Bekah and the Graphic Tees

A few weeks back, I told you how I went through my entire wardrobe and cleaned the thing out in such a way that even the closet never saw it coming. {Those conversations here, here, and here.} I was ruthless. Several of you told me you wanted to know how this capsule project progressed, and I wanted to come back to you with the first of the updates. {If you're a really fabulous style person, please find grace for me, because I'm certainly no professional at this!}

First of all, let me say that in the grand scheme of the wardrobe, I do not miss the clothes I weeded out. In fact, I sat around last night trying to remember some of the clothes I'd ditched, and I couldn't even mentally conjure up images of them, so I really must not miss them. And while it is true that there are days when my all-day outfit comes from the workout pile, thanks to the promise of an evening workout and the reality of a whole day at home with no visitors or appointments, I really do try to put myself together on most days, so I really have lived with this capsule for a while.

My goal in the initial weeding was to make a capsule from clothes I already owned without purchasing a whole bunch of new stuff. And for the most part, I've done that. But I'm also learning what works and what would work better so I can keep my eye out for new staples to replace what I have, as necessary and as affordable.

For reasons that I neither know nor understand, I had this weird need to make a line of graphic tees my first wardrobe fix. I'm not even sure I knew what a graphic tee was prior to this adventure, but all of the sudden, I was aware and compelled to make a good graphic tee mini-collection the basis of this project. {?????}

If you're not even sure what a graphic tee is, this site had a pretty helpful background on it, but the bottom line is that it's a t-shirt with some sort of writing or logo {or both!} on it...and contrary to what you might initially think when you hear the word graphic, it most certainly does not have to have anything of ill report on it.

I think the idea of the graphic tee appealed to me because thank-you-Pinterest, you can wear it several different ways, layering it with all kinds of stuff and making it pretty versatile. Knowing it was the kind of shirt I could dress up, dress down, wear on a date, wear at home, wear shopping, wear for get-togethers, wear for writing days...made it appealing. And my goal was to have three graphic tees in my capsule. {I'm also fixated on three's for my capsule...no idea why.}

In the initial cleanout, these were the three I kept from my overflowing closet.

And pretty quickly, I decided the two sports-looking shirts were not going to work. They were too bold, too colorful, too pigeon-holed, and at least for me, too hard to mix and match with other things. Plus, they were too alike to make the capsule diverse. Lastly, they're pretty short, as you can see from the comparison with the shirt in the middle, limiting the number of things I could pair them with and have them look good on me. {Confessions of the girl whose main problem area is her belly.}

So....I went on a hunt for two shirts to replace the red and blue that are about to get kicked from the capsule, and I'm pleased to say...I found them! So today I want to tell you about the three tees, and then once I learn to style them better, I'll show you how that part works for me.

One.

This is the only shirt in the graphic tee collection that stayed from before. I bought it in 2009, when I went on my first grown-up-girl vacation, destination: Hershey, Pennsylvania. I felt the trip deserved preservation in the form of a souvenir shirt, and I wanted one that looked different from your typical "I went on vacation and found this shirt" shirt. So this one came from the gift shop in Hershey, and is either a junior's shirt or a very unfortunately-sized adult's shirt, because the tag says XL, but it fits like something between a medium and a large. {Pausing for the reminder that tags do not define the size of the person wearing the shirt.}


Per the grand world of the internet, this shirt is now out of stock {what?? They don't make the same shirt from 2009?} but apparently I paid in the realm of $20.00 for it. That is more than I would EVER pay for a shirt, but it was a souvenir, so it gets pricing grace for that. And if I've been wearing it since 2009, I would say I easily have gotten $20.00 of wear out of it, therefore making it a great buy.

This shirt made the capsule cut in part because I already owned it, making the entry fee into the capsule ZERO DOLLARS. I also love its color...a chocolate brown {of course} with burgundy and pink writing, making it tastefully colorful, without being obnoxious like the red and blue shirts of the initial cut. Brown is a good neutral for me, so I really wanted a brown shirt in the graphic tee section of my capsule. And despite the XL on the tag, I love the way this shirt fits, I love that it's long, and I love that it has pink edging around the collar, sleeves, and bottom, giving a finished, polished look without actually layering {and therefore adding heat}. And it satisfied one of the main elements of capsule rules: it really captures who I am. I love chocolate and everyone knows that, so this is a good representation of me! Bonus: It has held up well in the last six years, making it quality {shout-out to the maker, Bella, for excellent construction!}, and I am glad I chose to keep it in my capsule.

Two.

This shirt was the first purchase I made post-capsule, and I am glad I did it. I found it one day while shopping through a killer DaySpring sale...and that day the shirt was only $5.00. {It is now back to its regular price of $28.00, but you can still purchase it.} DaySpring offers free shipping on orders over $50.00, and since I was buying up gifts on the clearance sale that day, I made it to $50.00 pretty easily, making this shirt's entry fee into the capsule a true FIVE DOLLARS.

Buying online makes me so nervous {when it comes to clothing, that is} because I am such a weird shape and really need to try things on. I read all the reviews on the shirt and still came away conflicted, because some shoppers said this shirt really was a junior's shirt {as the site indicates} and you needed to buy bigger to be safe, and others said they bought their normal adult size and were fine! What should the slightly chubby girl do??? In the end, I bought a large {I would normally buy a medium in the shirt department} and crossed my fingers. It does fit, but  because of the cut, it is pretty form fitting, so a medium would have been too small for me. Having said that, I do love the form-fit, because it actually has shape and doesn't just hang on me like a sack.

I love the fabric of this shirt, because it really does feel like my jammies. I love the dark charcoal color, I love the scoop neck, I love the long length, and I love that it has a chalkboard look to it. You know how dearly I love my chalkboards. I really wanted a black/dark gray shirt in the capsule, and this fit the bill. BONUS: a portion of the proceeds of the shirt support a great cause...the Mercy House in Kenya. I guess because I got such a great sale price, my portion wasn't that big, but still. I love something with a good cause attached. {And the message is really good too...I just need to remember it when I wear it to the grocery store and get cranky!}

Three.

And just this past weekend, I found the third perfect graphic tee for my "rule of thirds" capsule collection. Ryan and I were just winding our way through Kohl's, for funsies, and what should my wandering eye discover way up high on the wall? This shirt. {Note: if you click that link, there are several different messages on this style of shirt, so you can click through to find mine or one you like better!} I mentioned to Ryan that really, no shirt could be more perfect for me, and while I was trying on something else, he fished this shirt down off the wall, and after feeling the fabric, insisted I try it on.


Twist my arm.

This shirt REALLY feels like jammies. I mean really. And I may have worn it two days in a row while writing - judge if you like. It's got a fun flowing shape to it, scooping longer down in the front, which is happiness for tummy-trouble folks like me. It's soft and I love the V-neck, since that's different from the other shirts in this portion of the capsule. The medium was the winner for me with this shirt {made by Apt. 9}, fitting just the way a medium should on me. I love that it's light gray in color, which also makes it different from my other graphic tees. And the message: well, obviously.

The shirt, per the website is $26.00, which means I would never pay full price for it. But it was on sale for $14.99 this weekend, and we had coupons and specials in addition, making its final entry fee into the capsule a whopping NINE DOLLARS.

So. The recap:

Three graphic tees for the capsule wardrobe: check.
Total cost for said tees, combined - at this point in the game: $14.00. 
Size breakdown: extra-large, large, and medium.
Color base for capsule: brown, dark charcoal, light gray.
Bekah: very happy.