Home » Another Common Capsule Wardrobe: warm colors
Another Common Capsule Wardrobe: warm colors
Ever since the beginning of A Common Capsule Wardrobe, I’ve been asked to show what I would consider to be a version for someone who prefers warmer colors. While this version isn’t going to be quite as versatile as the original, it’s certainly got plenty of potential. Does anybody want me to expand on this one, with accessories?
Top row – L.L.Bean, cream shirt – Kitsune, peach blouse – Chloe, cardigan & v-neck sweater – L.L.Bean, brown
long-sleeved tee – La Garconne, tan pants – Jil Sander, cream jeans – Les Copains, brown pants – Maison Martin Margiela
It just doesn't look as arty/advertising-y as the original, does it? However, I wonder if there's a compromise? Maybe 1/3 of these items and 2/3 of the other, or v.v. –and then it would be both warm and arty (if such a thing is possible)
For me, the other issue is that I never, ever wear anything "t-shirt" shaped, not even if it's cashmere. I have to have a collar. Are polo shirts considered hopelessly dumpy these days?
Thank you so much. As a redhead with freckles, green eyes and the whitest skin in the world this would be so useful for me. Thanks for thinking of us oft neglected 'warmies'! (Please no black – I even do chocolate brown for funerals these days.)
As a redhead with green eyes and pale skin, I would love to see the accessories, too. And, I'm with April … chocolate brown or deep aubergine is as dark as I go these days! Thank you!
I, too, would love to see this one expanded. I would also (in the future, if it's not too much trouble) love to see a warm-coloured basic wardrobe suitable for really hot weather. I love looking at these wardrobes but I live in the land of the endless summer (Queensland, Australia) and I find it really hard to emulate these wardrobes with weather-appropriate clothing. For example, for at least 3 months of the year there is no way I could wear 2 layers on top, so a cardigan or a vest (which I love) is out of the question.
Kelley, last Friday I searched this wonderful blog for exactly what you are asking, I'm from Sydney and I found at least 3 different hot weathered combinations for brown with tangerine, coral and turquoise.
I agree; I'm in California, U.S nearer to Mexico in a beachy environment and we're too warm year'round for many of Janice's scrumptious combinations/layering. However, it's her ideas that count, with the colors and accessories. You have to make a few changes to the capsules here and there to suit, like a lot of the blacks being instead a light linen or gauze for comfort and practicality, but you wind up with the basic skeleton, and it's so helpful. Scroll back thru the archives and indeed come up with some magnificent, nearly-tropical combos. And, before you know it, autumn & winter will give way to spring & summer here on the blog; always fun to see what Janice comes up with next!
I would love to see more with the warm colors as well. I'm trying to do Project 333 with them. Could a great pair of dark wash jeans be thrown in, or other navy instead of adding in black?
Thank you Janice – yes please to accessories from me too (a caramel-haired olive-skinned 'brownie'). Already with the combinations here you have given us so many ideas but I can't wait to see the possibilities with accessories – maybe teal, navy, burgundy … Oh what am I saying, you are the mistress of colour! I'm in Tasmania, Australia, which has a temperate climate (a bit like Seattle) so just love the layering possibilities you give us.
True…Janice will know the right accessorizing colors, and I seem to remember her pairing navy with camel in previous posts; looked really nice…smart, tailored, classy. Just wanted to throw out there that I love a seaside decor, which can feature whites, sand-beiges and blue of sky and sea, so I also find those color combinations in clothes equally pleasant and easy on the eye.
I saw a woman at the doctor's office recently, wearing a soft cotton, muted cornflower blue (powder blue? baby blue?), v-neck sweater (still too warm for me in this weather but, what can I say, she was reed-thin and didn't have my "insulation"); paired it with a white, crisp, cotton shirt-blouse with cuffs, over beach-sand-hued khaki/tan/beige pants and espadrilles. I just LOVED that look. All so soft, breezy, calming hues and okay all year where I live but certainly not for the autumn/winter of the U.S. Midwest or Northeast.
I also noted a fashionable woman in what I would guess as her seventies; petite with fine facial bones, naturally-wavy white pixie-cut hair, good color to her face and wearing a stonewashed-blue (light blue) denim jumper with a pale, buttercup-yellow (or would it be lemon) cardigan thrown over her shoulders and, from the little bit I know of French women, she looked decidedly and effortlessly French, even without a scarf! But, oops, we're talking about the warmer colors here like beige (actually, the light yellow was as appealingly warm).
