inside mine.

THE END RESULT

I ended up with a total of 34 pieces in my spring wardrobe including 10 tops, 5 jackets / vests, 1 dress, 8 bottoms, and 10 pairs of shoes.

7 pieces were purchased new. 14 pieces were rolled over from my winter wardrobe. 13 pieces were pulled from storage — which is just two under-the-bed boxes, in case you’re wondering.

Seriously. BEYOND excited to share the outfits I’ve been putting together!

SHOP IT

white tee / white tank (similar for less) / classic button up (similar) / knit vest (similar)

crop tee / paris graphic tee (this year’s version) / grey tank / sweatshirt (similar here and here)

midi dress (similar) / track shorts (this year’s version) / dark grey denim (similar) / cape cardigan

wrap skirt (similar and similar in a different color) / high rise jeans / boyfriend shirt / chambray shirt (similar)

jean jacket / denim shorts / distressed jeans / mint tunic

slip ons (similar) / open toe booties (this year’s version) / chelsea boots (similar and similar for less) / d’orsay flats (this year’s version)

booties (similar and awesome) / birkenstocks / converse (similar) / lace up sandals (similar and similar)

slip on sandals (similar) / vans high tops (similar)

Oh and hey — I’m 29, as of today. Woohoo! I’m off to party in a very chill 29 year old kind of way. So starting now, I’m taking a nice little break from blogging.

In the meantime, you can keep up with me on Instagram or catch my interview (and a few of my spring outfits!) on The Everygirl.

I’ll be back next Wednesday, March 25th. See you then!

What are your favorite pieces? Do you have any similar pieces?