The coveted capsule wardrobe; dreamed about, lusted upon. In the summer, this effervescent idea becomes a necessity for most of us as we pack our bags and whisk off to an exciting new destination (or to family obligations in someone’s decaying summer house.) Regardless of the occasion, you have to pack smart. You probably ask yourself, what would make a charming summer capsule wardrobe for someone over 40?
It should be your style
The truth is that your ideal capsule wardrobe depends on you and your taste. One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure. So, let me first give you some general advice on the subject of building a summer capsule wardrobe. Later on, we will take a look at how these “rules” will come alive in 5 different summer capsule wardrobes for someone over 40.
Take inventory of your favorites
Creating an epic summer capsule wardrobe starts with a bit of self-reflection.
What are your favorite clothes? The ones that you always reach for?
Which outfits make you feel the most comfortable and like yourself?
Tweak your most worn pieces
Considering the styles you already love and adjusting them to summer will yield the best result.
The clothes that make it to your capsule wardrobe should be true to your everyday style. For example, if you always wear pants, you should find pants suitable for summer.
When the seasons shift
When the summer is over and it’s time to start thinking about fall clothes, do check out my article Fall capsule wardrobe for women over 40, fall 2023.
Consider your activities and general needs
Most people have a tendency to shop for their dream life, not for their reality. So when you are 40 plus and create a summer capsule wardrobe, don’t fall into this trap. Instead, start with the activities.
As you pull out outfits, ask yourself; Where am I going dressed like that?
Also, ask yourself what your ideal outfit for that exact occasion would be.
Are you having a hard time coming up with answers? Don’t worry; I will show 5 capsule wardrobes, and you can decide which one you like the most.
Make sure you got the basics covered
The first secret to looking stylish is to have enough basic clothes.
Without basic clothes, you cannot properly highlight the showpieces you got. You will forever be looking at your wardrobe, wondering what to wear. I recommend that between 70-80 percent should be basic clothes.
By basic clothes, I mean clothes in neutral colors that are easy to match and that you like wearing.
Everything should go together like one happy family
The basis of a capsule wardrobe is that all tops go with all bottoms and that the accessories work with each other and with all of the clothes.
The easiest way to achieve this is to decide on a color scheme. Pick two primary colors and buy your basics in those.
Elevating the basics
Don’t fall into the trap of creating a capsule wardrobe that’s too boring.
You want your passion and joy de vivre to show through your clothes.
To mitigate this common capsule wardrobe problem, make sure you have a couple of pieces that stand out.
Star pieces
In this article, I have chosen to refer to these pieces as “star pieces.” They are the sort of clothes that people will ask “Where did you get that?” Or say, “I love that dress.”
Those pieces don’t have to be colorful if color is not your cup of tea. They can also be neutral clothes with an interesting cut or an unexpected twist.
Stay on trend while keeping it timeless
They can also be clothes that showcase the latest trend. As a 40-plus year old looking to build your summer capsule wardrobe, you probably don’t want to dress too trendy. But don’t underestimate the impact of adding one or two trendy pieces each season. These wardrobes that I have created are both timeless and on-trend for summer 2023; that’s what makes them so fun.
Pieces that work in more than one way
Another pro tip for creating a functional and stylish capsule wardrobe is to make sure you include pieces that serve multiple purposes.
Aka, clothes that can be worn in different ways.
Examples of these are cardigans (you can wear one over a dress), shirts, or jackets that are light enough to be worn indoors.
Older women and fashion
Older women are unrepresented in fashion, so I tried to find age-appropriate pictures. But the new collections are shot on young (very slim) models. We just have to use our mature imagination to picture what these outfits would look like on us people over 40.
If you want more fashion for older ladies, do read my article Fall capsule wardrobe for women over 50, Fall 2023.
Expensive clothes
Another disclaimer I also want to add is that I show a lot of expensive clothes. I don’t advise anyone to go out and buy all of these. I use the pictures because it’s easy to find high-quality images of expensive clothes.
They represent an idea. For example; a leather jacket or a white shirt.
You can find these kinds of clothes in almost any clothing store. I also highly advise you to go thrifting. That’s where I find most of my clothes.
For the love of vintage
Maybe that’s one of the reasons why I like creating these fashion mood boards. They make it easy to know what I’m looking for. Some of those secondhand shops are daunting.
