July 3, 2019
Ah, finally we have warm weather in Chicago, which makes these choices look logical!
This month, I fell warmly into the wonder of white shorts. I do not EVER get a tan, but I find that my legs tend to look reasonably good in white shorts. Don’t ask me how that works – I’m not complaining! If shorts aren’t your thing, anything that helps keep your legs cool will work: capris, or a swishy mid-calf skirt…
How did this wardrobe get this far without a black tee shirt????
scarf – Hermès; locket – BP.; tee shirts – L.L.Bean; sandals – Softwalk
This wardrobe has a range of shades of blue, but the core of black makes everything work pretty well…
As always, new additions to the wardrobe offer more than just 1 option. This should almost always be a rule when you buy something; if you can only think of 1 way to wear a new garment, you’d better really LOVE that 1 outfit!
Ah, purple….
This wardrobe managed to avoid a simple navy tee shirt! I’m shocked…
scarf – Hermès; necklace – Nadri; tee shirts – J.Crew; sandals – Cole Haan
I love all of these shades of purple! For some reason, I don’t ever seem to want to wear these colors, but I think they’re lovely…
Lots of possibilities here:
It’s good to remember that simple tee shirts (or some other style of top) can really change the look of a solid cardigan and matching skirt or pants…
This next color palette is still working out nicely. I love how unexpected it is!
I think the color name for the blush tee shirt is pink, but at least in the photographs it looks more like the world’s softest peach!
scarf – Hermès; necklace – Baublebar; tee shirts – J.Crew; shorts – J.Crew; sandals – Franco Sarto
All of these wardrobes are now at a point where they would make great travel wardrobes! I think that they could be great fun to see hanging in a hotel closet, don’t you?
The new pieces blend in well:
Classic colors!
For every other new outfit this month, I added a necklace. But I could NOT resist these earrings…
scarf – Hermès; earrings – Chan Luu; tee – L.L.Bean; shorts – Lands’ End; espadrilles – Solillas
I could live (or travel!) quite well with this wardrobe:
I love all of these possibilities:
These colors are so great together, but maddening to try to buy! A smarter woman than I would have chosen navy and white as the core colors, but I’m always determined to try to include brown…
I looked – oh HOW I looked – for brown shorts, and could NOT find anything suitable. Either the shorts themselves were oddly short, or long, or freaky in some other way, or they were photographed so that you could only see about 2/3 of the garment under the top, and the artfully placed hand of the model.
This happens when you’re shopping for real – your size is gone. They fit is terrifyingly uncomfortable and unflattering. Your favorite colors don’t exist…
So? Sometimes, you have to work with what you can get! I don’t know that I would wear either of these tee shirts with the shorts, but as individual garments, all 3 of them work into the overall wardrobe really well. Hallelujah for that!
scarf – Hermès; necklace – Gorjana; turquoise tee – Lands’ End; orange tee – Uniqlo; shorts – Vince; sandals – Birkenstock
What an interesting wardrobe we’re building here…
Even though there’s no “new” outfit here, the new garments all can be quite useful.
Ah, now this color palette that I augmented…. You’ll get to see a miscalculation on my part here!
At the end of last month, EVERY garment in this wardrobe was solid, and neutral. So I got this bright idea that a couple of print tee shirts would be perfect…
scarf – Hermès; necklace – Sole Society; striped tee – Banana Republic; floral tee – Derek Lam; shorts – Patagonia; sandals – Madewell
But this woman doesn’t have any black shorts!!!!! And as much as the beige shorts are great, black would have been a smarter choice. In the interest of being completely honest about what I do, I thought I’d show you this…
It’s a great wardrobe, but I got so excited about finding green garments that I didn’t really build a sufficient core in black. Yet!
So integrating these print tee shirts into the wardrobe isn’t as easy as it would be if our heroine here had a black skirt, or pants, or shorts. A learning experience, even for me!
For me, I’m leaning toward the navy, beige and deep red wardrobe right now. And you? (happily, we can enjoy all six of them!)
love,
Janice
p.s. 2 years ago, I was doing the SAME THING, with 6 different scarves! I love to look back at these wardrobes….