It looks great, you've done a bang-up job as usual, but I can't use it or add anything helpful to this, as these are SO not my colors. I could maybe have gotten by with them when, 25 years ago, I bleached my hair blonde and (horrors) visited the tanning salon (yes, I'm paying for it now with much-compromised skin and am a regular at the dermatologist's office, trying to deal with "pre-cancers"– so wish, in my young days, we'd have had the nice self-tanners/bronzers which exist today)…although a good, chocolate brown I could pull off when I was my true dark brunette, best as a skirt or slacks, and I do like that color; I've seen it paired with crisp white, a certain shade of pink or turquoise. Sometimes you can pull off taupes or beiges with black. But I can't even wear warm, gold jewelry; big clash against my skin tone. I can only go with the cool colors, and silver/platinum on the bling.
Love this, even though I'm cool-toned (pale skin, very dark brown hair… what used to be a "winter" in the old days). To me, this capsule looks like mostly neutrals, not necessarily "warm"… with the exception of the peach blouse (not at all my color, I'd replace with a soft coral perhaps). Actually, adding the soft blue of the shirt in the other basic capsule to this one would work well, I think. Keep it coming! (P.S. My husband has asked several times for a similar man's basic wardrobe… any recommendations??)
I totally get the "winter." Had my "colors" done in the 1970s and I think the colorist really was spot-on because, curiously, it still seems to fit me today, a lifetime later. I agree that peachy oranges with brown are tricky even though they seem like a natural combo…they begin, in fact, to look a little too '70s "groovy"/Ed Sullivan Show-infomercial to me but our guru, Ms. Janice, will work out the right tones!
OmG, I just remembered a guy that worked in an office with me back in those days; he would repeat-wear this awful brown suit with a Halloween orange shirt and a flowered tie…and he was an executive. It got a little better when he remarried, once he had a wife to guide him on his wardrobe. It strikes me in that era how we almost dressed in costumes rather than outfits. I think a lot of us looked ridiculous. I don't miss it! I would tie a kerchief on my head like Rhoda on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, or else wear a crocheted snood over my bunned-up ponytail; we'd wear matching openwork-crochet vests, bell-bottoms of course; yech, it was as bad as mustard-yellow refrigerators and avocado-green shag carpet in the house. My dad even had a avocado-green Chevy. And then the men got stuck with those poly leisure suits which were probably the worst of all of it. The older men didn't know what to do with their hair, so they'd grow it out to look "mod" and it was a disaster. If you're reading this and you're younger, be glad you came along afterward!
Yes! Please expand. Would you consider doing another packing post for a long Thanksgiving weekend in NYC? Cross country flight takes up most of two days, usual suspects when it comes to activities: Parade, Thanksgiving dinner at nice restaurant, broadway play and shopping. Most of the stay will be in the West Village. Thanks! I love your packing posts and will borrow from your prior ones if I don't see anything specifically for Thanksgiving/NYC. You rock, Janice!
I am addicted to your blog and I've read it all…every posting!! (Some twice.) OK, I know that's a little creepy, but what you're doing is really fascinating. Also, this warm wardrobe you're putting together is really intriguing.
Some of us former "winters" have had to lighten our hair so much as we've gone grey that we are now blonds. Take a look at some current photos of Diane Keaton and you'll see what I'm talking about. I find that my wardrobe looks half like the colors you've shown above and half like my old "winter" wardrobe which is similar to your personal wardrobe. It's confusing to say the least. I can still wear black well and some of the teals and purples but I had a lot of navy and raspberry reds which look terrible on me now. Probably my very worst color is white. It feels very confusing to have to tackle this color change-over after so many years of feeling confident about which colors work and which don't.
I'm grappling with the question of whether to base my wardrobe on black since I have a lot of it (but perhaps phase this out over time), the warm colors which seem to look good on me now, or just go with the greys accepting the inevitable future when I become so sick of constant salon visits that I just let my hair go grey. (Too young for that this week!) Is it crazy to have three neutral bases in a wardrobe? Can I keep all three neutrals and limit the accent colors to purples, teals/turquoises and watermelon?
I agree, Sue! I think my wardrobe now is a "soft winter"… black and then a lot of pale neutrals… silver, champagne, tan. There's still the occasional vibrant color to punch it up. But almost no red anymore.
I would like that very much. With you ideas, I seem to be 'shopping my closet' more and more.
Yes, please!
Love these colours and can't wait to see more.
Thanks for a wonderful blog.
Please do. Some of my favorite capsules of yours included beige, brown and grey. Would love to see more.
Could you add black? Sort of the reverse of when you added brown to the original Common Wardrobe.
I love warmer colors and would really like to see your accessorizing magic with them. Thank you!
