This capsule wardrobe puts me in the mood to watch baseball – I have NO IDEA why… Maybe just typing the words tomato and mustard? But what a fun capsule wardrobe for accessories!
I’ve mixed up the order for the accessories this time, primarily so I could get another pair of shoes into the mix and give our poor wearer a break from those red loafers! Because this entire wardrobe has a warm feeling to it, I thought beautiful brown leather would be a great accessory option:
tee – Uniqlo; pants – L.L.Bean; linen cardigan – L.L.Bean; top loafers – Cole Haan; middle loafers – Minnetonka; bottom loafers – Trotters
Tee – Uniqlo; pants – L.L.Bean; cardigan – L.L.Bean; top necklace – Chico’s; middle necklace – Lauren Ralph Lauren; bottom necklace – Kohl’s
Because this outfit felt like three separate colors (maybe because it IS 3 colors…. duh….) I thought a necklace would be a good choice – something to pull things together and to break up the big patches of solid color. I particularly like the multicolored necklace – it has lots of colors in it, way beyond what our wardrobe includes… For some reason, it still blends in well.
Earrings are important to many of us; don’t forget that there are hoops in all KINDS of shapes, in addition to the tried and true (or is it tired and true) round?
tee – Uniqlo; pants – L.L.Bean; cardigan – L.L.Bean; top earrings – Marco Bicego; middle earrings – Marianela Vargas; bottom earrings – Carmen Anocibar
A warm leather watch band gets us back to that whole brown leather accessory idea:
Cardigan – L.L.Bean; tee – Uniqlo; skirt – Ermanno Scervino; top watch – Ripcurl; middle watch – Nine West; bottom watch – Fossil
Ditto with brown sandals. It’s always worth remembering, if you have a wardrobe of colors that seems tough to match, that neutral leathers, as well as metallics, will always work. This wardrobe could easily embrace bronze or copper accessories!
Tee – J. Crew; pants – L.L.Bean; top sandals – Lucky Brand; middle sandals – Josef Seibel; bottom sandals – Steve Madden
The leathers don’t have to match exactly, because the eye of the beholder will blend them a bit. But it’s pretty important that your pieces at least look like they’re cousins, if not identical twins…
Jacket – L.L.Bean; tee – Uniqlo; pants – L.L.Bean; top bag – Emperia; middle bag – BP.; bottom bag – Fossil
Wardrobe accent colors are the perfect place to indulge in bold or vivid accessories, especially in the summer when just about the only thing you can stand to wear is a pair of earrings or a bracelet. There’s a bracelet out there in pretty much any color you can imagine!
Tee shirt – J. Crew; linen pants – Uniqlo; top bracelet – Dorothy Perkins; middle bracelet – Ports 1961; bottom bracelet – Endless Jewelry
It wouldn’t be wrong to have all 3 pair of earrings…
Cardigan – L.L.Bean; tank – Current/Elliott; pants – Uniqlo; top earrings – Kendra Scott; middle earrings – Chico’s; bottom earrings – Vince Camuto
Casual canvas shoes are an easy way to bring an accent color into your accessories without breaking the bank. You’ve got to wear some sort of shoes most of the time, so why not some fun ones?
Cardigan – Boden; tee – Uniqlo; pants – Uniqlo; top shoes – Nine West; middle shoes – Keds; bottom shoes – Vans
Gotta have a tote bag:
tank – Current/Elliott; shorts – L.L.Bean; top bag – Mark & Graham; middle bag – Sole Society; bottom bag – J. Crew
Since this shirt was a garment chosen to bring the slightest hint of dressiness into this otherwise super-casual wardrobe, I thought that a subdued scarf (for that over the top air conditioning!) would be an appropriate choice here. Remember that a scarf can also be worn as a belt, if you’re so configured, or tied to a handbag for a wee swish of color…
Shirt – Splendid; skirt – Ermanno Scervino; striped scarf – Caslon; solid scarf – The Kooples; two-color scarf – Le Tricot Perugia
This top doesn’t require much else going on to be visually complete, but a small bracelet could be a nice touch. And remember that you can wear more than 1 bracelet. Without veering off into that whole silly “arm party” fad, multiple accessories can make a statement without being cluttered or irritating to wear.