Having that said, I do recommend the occasional splurge.
5 easy steps to create a summer capsule wardrobe for a woman over 40
- Decide on a color scheme.
- Decide on two or three “star pieces.”
- Make sure you have enough basic pieces to support your star pieces.
- Check so that your accessories match and highlight the clothes you have chosen.
- Lay everything out and start creating and trying outfits.
Experiment with your chosen clothes
The final step is essential. You will not know which clothes work unless you put the actual outfits on.
Utilize the clothes you already own
First, check if you can do this exercise with your own wardrobe and the clothes you already own. If you find any gaps, make a shopping list and go hunting.
It’s important to know if it is the basics or star pieces you need to search for. An epic summer capsule wardrobe for a woman over 40 is all about hitting that sweet spot when every piece of clothing you include gets into heavy rotation.
Let’s dig in
Now that we have dealt with the formalities, let’s jump into the fun stuff. I shamelessly decided on 5 stereotypes of 40-plus women. They all need a wardrobe for their fun and adventurous summer.
8 pieces – 11 plus looks
1. The modern-day explorer
Color scheme: Camel. White. Brown. A hint of Merlot.
Star piece: The Havana dress in Camel. Sand-colored Cargo Jacket.
Basic pieces: White shirt. Brown linen pants. Brown cardigan. White denim shorts. Merlot college sweater. Camel T-shirt.
Accessories: Black belt. Black comfortable sandals. Merlot scarf.
Why does this summer capsule wardrobe work for a woman over 40?
Summer is all about adventure.
This is a woman who loves trekking and getting her hands dirty in the vegetable garden, while at the same time keeping her feminine edge.
When you want to look stylish, regardless of age, you can take your cues from strong women that explored the world. I recommend watching Out of Africa and The English Patient for inspiration.
The stylish (albeit expensive) accessories make this capsule wardrobe lust-worthy.
The age of adventures
The Havana dress is a real stunner, the picture doesn’t do it justice.
The same goes for the Annie Bing military-style jacket.
If you can put the jacket over the dress, you cannot truly know until you order the pieces and view them in reality. But putting a military jacket over a more feminine dress is a styling trick you can start using tomorrow. 🙂
You can create many outfits from just these 8 pieces
Play along in your mind and see how many outfits you can create and where you would wear them. Which one is your favorite?
2. The queen of comfort
Color scheme: Dark grey. Denim blue. White. Light pink.
Star pieces: Pink shorts. White denim jacket. Grey breezy pants.
Basic piece: Denim skirt. Blue jeans. Plaid shirt. Grey Henley. White T-shirt.
Accessories: Grey scarf. White sneaker.
Why does this summer capsule wardrobe work for a woman over 40?
Many of us have a tendency to buy clothes that are simply not comfortable enough for everyday life, and as a result, end up with a capsule wardrobe that’s not functional.
I wanted to counterbalance this tendency. So I’m celebrating the women who manage to dress comfortably and still look incredibly chic.
It’s not an oxymoron, it just takes some work to find the right clothes.
The upside of pink
Also, nothing wrong with being over 40 and embracing the color pink. The color is flirty, feminine, and joyful. But if you don’t like pink, it can be replaced with your favorite color, and you get the same cool result.
You can create many outfits from just these 8 pieces
When we analyze why this summer capsule wardrobe works, we see that all elements can be combined.
The pink color adds a pop of fun. Using dark grey is a playful nod to those comfy sweatpants we all love. I also feel certain that this woman would wear a lot of denim; it’s her way of dressing up 😉
3. The innocent and romantic 40 plus
Color scheme: Print. White. Cream Red.
Star piece: Levis white faux leather jacket. Red printed dress. Red and white flowery skirt.
Basic pieces: Cream Paperbag waist linen shorts. White romantic blouse. Red T-shirt. White top.
Accessories: Straw tote. (Cheaper versions can easily be found in any seaside town.) Espadrilles.
Why does this summer capsule wardrobe work for a woman over 40?
What is summer without romance? Don’t think that you are ever too old for white lace, flowers and the color red.
Go to antique shops. Browse in old-school bookstores. Take long walks on the beach. All of this while wearing this romantic and punchy capsule wardrobe.
