Capsule Wardrobe

In a time where we’re bombarded with fashion hauls, trends and the need for new content, consumerism is at an all time high. Many find themselves constantly purchasing pieces to keep up — and despite the volume, they still have nothing to wear when it’s time to go out. Choosing an outfit turns into a challenge filled with tough decisions and anxiety. This is where the capsule wardrobe comes in.

What is a capsule wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a collection of well-curated foundational pieces. The pieces are well made, of high quality and are versatile. The colors and tones are neutral and the silhouettes do not go out of style, lasting year after year. This collection offers countless ways to mix and match a limited amount of garments.

Think of the capsule wardrobe as a foundation for your closet. If you lay a solid foundation of (anything but) basics, you can add accessories and seasonal trends to add pops of personality. It cuts down the volume of your closet and pulls from minimalism.

Benefits of a capsule wardrobe

• Less time spent getting ready (less overwhelming, less anxiety with less options to choose from)

• Money is stretched longer with investment/high quality pieces

  • buying high quality once a few years > buying cheap quality items a few times a year

  • less shopping throughout the year with versatile pieces

  • no need to purchase a new outfit for every outing or trip

• Less space/clutter

  • buying 2 high quality white shirts beats having to purchase 10 cheap ones a year

  • less repeats purchased/volume

• Sustainable - you aren’t hoarding (typically fast fashion) clothes that you will probably wear once or never

Caring for your wardrobe

Caring for your clothing and footwear is just as important as curating and purchasing them. The care labels aren’t just for decoration or for branding and packaging but they guide you on how to make your clothes last longer. Whether it be to dry clean only, do not dry, do not iron or to hand wash, care instructions will allow you to properly handle your garments with care. In some cases storage of your garments are just as important as cleaning them. Depending on the specific garment, a hanger vs folding, temperature controlled storage, special storage products are all the things to consider when storing your wardrobe through the seasons.

Prepping for your capsule collection

There are three main steps in building a capsule collection, I’ll break down each below:

Closet Audit:

First and foremost, see what you’re currently working with. You may not need to just throw everything away and start from scratch, you may have ‘ unintentionally started a mini capsule collection without even knowing. These pieces can stay. Need help deciphering what to keep? — keep reading.

Take a look at your current lifestyle and habits. Many of our daily routines have changed since 2020 with more jobs open to remote and hybrid roles. Do you really need all of these clothes if you’re in the house all week? Do you need all of those business casual outfits if you no longer go into the office? Has your social life calmed down? (let’s get rid of some of those party dresses) Have you worn this piece in the last year or so?

Sort Your Clothing:

Create 3 (or however many you need) separate piles. I prefer to use the Keep, Donate, Trash method. It’s pretty straightforward and leaves less decision-making.

• Keep: These are high quality items, investment pieces that are well made. They will lay the foundation for building your wardrobe.

• Donate: These are trendy pieces that are in great condition but you’ll more than likely never wear them again. Pass them along as and allow someone else to enjoy these garments. These are also pieces that are in great condition and no longer fit. This also includes items that you think someone else can upcycle. You can either drop them off to a donation center or give them to a friend.

• Trash: These are clothes that are at the end of their lifecycle. They may be damaged, old t-shirts from high school, overly washed, poorly cared for, etc.

• Bonus Sell: If you have the storage capacity to hold these items until they sell, I would encourage making some money from your high-value items. If you do not have the storage space, consider a yard sale or consignment shop.

Plan Your Wardrobe:

To keep you focused, I would advise you to plan out the collection you intend to build. This will keep you on track while shopping for new pieces. Which pieces do you absolutely need? While everyone is different and there are no set rules as to what makes up a personal capsule wardrobe but there are staples that I would suggest as well as things to consider.

Once again, consider your lifestyle and routine. What do you find yourself purchasing consistently or replacing? Are any of the items from your “keep” pile included in this plan already? What are the color stories? Should you lean in to more neutrals? Darker hues? How do you want your clothes to fit? (oversized? tight? loose? well-fitting, comfortable and cozy?) Will you need to get any clothes tailored? Did you plan for special occasions or just day to day?

In addition, do your research on brands that offer the pieces you’re looking for and estimate how much it should cost vs your intended budget. Be mindful that expensive does not always mean quality. If you really want to deep dive, look into clothing manufacturing, the processes at which things are produced and how that translates to value and quality.

Build Your Wardrobe

Here’s the fun part — Now that you’ve developed a plan and a budget, it’s time to start collecting the missing pieces from your “keep” pile. The good thing about this strategy is that because you’ll rely on the keep pile as your foundation, there’s no reason to rush out and go on a shopping spree. This will be a carefully curated collection that you will build out overtime. There’s less stress as you’re looking for these high-quality pieces. To learn more about pieces I would suggest including a capsule wardrobe, stay tuned.

Kim Jones x Converse

Kim Jones, known for his innovative design, has done collaborations with some of the top legacy brands. His latest is with Converse. Jones has reworked the classic Chuck 70 silhouette with a 90’s utility spin, adding most notably a platform heel and a transparent TPU cage panel surrounding the canvas. The shoe comes in black as well as an ivory colorway. Luckily, I was able to pick up both.

