July 15, 2019
Time for some fun!
tee – Lands’ End
This wardrobe addition could be in ANY color of the rainbow, and a whole bunch of colors that aren’t in any rainbow…
I’m going to show you a handful of ways to incorporate an accent color into an outfit, and then next Monday I will show you essentially the same outfits, with different accents! For most people, 2 accent colors is a good number. Some of us manage just fine with 1, and others among us will want 3 or even 4. Don’t beat yourself up if you find that limiting the colors in your wardrobe is difficult; everybody is different, and has different comfort levels! What matters is that you’re moving toward having a wardrobe plan, and toward getting better use from the clothes that you buy…
Blue tee – Lands’ End; scarf – Arlette Ess; cardigan – Lands’ End; jeans – Lands’ End; loafers – Tod’s
I love this shade of blue; it looks really nice with almost any neutral!
Rose tee – Lands’ End; cardigan – Vince; flats – Taryn Rose; pants – L.L.Bean; scarf – Ted Baker London
The rose tee shirt has some silly name like “clay”… WHAT is their problem with color names?
Earrings – Marida; scarf – Etro; tee shirt – L.L.Bean; boots – Vionic; cropped pants – Leith
An outfit like the one above can make me long for autumn…
Scarf – Halogen; cardigan – Lands’ End; tee – L.L.Bean; skirt – Lands’ End; ballet flats – Vaneli
The outfit above just cries out for a lavender tee shirt too, doesn’t it? Toss in a pair of navy pants and you would be good for a couple of days…
Scarf – The Met Store; cardigan – Cotton Emporium; tee – L.L.Bean; loafers – Taryn Rose; pants – L.L.Bean
The yellow tee shirt should slide right into this ensemble – you wouldn’t even need to change the scarf!
Cardigan – L.L.Bean; tee – L.L.Bean; scarf – Klements; shoes – Eileen Fisher; pants – L.L.Bean
I arranged this outfit this way to remind you 2 things:
- Your pants don’t have to match your cardigan or jacket; while that makes a nice “suit-like” look, you can also do this “twin-set” plan, and
- when you see a color somewhere that you like (online), make certain that you search the web site for the color, so that you see ALL of the pieces that match. You might be able to pull together outfits more easily than you expect!
As always, you don’t have to buy anything if you’re following this plan. This gives you an opportunity to check your closet and make certain that you have something in good repair and ready for the change of weather that will eventually come…
love,
Janice
p.s. 5 years ago I was working my way through the “Building a Wardrobe From Scratch” final analysis…. What a huge post!
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I really appreciate how you list it as “the longest sleeves you will wear in the autumn season.” If we determine the autumn season by the calendar date, the weather where I live is still hot. Even when the weather does turn, it’s not continuously cold, but back and forth, or chilly in the morning and evening but blazing in the middle of the day! Also, I just don’t like long sleeves. I’m constantly pushing them up and then they look sort of stretched out at the wrist! I know that’s just personal preference, but it feels validating to be given permission to choose “the longest sleeves” I’ll actually wear. Thank you, Janice!!
I also really like this! When writing about wardrobe organization, people usually talk about specific items you “must” have.
Janice seems to be the only one who acknowledges we all have different needs and preferences, while still providing structured advice.
Thanks to this series, for example, I’ve realized I much prefer 3/4 sleeves + a cardigan I can take off if needed.
I see a patterned scarf in every picture. A patterned top is easier to wear imo, having a scarf on all day can be in the way, and without the scarves the outfits become boring, to my mind. I’ve been staying away from plain tops, too dull.
Great post. I hope you will use teal, gold(mustard) and olive in the next accent post. Those are accent colours I also wear in the fall. Until I saw the plum top and cardigan, I had forgotten I wear that a lot in the fall/winter. And, yes, I do need to replace my plum tee. Thanks.
Lizette,
I double your color requests , those are my Autumn colors too !
“Clay”–that’s exactly the color of the clay deposits here in New Mexico. It’s even prettier in the rock formations, than in tgat shirt.
I so wish clothing colors shown on a computer screen would have clear descriptive names. I recently purchased light grey pants with a print tee embellished with a bit of silver. Pants were actually an ugly beige and the tee had copper highlights. Sooo disappointing!! No way to tell from the crazy color names.
Exactly! And how about when you’re trying to use the filter when you’re searching a website and the filter only allows very broad color categories …green can be anything from sage to emerald to teal. (and sometimes teal is more blue and sometimes it’s more green.) I guess that’s all a part of the adventure.
You show so many options which are great and the bright colours are truly gorgeous. Due to my graying hair and cooling of my skin, the deep autumn colours no longer look vibrant on me and I have moved into brights in blues, greens, pink and white. Some of your older posts have helped me enormously as I have made this transition such as styling one article many ways for example “a navy dress with brights” or” how to wear unflattering colours” so that I don’t have to get rid of all my clothes from my former wardrobe in autumn colours – just make some adjustments in toppers and accessories. Thanks for all you do.
Janice,
I am loving your scarf selections and their accompanying garments for complete ensembles in this post ! And twin sets — wonderful for packing ! They give me 3 different wears during a trip – once worn together, and then the top and topper each worn separately with different other pieces on other days of the trip. I am at a family beach vacation right now and always think in terms of column dressing when I pack — suit style, inner column , and then the use of both neutral and accent colored twin sets. Often what I call a twin set is a printed top with a matching plain color topper, that I then mix and match with other pieces throughout the week . I guess packing is always in the back of my mind, as well as a capsule wardrobe plan, whenever I make clothing purchases !
Could you put all the WTW in a folder or somehow link them? I plan to study the series. Thanks!
I have been downloading the images of the pieces & outfits I like and might be able to duplicate on my phone and organizing them into folders for easy reference. I think it will be a big help when I’m getting dressed in the fall. If I need to shop for anything, I will have a handy reference.
Also another thing I have done is pin the images I like to Pinterest. I have board called called “favorite Vivienne Files wardrobes”. I usually have been posting an image of the entire wardrobe but I was thinking of making a board just for this series or maybe even making a board for each piece in the series with the ideas for styling it.
Ha ha, I thought this said “ancient top” — I have some of those!!!
I am enjoying this series and I’m sure it will be useful to anyone starting out. I’ve used your site to built a wardrobe over about three years now (mabye more, but we’ll go with that… ) and am currently transitioning from a job that required me to wear “office wear” every day — casual but professional, skirts and hose, blazers , etc. — to one that is far less formal. It’s been easy to keep many of the pieces and swap out others for similar, but more casual ones. I know exactly what to buy, and in what colors. This morning I realized that i am tired of one of my accent colors, which I loved so much three years ago. I realized that the summer garments in that color (all from my last job, but able to be worn casually) are hanging in my small closet but I’ve only worn one of them this summer! I am going to put them away for next year and see if I love them again then. In the meantime, I will wear the new (more casual) pieces I bought in a different accent color. I already made the transition without knowing it, by buying only a few pieces. Thanks!!!