one suitcase: paris vacation capsule wardrobe

Post 1/7 -
I had the most amazing opportunity to visit Paris for a week with my childhood best friend. (She's a super smart PhD type and was presenting at a conference. She guest posted here.) It was a super wonderful amazing adventure filled with sightseeing, lots and lots of food and quality friend time.

Below are the 12 pieces plus shoes & accessories that I brought with me. I was only there for 5 days but the items I packed allowed me to have the potential for a bunch of different outfits. Over the next week I will show you 20 outfits that could be put together with the 12 pieces listed below.

To start - here's how I put together my packing list-

The method:

1. Basics - First I pick some basics pieces to lay the foundation for the trip. I try to pick my favorite go-to clothes. Clothes I know I wear over and over. The ones that go with almost everything. For me, this usually involves  laying out favorite pair of jeans and favorite white blouse.
   
   For the basics in this capsule wardrobe I have chosen are grey sweater, white blouse, little black dress, black skinny jeans and black cropped pants.

	Grey tunic sweater - Ann Taylor  similar, similar, similar		White smocked crepe blouse - Old Navy  similar, similar, similar
	Black skinny jean - Target Mossimo shop same, similar, similar		Bootcut jeans - Target  shop same, similar
	Black cropped pant - Mossimo Target shop same, similar, similar		Black 3/4 sleeved dress - Splindid Piperlime  shop same, similar, similar, similar,

Interest - Second, I add a few interesting pieces to compliment the subtle basics. I look for pops of color or fun patterns or even texture that will make the basic pieces more exciting. I try to grab items that will compliment each other or at least be somewhat in the same color scheme. For this trip I tried to stick to blues & greens in what I hoped were sophisticated prints.

For this set of interest pieces I picked a green blouse, a blue oxford shirt, a striped shirt, a chambray shirt and two jackets.

	Green print tunic top - Mossimo Target shop same, similar, similar		Blue striped oxford - Banana Republic similar, similar, similar
	Striped shirt - H&M similar, similar, similar		Boucle jacket - H&M similar, similar, similar
	Military jacket - Old Navy similar, similar, similar		Chambray button down - Old Navy similar, similar, similar

Accessories & Shoes - Finally, I add some accessories to complete the outfits. Jewelry, belts and scarves take up very little room and can dramatically alter how an outfit looks. Shoes is the area I still struggle with. (I always want to bring just one more pair!) But I've learned to limit myself to only either blacks or browns and then nude/beige shoes go with everything.

For this capsule wardrobe I chose two necklaces, three scarves and one gold watch.  For shoes I packed a pair of black flats and a pair of black boots.  

Rebel pendant necklace - Stella & Dot shop same  Gold, silver, pearl multi-strand necklace - Ann Taylor  similar, similar, similar, similar Gold link watch - Michael Kors shop same,  similar,  similar

Black riding boot - ShoeMint 'Brit' shop same, similar, similar, similar Black 'Reva' flats - Tory Burch shop same, similar, similar

Over the next six days I'm going to show you 20 outfits that I put together with these 12 pieces. I will share four outfits each day listing what pieces they are made from. And then on the last day I will post a big downloadable image that includes the all the individual 12 pieces and all the 20 put together outfits for easy reference.

Hope you enjoy!! 

***** 

You can check out my other One Suitcase features:

• Business Casual clothes here  
• Summer Vacation clothes here 
• Winter Vacation clothes here
• Spring Business Casual clothes here
• Mini Getaway clothes here
• Neutral Colored Business Casual here
• Europe Vacation clothes here