November 2, 2018
The purchase of a serious cold-weather coat is not something to be taken lightly! First up, a ton of people will see your coat – far more (at least in a city) than will ever see anything else you wear. And of course, coats can be expensive, so you don’t want to flounder around through 2 or 3 of them to get what you really like…
To clarify what’s going on here, for newer readers: I started back in January by choosing six Hermes scarves, and then assembled six similar, but different, outfits – one each to “go with” each of the scarves. Each month, on or around the 1st of the month, I add another outfit, and we continue to evaluate how each wardrobe progresses.
The little square up in the top left corner of these images is that original scarf; they’re not really intended to be worn with these winter coats, but most of them could be. I don’t think that even I could figure out a way to wear both scarves. Hmm…
Silk scarf – Hermès Fouets et Badines; beret – Halogen; checked scarf – Saachi; coat – J.Crew; gloves – Nordstrom; boots – Cougar
The obvious coat for this scarf and capsule would certainly be black, so I decided to ignore the obvious and go for something that would be a delight to wear on dark, grey days!
I’m not putting the new coats into the wardrobe, because the coats don’t have to strictly interchange with anything else. But I am including the accessories on the burgeoning page of accessories for each of these capsules!
The addition of your heavy coat and accessories to your wardrobes doesn’t bring a lot of new options – but you’ve got a new scarf, which can always be useful… (and you could rock your beret with other outfits, I suspect)
This next wardrobe seems like it would be a cheery comfort on these oh-so-dark days… Does it shake your comfort zone a little bit to mix shades of pink?
scarf – Hermès The Horsawards; hat – Treasure & Bond; infinity scarf – Halogen; coat – Halogen; gloves – Halogen; waterproof boots – Blondo
This wardrobe just feels like it would flatter one’s winter complexion:
Another pink scarf is never a bad idea in this wardrobe!
This wardrobe could easily accommodate a navy or grey coat, but I thought I would imagine that this heroine doesn’t live in the coldest imaginable climate; a lighter jacket and waterproof boots might get her through the winter just fine (well, a floral hat never hurts!):
scarf – Hermès Les Tresors d’un Artiste; hat – Brixton; infinity scarf – Trouvé; jacket – L.L.Bean; gloves – Echo; waterproof boots – Aquatalia
Such an easy wardrobe from which to get dressed:
The solid scarf goes with pretty much everything in this wardrobe! It’s easy to overlook the possibilities in a simple accent-colored scarf…
I was SO tempted to give this heroine a pink coat, but we’ve already got one pink coat… plus, you’ve got to live someplace pretty clean to make that work! (in downtown Chicago, a pretty pale coat might have dark schmutzy spots on it within an hour…)
So how about olive, with pink accents. It took AGES to find this scarf, but the perfection of pink and olive was worth the hunt!
Scarf – Hèrmes Merveilleuses Lanternes; beret – Halogen; scarf – Loewe; coat – L.L.Bean; gloves – Nordstrom; boots – Blackstone
This wardrobe is unusual, but still manages to convey a specific mood, and to give this mythical heroine lots of options!
The joy of finding a scarf that includes multiple colors from your wardrobe (aside from just general feelings of gratification for having been patient) is that you can pull together outfits with just the addition of said scarf. This makes getting dressed even easier!
I’m madly smitten with this coat… sigh…
Scarf – Hèrmes Jardin a Sintra; hat – Sonoma; scarf – Halogen; coat – Polo Ralph Lauren; gloves – Halogen; boots – Ilse Jacobsen
This wardrobe feels like it’s truly “Whatever’s Clean” – you would hard-pressed to put together a truly ugly outfit from these pieces:
Yes, this heroine already had a soft blue scarf, but this new one is snuggly knit… Nothing might make you feel better on a cold Monday morning when you head to work!
This last wardrobe always confounds me – black or brown? I’m growing to love the look of the 2 colors together, so I’ve quit choosing! This would be a perfect place to bring in a leopard print jacket, if that’s your thing. I found a perfect brown and black boucle coat, but couldn’t get a decent photograph of it… sigh…
So I’m going with a beautiful brown coat, a herringbone scarf in black and brown, and then a mix of black and brown accessories! Why not?
Yes, you’ve seen these boots before. I just wore a pair of them all over Boston for 3 days, and I can vouch for both their comfort and their water resistance. I didn’t actually wade through puddles, but it was very damp and splashy, and I stayed nice and dry.