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My go to in hot humid weather: linen trousers, usually by Flax. Perfect for walking biking and riding public transit! Basic core of black tan grey navy with a wild card of wide red ones for silly times!
I love bright colours so I am very drawn to the first collection – black, white and all those lovely shades of blue. It would be very easy to add other colours to this such as greens and pinks and so extend this wardrobe.
Janice,
Yes I agree with you in leaning toward Zouave et Dragons as my favorite grouping here ! You can see my challenge with trying to purchase my necessary brown garments ! I wish someone would have the courage to market color groupings for all color skin types , including we fair “ warmies “, or even pander to only that limited group ! I may have shared this once before, but I read that the world has more “ Winter” colored people in it , and so that makes more buyers for that color market .
I am enjoying linking onto your retrospectives , some of which I had missed along the way . Seeing repeats is fully enjoyable too, as repetition is necessary for this brain to finally absorb a concept !
“Scarf as belt?” How about scarf as head band? Let’s bring back the scarf as headband, ponytail holder, whatever. It would look so pretty with those outfits, a little retro, and cool in the summer heat.
Absolutely! Good thinking…
hugs,
Janice
For brown clothes, it seems the men’s department (if you can find things to fit) and outdoorsy clothing companies would be good places to look.
The purple and navy is still my favorite but all of these are so nice.
I’m leaning toward the navy, beige and deep red as well. I do love the pieces chosen for the Rosace de Janos (black/white/blues) and the Appaloosa des Steppes (navy/white/purples) but I’ve come to realize I like more colors in my wardrobe than multiple shades of a single color. Janice, your blog has helped me focus my wardrobe and I thank you for that.
For people who are struggling to find items in a particular color (Brown Lovers!), could you find a seamstress and have some items sewn for you? There is fabric available in all colors!
Evidently I belong to Group 1 because I have a variation of it on by coincidence today (long pants instead of shorts).
I’ve fallen in love with the gray and peach! So many options to wear a neutral outfit if you want, or add some pretty color if it’s that kind of day.
I am really drawn to the navy & purple – in fact – tonight I purchased a Lord & Taylor print blouse/shirt in these two colours and I just love it! Earlier in the Spring I had bought a linen shirt in the soft mauve – I just love them with navy.
I really like idea of 12 moths buying inspired by scarf. I thought about it a lot. Unfortunately, if I start shopping in January, I have to used MANY garments and accessories from previous year (coat, shoes, shawl, jeans, blouse…) and they may not fit. So I am thinking about choose scarf and start shopping in AUGUST (dressy fall/winter). If I know my neutral color several years, I probably already have two bottom (pants from January, dress from February?) and suitable shoes in my wardrobe. I can use them well in fall season. Yes, MAYBE It would be good to buy more tops, t-shirts. But it is easier and cheaper than shopping suitable coat (if I started shopping in January and don´t want to mix actual and past color schemas). Then I will continue shopping… and finish it in JULY.
Thank you very much for this series, it helped me greatly.
Janice, I must have missed brand names on all the other pieces you showed for the months….is it possible to direct me to them in another article?
Thank you for these posts…they are always so elegant!
Gretchen
Dear Gretchen – the only way to find them is to go back to the earlier posts on the first day of each month. If you Google May 2019 The Vivienne Files, you’ll get the post from May. And so on…
Most of these pieces are long sold-out, though. Nothing stays in stock very long anymore…
hugs,
Janice
I adore you, Janice, and your wardrobes and your site, but… “This wardrobe managed to avoid a simple navy tee shirt!” – Both I and J.Crew count that dark blue T shirt as “a simple navy tee shirt”… do you mean a crew neck?
For the last wardrobe (which just might be my favorite), white shorts would work well also. – nancyo
Well, here’s what I ended up with for July…with white jeans instead of shorts…
https://sewrandom.blogspot.com/2019/07/12-months12-outfits-july.html