Check out pics of the ivory colorway below. [pics by jha’nai]

A Day Downtown

Covid has my closet collecting dust, I’ve been in sweatpants for months so I decided to put on some clothes and go downtown for drinks and dinner. I’ve had this Style Mafia set via Free People for a while and I finally got a chance to wear it. I paired it with Free People Shoreditch boots and a brown beret.

[images by jha’nai]

Telfar Mania: the new IT bag.

If for some reason you’ve been under a rock, the Telfar bag is the latest IT bag this year. Although the Telfar brand has been around since 2005, it caught steam during the 2020 quarantine as many started to pivot towards “buying black” or buying from black owned businesses. The brand, founded by Telfar Clemons who believes in a community-based approach to fashion access, cannot keep up with the demand for the affordable luxury bag which comes in 3 sizes: small, medium and large. In addition to the high demand, they’ve recently had to combat bots securing their restock inventory in minutes.

A bot is a highly sophisticated piece of software designed to aid in the purchase of limited availability stock. Usually, bot users purchase high quantities of the limited stock with intent to resell for a higher price.

To fight back against bots, Telfar recently announced a bag security program where customers are allowed to pre-order bags of any color within a 24 hour period and those bags will be delivered no later than January 15th. They will still continue to do drops but the security program will ensure people who do not want to deal with the stress of a restock, can obtain a bag.

Luckily for me, I was able to secure 2 bags before the bots began to sabotage the restock sales. I purchased the mini pool blue bag and the medium black bag. Check out how I wore them below.

The mini bag is perfect for a small day bag. It fits a cellphone, a cardholder, a pack of gum and lip gloss comfortably. (any additional items may be pushing it). The medium tote is the size of your standard tote. I will probably end up using this as a work tote in the future. The only thing about the bags that I need to note is that the straps are not removable. If you want to wear your Bushwick Birkin (as it’s been dubbed) as a handbag, you’ll have to just tuck the straps into the bag.

The Best Loungewear to Get You Through Quarantine

These are wild times that we’re living in, life is becoming unpredictable by the day. Most of us have been quarantined in the house for about 2 months now. You may be settled in your routine by now or you may be like me who’s all over the place because you’ve been hit with so many curveballs during this time. Just know, either way, we’ll make it through this pandemic together.

With that said, I can say that this situation has allowed me to curb a lot of my spending on clothes for outside (I miss you) and has directed my focus on what I actually wear around the house. I’m going to be honest here, since I was a kid I’ve dressed like it was mix-match day in elementary school while in the house but times have changed. I’ve started putting more effort into my house fits so I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of a few of the best black-owned loungewear brands.

Dayo Loungewear - founded by Yolanda White in 2018, soft fabrics, flattering designs, versatility, sustainability commitment, and inspirational messages have helped Dayo to redefined modern, elegant loungewear.

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Nubian Skin - founded by Ade Hassan, Nubian Skin creates skin-tone lingerie and hosiery for women of color. Although the silhouettes focus on lingerie and hosiery, many of the products (especially the bra tops) double as loungewear pieces for around the house or a beach vacation.

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Savage x Fenty - founded by music, beauty and fashion mogul Rihanna, Savage Fenty not only offers lingerie but lounge and sleepwear for women of all shapes and sizes.

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The Benefits of Activated Charcoal

It is so hard for me to stay in a routine with anything; beauty, skincare and healthy eating especially. I’m great for the first few days and then I miss one day and that knocks me completely off balance. While here in quarantine, I’ve decided that this would be a great time to detox. I’ve been eating all of my quarantine snacks and now that I’ve surpassed the binge eating stage, it’s time to cleanse my system. My personal favorite is activated charcoal powder.

The main benefit of activated charcoal powder is that it binds to toxins in your body and flushes them out. This quality alone makes it great for a detox to cleanse your gut.

Other benefits include:

• May reduce cholesterol

• Promotes kidney function

• Reduces intestinal gas and help resulting in a flatter stomach

• Whitens teeth when used to as or alongside a toothpaste. (I would suggest using a charcoal toothpaste so you do not risk abrasion to your enamel, like this one here)

• Helps to cure food poisoning and stomachaches

• Reduces heavy metal and fluoride in water and the body

• Promotes healthy skin, add a teaspoon to your favorite face mask.

How to Use:

I usually mix a heaping tablespoon in a 16-20oz bottle of distilled or spring water. (optional: fresh lemon juice) If you prefer to take the tablet form, I would suggest drinking it with distilled or spring water as well. It is very important to drink lots of water for a couple reasons. Ample water allows the charcoal to move through the body and with constant toxins being flushed out of the body, it helps to keep hydrated.

I would also suggest taking the charcoal at night if you are on a vitamin regimen. The activated charcoal does not discriminate when detoxing the body so it may end up flushing those key nutrients from the vitamins as well. If you are taking medicine, I would consult with a physician prior to taking activated charcoal.

You can purchase organic, activated charcoal powder here.

