Once upon a time in fashion land, you couldn’t move for articles on the capsule wardrobe. Speaking in the language of classics, staples, hero pieces and timeless investments, they implored readers to think of their clothing as building materials. Good foundations, it seemed, were usually to be found in the form of the perfect white T-shirt, the perfect leather jacket, the perfect pair of jeans, the perfect knitwear and so on. There was a bland uniformity to these suggestions, a restrained reliance on elegant minimalism and trench coats fit for an Old Hollywood movie star. 

The “capsule” wardrobe is largely understood to be a 1970s invention, with London boutique owner Susie Faux popularizing the term (although it’s not clear whether it was her coinage or an earlier invention). ...