Loungewear falls between your sleepwear and athleisure. It’s a middle ground that helps you escape tight clothes, like jeans or office wear. Essentially, it gives you a cozy, comfortable, and stylish feel while you’re staying home working or relaxing.
Unlike pajamas, which are typically brightly colored and with fabrics like fleece, loungewear is more bent towards cotton, modal, and neutral pallets. Examples of loungewear include joggers, leggings, a wireless bra, a luxe set, knitted, and tank tops. (1)
To start your loungewear collection, you’ll need a capsule wardrobe made up of pieces that work together, and you love. This way, you stay fashionable with minimal stress and less stuff. With that said, here are the steps you ought to take to set up your loungewear capsule wardrobe: (2)
1. Empty your closet
The first step is to remove every piece of clothing in your closet. Next, choose which one remains and which one goes. To reiterate, set aside your pajama sets, as they don’t qualify as loungewear. Also, swap out those cheap t-shirts with cotton nighties. About three of these should suffice for laundry sessions.
Keep the critical layering pieces like robes, long sleeves, and slip undies. A billowy house dress can also easily become your loungewear if you add cozy socks and not pajamas as you’d typically do. While at it, focus on minute details like huge pockets and a silhouette touch, which are essential for comfort at home. On the contrary, you’d want to keep off buttons to avoid the inconvenience of regular sewing.
2. Audit your current wardrobe
The foundation of your loungewear capsule is dependent on your present closet. Therefore, check your pieces and determine those you wear often and those you rarely touch. During the audit check, consider the following:
- The most recent time you wore a specific piece and those you haven’t touched in months
- The activities you take part in and your typical stay-at-home lifestyle gives you insight into the most appropriate clothes to wear
- How long do you stay at home, perhaps outside your daily job
- Whether you work out regularly at home, which means you’ll need a workout outfit
After thinking about these aspects, pick the pieces dear to you and state why you like them. This guides you in determining your preferred style, color, and materials.
3. Sort your clothes into four piles
Once you’re done auditing, your clothes should be in the following four piles:
- You absolutely like it and could wear it anytime: These are pieces you feel confident and bold wearing because they perfectly accentuate your curves and body features, bringing out your sense of style. These outfits should be the first in your capsule closet.
- Maybe: These are pieces of sentimental value to you, like gifts or souvenirs, and you wear them once in a while. Allocate a box for this and do a secondary audit after a month. Those you’d have worn will be part of your loungewear capsule. You can consider donating the rest to people in need.
- Hard no: In this category are those clothes you’ve outgrown or don’t like anymore. These belong to the trash can. But if they’re still in good shape, consider giving them to friends.
- Seasonal: This comprises the outfits you wear seasonally, perhaps during summer or winter. Have a separate box for these as the seasons will always come and go.
4. Choose texture and color
While building a capsule wardrobe pays to be intentional on every piece of clothing you include. It shouldn’t be merely spontaneous, as you wouldn’t want to have garments in there without a valid reason. Taking extra care to choose every loungewear outfit goes a long way to boost your confidence whenever you spend time at home.
In light of this, your wardrobe should have a theme texture and color. Here’s how to go about it:
- Select your base color: First and foremost, you’ll need to choose a base color. Navy would be perfect for a start because it’s easier to coordinate with other colors. More so, it’s cool enough for a homestay, not as screaming as the likes of luminous green or cyan. You could choose different base colors: black, brown, jungle green, peach, or yellow.
- Choose the color coordinating essentials: These are classic outfits in solid colors that can’t go out of style any time soon. Excellent examples are white short-sleeved t-shirts, black skirts, or peach sweaters. Therefore, when choosing loungewear essentials, pick neutral colors, such as chambray, which resembles soft jeans, grey, or white. These colors coordinate with others pretty easily. (3)
- Select your accent color: This should be the most fun-filled part—you get creative with your loungewear by adding your favorite colors. These can be any bright color, like red, shades of pink, or blue, that make you feel sexy and classy. Add a couple of bottoms or tops in your preferred color. You can use the color chart to help you coordinate your accent colors with your base colors.
- Add some patterned layers and items: To spice up your loungewear wardrobe, add dresses, tops, or bottoms that are patterned. These can be stripped, floral, or polka dot fabrics. Still, ensure that you choose items that match your base color. Examples of prints you can choose are leopard, gingham, plaid, or snake.
5. Choose your undergarments
Never underestimate the power of comfortable undies paired with your loungewear. Bras and underwear should definitely be part of your loungewear. A little extra bra support goes a long way in ensuring your comfort. So, ensure you choose comfy bras that are of your size.