The dress can be worn with the crème faux leather jacket to create one of those perfect outfits that receive lots of compliments.
You can create many outfits from just these 8 pieces
As you can see, all tops work with all bottoms. The faux leather jacket (you can choose real leather if you want) offers a nice counterpoint to all those sweet, romantic pieces.
The espadrilles and straw bag make this capsule laid-back and ready for real life. If you want even more summerly fashion inspiration, I recommend my article The best cute and casual summer outfits.
4. The elegant art lover
Color scheme: Black. Metallic. Purple. Print.
Star piece: Printed dress. Printed shorts. Metallic blazer. Metallic skirt.
Basic pieces: Black t-shirt. Black long-sleeved t-shirt. Off-white knitted top. Twill jersey purple stretch pants.
Accessories: Metallic sneakers. Black bag.
Why does this summer capsule wardrobe work for a woman over 40?
This is a woman who is not afraid to be seen.
She loves fashion, décor, and art.
In the summertime, she probably travels to a couple of bigger cities to check out their art collections and enjoy the architecture. Rome anyone?
Elegance and comfort combined
She knows a lot about Art Deco, abstract paintings, and underground fashion designers.
We could all be a little bit more like her.
Even if you are not fully ready to embrace your inner art lover, I think we can all learn a great deal from taking a look at her capsule wardrobe. She knows how to dress her age and keep it ridiculously elegant. She also knows how to have fun with fashion.
An all-star event
This capsule collection has a lot of star pieces. But since the purple pants are casual stretch pants, they will be easy to wear.
The same goes for the blazer, metallic colored clothes can work as basics since metal matches all colors.
Combining the blazer with the printed dress will give you an outfit that is bound to turn heads while being comfortable and age-appropriate at the same time.
You can create many outfits from just these 8 pieces
If you are not a fan of black, you can use any other neutral color to anchor those star pieces. Purple also works great with navy and dark grey.
I added a long-sleeved neutral t-shirt since this is an item that many of us could use in the summertime. It will look great under that blazer.
5. The aging femme fatale
Color scheme: Black. Navy. White.
Star pieces: Navy silk dress. Black classic leather jacket.
Basic pieces: Black cardigan. Black tank top. Navy pleated skirt. Navy silk T-shirt. Cream pleated pants. Navy silk shirt.
Accessories: Navy sandals. Celine sunglasses. YSL lipstick.
Why does this summer capsule wardrobe work for a woman over 40?
I’m sure you often wonder how to dress sexy but still age-appropriate. I created a summer capsule wardrobe to help you achieve just that.
Don’t get upset about the title; sexuality has no age; it should be something we enjoy even when we turn 90.
If you have a summer of hot dates coming up, (even if it is with your long-term partner.), look at this capsule wardrobe for inspiration.
Back to the 90s
I took some inspiration from the 90s in creating this capsule wardrobe. Simplicity is sexy.
Black and navy look chic together. The sex appeal in these clothes is about the drape and the luxurious fabrics, not necessarily about showing skin.
Dressing sensual should be comfortable
Start with a lightweight cashmere cardigan, add a silky top and you are halfway to becoming a femme fatale. A classic black leather jacket will supply the edge.
You can create many outfits from just these 8 pieces
As per usual, all these clothes can be combined with each other. That’s really the biggest secret of an amazing capsule wardrobe. Black and navy will give you that French elegance.
Choosing basics, such as a T-shirt, in a luxurious material like silk, will make this wardrobe wearable.
A final Note
As you can see in my creations, two- or three “star pieces” are suitable for an 8 pieces capsule wardrobe.
If you need more clothes, just apply the same principle to the extra clothes you add. In other words, make sure you have a good balance between star pieces and basic pieces.
Knowing this simple principle, you can create a capsule wardrobe from the clothes you already own.
Or, we can all just daydream that we open our suitcase in Greece and gently unpack one of these 5 wardrobes.
Moa Ailert is the founder and editor-in-chief of Her Brilliant Friend.
She has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and plenty of insight into human psychology from traveling and living in different places around the world.
Moa is currently based in Portugal where she has a guesthouse; Villa dos Irmaos.
She has various websites, among others Ericeira Insider, but Her brilliant friend is her true passion project.