Top – Missoni; pants – L.L.Bean; top bracelet – Forever 21; middle bracelet – Sho London; bottom bracelet – Vita Fede
I saw this scarf tied around a wide straw hat, blowing in the breeze…
tank – Current/Elliott; pants – J. Crew; red scarf – Nordstrom; yellow scarf – Faliero Sarti; white scarf – Nordstrom
Your loved ones asked me to remind you to buy some GOOD sunglasses, and to wear them regularly. They are the single most important items in this entire post, and maybe this entire blog!
Top – Uniqlo; pants – L.L.Bean; top sunglasses – Burberry; middle sunglasses – Chloe; bottom sunglasses – Smith Optics
Dozens and dozens of possibilities, for almost any occasion you can imagine in warm weather. While it might not pack into a carry-on bag, it would easily fit into 1 checked bag, and you’d be ready for whatever comes!
love,
Janice
I love the addition of brown. Bags and shoes tend to cost a lot, go out of style, and wear out. So it's good to have them go with as many things as possible.
Describe the colors as tomato and mustard >see t-shirt covered in condiments >think about hotdogs >associate with being at the ballpark >voila – baseball! Where else was your brain supposed to take you? :) Fun, playful wardrobe perfect to take in all kinds of fun summer activities.
Janice, This wardrobe is so much fun ! It reminds me of a little kid jumping up and down for the joy of it ! You hit this one " out of the ballpark ", Janice ! Ahem !
Again, I'm mystified by my own reactions. Other than the white, nothing in this wardrobe fits my wardrobe plan. Yet, today I'm even more enamored of it than I was yesterday!
I want to meet the person who wears these clothes.
Gwendolynn
I am wearing yesterday's khaki ankle pant/white shirt /red cardigan today along with (gasp) red shoes to the office. It is supposed to be a casual day w/o clients today. I kinda like this casual look and there are lots of great ideas in this series.
Isn't it fun to shake up the work wardrobe a little bit? Red shoes IN THE OFFICE?? You mad woman… (in the best possible way!)
hugs,
Janice
"The angels want to wear my red shoes. " -Elvis Costello
I admit very happily that I am a proud member of the arm party tribe.
Deb from Vancouver
Good for you! I think it's a great idea, but it's been, frankly, blogged to death. I always try to avoid writing about what other bloggers have already covered; I don't want to be a copy-cat…
hugs,
Janice
Ahh Deb, Another member of my tribe?. I couldn't agree more I love my bracelets.
This collection just keeps getting better and better. If I could start from scratch and did not live in the country (where whites do not stay white for very long), this is the wardrobe I would own! Of course, I think that about many of your creations, and can't wait to see what you come up with next.
Coincidentally, I just saw this hilarious Super Bowl commercial for the first time last night:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOlfhBT8i9I
So à propos for this fun wardrobe, don't you think? (I didn't even know Heinz made pickle relish!)
I also love the brown and the brightly coloured accessories. I wonder what would happen if the yellow or red or green accessories were used to make another 4 x 4 but with different colours. I'm thinking – start with yellow shoes, scarf and bracelet and see where you end up. Thanks Carol S
Gosh, I love this wardrobe, Janice! With a couple of tweeks (perhaps walking shoes instead of canvas, for example), wouldn't this be a great travel wardrobe for a couple of months in Europe?!! OK, maybe the white linen slacks should be a more travel-resistant shade, there could be another scarf or two instead of necklaces… minor tweeks. I'm going to start rounding up fabrics and 'rounding down' my figure just a bit in preparation for a bunch of sewing! Yay – I love having a goal ;-)
Joyce in Oregon, not Wisconsin!
I love everything here and you've given me so many splendid ideas to try out and I love all these colors, beautifully done as usual
The Keds link takes you to the Vans shoe.
I just might order a pair of those Nine West loafers (though not in yellow…)!
So there's a website that lets you play with colors and patterns: colourlovers.com. I played around and came up with this pattern (technically I colored in a pattern that was already there). http://www.colourlovers.com/pattern/5318584/Kaleidoscope. I would love to see a wardrobe based on it – I can imagine the whole thing as a lovely scarf.
Love the brown/tan leather accessories! They go with everything! I might need one of those watches!
The accessories have absolutely "made" this wardrobe for me. I enjoyed yesterday's innovative post for making me think but found it just a bit … um … vivid … to take many ideas from. But seeing it all dressed up has made an intriguing difference. Now I'm encouraged to think beyond outfits of mostly neutral with just one accent colour at a time. Two bright colours with a neutral can look so stylish, as here, when thoughtfully accessorised. Breakthrough for me.
Robyn in Tasmania (ps fabbo footwear!)
Ohhhh, how I love these.