A few days ago I said that I’d be looking at capsule wardrobes in greater depth, so here goes.

The problem with a capsule wardrobe is that the very concept makes many women cringe. Perhaps it’s because shopping and clothes buying are such great pleasures, and being resolutely practical about everything takes all the shine off it. But I’m a firm believer that clothes, like your home, are only a setting for the life you live - not the be-all and end-all. A girl needs a wardrobe that functions above all else.

The way a capsule wardrobe works is this:

you work out a key number of items without which you really can’t manage, and which all go together. This is like the trunk of a tree, and the rest of your wardrobe is then like branches, large or small, coming off in all directions. It’s that simple.

Another analogy is to think of it like a family. Your core wardrobe is your nuclear family and your other clothes are your extended family - all related to one another, in varying degrees, and with some of them forming different relationships along the way. But the key fact is just that - everyone is related to everyone else.

Creating a core wardrobe needn’t be boring, but what it does require is a realistic understanding of who you are and how you live your life.

One quick way to get a grip on this is to imagine that you’ve been burgled, or that your house has burned down and you’ve lost every stitch of clothing you own. In real life, this would be pants, but the good bit, since this is imaginary, is that you can now imagine that you now have X amount of insurance money to spend on replacing everything.

The thing that happens at this point is that you quickly realise that you have to focus on the stuff you need (rather than the stuff you want), and that this is very basic: enough knickers to get through a week and that don’t show through your clothes; a bra that goes with all your tops; tights or socks; boots or shoes with an everyday heel; a pair of trousers or a skirt; some t-shirts and/or blouses; a knit that goes with everything; a coat that keeps the wind and rain out; a hat/scarf/gloves if you wear them. That’s a basic kit. During the Second World War, incidentally, that was all the coupons you got annually - enough to buy one whole outfit per year. God knows how people coped.

In our imaginary scenario, only once you’d built up your basic capsule wardrobe would you then ring the changes, and the extent to which you could do so would depend on the size of your insurance payout.

The first thing you’d probably want, once you got the money, would be multiples of the same, especially things that get soiled easily, and more skirts and trousers, because after all, one lower-half garment isn’t going to last you for very long. You’d need to focus on clothes that gave you the maximum amount of wear; that would be smart enough for work but casual enough for private life; would layer without creating bulk; would cover more than one season; and above all, which would all go with one another to form cohesive outfits.

Only after this, and if your payment was big enough, would you really start to branch out, buying the clothes that don’t layer, that only suit one season, that don’t go with anything else, or that only go with one other thing. That’s the fun stuff - the pretty clothes, the party clothes, the dresses, the sexy shoes.

The problem for most of us is that’s where we’re starting out from - with a wardrobe full of items that we bought because they were lovely and gorgeous, and we liked them, and even because they suited us, but which just don’t fit with everything else. The result, for many women, is an overcrowded unorganised mess of clothes, 80 per cent of which (according to wardrobe organisers) we don’t wear, and only 20 per cent of which actually get used.

So, in all seriousness, if you had to build this capsule wardrobe from scratch, what items would you choose? Remember, you have to imagine that you’ll be wearing these clothes and no others for at least the next few weeks.

My guess would be that at this point, the colour would drain right out of most women’s wardrobes and the average girl would end up in black or navy or dark brown. She’d also probably end up in clothing with some stretch, so that it would go both under and over other items. She’d need things that would do double-duty for home and work and leisure, so no outrageous styles. She’d need to be comfortable in changeable weather, so fabrics would need to be medium-weight - things like merino or cotton knitwear, brushed cotton and cotton jersey would suddenly become worth their weight in gold. Long sleeves would be more useful than short.

This, in reality, is how we should all approach our wardrobes all the time - with some sense of purpose, some understanding of functionality, but we so often fail to do so.

I’ll tell you for free that my choice would be:
* ‘Flirty’ panties by Elila, for a perfect, budge-free fit
* flesh-coloured t-shirt bra by Fantaisie (goes with everything)
* leather Footglove boots from M&S (the comfiest shoes on the planet)
* dark brown moleskin bootcut trousers from Boden (which could have been designed on me, they fit so well)
* v-neck and crewneck long-sleeve t-shirts by Gap in shades of black, blue, grey and beige (good quality tees)
* a long, lean, grey v-neck cashmere cardigan with pockets from La Redoute (cardis are more flexible than sweaters)
* a Burberry trenchcoat with zip-out lining (covers all four seasons)
* black beret/a Georgina von Etzdorf velvet scarf/dark brown fur-lined leather gloves from Liberty (for cozy chic)

Other women would doubtless have different lists - perhaps a smart suit for work, or good tights.

But here is my confession. Having made that list, I instantly realised that some of those things I already owned, and some I didn’t. That told me that I have wardrobe gaps - that even the core pieces I want in my own wardrobe are missing, and believe me, I’m not exactly short of clothes.

That was reason enough for me to log off right that minute and go buy that cashmere cardigan. I’d been put off by the price, but I also knew that if I got it right, it would be a cardi that would do me for the rest of my life. In fact, I’m wearing it now, and yes - it’s perfect.

More on capsule wardrobes another time.

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