NYE BLACK TIE WEDDING

Happy 2015!

Hope you all had an amazing NYE celebrating all the good in your lives from 2014. 

We celebrated in a BIG way, with a black tie New Year's Eve wedding at the Four Seasons Hotel downtown. It was easily the fanciest wedding I've ever been to, complete with mirrored tables, monogrammed stir sticks, Moscow Mules as the signature cocktail along with an open bar, a three course meal, assorted chocolate truffles for dessert, two cakes, AND cheeseburgers and fries at 11:00pm from a local burger place. Simply stunning.

My brother-in-law was a groomsman, and it was fun to be there with him and my sister-in-law. We laughed, chatted, and danced our way into 2015.

The first dance.

Fries just before midnight. 

So fancy. I kept saying to Daniel, "I feel like we're in the Great Gatsby!" 

My outfit details:

Hair by my friend Erika. She did an inside out half crown braid into a fishtail. The other side was rolled back and bobby pinned. Loved what she did. Wish I had a personal hairstylist everyday!

Top: Sequined from Nordstrom Rack (Similiar here)

Skirt: Burgundy tulle skirt bored from my friend Whitney. Link here.

Shoes: Glitter Steve Madden peep toe heels. Similar here (link is affiliate) 

Elevator selfie for the win.

Marriage feels like the best reason to celebrate, and on top of that, capping off a really good year for me made this night my favorite New Year's Eve so far. Thankful for so many things. Also acknowledging that everyone has both good things and hard things in their life. I choose to see the good. Cheers to 2015.

WINTER CAPSULE WARDROBE

I attempted a capsule wardrobe for the first time last fall (see more details here) and I loved it so much that I'm continuing with a winter capsule this season. 

I first heard of a capsule wardrobe via Caroline of Unfancy, but it's become somewhat trendy recently among bloggers. I enjoy seeing the differences in everyone's wardrobe and especially the differences among climates and regions. Since the weather in Seattle is pretty much the same from October through April (read: cold and rainy), my fall capsule looks very similar to my winter capsule. I switched out about 10 pieces, but for the majority, it's the same items on rotation as before. I'm rolling with it until I get bored of it. So far, so good. I'm continuing to get rid of SO. MANY. CLOTHES. and declutter and simplify my wardrobe and ideally, all areas of my life.

Here are my winter pieces:

The breakdown: 

36 pieces

18 tops: same total as fall, switched out a few but mostly sweaters with a few button-downs & silk tops

7 bottoms: 1 light denim, 2 dark denim, black denim, black jeggings, 2 pairs of black Zella leggings

7 pairs of shoes: snow boots, black booties, brown booties, wedge heels, rain boots, glitter heels, and my beloved Tory Burch flats that were a Christmas present from Daniel two years ago. Those wedge heels were a fall find (from Target!) and are my current favorite cold-weather shoes.

3 outerwear: a black faux leather jacket, denim jacket, and black pattagonia puffy vest.

(Not pictured: a long down puffy black jacket. A winter staple here.)

Also, typically scarfs and accessories aren't included in capsule wardrobe totals, but I gathered a few of them in one of the photos as an "item" so you could see what I have on rotation. Love how scarfs can quickly change an outfit. 

I decided that these are my "everyday" pieces. I obviously will need something very different for a wedding or other fancy occasion. I think eventually, the goal will be to have an "everyday capsule" and a "fancy capsule," so that I have a few dresses that I truly love and not 25 that I just like. I'm sure it will take time to build that fancy capsule, but for now I'm happy with my everyday pieces. 

A few favorites to highlight:

My black Patagonia puffy vest. Found on sale at REI, I wore this almost daily last fall as an outerwear layer. So versatile, functional, and warm.

Forever 21 denim chambray. Such a staple. Wear it at least once a week with black leggings.

Forever 21 faux leather jacket. Love. Adds edginess to any outfit, obsessed with the side zipper and wide collar, and the price can't be beat.

J.Crew black and white gingham button up. Fits me like a glove with just enough stretch. Worn through so many seasons and washes and still hold it's structure and shape so well.

Mark Garments sweater. Hands down, my favorite sweater in my capsule. This company was started by my friends, who only made this one sweater design, and make it exceptionally; the quality is out of this world and the large loop fabric is amazing. On top of that, they employ people with special needs to help with letter-pressing the tags, creating jobs and giving back to the community. Unfortunately they aren't currently selling merchandise, but I adore them and their product. 

Forever 21 denim. As a recovering denim-snob (in college I would only wear Seven For All Mankind and Citizens For All Humanity) this was new for me. But, they come in long lengths (a must for tall people), have a great dark wash, and at SEVEN DOLLARS A PAIR I am a believer. 

Excited about my winter pieces! Are you also doing a capsule? Link to yours in the comments!

Capsule Wardrobe Update

It's 8 days into my capsule wardrobe for fall, and so far I'm really enjoying this project. I often get asked questions about it, so I'm fielding a few FAQs here.

How's it going? Great! I love the simplicity of it, streamlining my morning decisions, and knowing I have only my favorites to choose from.

Have you kept to your 37 pieces? Yes. I did make one change, I switched out one sweater I hadn't worn yet for a tank top because we've been having unseasonable warm weather lately. 

What's your favorite part about it? So many things. Probably ditching the phrase "I have nothing to wear" from my vocabulary. 

What's your least favorite? So far, nothing. Minus the switch for the tank top with the weather being kind of a curveball, it's been easy and predictable. I'm anticipating that the monotony of it all might be my least favorite in the end, but so far it's been great. 

Where are all your other clothes? I had an instagram sale just before I started my capsule wardrobe, so I got rid of a lot of items then, and the rest are shoved in the back of my closet. After October, I'll reevaluate and see what I need to switch up so I can continue in some way for the rest of the season. At that point I hope to either give/sell/store the rest. It feels kind of like wearing a life-vest by still having tons of clothes in my closet, and I think come October, I'll see if I can really go all-in by not having access to all of those clothes.

Would you recommend this? Yes! Wholeheartedly. 

More updates to come. You can follow along with my capsule wardrobe adventures on Instagram @allieseidel #alliesfallcapsule #alliewearsthat