Last week, I talked about my client, Mrs. Modernist, and the very colorful wardrobe Capsule I created for her upcoming speaking events and summer work needs.  Her capsule of bright, fresh colors seemed representative of the times we are living in of wanting to turn the page and start fresh.  While this seems to imply that everyone is embracing color, this isn’t entirely true.  For some of my clients, it’s been the exact opposite, they’re letting go of color almost entirely for the sake of ease or just personal style preference.  Despite these extreme differences, and like I said in my post week, no matter which direction my clients choose to lean, they are leaning strongly and decisively in their directions of choice in order to streamline their wardrobes and free up mental bandwidths.

Intentional Simplicity

Around the same time as I started working with my client, Mrs. Modernist, I also started working with another client, Mrs. Elevated. By comparison, these clients are very different.  Mrs. Modernist is at a different stage of life in age and career.  Mrs. Elevated, equally intelligent, ambitious, and successful, is a young professional who is coming into her own and recently landed a fantastic new job in finance.  She has a very bright future ahead of her.  Despite their differences in age, career maturity, and personal style preferences, their wardrobe requests were exactly the same: intentional simplicity.

As with most of my clients, Mrs. Elevated reached out to me in transition and for her, it was not just a job change but an age change.  I see this quite often with clients at any age, and it’s something you as a reader can probably relate to.  You’re going about your life just fine, wearing the clothes you’ve been wearing that have been working. What seems like out of nowhere, your clothes suddenly stop working as well as they used to.  Maybe the fit is suddenly off, maybe they start to feel too young looking.  You’re not sure.  You look at your clothes and don’t fully recognize the type of person who wears them any longer.  Suddenly you find yourself not as excited about shopping at the same stores you used to love.  Maybe you don’t relate to looks you once enjoyed wearing.  This period of age transition can be tricky because, in many ways, it’s like getting to know yourself all over again and this can be laborious because just as you finally nailed down your go-to stores, figured out your style preferences, and what works for your body, you have to start the whole process all over again.  I find this happens roughly every ten years for most women.

This somewhat describes the position Mrs. Elevated was in.  I think she has a great eye for her style and was making some good, solid choices for her wardrobe, but being at that transitional age and career point,  she was finding herself reaching for the next rung in her style and needed some expert assistance with that reach.  However, on an inspirational level, she had a very clear sense of herself.  She’s an assured woman, funny, articulate, open, and, as with most of my clients, very committed to excellence in all things.

Adding another layer of stress to the situation, Mrs. Elevated and her husband, Mr. Elevated, did what many people did during the pandemic, they leaned into working from home and telecommuting.  They bought a home further outside of their local city before Mrs. Elevated secured her new job which now requires commuting a few days a week to her office.  Between longer commuting time, and, as with many women who are doing this new hybrid way of working at home and in-office,  Mrs. Elevated has evaluated and considered just how large her work wardrobe needed to be.  She decided she wants a small, user-friendly, easy-to-mix group of pieces.  

Mrs. Elevated All Neutrals Capsule

Shop Mrs. Elevated’s Work Capsule

1 Cap Sleeve Dress 2 Black Enamel With Grey Pearl Earrings 3 Linen-Blend Duster Cardigan 4 Stretch Silk Chain Print Blouse 5 Gold Circle Link Necklace 6 Cutaway Linen Dickey Jacket 7 Gold Dipped White Pearl Necklace 8 Rory Cardigan 9 Jersey Cap-Sleeve Sheath 10 Gold Infinity Loop Earrings 11 Antonia Top 12 Gold Sliced Diamond Earrings 13 Bashina Blouse 14 Roche Tee 15 Tatum Top 16 African Opal Earrings 17 Belleville Top 18 The Felize 19 Short-sleeve Silk-Blend Crewneck Sweater 20 Perfect Emma Pump 21 Petit Twist Buckle Belt 22 Gia Flats 23 Citrine Tab Pendant Necklace 24 Long Shirt Dress 25 Moonstone Luna Necklace 26 The Felize 27 The Pointe 28 Moonstone Gold Cliff Earrings 29 Mejia Pants 30 Eloise Sweater Blazer 31 Seasonless Wool Pants 32 City Sandal 33 Single Button Blazer in Seasonless Wool 34 Twist Buckle Belt 35 Club Monaco Rib Knit Dress, not currently available in black

Mrs. Elevated was so inspired by the camel and black fall capsule I created for my client, Mrs. Radiant, that she used the images in the inspirational photos she sent to me. If you compare Mrs. Radiant’s capsule and what I created for Mrs. Elevated, they are quite similar.  Coincidentally, for spring, Mrs. Radiant asked for lots of color. Her capsule for this season is much more comparable to Mrs. Modernist’s capsule and the two even have the same pink suit from Argent.

Mrs. Elevated works in finance, so despite dress codes becoming more relaxed in general, there are workplaces where getting dressed for work still stands.  However, what seems to be the case post-pandemic is this way of dressing has become much more intentional.  All of my clients who still have to dress this way are creating very tight, intentionally driven professional-looking work capsules that mix well to give them more with less.  They’re making strong investments towards these pieces and buying fewer items and getting more use from easier-to-manage assortments.

Minimal, Yet Elegant. Edgy, Yet Refined. Upscale, Yet Relatable.

Mrs. Elevated is a minimalist and had I not already given another client that alias, I would have given it to her.  Yet, elevated is another perfect way to describe her.  She was inspired by Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton for how they both wear well-fitting, incredibly classic yet modern, investment pieces to create timeless looks.  There is a simplicity in how both women wear their looks that aren’t overwrought or overly embellished.  They’re clean, modern yet classic, edgy yet refined, and upscale yet relatable.  This was the goal with Mrs. Elevated’s capsule and what I worked to create for her.

Tight Capsules That Look That Give The Impression You Have A Love of Clothes

Lastly, this capsule is so easy to mix that anyone could put the pieces together and that is the simplicity I think we’re all craving in most things, not just our wardrobes.  We all want to look good but not at the sacrifice of difficult mornings, challenging closets, or endless hours of shopping.  For Mrs. Elevated, there is a standard of dress where she works, she will be client interfacing, and she does work in an industry where she needs to present herself in a certain manner.  Her decision to approach her wardrobe this way by building it with sensible separates that mix well and look refined with little effort was a smart plan.  As a result, she may look like she labored over her looks each morning to build these refined, polished, and elegant looks, and like she has a closet full of clothes.  Yet, what most people won’t realize is what she’ll essentially be doing is just rotating a few key pieces around in different ways because everything works so well together.

My sincere thanks to Mrs. Elevated for allowing me to share her capsule and story. 

The post Creating a Tight, Elevated Work Capsule Using Only Neutrals appeared first on Bridgette Raes Style Expert.