4 Styles of Shield Sunglasses You Need in 2020.

If you’re like me you wear sunglasses year round. While New England isn’t getting much of a winter right now, I still think it’s important to have stylish sunnies for any weather. My favorite style at the moment are shield sunglasses, which typically have one continuous lens from one side to the other. Every few years the style comes back into the spotlight (think 2009-2011 when people were wearing them with added embellishments and whatnot.) From tinted colors to holographic, this era of shield sunnies are focused on mainly on putting a new spin on the lenses. I’m not going to lie, it can be a bit intimidating at first to wear a pair of glasses that pretty much cover your entire face but once you find a pair that you like and get accustomed to the style, you’ll start feeling yourself.

Personally, I shop for sunglasses by how I wear my hair and as someone who likes to switch up hairstyles, I love how versatile shield sunglasses are. I can wear them with a curly fro’, a long ponytail or a sleek blowout and still look just as futuristic.

check out my favorite pairs below:

New Year, New Who? - how to make your resolutions stick

2020 is here and January starts a new month, a new year and a new decade so there’s no better time to jumpstart all of those improvements you promised yourself than now. I don’t like to refer to them as resolutions because there’s a negative stigma with that word which insinuates it’s only a short term goal (usually lasting January to March). For now, we’ll call them “improvements” and they can be based on any aspect of your life — self improvements, life improvements, career improvements, etc. There is always room for personal growth and anything can be achieved with a plan. The goal is to turn these improvements to a lifestyle. With that said, I am going to share some of my improvements I plan on adopting this year and how I will achieve them.

Time Management - This is probably one of the biggest changes I intend to make this year. I realize not only is my time limited on this earth but so is the time of those around me. I want to get better at making use of my time as well as being on time. On a trip to Thailand last year, because of the time change, I realized how rewarding it was to wake up early and get ahead of your day. As much as I travel, I pretty much never make the 7am hotel breakfast on time but this trip was different, I was up and dressed for breakfast on the resort promptly by 7:10am each morning. Ever since, I’ve been trying to get an early jump start on my day as well as showing up to engagements on time. (I hate showing up places too early or being the first on there so this is probably where my issue stems from.) I’ve made a huge effort to use my time wisely instead of saying I will do something tomorrow. Instead, I’ve started writing things down in my planner with timestamps. Each task not only needs to be done by that day but also by that time and boy has it helped! I plan on continuing this in my daily routine in order to stay on top of my time this year.

Staying Focused/Consistency - Consistency and staying focused are also two things that I am so ready to work on. For one, I am easily distracted by notifications from my phone. For this reason I've made designated times throughout the day where I put my phone on do not disturb. These are my most productive times of the day where I can get a lot of things done without being distracted. This helps so much with focusing. We live in a world where we're constantly distracted by phone calls, text/email notifications, social media and everything just going on at once that sometimes you just have to tune everything out and get as much done as you can.

As far as consistency goes I have a couple websites and blogs that I’ve started but I'm not consistent with content and this year I plan to get on a schedule so that I'm constantly pumping out content and posts on my social channels on a regular basis. The easiest way to do so is to create an editorial/media calendar that plans out all of your posts and content throughout the year. You have your content queued up in advance so you’re not struggling to pull content for your subscribers.

Self Care - I have to get back into taking care of myself on a daily basis. That means adopting a skincare routine and sticking to it instead of being reactive once my skin gives me issues. The same goes for my hair, I’ve been very lazy with my hair health so I will plan on working on a new wash routine. I also want to adopt a style schedule, I have been so repetitive with wearing a bun. At least once a month, I will experiment with a new hairstyle.

Health - Without good health, none of these goals are possible. In addition to self care practices, (I know it’s so cliche` to say but…) I plan to make a gym routine and as well as getting better with food choices. I am cutting down on the takeout and eating out - there’s food at home!! In tune with time management, I want to get into the habit of starting my day early with a workout.

Income Streams - This is pretty important to me as well. While I do save, I also spend money like it’s going out of style! haha It’s time to bring in more passive income. I plan to do this by being consistent with my hobbies and learning how to monetize some of them. I will also be educating myself (I guess this is technically a hobby) on new skills that I can use to make money.

Again, the key to making improvements to your life that will stick is implementing them into your everyday routine to make them part of your lifestyle, right Kim?

From a Work to Weekend Outfit in Minutes

With our busy schedules, we always feel like we’re on the go and with that comes limited time. When going from one function to another, it’s important to be able to save time but also show up dressed appropriately if you can. The best outfits are those that you can transition throughout the day without changing the key pieces of the look. The easiest way to go from day to night, work to week is to utilize accessories. They can really change take your outfit up a notch or help tone it down. Check out how I take a casual work outfit to a fall weekend outfit in seconds!

How I Transition Trench Coats for the Fall

As Summer comes to an end, it’s time to pull out those coats to make the transition to Fall. Trench coats are a great layering piece for this time of year with their versatility. From blazers and booties to sneakers and hoodies, you can dress them up and dress them down for any occasion. Check out the video below for ways to incorporate trench coats into your Fall wardrobe.

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Casual and practical everyday looks for styling trench coats for the fall.

Tan Trench Coat - H&M

Plaid Trench Coat - Zara

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