Pretty much 45 seconds after I posted the 13 = 81 summer wardrobe, in which you can literally wear whatever’s clean, and it will still go together, I got suggestions. Dozens of suggestions…“This is wonderful, but I can’t ever let me knees be seen in public!!!”
Variation: No Visible Knees Whatever’s Clean Summer Wardrobe
Variation: No Visible Knees Whatever’s Clean Summer Wardrobe
all clothes – L.L.Bean
“Okay, this is great, but you need to do a version that doesn’t have anything sleeveless in it – my armpits are horrible!!!”
Varation: No Visible Knees, nor Armpits Whatever’s Clean Summer Wardrobe
all clothes – L.L.Bean
“Please do a variation that doesn’t include any black – I never wear black!”
Variation: The “No-Black” Whatever’s Clean Summer Wardrobe
all clothes – L.L.Bean
“Since I retired, I refuse to ever wear a skirt again – please do a version of this wardrobe with only pants…”
Version: The All Pants Whatever’s Clean Summer Wardrobe
all clothes – L.L.Bean
“This is wonderful, but I don’t like olive green – could you use blue instead?”
Variation: No Green, More Blue Whatever’s Clean Summer Wardrobe
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all clothes – L.L.Bean
Tomorrow – six more variations!
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Janice, You are very accommodating!
For one variation more : I can not imagine a summer wardrobe without a white skirt !
; )
Thank you for all this variations, that's very interesting !
Since I read your blog, I sewed 3 basic basic skirts in one week. I feel better when I look my wardrobe.
Orangette
You rock! I love all these visuals!
Not only useful, but funny! I was thinking along some of these lines myself… This summer wardrobe concept suits my life perfectly, with only the occasional dressy affair. I'm not shopping though. I've just unpacked what I already have for summer and I don't seem to be missing anything. I also fished out summery jewelry, turquoise, shells, beads and the like. Looking good…
Dear Janice – your readers are quite ummmm…..bossy…..and I still like the original best.
Thanks for being so flexible – and creative.
I like to think that my readers identify very personally with what I show, and are trying to apply it to their own lives. Sometimes I have to help out a little bit with an amended visual (or twelve!), but if it helps clarify a simple summer wardrobe for someone, the work is worth it!
Could I ask for one more variation? I live in Texas and it is very very hot here. I wear mostly sleeveless tops and dresses in the summertime. I'm almost 61 years old, do not have perfect upper arms (but they are not terrible) and like wearing sleeveless. I would love to see a variation featuring sleeveless (and casual) tops and dresses with a little jacket or sweater for chilled indoor air. Thank you!
Thank you Janice. It was a struggle but I modified used your original suggestion to build one of my own. Not nearly as nice as the ones you have put together! Now, there are so many choices, I'm certain one will be perfect. Your 12s are filled with basics so its usually possible to pull most of the pieces from my closet. Thanks!
ROFLOL!! I love them all.
Thank you for this comical but graphic example of how easily your principles adapt to each individual.
I've been reading and watching you daily for about 6 months now. Bit by bit I've been whittling down my winter wardrobe. I found this to be a hard process. It was difficult to accept that some expensive and beautiful items of clothing were just not working for me (not the best color, wrong size, not a great shape). I removed a lot of things right away and then have been slowly reducing even more. Yesterday I put on a beautiful charcoal and pink cashmere argyle twin set and looked in the mirror and decided that I just didn't look my best in it. I'm getting pickier every day. Out it went. Now just about everything in my wardrobe goes with lots of other items. I have the shoes to match every outfit. I have comfortable attractive pant or skirts to make every top and jacket work. Getting dressed is easy and fun. I'm an interior designer and it was a lot of work to settle on a style that seemed a bit creative but where everything worked together following your system. Now, no more morning torment! Thanks, Janice, this has been a gut-wrenching change but I am grateful for it. Now…on to summer!
This is great, and hysterical. Thank you for the giggle.
Oh what fun!!!!I had been thinking about how I could incorporate the basics.The colors
you pick for the Texas lady and the retired lady are perfect for me too.
One more request .I love white but do not feel a plus size lady should wear white pants.What do you think?
I wear my white pants with tunics rather than shorter tops, I find that it softens the effect.
I would say just make sure they are a heavy enough material to cover what needs to be covered! : )
what a lovely idea! really nice.
Whoa, Janice. You are waaaaaay to good to us. The fact that we can't even figure out how to add sleeves or swap black for blue or green or whatever shows how very much we need you! Thanks.
You are so brilliant at this! Here's my wish- and it's a selfish one- I wish (lots of) retailers would hire you to do this all the time. I'm going to purchase some of these pieces from LL Bean and I never would've thought of them otherwise.
I have so much fun looking at your wardrobes………
Its funny to hear everyone's wardrobe preferences. I'd go along with the pants only no sleeveless. Although I have tanks I just always layer them.
I love the "Whatever's Clean" theory, very appropriate for me right now. I'm going to re-shuffle my wardrobe next week, both for Autumn and because I've gone from full-time office work to full-time external student. I worked out very quickly that I need to properly get dressed each morning (sitting around in my pajamas does nothing for my mental state), but I can dress far more casually.
While white looks brighter, crisper and cleaner for summer, I can't seem to find the right capri's, shorts, slacks that you can't see through in the right light. I've stayed with beige, stone or (khaki). My favorite of the groupings today is the "lots of blues". This is giving me a kick start to get my summmer wardrobe in order.
LOL. You are so amazing to accommodate all the requests. Bless your sweet soul!
I'm glad someone requested a non-beige wardrobe since I can not wear it close to my hair. Thank you for posting options. From all the requests you had I imagine you have a wide readership of your blog from all different stages in life. So very cool of you to listen to your readers and show options. You really are brilliant at this you know.
Late to the party, but I think your genius comes true in the common wardrobes of some sort or another. Well done.
You are a SAINT!
Love the concept but the clothes. Honestly! Major frump party going on here. Could you step this up a notch? At least to J Crew level.
So true… second the motion! Perhaps another post with better options keeping with the same concept? Thanks!
Why don't you just both substitute the J. Crew version of the items for your more "upscale" wardrobes?
I don't like showing my arms either, but my solution is to have a light cotton / linen blouse to wear as an open jacket over anything sleeveless. I find this helps me to feel a bit less casual as well, with no loss of comfort. My 'but' to your common wardrobe is that being petite I try to always dress in a 'column' where the bottom and top or bottom and 'cover' match. However, I feel I can use your principles to find pieces without your having to do a post! Thanks for all your great ideas.
This was a brilliant post, thank you so much. Love all the variations, so very helpful.
By the way, I live in northern Canada, about a six-hour roundtrip from decent stores, so I do a lot of mail order for clothing. LL Bean and Lands End have been so helpful, esp with the high Canadian dollar recently, and with LL Bean's free shipping. I for one appreciate the LLB price point, and basics I can jazz up with my own accessories.
Eleanor
I admire you for your patience with your readers. That is all I have to say about that.