To truly embrace lounging, ensure your capsule wardrobe has underwear that’s cozy, breathable, and gently hugging your bums, but never too tight nor too saggy. Fitting panties with a firm elastic waist are particularly helpful. Bralettes as well should have no underwire in them. Remember, what you put on under your comfy loungewear pants significantly affects your level of comfort. By all means, avoid the skimpy panties that expose too much skin, compromising their support functionality. (4)
Don’t forget to include soft, snug socks. Bamboo and cotton are good material choices for these.
6. Select your accessories and shoes
To complete and enhance your loungewear, ensure you add fashion accessories to your capsule wardrobe. Accessories make your outfit look new every time by complementing your look and expressing your identity, personality, and personal taste.
Therefore, throw in any of the following accessories for your loungewear capsule wardrobe:
- Handbags or purses: When going out in your loungewear, such as for a bachelorette party, you can accessorize your look with a trendy bag. Accordingly, ensure your capsule wardrobe has a clutch, hobo, baguette, or a satchel you can take with you. It’s certainly an understatement to say that a bag adds confidence and a sense of style to your look. (5)
- Shoes: Footwear is another key component of your loungewear. Go for styles like heels, boots, pumps, flats, and athletics. Ensure you have at least a pair of each in your capsule wardrobe. You may spot a blue loungewear dress with white pumps for a lunch date to look effortlessly stylish. And for a day in the garden, you may need boots to keep your feet clean.
- Glasses and hats: Sunny days will undoubtedly come, and you must be prepared for them. To this end, accessorize your loungewear with sunglasses and hats. If you’re relaxing in the backyard or reading a book, you’ll need glasses to protect your eyes. Here is a recommendation to check out a variety of classy and trendy sunglasses. The perfect pair of sunglasses can elevate any look and provide the perfect finishing touch.
Moreover, find yourself some stylish hats to shield your head from the sun. Wearing a hat can be a great fashion statement, and it will keep you cool and protected from the bright rays. There are plenty of different styles to choose from, so you should be able to find something that suits your unique style.
- Jewelry: Watches, rings (for the nose, ear, or fingers), necklaces, anklets, and bracelets are a great way to accessorize your loungewear. They make you look chic and classy. Therefore, when building your loungewear capsule wardrobe, add your favorite jewelry, particularly those that speak your fashion language. They can be silver, gold, plastic, or even fabric, with some rubies or pearls integrated. Whichever your choice, don’t hold back on being edgy with your loungewear; it doesn’t have to be boring.
- Jackets and coats: A great loungewear capsule wardrobe should have at least a couple of jackets and coats. A long brown coat and a leather jacket can suffice as part of your loungewear capsule wardrobe. These are essential for those chilly days. They’re also an incredible styling fashion item. For instance, a coat gives your leather pants and open-heeled shoes a powerful classic look.
7. Create a wish list
After selecting your current loungewear pieces, you’ll know what items you’re missing. Visualize your dream capsule and write down additional items you need to buy. Get into detail by specifying the colors and designs. Then, go out shopping. It’s not a must you get all the items at once. You can still add one by one or as much as your budget allows. Again, don’t purchase emotionally and end up cluttering your new closet.
Conclusion
When building a loungewear capsule wardrobe, your winning point is thinking deeply about what items you need. This way, you can discard outfits that don’t match your taste or those you no longer wear. Also, you can go out shopping for loungewear with specific goals instead of engaging in impulse buying. With time, you’ll be able to accumulate a wide variety of loungewear that you truly love. And that means rocking in stylish outfits whenever you’re at home.
References
- “Dreamy Loungewear For A Cozy New Year’s Eve At Home”, Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-personal-shopper/2021/12/15/new-years-pajamas/?sh=326c7db215ea
- “Building a capsule wardrobe: The benefits of having a personal uniform”, Source: https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/building-a-capsule-wardrobe-benefits-of-personal-uniform/10289786
- “How to choose your best clothing colors”, Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Choose-Your-Best-Clothing-Colors
- “How to choose comfortable underwear”, Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Choose-Comfortable-Underwear#:~:text=Getting%20the%20Right%20Fit,-%7B%22smallUrl%22%3A&text=Measure%20your%20waist%20and%20hips,comfortable%20size%20for%20your%20body
- “The Best Handbags And Accessories To Give Your Style That Holiday Boost”, Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephdeacetis/2021/12/07/the-best-handbags-and-accessories-to-give-your-style-that-holiday-boost/?sh=74dc90367bf0
- “The Complete Accessories Guide For A Summer Of Re-Emergence”, Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/biancasalonga/2021/07/05/the-complete-accessories-guide-for-a-summer-of-re-emergence/?sh=16fc93993948