For when France seems too far away. Shop for inspiring images of France and discover travel tips, packing advice, recipes, book reviews and more.
For when France seems too far away. Shop for inspiring images of France and discover travel tips, packing advice, recipes, book reviews and more.

A French Capsule Wardrobe?

French capsule wardrobe

It’s a long weekend here in Melbourne and yesterday, completely on a whim, Scott and I decided to rip out and replace the insides of our built-in-robes.

This decision prompted me to think about three things:

  1. Renovations – no matter how minor – always take longer than you think they will. Yep, we’ll be lucky to finish this little project by the end of the weekend the way we are going!
  2. We live in a very small home that I love. But, this means that we really don’t have much wardrobe space.
  3. Despite the truth of point two, I don’t have anything that even looks like a French capsule wardrobe.

Yes, this weekend, I discovered I’ve been kidding myself in a big way.

Because we have such a small wardrobe, I’d tricked myself into believing that I didn’t have many clothes.

I’ve managed to prove myself very wrong. It turns out that I have stacks of clothes. I know this because they are currently ‘stacked’ in our lounge room.

Interestingly, I wear most of these clothes regularly. Due to my work commitments, I have a fair selection of evening attire that could hardly be described as being on high rotation but apart from that, there are barely any ‘passengers’ in my wardrobe. At least I can give myself a tick for making the most of a very small space!

But all of this led me to thinking about capsule wardrobes in general.

Enter the words ‘French capsule wardrobe’ into your favourite search engine and you’ll be overwhelmed by the number of results. Apparently the whole planet is in love with the idea of a limited amount of quality clothing items, supplemented by a few seasonal pieces.

I fully understand the concept – I can survive an entire month in France with nothing more than carry-on luggage if I plan appropriately. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say that I love the simplicity of the whole idea.

But I’m not sure that I could actually survive with a capsule wardrobe – French or otherwise – day in, day out.

For starters, I’m not sure how I’d keep everything clean working full time and travelling as much as I do. The steamer can only do so much. And do I really want to spend my weekends washing and ironing clothes the entire time?

Then there is the boredom factor…both for me and for the people who have to look at me all the time!

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of quality basics and I’m still working hard to evolve my signature style. I’m just not sure how long I’d survive with only 30 pieces or thereabouts (including shoes and accessories) in my wardrobe.

I’ll ponder it some more while I sort out how I’m going to arrange all my clothes in my freshly designed wardrobe.

Have you nailed the French capsule wardrobe? Or, like me, are you struggling with the concept? Either way, I’d love for you to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

And until next time – au revoir.

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