december 19, 2018
Ahhh, our heroine, the heiress… Her favorite image is a really amazing photograph of the surface of the moon:
She has used these colors for years as the inspiration for the colors in her wardrobe – not always easy to find, but she doesn’t need to own THAT much…
When we first met her back in January, she had just fielded a call from Probate Court, who needed her to come sign some papers… She was a bit stunned to receive a quite large expense check to cover the cost of her 2 hour train trip!
In April she went to Mexico for a few days, thinking that she would visit at least a couple of towns to consider for her newly possible retirement!
The great-aunt who left her all this money also left her letters – one suggesting that she live in Paris for a while! So in July she went to visit, to see how it all felt.
She was quite deliberate in making her choice – in October she spent some time in Ireland. Everybody she knows who has visited there has loved it – that has to be good, right?
Her wardrobe covers all the climates, while being very disciplined in the range of colors:
And her accessories are just as smashing as you would expect from someone with a clearly-defined style and a deep pocketbook!
After much consideration, she’s decided that she’s going to spend at least a year renting a house in the west of Ireland! Most rentals are furnished, so she really won’t need to bring much except her personal effects and any bedding or kitchen things that she particularly loves.
Since she’s planning to move in January, she really needs to beef up her wardrobe for cold weather! (a big, warm, waterproof coat is going to be important…) But she wants to try to stick with her color palette, albeit the darkest shades possible.
I chose this for her – some things are still insanely expensive, but at least she has a choice of sweaters and warm pants. Waterproof boots are essential!
striped scarf – Paul Smith; rust sweater – Bottega Veneta; scarf – Aspinal of London; rust cords – Lands’ End; blue corduroy pants – J Brand; flannel shirt – Patagonia; waterproof boots – Børn
Ireland does get some warm weather every year (more each year, it seems…) so she wants to hang onto all of the things that she wore to Mexico and to Paris. But for the next couple of months, she’s going to want to stay warm. Happily, her new garments work well in her existing wardrobe:
She may still end up in France, or Mexico, or somewhere that she’s not yet even visited! Can you imagine the luxury of being able to live anywhere? Where would you go?
love,
Janice
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Mmm I love this wardrobe! The blues with warm russet is gorgeous. And the dream of being to live wherever… I think I’d probably end up near home, but I’d love to spend a few years living in different places around the world – New Zealand, Latvia and Scotland would all be in my list – though I think I’d find them too cold!
When I see ‘all the clothes’ and ‘all the accessories’ on one page you get a true perspective of the person, their lifestyle and colour choices – it also helps identify preferences and gaps. I would like to do the same for mine, has anyone else done this yet and if so, how did you approach it?
As for being left a substantial amount of money to retire on I think I would stay put, but travel more often to all my favourite places in Europe and maybe some new ones. I would also use the money to pay for the many courses and hobbies that I would embark on and maybe start a new business….. the list is endless.
I would totally do that with my wardrobe to, but I haven´t yet. Don´t know where to start really.
Yes I am doing it. Over the last 3 years that I follow TVF, with each purchase I searched online for a picture of an item – or took the picture myself if there was no picture available. Also I took pictures of my older clothes when needed. I make a new power point presentation cluster wardrobe for each season using different templates from TVF. It is usefull since pp has an option to remove background. I learned all that from Janice.
I started first with starting from scratch template and I was using it each 3 months for couple of years (but I wasn’t making power point, I was doing it with actual clothes and it was hard work), than switched to one at a time, and now I’m using 6×5. Now I can clearly see progression of my taste (thank you, Janice!). I also use exel template that I purchased here. I find capsule wadrobe on the site that is the most similar to mine and I go along with it. As I follow it step by step, I put pictures in power presentation (taking pictures of an item if I don’t already have it) and I have great fun doing it, and not to mention it is allways a great learning experience. At the end of it there is one slide with all the clothes, and another with all the accesories for that capsule. After that I switch my actual closet: pack all my clothes that didn’t made into the capsule and put them away, and unpack and hang the new color – it looks new. I purchased clothes folder so they are neatly folded for the day I will use them again.
I also used to make before combinations in power point (that is the step in starting from scratch), but recently switched to wadrobe app for making combinations. So after I finish power point, I export all the pictures for that capsule to the app.
It is not too much work to gather all the photos since I do it only for current season capsule, and many items are used in more than one season.
I just love the colors of this wardrobe, and the heroine’s ability to stick to the limited color palette. I wish I had her discipline. That rust-colored alpaca/wool sweater is so gorgeous I’m wishing I had a large inheritance so I could justify the expense. If I had that inheritance I would be moving to New Mexico immediately, and then checking out options for a second home in a variety of settings – Hawaii (the north end of the Big Island, which is not too hot and humid), Australia/New Zealand, possibly Italy, France, Greece, or Switzerland, maybe Canada – if the inheritance is really large why not more than one second home? In reality, though, I am such a homebody I would probably not bother to do more than travel for a couple of weeks once a year to a desirable destination.
Vietnam for a month or two or more each year is where I would hang, also Galveston TX, and a small place in Chicago . . . clothes for every season and climate! Love this post.
I love this color palette. The blue, beige and russet work so well together. As for a large inheritance, I would probably travel a bit. I have a large family that is spread all over the country (NW, SW, NE) so just visiting family would be a nice. Maybe I would buy an RV and hit the road!
Since I’ve been reading this blog, I’ve been keeping my wardrobe in Stylebook on my iPad and ideas on a pinterest board. I wish I could figure out how to make those circles with the shaded sections because I’d like to create my own “inspiration” docs.
I live in San Diego and work at home so my primary wardrobe is casual and warm weather.
I have 2 secondary (much smaller) wardrobes, one for Northern California winter (for visiting relatives) and one for SF bay area office visits.
If I had a large bequest and could do anything I want, I would keep San Diego as my base and book long term stays (a month or two) in places I’d like to visit in Europe, South America, Asia, and the South Pacific.
The color graphs that I use are just pie charts that I make in PowerPoint – they’re not difficult once you get the hang of them! I find that having the colors that I want in a wardrobe (or at least good approximations of what I want!) makes it easier for me to stay focused when I’m looking through hundreds of possible things to include.
hugs,
Janice
That is a beautiful wardrobe … and one I think your heroine will be very happy in. Love the rust trousers …
Such a good collection for the climates and possible activities. It always delights me how much variety is possible with a small palette when you use patterns. With an inheritance, I’d love to buy a holiday house on Bruny Island, a small, captivating island just south-east of Tasmania, the island I live on. It’s only about an hour away by car and ferry, but could be a thousand in holiday atmosphere and beauty. Plus I could dash up to town for concerts or films ?
That sounds blissful…
hugs,
Janice
I love the idea of renting a house for a year, although I would probably choose Scotland. I would also visit family in Denmark. Other than that, I’m a homebody, would probably do something about creating the (small) home of my dreams…
If I were to receive a large inheritance, I’d move to a mountainous region of Ireland or Scotland. Permanently!
This wardrobe is absolutely masterpiece! Use so many nuance of colors is amazing. Sometimes dressy, sometimes travel, sometimes chic… but always coherent, nice, comfortable. I like reuse accessories, it’s clever. And a little bit of green color (if I see it well) on flannel shirt is cute.
ooh, that Paul Smith scarf! Luckily (for me!) it’s sold out. – nancyo
If you really like Paul Smith scarves, keep your eye on The RealReal – they often have his scarves for a fraction of the original retail price!
hugs,
Janice