I, too, would like to see more with warm colors.
Jora
It just doesn't look as arty/advertising-y as the original, does it? However, I wonder if there's a compromise? Maybe 1/3 of these items and 2/3 of the other, or v.v. –and then it would be both warm and arty (if such a thing is possible)
For me, the other issue is that I never, ever wear anything "t-shirt" shaped, not even if it's cashmere. I have to have a collar. Are polo shirts considered hopelessly dumpy these days?
I would love to see accessorizing with warm colors. Thank you.
–LindaC
Thank you so much. As a redhead with freckles, green eyes and the whitest skin in the world this would be so useful for me. Thanks for thinking of us oft neglected 'warmies'! (Please no black – I even do chocolate brown for funerals these days.)
As a redhead with green eyes and pale skin, I would love to see the accessories, too. And, I'm with April … chocolate brown or deep aubergine is as dark as I go these days! Thank you!
Another redhead here. I'd love to see this wardrobe expanded with accessories.
I, too, would love to see this one expanded. I would also (in the future, if it's not too much trouble) love to see a warm-coloured basic wardrobe suitable for really hot weather. I love looking at these wardrobes but I live in the land of the endless summer (Queensland, Australia) and I find it really hard to emulate these wardrobes with weather-appropriate clothing. For example, for at least 3 months of the year there is no way I could wear 2 layers on top, so a cardigan or a vest (which I love) is out of the question.
Kelley, last Friday I searched this wonderful blog for exactly what you are asking, I'm from Sydney and I found at least 3 different hot weathered combinations for brown with tangerine, coral and turquoise.
I agree; I'm in California, U.S nearer to Mexico in a beachy environment and we're too warm year'round for many of Janice's scrumptious combinations/layering. However, it's her ideas that count, with the colors and accessories. You have to make a few changes to the capsules here and there to suit, like a lot of the blacks being instead a light linen or gauze for comfort and practicality, but you wind up with the basic skeleton, and it's so helpful. Scroll back thru the archives and indeed come up with some magnificent, nearly-tropical combos. And, before you know it, autumn & winter will give way to spring & summer here on the blog; always fun to see what Janice comes up with next!
I second Kelley's request (moved to Tenerife last July) but also agree with Vicki – I have been searching Janice's blog and found excellent ideas. :-)
Francesca
Another vote for expansion! Love your work here, btw – thanks.
Joyce in WI
Yes, please!!!
Yes, absolutely…expand away!
I just bought a black and tan striped skirt at Old Navy, and I love it! It's got the warm color, and black – the best of both worlds!
You've given me some ideas on sweaters, so now I have more shopping to do. Thanks for the inspiration!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SparkleParkDesigns
Yes please, it is the accessories that I fail on and your wonderful ideas help me so much as I am a very visual person.
I would love to see more with the warm colors as well. I'm trying to do Project 333 with them. Could a great pair of dark wash jeans be thrown in, or other navy instead of adding in black?
Thank you Janice – yes please to accessories from me too (a caramel-haired olive-skinned 'brownie'). Already with the combinations here you have given us so many ideas but I can't wait to see the possibilities with accessories – maybe teal, navy, burgundy … Oh what am I saying, you are the mistress of colour!
I'm in Tasmania, Australia, which has a temperate climate (a bit like Seattle) so just love the layering possibilities you give us.
True…Janice will know the right accessorizing colors, and I seem to remember her pairing navy with camel in previous posts; looked really nice…smart, tailored, classy. Just wanted to throw out there that I love a seaside decor, which can feature whites, sand-beiges and blue of sky and sea, so I also find those color combinations in clothes equally pleasant and easy on the eye.
I saw a woman at the doctor's office recently, wearing a soft cotton, muted cornflower blue (powder blue? baby blue?), v-neck sweater (still too warm for me in this weather but, what can I say, she was reed-thin and didn't have my "insulation"); paired it with a white, crisp, cotton shirt-blouse with cuffs, over beach-sand-hued khaki/tan/beige pants and espadrilles. I just LOVED that look. All so soft, breezy, calming hues and okay all year where I live but certainly not for the autumn/winter of the U.S. Midwest or Northeast.
I also noted a fashionable woman in what I would guess as her seventies; petite with fine facial bones, naturally-wavy white pixie-cut hair, good color to her face and wearing a stonewashed-blue (light blue) denim jumper with a pale, buttercup-yellow (or would it be lemon) cardigan thrown over her shoulders and, from the little bit I know of French women, she looked decidedly and effortlessly French, even without a scarf! But, oops, we're talking about the warmer colors here like beige (actually, the light yellow was as appealingly warm).
