From the very beginning of this capsule wardrobe project, some of you have been clamoring for a pair of jeans. (actually, someone sent me a shockingly rude email when I didn’t start with jeans; nobody should care so very much about what a blogger suggests…)
So now we’re going to find a wonderful pair of jeans in our first neutral – yes, this gives us a core of four, which I consider to be a great starting point for a wardrobe.
When you’re looking for jeans, try on lots and lots of them. And don’t worry about price – more expensive jeans aren’t automatically anything special, and inexpensive jeans might fit you beautifully. Just don’t compromise on the quality of the denim, nor on the construction. After going to all this trouble to find your best jeans, you don’t want them to wear out in a month or two!
For style – the choice is yours. If you’re deeply in love with the really pencil narrow jeans, go for it. If your preference would be for a more timeless style, that would never be a bad idea…
Navy jeans – Uniqlo, black jeans – Current/Elliott, grey jeans – Rebecca Taylor, caramel jeans – Toast, brown jeans – Viyella, beige jeans – Morgan
White cotton shirt – Diane von Furstenberg, white silk blouse – Nic +Zoe, ivory silk blouse – Jaeger, ivory silk top – Jaeger
You have lots of options now…
Black penny loafers – Cole Haan, white silk blouse – Nic +Zoe, Navy silk tee – Theory, Navy trousers – Viyella, Navy wool cardigan – Miu Miu, Navy jeans – Uniqlo
pointed toe loafers – Kelsi Dagger Brooklyn, white cotton shirt – Diane von Furstenberg, black tee –Hallhuber, black linen trousers – Viyella, black cotton and cashmere cardigan – 10 Crosby Derek Lam, black jeans – Current/Elliott
tasseled flats – Trotters, white cotton shirt – Diane von Furstenberg, silver grey tee – Hallhuber, silver grey trousers – Viyella, grey cashmere cardigan – Jaeger, grey jeans – Rebecca Taylor
Ballet flats – Frye, ivory silk top – Jaeger, caramel tee – Hallhuber, copper twill trousers – Lands’ End, caramel wool and cashmere cardigan – Customer Lovers, caramel jeans – Toast
tassel loafers – The Flexx, ivory silk blouse – Jaeger, brown cotton tee – Uniqlo, brown twill trousers – Lands’ End, chocolate brown fleece cardigan – L.L.Bean, brown jeans – Viyella
penny loafers – Cole Haan, ivory silk blouse – Jaeger, khaki tee – Target, tan trousers – Hallhuber, tan cashmere cardigan – La Garconne, beige jeans – Morgan
love,
Janice
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I have been "playing" with the grey combination. I haven't been to a shop yet to try on but I would suppose that grey jeans might be difficult to find in the summer. Until I find the grey jeans, I guess that I could use the "second neutral" navy. I am having fun with your posts although almost all of my wardrobe is in warm tones. D'après Carnet de Style, je porte mieux les couleurs froides. Oh well, a new look is not created in a day! Merci, bon week-end!
I have only recently found your blog and I am spending quality time every day looking at older posts as well as keeping up with the new. Always a fan of fashion makeovers and capsule clothing wardrobes, I am in ecstacy!
A side benefit as a knitter, I am using your principles to better select my next projects, yarns and colors. I am always overwhelmed with the vast array of yarns and patterns when I walk into a yarn shop. You are going to save me a lot of time and money, and I will end up with a beautiful wardrobe of sweaters and accessories that will actually coordinate with my clothing.
I appreciate you so much!
so right.i was going trough my stash and have a lot of yarn to give away:):(
so right.i was going trough my stash and have a lot of yarn to give away:):(
I'm loving this whole series, although I do think it's amusing that someone was rudely suggesting you should have started with jeans! I don't "do" jeans at all: I have a bit of a poochy belly, and find that the fly front just emphasizes an area better left alone. Side zip for me, or no zip at all…
But any great wardrobe ideas should be adapted to our own tastes & lifestyles anyway. I'm finding loads of useful suggestions, as always. Keep up the wonderful work!
In complete agreement with everything you said.
Another spot on post!
Have you considered writing a book? I think it would be really popular
Je suis d'accord – shockingly rude emails reflect poorly on the writer (imagine saying it out loud in front of a handful of people and then decide it would be……shockingly rude) – Janice, I love, love, love this series – thank you.
I enjoy all of the posts on the blog and find it easiest to adapt to my wardrobe when you lead us through step-by-step – really great!
Thank you, thank you!
this is my first post but wanted to thank you so very much for your blog and especially this most recent series. wonderful work!
