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Wardrobe Building: Capsule Foundation Shoes

Today’s post marks the final day of spring/summer capsule foundation pieces in our Building a Capsule Wardrobe series with a focus on shoes. Next up will be the fun stuff – adding color, pattern and accessories!

Spring/Summer Casual Capsule Foundation Shoes

The two shoes that I think will get you through 80% plus of your spring casual wear needs are pictured below: a simple white sneaker and a neutral slide sandal. Don’t panic yet at the thought of just two shoes – we can add something else in an accent color when we get to the next step!

Simple White Sneaker
- Budget: H&M Sneakers
- Mid-Range: adidas Originals Stan Smith NOTE: Most women (up to a size 9 or so) can wear the “big kids” version of this shoe. Look for the posted sizing equivalents and save a couple bucks.
- Mid-Range: Tretorn NYLite Plus
- High: Vince Viktor slip-on or Vince Afton sneaker

Neutral Slide Sandal in a low to moderate heel, as close to your skin tone as you can get.
- Budget: Payless Nikolle slide
- Mid-Range: Halogen Freda slide, Nine West Gemily slide or Steve Madden Dalis slide
- High: Sigerson Morrison Rhoda or 3.1 Phillip Lim Cube

For the Office

For office wear, pumps are the foundation workhorse. While some work environments allow for open toed shoes and while some women prefer a loafer to a pump when wearing a trouser; a classic, pointed toe, mid-heel will get you through nearly all work situations.

Neutral Pump either close to your own skin color or in a dark neutral (black/navy). I love the neutral shoe because it goes with everything and makes your legs look longer when in a dress or skirt.
- Budget: H&M pumps
- Mid-Range: Nine West Smith or Jackpot; Louise et Cie Jacoba kitten heel or Jaycee pump
- High: The iconic Blahnik BB pump in a 50mm, 90 mm or 105mm height

Wardrobe Building: Capsule Foundation Dresses & Outerwear

Welcome to the fourth post in our series on building a capsule wardrobe. Today’s focus is on dresses and outerwear. We’ll wrap up the foundation pieces next week with shoes and with a strong foundation in place, we’ll move on to the fun stuff!

Spring/Summer Casual Capsule Foundation Dresses

Dark Neutral T-shirt Dress
- Budget: Old Navy jersey swing or fitted v-neck tee dress
- Mid-Range: Gap Softspun A-line tank or tee dress
- High: Eileen Fisher ballet neck dress

Casual Caspsule Foundation Tee Dress — Eileen Fisher Ballet Neck Tee Dress

Shirt Dress in a solid, denim or stripe. NOTE: A style that buttons all the way down (as opposed to a popover) increases versatility by letting you style it as a dress or unbuttoned as a layering piece over trousers.
- Budget: Lulu’s chambray shirt dress or Target Merona shirt dress
- Mid-Range: Madewell striped shirt dress, J. Crew shirt dress, Everlane striped shirt dress, Mango cotton shirt dress
- High: Velvet by Graham & Spencer shirt dress

Casual Capsule Foundation Shirt Dress — Madewell Striped Shirtdress

Spring/Summer Office Capsule Foundation Dresses

Neutral Sheath Dress (a fit & flare style works if you find sheaths a difficult silhouette to wear)
- Budget: Liz Claiborne sheath and NY & Company 7th Avenue sheath, Target Merona sheath and Old Navy sleeveless sheath
- Mid-Range: J. Crew offers several good options including the cap-sleeve v-neck, the buckle dress, the portfolio dress and the resume dress
- High: Theory Eano sheath, Theory Betty sheath, Boss Dirusa sheath and Kate Spade Sicily sheath

Office Capsule Foundation Sheath Dress — J. Crew Resume dress

Spring/Summer Capsule Foundation Outerwear

A sporty, lightweight jacket. This could be a denim jacket, lightweight moto or bomber in either a cropped or just-at-the-waist length for layering over tees and dresses.

Neutral Trench in black or tan/taupe. Mid to upper thigh lengths are most versatile.
- Budget: Old Navy trench
- Mid-Range: London Fog Heritage trench, Michael Kors hooded trench or Calvin Klein trench
- High: Burberry Kensington or Sandringham

Capsule Foundation Trench — The Iconic Burberry Trench

Friendly Reminders for Capsule Foundation Pieces

You don’t need every recommended piece but should work toward collecting at least a few of them.
For most foundation items, buy the best you can afford. These will be the workhorse pieces that get a lot of repeat wear.
Keep foundation piece silhouettes clean and minimal. Decorative details are fun but limit versatility.
Commit to a primary color palette for the season – a dark base of either black/charcoal, navy or brown with a light base of either light grey, white or ivory for black/charcoal and navy or either tan or ivory for those choosing a brown dark base.

Wardrobe Building: Capsule Foundation Tops

Continuing on last week’s capsule wardrobe theme, today we’ll focus on foundation tops. Again, you don’t need ALL of these pieces for a capsule, but it’s easier to get started if you have at least a few of them.

With foundation items, I recommend buying the best you can afford. An exception to this would be white camis and tees as most people I know replace them often. As with our basic bottoms, keep details clean and somewhat minimal. At this stage we are working on versatility. Remember to stay true to your primary color palette. If your go-to dark is black, don’t buy navy tees/sweaters and vice versa. Charcoals and greys fit in nicely with both navy and black color palettes for mid-tone neural pieces.

Spring/Summer Casual Capsule Foundation Tops

Capsule Foundation Casual Tops — Spring/Summer Casual Capsule Workhorses – Tops

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