It looks great, you've done a bang-up job as usual, but I can't use it or add anything helpful to this, as these are SO not my colors. I could maybe have gotten by with them when, 25 years ago, I bleached my hair blonde and (horrors) visited the tanning salon (yes, I'm paying for it now with much-compromised skin and am a regular at the dermatologist's office, trying to deal with "pre-cancers"– so wish, in my young days, we'd have had the nice self-tanners/bronzers which exist today)…although a good, chocolate brown I could pull off when I was my true dark brunette, best as a skirt or slacks, and I do like that color; I've seen it paired with crisp white, a certain shade of pink or turquoise. Sometimes you can pull off taupes or beiges with black. But I can't even wear warm, gold jewelry; big clash against my skin tone. I can only go with the cool colors, and silver/platinum on the bling.
I totally love the colors and look forward to seeing the expansions. These colors are right up my alley! Great job as usual!!!
Love this, even though I'm cool-toned (pale skin, very dark brown hair… what used to be a "winter" in the old days). To me, this capsule looks like mostly neutrals, not necessarily "warm"… with the exception of the peach blouse (not at all my color, I'd replace with a soft coral perhaps). Actually, adding the soft blue of the shirt in the other basic capsule to this one would work well, I think. Keep it coming! (P.S. My husband has asked several times for a similar man's basic wardrobe… any recommendations??)
I totally get the "winter." Had my "colors" done in the 1970s and I think the colorist really was spot-on because, curiously, it still seems to fit me today, a lifetime later. I agree that peachy oranges with brown are tricky even though they seem like a natural combo…they begin, in fact, to look a little too '70s "groovy"/Ed Sullivan Show-infomercial to me but our guru, Ms. Janice, will work out the right tones!
OmG, I just remembered a guy that worked in an office with me back in those days; he would repeat-wear this awful brown suit with a Halloween orange shirt and a flowered tie…and he was an executive. It got a little better when he remarried, once he had a wife to guide him on his wardrobe. It strikes me in that era how we almost dressed in costumes rather than outfits. I think a lot of us looked ridiculous. I don't miss it! I would tie a kerchief on my head like Rhoda on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, or else wear a crocheted snood over my bunned-up ponytail; we'd wear matching openwork-crochet vests, bell-bottoms of course; yech, it was as bad as mustard-yellow refrigerators and avocado-green shag carpet in the house. My dad even had a avocado-green Chevy. And then the men got stuck with those poly leisure suits which were probably the worst of all of it. The older men didn't know what to do with their hair, so they'd grow it out to look "mod" and it was a disaster. If you're reading this and you're younger, be glad you came along afterward!
Yes! Please expand. Would you consider doing another packing post for a long Thanksgiving weekend in NYC? Cross country flight takes up most of two days, usual suspects when it comes to activities: Parade, Thanksgiving dinner at nice restaurant, broadway play and shopping. Most of the stay will be in the West Village. Thanks! I love your packing posts and will borrow from your prior ones if I don't see anything specifically for Thanksgiving/NYC. You rock, Janice!
Yes pleeeeeease expand!
Yes, please, I would love to see it with accessories, too!
I am addicted to your blog and I've read it all…every posting!! (Some twice.) OK, I know that's a little creepy, but what you're doing is really fascinating. Also, this warm wardrobe you're putting together is really intriguing.
Some of us former "winters" have had to lighten our hair so much as we've gone grey that we are now blonds. Take a look at some current photos of Diane Keaton and you'll see what I'm talking about. I find that my wardrobe looks half like the colors you've shown above and half like my old "winter" wardrobe which is similar to your personal wardrobe. It's confusing to say the least. I can still wear black well and some of the teals and purples but I had a lot of navy and raspberry reds which look terrible on me now. Probably my very worst color is white. It feels very confusing to have to tackle this color change-over after so many years of feeling confident about which colors work and which don't.
I'm grappling with the question of whether to base my wardrobe on black since I have a lot of it (but perhaps phase this out over time), the warm colors which seem to look good on me now, or just go with the greys accepting the inevitable future when I become so sick of constant salon visits that I just let my hair go grey. (Too young for that this week!) Is it crazy to have three neutral bases in a wardrobe? Can I keep all three neutrals and limit the accent colors to purples, teals/turquoises and watermelon?
I agree, Sue! I think my wardrobe now is a "soft winter"… black and then a lot of pale neutrals… silver, champagne, tan. There's still the occasional vibrant color to punch it up. But almost no red anymore.
Thank you for this! My neutral is brown – I would love to see how you accessorize this wardrobe <3