I'm a long time and avid lurker who doesn't usually comment, but just wanted to say how much I appreciate all the time and effort that you put into sharing your thoughts with us. You are under no obligation and you owe us nothing, yet you deliver several thoughtful, well written and informative columns every week! It's always a delight to see what you are going to add to my wardrobe knowledge base and I particularly am enjoying this new series! Blessings on you and your generosity!
I am really enjoying this series, though haven't yet decided how I am going to interpret it from within my own wardrobe. If you can find jeans they like but not in the best colour, you can overdye them with Dylon machine dye to make it more suitable for the wardrobe. I have mostly used this to take too light ones more into dark denim land, but you can go dark brown, black etc
I'm sorry someone was rude, Janice. Just take it as a backwards compliment about what an important voice you are when it comes to personal style for many of us.
It's terrible that someone felt the need to be rude to you. I recently found your blog, and as someone who has never had a proper wardrobe, I'm finding this series of posts to be invaluable. I don't care for shopping, and I see this as a way to put together a fine, hard-working wardrobe that will need only occasional updates, and thus save me the pain of shopping, and free that mental space for other pursuits. Many thanks to you!
Dear Monica,
I get the most amazing emails, and some of them are positively vitriolic! But I deeply and sincerely don't care – I try to write things that will help women think and plan and be more effective and efficient, and if that works for some people, then I am content…
big hug,
Janice
Thank you, Janice, for all you do, pretty much 24/7 it seems to me, to make our wardrobes, closets, and suitcases a more beautiful place.
Janice, on behalf of your readers I'd like to
apologise for the random rude email you got. Nobody is forcing the writer to read your blog and gratuitous rudeness probably means the writer should seek help!
Now on the subject matter to hand, I look fat in any sort of white shirt (large ribcage) so I'm going go with a shirt in the same colour as the jeans, with a necklace, scarf or shoes to add colour!
Great series. I'm just moving countries and will have to sort through boxes and boxes of clothes. Thanks to your inspiration I now know how to do it ie by colour and coordinating colours.
So, again, thank you!
Kate
I am SO enjoying this series – I am building a wardrobe at 50. Trying to be me, finally.
Like Hope I am also 50 and trying (finally) to sort out a wardrobe – I have plenty of clothes but somehow never the right thing to hand to wear! Work clothes are the only ones that are in a kind of capsule – predominantly black with heels. But I struggle with smart casual clothes and comfortable shoes so this is really helping a lot. The timing couldn't be better – just home from a weekend in London where I felt I had taken the wrong clothes – would have been perfect for a country break!! Thank you for all your work – much appreciated.
Hmm… grey jeans… I'm quite drawn to that idea. I do like the all grey capsule thing – it seems sophisticated, somehow.
PS – glad to hear that the occasional nonsense doesn't get you down. Keep on keepin' on!
I cannot imagine why anyone would write hateful messages to you…shows their lack of confidence and awareness. Keep up the good work Janice….so many of us cannot wait till the next post!
Rude people puzzle me. What's the point? In any case, I'm in no way trying to be rude when I say that so far this series is just not doing it for me. I'm not sure why. The concept is good. The advice is valuable. I just don't seem to click with any of the color schemes or the clothing selections. I find this puzzling about myself since I usually like almost all of your creations. I'll keep following, however. If something suddenly makes it all work for me, I think I will learn something about myself. Maybe there just isn't enough "stuff" here yet.
Janice–The world seems to be full of a lot of weird stuff that it is just best to forgive so that we can move forward in life, something you are beautifully doing. I love your attitude of acceptance.
This series is exciting to me and I can't wait to see each of the wardrobes develop!! Once again, thanks for creating my very favorite blog!
Another long time, if sporadic, reader who just wanted to say I'm glad the negativity doesn't get to you. You provide wonderful information here – thank you.
You are changing my life. I'm at step 5 and I'm totally engrossed. What a relief. Thanks!!!
Anything can be timeless, it depends on who wears it. For some people, the loosest palazzo pants may be their first basic pair of trousers. For others it’s suede leggings.
I keep coming back because I love your suggestions ❤️. I’m 28 yrs old but I feel that your advice is timeless. Sorry to hear about that rude email, thanks for the effort. Greetings from Honduras.
Hello, I love these articles & am going through the series to finally actually create my own capsule wardrobe. My neutrals are navy & a bit of khaki, with orange & turquoise as accents. I’m a SAHM & occasional yoga teacher so my adaptation is less formal than this. I do have a question I hope you can answer. I noticed that you put black shoes with the navy/khaki wardrobe. I can’t bear black but navy shoes look strange to me. As my wardrobe is so informal i go for trainers or boots but navy looks weird. Is white or brown for the boots ok? I’m a bit of a purist so verging off the colour scheme makes me a little anxious. ?
Brown leather goes with everything so brown boots are perfect. And white trainers too; they’re the right color for every outfit!
Hugs,
Janice