Is there such a thing as..

... the perfect capsule wardrobe? 

So I got an email today from Selfridges with their top ten Capsule Wardrobe favourites for the year ahead.  Complete with their selection of what's top from the new season collections. 

Well, it would be rude not to see if we agreed... And of course, are there any tips we can steal?

1. The Work Uniform. This appears to be a white shirt and black trousers... for me, the jury is out on this one.  Every day?  Apparently so...
2. The Multi Tasking coat.  This is a glorious one for me. Although I appear to prefer to have multi tasking coats, plural.  They actually say a reversible double faced coat which is pretty much identical to the Whistles grey one I have so feeling rather smug.
3. The Power Heels.  Hmm this is perhaps quite a work related capsule wardrobe necessity.  Having said that, I do think that a good pair of heels can work wonders in transforming a day outfit into the perfect night time ensemble.  I'll be back with this.
4. THAT dress.  And hold that thought.... (that's their font by the way, not me embellishing).
5. The Go-to Cashmere Jumper.  Can you ever have too much cashmere?  I'll be looking at some Spring options shortly. 
6. The Two-for-one Bag.  Well, clearly if you are a regular Selfridges shopper, this is the new Chloe Faye.  But for the rest of us, it might be something a bit less investment. One for another day for sure (this is a shoulder bag that you can remove the strap from and it becomes the perfect evening clutch).
7. The Not-just-a-white Shirt.  They have a very ruffly one.  I think I might prefer my options from the other week.... But we can clearly look at other variations.. (the one they have however, does cement my fear of looking looking like Meatloaf in a white shirt and black trousers.  See what you think?).
8. The Ultimate Leather Jacket.  Now here they win.  Whether you want to invest or whether you want a more budget friendly version, this is one for another day, for sure. 
9. The Slip-on Mules.  Apparently this is thanks to Gucci A/W15.  I'm just going to throw it in there, that I bought a pair last Summer from Anthropologie and wore them to death.  Just saying...
10. The Forever Jeans.  Yes, well.  How long's a piece of string?  We will tackle this shortly. 

But there has to be room for another one and even if not for me, I know other people are looking for one.  So let the research begin.  

And today, we have LK Bennett and Warehouse with pics from me trying them on last week. 

So as I mentioned on the skirt blog from last week, we had ventured into LK Bennett as this dress had caught our eye and very Roksanda we had thought it was.  I had had it in my mind that a midi dress was what I needed.

LK Bennett Amina Printed Tea Dress £350

It's a gorgeous dress and actually I'm not sure whey I didn't try it on now.  I think I might give it a go although I had been looking for something initially with sleeves. 

And this dress, that I personally wouldn't have looked twice at, I'll be completely honest, my best friend threw it into the changing room for me to try.  "It's like those Stella McCartney, Gucci ones you like... would be fab with your tan really high peep toe shoe boots" (which, coincidentally are also from LK Bennett and have served me so so so well for the past three four years). 

So it was under duress that I tried this on. 

Addison Printed Silk Dress from LK Bennett £325

And I have to say, I was quite shocked at how much I liked it.  It definitely needs edging up with some super cool shoes but the more I think about it, the more I absolutely adore it.  I love the fact it's so unlike the majority of what else is out there, I love the fit (although the 12 is slightly large and they didn't have the 10 which I fear may be rather constricting on my ribs) and I love the idea of really cool shoes with it. 

It was then on to Warehouse where I had wanted to try the midi dress (which actually is the ONLY other midi dress on the high street that I could find the other day.  Dear every retailer out there.  On the knee is not midi.  It's knee length.  Midi is the length between knee length and maxi.  You're welcome).

This is actually midi if you size up.  I tried it on as it was only one of the three in the shop.  On the upside, I did learn that I really need a midi dress to be waisted...
Stripe Shirt Dress £55 from Warehouse

Otherwise this happens.  It looked like an oversized tabard with sleeves.  It did have lovely long arms though.

But I had much more success with the other two they had instore.  This is the one that I had had on the blog the other week.

Pretty Floral Midi Dress £58

Again, if I was pushed, this could work with great shoes.  I can't say I LOVED it, but the fabric is definitely an improvement on Warehouse dresses in years gone by. 

But this one, I have to say I really liked. 

Silk Botanical Dress from Warehouse £125

Do I like it as much as the LK Bennett one? Obviously not.  It's also not the cheapest but for a 100% silk dress that again is so unlike anything else out there, I really really rate it.

Again, shoes of the fashion variety are needed to take away the whiff of WI.  I can't quite work out whether or not it's supposed to be waisted or slightly empire line..  Can't even tell from the model above.  I'm not particularly long in the body either.

Seeing as there was bog all else to try on and there were two gorgeous print dresses that caught my eye, I thought I'd give them a whirl.  Even though I expected them to be verging on indecent in length (Warehouse and Mango for the last couple of years have not been the most generous in their allocation of fabric for their summer dresses.  Skimpy doesn't come close...) 

But, the length of these was a lot better.   Not long enough for me to feel comfortable in bare legs (especially not in January for gawd's sake) but with a pair of opaques, this would certainly work. 

Persian Placed Dress from Warehouse £49

Again this is much better quality fabric than in years gone by.  Passed the crease test.

And finishing with my snaps with a shirt that I thought was a dress... So it's therefore slightly unfair that I was thinking it's too short, seeing as it's not supposed to be a frock anyway.  Having said that, it wasn't *that* short at all and I'm 5ft10.  It was marginally short and to be honest, were I too get my knees in shape and get jiggy with the fake tan, I would probably wear it as a dress.  Plus this is only a size 10.  Were you slightly shorter, I would definitely say wear this as a dress.  The one above is definitely shorter.

Placed Persian Longline Shirt £55

And finishing with the one I had really wanted to try but they didn't have in stock.  This looks a great length and with some of those killer sandals from the other day, this would be the perfect Spring dress.  It would work easily now in the evening with opaques and ankle boots and just as well with strappy flat sandals or slides in the Summer.  One to go back and hunt out I think. 

Sailor Bib Dress from Warehouse £55

So there we have my selection and personally, I still think my favourite is the LK Bennett one.  I think with the right shoes it will be amazing but maybe the Warehouse long silk one will be just as good for almost a third of the price?  I think the shoes make all the difference here...  What do we think?

I'm now on a dress roll - the best of what is New In elsewhere coming later in the week.  

Tomorrow I'll be back with another item on the Capsule Wardrobe.  Shoes or jeans, shoes or jeans, shoes or jeans.....

Outfit from today.  I cheated - majority of outfit for dog walk this morning with wellies and then just came back and changed my boots (and handbag!) as I was at a friends for lunch and then a meeting this afternoon.  (am currently help organising a charity ball for March which is taking up a fair bit of my time...)