I've tried to make a small capsule of quality items that all (more or less) go together to create a number of different outfits and looks. They are all casual summer outfits which cover the gauntlet of occasions which I, as a middle aged, middle class Londoner am likely to find myself in, in the daytime, during this season. This ranges from walking my dog in the park to supermarket shopping to going to a BBQ with friends to, at the very top end of the formality scale, going out to a nice restaurant for lunch with my wife or a group of friends.
Yes, this is kind of inspired by the sort of capsule articles that Simon writes for Permanent Style, only more tailored for my own life circumstances and situations, which of course are slightly different to those he is likely to experience as an internationally renowned style journalist. Rather than top-end/bespoke items as he likes to write about, often costing in the thousands, my items are mid-tier off-the-peg, costing in the hundreds - very nice by most standards but a bit more attainable.
So my capsule of items includes:
Two linen shirts in white and pink and one cotton/linen shirt in a rather deep, royal blue.
One pair of brown linen trousers, one white cotton trousers, and one pair of off-white linen shorts.
One blue cotton chore jacket, one green linen "games tunic" (as described by the manufacturer, I am not sure what most would call this) and one cream/light brown sports jacket.
My footwear options are: a cream suede tennis shoe (in need of a clean, sorry), a suede derby lace-up and a tan derby leather lace-up shoe (I suspect many might substitute this for a loafer, which I don't own). I would also include a brown suede desert boot/ chukka , but I didn't wear it for any of these pictures. I think it would go quite nicely with most of the other items though.
I also allowed myself a couple of wildcard items - these don't necessarily fit in with the capsule as a whole but they seem to be fairly useful within the context, and give me a couple of options of shaking things up a bit. They are a chequered linen cotton shirt and a navy sea island cotton polo.
This is really about me developing my own ability to dress well by matching congruent items, colours, textures, levels of formality, etc. So far from being instructional like Simon's capsule articles, this is to invite feedback on what I could do better, what other items I could bring in to make my outfits more interesting/stylish/elegant, etc.
Yes, this is kind of inspired by the sort of capsule articles that Simon writes for Permanent Style, only more tailored for my own life circumstances and situations, which of course are slightly different to those he is likely to experience as an internationally renowned style journalist. Rather than top-end/bespoke items as he likes to write about, often costing in the thousands, my items are mid-tier off-the-peg, costing in the hundreds - very nice by most standards but a bit more attainable.
So my capsule of items includes:
Two linen shirts in white and pink and one cotton/linen shirt in a rather deep, royal blue.
One pair of brown linen trousers, one white cotton trousers, and one pair of off-white linen shorts.
One blue cotton chore jacket, one green linen "games tunic" (as described by the manufacturer, I am not sure what most would call this) and one cream/light brown sports jacket.
My footwear options are: a cream suede tennis shoe (in need of a clean, sorry), a suede derby lace-up and a tan derby leather lace-up shoe (I suspect many might substitute this for a loafer, which I don't own). I would also include a brown suede desert boot/ chukka , but I didn't wear it for any of these pictures. I think it would go quite nicely with most of the other items though.
I also allowed myself a couple of wildcard items - these don't necessarily fit in with the capsule as a whole but they seem to be fairly useful within the context, and give me a couple of options of shaking things up a bit. They are a chequered linen cotton shirt and a navy sea island cotton polo.
This is really about me developing my own ability to dress well by matching congruent items, colours, textures, levels of formality, etc. So far from being instructional like Simon's capsule articles, this is to invite feedback on what I could do better, what other items I could bring in to make my outfits more interesting/stylish/elegant, etc.
