If you love the Tucker blouse as much I do, but the price tag puts you off (as it does me!), then head over to Target and take a look at their new Tucker for Target collection. I knew it was coming, but forgot the date, and happily stumbled across it yesterday! The floral print blouses in black and in red are definitely on my real life shopping list, even if this beautiful pale one stays on the fantasy wish list!

J Crew Mongolian vest

Tucker blouse

Elizabeth & James

Fall is always my favorite fashion season. I just love the ‘Back To School’ feeling of it, plus the beautiful Fall colors. Makes me want to throw out all of my floaty, sparkly Summer clothes and commit to a clean, structured, polished aesthetic. We’ll see if I can achieve it this year! Except when I’m indulging in San Francisco’s legendary late summers though. I still plan to waft through a winery in white if the weather’s right, even post-Labor Day!

Here’s the first in my favorite picks for this season. More to come:

Michael Kors babydoll hooded camel coat

Anthropologie pleated trousers

Gap band jacket

What should be in a capsule wardrobe you ask? Good question. The ultimate arbiter of style, Tim Gunn, defines it thus:

1. Basic Black Dress - The basic black dress has been around for a long time. It is often called the “Little Black Dress”, and it’s true that shorter skirts on the basic black dress, when they hit you in the right place, can be more flattering than a long black dress.
2. Trench Coat - The trench coat is one of the pieces that is both classic and currently a hot fashion item. Most any store sells this piece now. It is great for fall and you can pick it up in a wide range of lengths.
3. Dress Pants - Although it doesn’t say black, this is probably what you want to look for. Black is flattering on all figures and goes with everything.
4. Classic Shirt - The white shirt is a definite classic. But it can also come in many different styles to make it look trendy and not dated or like a man’s piece of clothing. Find one that accentuates your best attributes and minimizes trouble spots. For example, if you have wide shoulders, stay away from large collars.
5. Jeans - Everyone has a pair of jeans, but does everyone have a pair of jeans that make them look great? The wider leg, low-rise jean style has been popular (and still is) but a narrower leg is coming back along with a higher waist, which eliminates the unflattering “muffin top” look.
6. Any Occasion Top - Find something you look great in that can look respectable under a jacket but bring on the fun after hours.
7. Skirt - If you need dress pants then you also need a skirt. A skirt is womanly and can be flirty or businesslike. Nowadays women do not wear many skirts or dresses, which makes a lot of them fall into a rut of dressing sloppily or like men. See number 8.
8. Day Dress – Women also are not wearing as many dresses anymore. It was certainly liberating to go from the ’50s when women wore dresses every day to wearing more practical pants for gardening, exercising, and so forth. But the dress does not have to be abandoned altogether. They can be very flattering, and there is nothing wrong with “dressing up” for daytime.
9. Jacket - A jacket does not have to be masculine. Find one with a proper, fitted shape. Women’s jackets should follow the silhouette of a woman’s body and accent the hourglass curve at her waist. It is also a perfect piece to put with the skirt or dress pants, and white shirt. Or make it casual with a pair of jeans.
10. Sweatsuit Alternative - As mentioned before, women wear fewer skirts and dresses these days. But some women have taken casual to the extreme and spend days on end in sweatsuits. It is possible to be casual and comfortable without looking like a slob. Find a comfortable material (that’s why this doesn’t say jeans again – denim is not as comfortable as a nice soft cotton) that you would want to wear every day. It could be khakis, cords, a cotton dress, or much more.

Bonus: One Indulgent Trendy Item

Hmm. This might be a little too strict for my tastes, but I think it’s an excellent start. I actually think I have all of these items. Question was, do they fit? Do they need mending? This was where I started.

Then, it was onto the rest of my existing clothes. I made five piles on the floor:

• Keep in my closet, because i love them and want to wear them: great prints, casual and dressy trousers, cute dresses that can be worn day AND night, layering tops, dressy tops
• Store away, because it’s not the season to wear them: long summer dresses (although it’s actually warm enough to wear during the day at least during a San Francisco November – lucky us!), shorts etc
• Give to the Goodwill store: if they don’t fit anymore (sob! next stop – diet!), or i really NEVER wear it and hand on heart, can say it hasn’t left my closet for the last 12 months
• Take to the cleaners, tailor, or shoe mender: erm, things that are dirty, too big, or broken, and can be fixed, so i can love them again!
• CHERISH pile: I’m not sure whether this is really acceptable by capsule wardrobe standards, but I have a few items that even though I know full well I will never wear again (hello to a baby yellow vintage cashmere cardigan from my high school dance that i can barely fit over one arm, but is sooooo beautifull), I just can’t bear to give away!

At the end of three hours of trying things on, debating and deciding,  I was left with a much more workable wardrobe. One that actually fit in my closet! And one that left me with much clearer options in terms of what I pick out to wear every day.Phew! Feels good.

Now what? The fun part! Shopping to fill in any gaps that were left by my excavation. Here a few things which have already made the cut, and which i’m LOVING:

More work to be done, but it felt good! Here’s to the next rainy day when I can finish the job!

However, as i was looking around the racks and rails, I noticed that alongside purple, which surely is this season’s hottest hue (I had purple shoes for my wedding!), royal blue is making its presence felt. I love royal blue. It’s bright and stunning, deep enough to look good in Fall and Winter, yet light enough to lend a cheerful accent to any outfit.

Stupidly, I didn’t pick up a great wool scarf in the shade i saw at the SoHo branch of Uniqlo. It was Saturday, the place was a zoo… And i’m still regretting it! But I thought i’d look around on the Web for inspiration and post my favorites here. As if needed motivation to shop!

Enjoy…

Anthropologie

French Connection

Gap

Forever 21

Steve Madden

Reiss

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