July 22, 2018
Wednesday’s very colorful wardrobe could certainly use some accessories! I’m going to take this opportunity to experiment with something that I’ve been thinking about for a while…
Imagine this scenario: you are at work, some distance from your home. You find that for some reason you MUST travel, and you must travel tonight. You’re leaving directly from work, and you’re relying on someone else to pack your luggage…
Do you have enough awareness of what’s in your closet to be able to tell someone else what to pack?
(my ability to do this is heavily reliant on Belovedest’s overall facility with clothing and fashion terminology…)
You’ve got your color scheme:
This plan is the same items that I’ve been including the last few posts:
So you’re sitting at your desk (or wherever you might get to sit at your job!) trying to figure out what to tell your friend to pack for you. You’ve got the wardrobe sorted:
green linen top – Eileen Fisher; natural tee shirt – Eileen Fisher; orange pekoe sleeveless silk top – Eileen Fisher; tie-front linen shirt – J.Crew; tank top – Eileen Fisher; yellow poncho top – Eileen Fisher; cardigan – Barefoot Dreams; gold tank – Me&Thee; orange tee – Eileen Fisher; beige shorts – L.L.Bean; brown shorts – H&M; cropped pants – L.L.Bean; scarf – Treasure & Bond; pants – L.L.Bean
You’ve got your list of a dozen accessories that you think you want, so you start trying to remember what you own, and what will work with your wardrobe…
loafers – Naturalizer; sandals – Jack Rogers; espadrilles – UGG; tote – Ghurka; crossbody bag – Madewell; evening bag – Louise et Cie; earrings – J.Crew; ring – Annabelle Lucilla Jewellery; bracelet – Tohum Design; necklace – Farra; watch – Skagen; scarf – Eileen Fisher
If your wardrobe has been assembled along simple color guidelines, you shouldn’t have many problems. Without referring to the clothing in this wardrobe AT ALL, I just looked at the color wheels at the beginning of this post, and picked out accessories.
Did this work?
I feel like this looks pretty good, at least when presented like this, all together. But the real acid-test is to see if outfits are easy to assemble, right?
So what, if anything, can we learn from this little experiment of mine?
Mostly, that if you’re consistent in your tastes and preferences, it will become more and more simple to get dressed as time passes. You’ll weed out items that don’t go along with your chosen plan, and you’ll gradually purchase pieces that work well for you. You’ll make the somewhat boring but essential investment in some neutral pieces to do the wardrobe heavy lifting, and you’ll indulge in items that have “whappage” and really speak to you…
And when it’s easy to get dressed, you’ve got that much more time to do really amazing things in the world!
love,
Janice
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What a beautiful wardrobe and accessories! As a warm, light and soft/muted person, I love this summery combination. The two scarfs are so gorgeous. And the multi-coloured necklace just plays so well with everything else. The power to the neutrals. I am wearing a favourite muted lime green top at the moment – Its Pear Coloured – Yippee! – that really is the colour. Thank you so much.
This is so pretty! The orange tunic is especially chic.
I just got back from a trip to Morocco, where I wore all black. Boring but it worked. By the time I looked at what was loose and with the right coverage (arms and neck–as much for sun protection as for cultural sensitivity), wrinkle-resistant and with comfortable fabric, the pieces all happened to be black. I was happy with what I chose. The only things I didn’t wear were the necklaces–they weren’t comfortable with my cross-body bag, especially when walking around all day long. I think next time I’ll go for big earrings and skip the necklaces.
Janice, you make it look so simple and effortless, yet stunning… Just amazing!
I recently lost enough weight that I can buy clothes I actually like, rather than whatever fits that doesn’t look hideous on me. You’ve got me so excited about my wardrobe. I read and followed “Ready to Wear” by Mary Lou Andre over a decade ago. Her book has the seeds of Capsule Wardrobe principles which I tried to incorporate as much as possible. Your posts really refine the concept and make it so accessible to me. Seeing the different palettes “fleshed out” has been extremely helpful. I’m addicted to your blog and am so happy to be excited about my wardrobe again. Thank you.
Congratulations, Carol and ohhh you can have so much fun with this! I’d want to do either a starting from scratch wardrobe or a one whole outfit a month wardrobe. How exciting!
You do make it look easy! Great choices. I really love all the different color tops. Bravo!
Those colors would look great on me (yes, I’m a redhead) but I’d swap out either the stone-colored shorts or capris for a skirt in same color, or even a print, since all the tops are solids. And maybe a cool, loose dress for evening to go with those pretty sandals and purse. I’ve noticed most of your recent wardrobes have included multiple pairs of shorts but no skirts. I find skirts cooler in hot weather. Like Carol above, I’ve recently lost enough weight to change sizes, and suddenly I’m excited about new clothes again! Your blog has made that a lot more fun! Thanks for all the great ideas!
Janice,
One of the many things that I appreciate about your posts is how you always clearly show the variety of the outfits, one by one! Rather than just showing a grouping of clothes and accessories, you bring home how they can be made into many outfits of different combinations ! As a visual learner, this is one of the many reasons that I so appreciate your site, and have learned so much from you ! Thank you, thank you !
Hi, you popped up on my Pinterest, I love this! I have been looking for an age appropriate classic blogger to follow, so finally found you, better late than never! Ps love the colour scheme. Regards, Susan.
Please, can you expand this to larger capsule? One at a time, or 24, or even starting from scratch. I am puzzled how to incorporate multiple accent colors following those templates.
Love love it.