Silk scarf – Hermès Ndop; hat – Halogen; scarf – Eileen Fisher; gloves – Polo Ralph Lauren; coat – SET; boots – Blondo
Another unexpected wardrobe:
The scarf that combines black and brown serves as a nice way to mix the colors in outfits…
If you had to start completely from scratch with 1 of these wardrobes (or something close, that suited your physique), which would you choose? I’m actually leaning very much toward grey and blue, which shocks me! Maybe it the grey sky/grey lake vista that I have right now, eh?
love,
Janice
p.s. Did anybody notice that ALL of these scarves are still available? Last year, most of them had sold out by summer… Hmm…
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I’m with you on the grey wardrobe. It’s so lovely and peaceful .. and the “whatever’s clean” thrills me! I like it so much I’m going In that direction for my wardrobe. JANIce Collins Coyle, Washington DC
Love the olive and pink AND the brown and black . . . hmmmmmm olive and pink goes with both in my world :-)
If I had to start from scratch, like you and Janice I would go with the gray and soft blue. (Why: First, I just like these colors. Soft and serene. Second, they go with my coloring: slowly-turning-gray hair and blue eyes.)
My second choice would be navy, gray, and burgundy.
Thank you so much for doing winter coats. They all look great. Sure wish that cashmere olive and pink scarf was within reach $$$ ? It’s beautiful. In my world, we wear a coat or jacket every day of the year so they are a vital part of the wardrobe. Thanks, Janice.
I love the blue and gray wardrobe. It’s fun to see how it’s has come together and helps me to think about my own purchases.
I absolutely love this series Janice and have kept pace throughout the year. I have a small shopping list to fill in some gaps which I will take with me when the sales begin in earnest. I bought my winter coat in March this year, which my mum spotted languishing alone on a rail squashed to an inch of its life amongst a sea of rejects. It was very similar to the yellow coat in style, but in a lovely teal blue. It was a size smaller than I usually wear, but it did fit surprisingly well and at an almost give away price I just had to have it. My scarf template is similar in colour to your Navy– Hermes Voyage en Etoffes of 2016, which is when I started collecting pieces along the way. Two years in and my outfits are finally coming together. Looking forward to December’s festive outfits.
I like the top one the most with it black base and shots of bright colour. The yellow coat is dynamic. While not my accent colours, this one shows the versality of a black base with accents and I love the brightness and sunniness of the overall look.
I’m in the blue and grey team too. It suits my colouring, but also because it’s calm, elegant, and out of the ordinary. This weekend I’ll be using it as a guide to “curate” my wardrobe for the coming summer (southern hemisphere). I’ll use black and dark blue for pants and skirts as it’s very hard to find nice grey bottoms in my town, but otherwise this is the guide. I find this series inspiring, regardless of the colour schemes. It’s fun to see the wardrobes grow over the year, and to think about how and why (and when) things are added.
I’m definitely in team Blue and Grey – so much so that I’ve been tuning my wardrobe toward that goal! I sometimes add in a bit of purple or lilac – but only if it’s on the blue end of the color. Fantastic selections!
I’ve been loving the blue & grey wardrobe all year long. So beautifully done, so serene and calm. Easily accented with small shots of cream,soft pink, lavender, aqua and periwinkle if one wanted a change of scenery in the closet.
As I have a light warm complexion, with very fair skin that is cooling, hazel eyes and graying very light ash-brown hair, my inclination is toward the black and brown based wardrobe. In my own closet, I’ve come up with a variation of your approaches. My bottoms and shoes are all shades of brown, black, or gray although I’m looking hard at adding a maroon. Since gray is the only suitable light neutral I can find this season and I find it difficult to find the right shade of lights neutrals in ivory and brown, my tops are primarily in my accent colors which are shades of dusty pink, berry, cinnamon, muted turquoise, and deep forest green. In a fashion world designed primarily for golden-haired blue-eyed women, I really struggle to find flattering colors. Consequently, I seldom get rid of any garment unless it is worn out or more than 1 size off in either direction of my present weight, which fluctuates.
If I had a cooler-colored complexion, I would choose the blue/gray or the pink/winter white, those are particularly lovely collections.
I’m grey and blue for sure! It is a foolproof wardrobe for a grey haired woman with blue eyes.
The gray and blue is pulling out in front for me, but the navy is sitting comfortably in second place. But that last wardrobe always manages to turn my head! Do I sound scattered? I guess I am! – nancyo
Dear Janice, please could you transform (e.g. copy-paste) this series into series of 12 articles – one for each wardrobe. Once I tried to copy and paste one wardrobe into one file for mysef, to be able to read it at all. I really find this format overwhelming and confusing, and not working for me. Please! For example you can post this series of articles at beginning of Dec so that we end with each wardrobe in its own article.
Hugs!
A capsule wardrobe is a genius why to start curating your closet. Once we have the staples, buiding up variety is much easier. Coincedentally I just re-published my post about staples ;-)
Of all your boards I really like the one (I think it’s 3rd from bottom) with the turquoise feature. Turquoise works with everything from red through brown and khaki!
I am in love with the red and navy Tresors outfits. I look forward to your updates! I’ve read all of your “red” posts and this series is one of my favorites. Your work is beautiful and I recommend your blog often.