February 13, 2019
She’s thoroughly high-tech… She sells software. In her dreams, this might be her life:
But right now, she doesn’t sit by the fire all that often! Still, she was smitten with this image, and thus it became the inspiration for her wardrobe palette:
Yes, five colors in a wardrobe might be difficult. But one of the qualities that our heroine most loves about herself is her ability to make things that everyone believes to be complicated into simple, straightforward projects…
scarf – Joshua Ellis; earrings – Kendra Scott; tee shirt – Lands’ End; fringe poncho – Treasure & Bond; cardigan – Chelsea28; loafers – UGG; pants – Lands’ End; bag – Urban Originals; suitcase – Calpak
Yes, she loves the poncho over her cardigan – she doesn’t live in an area with horrible winter weather… It gives her a lovely layered look that seems complicated, but really isn’t all that…
navy cardigan – Treasure & Bond; sapphire stud earrings – Jane Basch Designs; tee shirt – Lands’ End; hoop earrings – Jennifer Zeuner; blouse – Treasure & Bond; scarf – Kate Spade New York; necklace – Sharon Mills London; beaded bag – Clare V.; bright blue cardigan – Lands’ End; dress – Vince; bracelets – Halogen; pants – Lands’ End; loafers – Taryn Rose; pumps – Taryn Rose
For a woman who traveled in beige and coral, this isn’t exactly what you’d expect in her suitcase! But when you put all of her travel capsule wardrobe together, it looks very harmonious:
She’s good at making complicated things more simple… And this wardrobe is a perfect example. All of her tee shirts are the same. Her pants are the same. Her loafers are always suede driving loafers… Having this kind of system means that she can have a range of colors in her suitcase and still be able to dress easily!
Life is complicated enough, and selling computer software isn’t exactly simple! But having a clear wardrobe plan gives our heroine a bit of simplicity and clarity in an important area of life…
love,
Janice
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This is an interesting combination- I can see how much care she has taken to choose each piece- especially that gorgeous turtleneck dress which goes with everything. I am getting better at packing my 7 kg bags for flights but it has taken a lot of careful shopping to make it work. I have learnt so much from your blog.
I love the painting but have to be honest – he wardrobe wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I see much richer colours and fabrics and while I know that the artwork is to pull a colour chart I find that in most cases the wardrobe in some way reflects the artwork – I don’t find that this fits the parameters at all.
Just a personal observation. Maybe it’s because the city was shut down yesterday due to an ice storm and I was expecting a lovely cozy wardrobe – this just doesn’t say “Winter” to me at all. Sorry.
It really does depend on where you live, I think. Here in Georgia, the weather, while dreary sometimes, has been mild to downright warm. Our daffodils, Lenten roses, forsythia, and camellia have been blooming for a couple of weeks, and for us it does feel like spring is in the air. I have already been wearing springlike colors, and even a summery outfit one day last week when the temperature was near 80 degrees. This wardrobe works right now for our neck of the woods, even if the calendar stills says it is winter!
I agree the lovely textures in the painting – the upholstery, the velvet or terry rug in front of the fire, the needlepoint basket – did not translate well into this particular wardrobe. The mix of blue and coral and the shades of brown are well done and delicious.
I noticed two things about this wardrobe: First, that each outfit was only two colors (or two with the light neutral). Second, that the result is a much more varied looking wardrobe despite the similar items. So individual outfits have a lot of color discipline but since every color goes with every other, you get a lot of overall options. Lots of food for thought in this one.
I’m agree with all the comments so far…frankly, both scarves were disappointing. But the basic pieces were good, and with additions of t’s or turtlenecks in black, red, gold, maybe brown for fall, turquoise or lime to go with the navy for summer, this can be a year-round wardrobe with lots of variety, extending far beyond the original painting inspiration. Wouldn’t a shirt that stripe from her under-skirt be fabulous?
There’s a lot here in the detail, as well as in the choice — and clever combining — of colours: the Kate Spade scarf, the beaded bag, and the little gleams of gold in the jewellery reference the painting nicely for me. It’s a richly rewarding painting too. (I wonder what her mood is.) Thank you for the introduction.
This is my basic wardrobe, also with a touch of green and yellow.
Lovely, lovely painting. Relaxing to look at. I am biased because navy, coral, cream and blue are ‘my’ colours (with the occasional touch of beige). I understand the previous comments though, as the wardrobe was quite light and beige heavy compared to the dark richness of the painting. This is very much a spring version of the wardrobe – but we are headed that way, hopefully (messaging from UK, weather could do anything in next three months :)).
As i scrolled through the post, my thought immediately was “this is lovely.”
I think the simplicity is so soothing. I got the “feel” of the painting right away from the pleasantness of the wardrobe. and…must have that poncho. Gorgeous!
I think this wardrobe shows the versatility of a wardrobe based on neutrals, 3 of them in this case. Color is added with the tops here. It would be easy to change the accent colors to suit just about anyone. The bottoms are all neutrals, something I have done in my own wardrobe.
Instead of black, I would use the dark brown found in the fireplace although that is more challenging to find. I’m trying to move away from black as it will soon be too harsh for me as my hair continues to silver, probably even for bottoms eventually. At this point, I restrict black only to evening events. We’ll see!
My wardrobe goal is to have all neutral basics and rely on accessories, primarily jewelry, scarves, and sometimes purses, for color. That might be easier to do in the cooler months, though. We’ll see ? !
I would have loved to use brown for this wardrobe, but simply couldn’t find anything that was the right color and a good enough photograph to include. I continue to look…
hugs,
Janice
Love this painting – what a great inspiration for a wardrobe! Your heroine has all she needs for a versatile and varied capsule. Beige is death on me, so for my purposes that little collar and the cuffs peeking out in the painting would be all the excuse I’d need to add white (particularly a blouse), and I’d go with bittersweet, deep navy, blue denim, and caramel. Add a scarf that combined all the colors (I love multicolored prints) and I’d be set. – nancyo
I’d like to have seen some stripes or interesting texture.