October 2, 2019
This month, I looked deliberately at each wardrobe to try to make choices that would be versatile and fill in some of the holes that I could see…
This first color palette still delights me:
scarf – Hermes
A simple outfit; most of these wardrobes could benefit from the addition of a white shirt…
Bag – Ted Baker London; necklace – BP.; marled sweater – L.L.Bean; white shirt – Lands’ End; wool lantern pants – Eileen Fisher
I have these lantern pants – I can’t wait to wear them!
Everything still looks wonderfully coherent, doesn’t it?
And each new garment added this month gives you plenty of new possible outfits…
I’m still loving these colors…
scarf – Hermes
Yes, another white shirt…
Purple sweater – Joseph; white shirt – Lands’ End; navy corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; necklace – Alexis Bittar; navy bag – Allsaints
Could you imagine finding this all in your closet?
Here again, the new pieces of the wardrobe fit right in…
When I first chose this next scarf, I wasn’t at all sure what I was going to have for a wardrobe, but so far this is working out well!
scarf – Hermes
I don’t know why, but I’ve had great luck finding really cool shirts for this wardrobe!
Necklace – Chico’s; plaid shirt – L.L.Bean; cashmere crew sweater – L.L.Bean; jeans – Lands’ End; bag – Rebecca Minkoff
And even though the colors here were unexpected, everything looks great!
It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I feared to integrate the new pieces of clothing into the existing wardrobe:
I still love this color palette; it reminds me so much of what I wore when I was fresh out of college!
scarf – Hermes
I would so happily wear this…
Merino-blend sweater – Banana Republic; white shirt – Lands’ End; necklace – Lonna & Lilly; bag – Ted Baker London; corduroy pants – J.Crew
I wish I had included navy as a primary neutral… sigh…
These outfits were pretty easy to assemble…
This color palette still challenges me. I wish that brown were more readily available in the world of clothing!
scarf – Hermes
I’m trying to add simple basics, to help give these wardrobes a more solid basis…
Red necklace – Bijoux Bar; white shirt – Lands’ End; brown sweater – Sunflower; cranberry corduroy pants – Lands’ End; bag – Frye
This all looks sort of coherent, but I still feel like it’s missing something important:
Some of these outfits are more… challenging… than others!
Sigh… and I’m not certain that adding green worked here. This is proving to be a difficult month in these wardrobes!
scarf – Hermes
I just didn’t feel great about a white shirt here…
Necklace – Soko; plaid shirt – Theory; black sweater – L.L.Bean; loden corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; bag – Brahmin
This wardrobe does look pretty coherent though, doesn’t it?
These outfits all work well, but I’m still feeling that I should have concentrated less on the green in this wardrobe…
This month my favorite is definitely the first – maybe it’s because I love black and white…
Which is your preference?
love,
Janice
p.s. 3 years ago I added some van Gogh-inspired accents to a core wardrobe of neutrals…
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Looking at the Jet de Soie scarf I wonder if the grouping would have worked better if navy had been used as the main colour rather than brown. Navy with shades of blue, mustard, soft burgundy and off white for the clothing, and Brown for footwear and handbags. What do you think?
When you asked “ Could you imagine finding all this in your closet?’ with the navy and purples, my heart pretty much shouted “YES!” Like last month with the vests, the shirt/sweater combinations this month also speak to me in all the color ways. I am working my way toward a closet that is more coordinated and significantly less helter-skelter. So many of your posts are helping me evaluate what needs to be there! Thank you, Janice!
I absolutely love that last wardrobe you’re working on. My best neutral is a greenish-brown (walnut brown) and you know as well as I do that it’s impossible to find. My next best option is these greens you’re using. I don’t wear plaid, and I don’t wear white; other than that, I’d be overjoyed to open my closet and find this wardrobe inside. Some time ago you had a post with some cream-colored corduroy pants, paired with several different colors, for winter wear. I think they’d be a lovely addition to this wardrobe. Thank you SO much for doing this project!
I absolutely love the soft grey wardrobe. That’s the only one speaking to me today. I wonder sometimes if I even need two neutrals if grey is the first one. I do feel on track, though! For the fall, I have just purchased a pair of grey cargo pants, a flannel shirt, and an indigo sweater–just the combination you’re showing here!
The grey and soft orange are the winners so far, for me, because of the overall look but also because of the super pieces you have found: orange and silver sandals, snakeskin bag with orange and this month’s plaid shirt.
However the group with so many accent colors just doesn’t win me over at all. I love colors and I wear lots of different colors but this wardrobe is too much at once for me. You added a brown and a white piece this month to pull it back to its core neutrals but it’s still pretty busy for me. It looks like my closet. I like the calmer ones.
On the other hand, you said you are having trouble with the olive green pieces in the last group. I LOVE it and I love what you are doing with it.
Three things –
1. I like the last capsule best. So calm and cozy.
2. I don’t “get” the lantern pants. I checked to see how they looked on the model. Guess I don’t like full pants & bare ankles, Sorry.
3. I love the Vase With Honesty by Van Gogh inspired post. Bookmarking that one for inspiration.
Another vote for the grey and soft orange – I just love the combo. I wish I could wear off-the-rack button downs, because every one of those in that collection are gorgeous! I also love the greens in the last wardrobe – I would add more of the accent yellow that you show in the beginning, because I love that color and it would give the wardrobe some brightness that I like.
Like you, I am having a really difficult time also with the Jeu de Soie – the scarf is AMAZING, but what a challenge to build a wardrobe off of it! My eyes are having a difficult time reconciling the chocolate browns with the sky blue accents – that combo just doesn’t work for me. The rest of it works really well together, I think – it’s too bright for my personal tastes, but I could see someone with personality rocking it :-)
The Jeu de Soie continues to be my favourite, and I think the blue and brown are lovely together! For me, the only problem with the wardrobe is the white. I don’t suit white, and tried to work out what I would use instead. I think I’d go for a denim shirt, I know where the perfect one is, it has that hint of green to blend with the scarf. In reality, I wouldn’t have chosen a scarf with so much white, but in the interests of playing the game…I love that Van Gogh painting btw, I haven’t seen it before. Which means I must have missed that post, and I thought I’d seen them all.
The October wardrobe is the most like my own wardrobe, but why choose just one favorite? My wardrobe was based on black/white/gray for years. I tried shifting from black to navy; now I have black based and navy based options coexisting in my closet. Worn with bright, pretty accent colors this works just fine!
Janice, I agree the last wardrobe is my absolute favourite -I would love to open my wardrobe and see that. I like & look best in darks and basically neutrals (although warmer rather than cooler, so white is not great for me). And I also look better in lower contrasts, rather than high contrasts (like the black, white & blue). So this wardrobe brings those neutrals together so well. This month’s outfit is great! And I say -add more of the green (olive /khaki?). I absolutely love it with grey, maybe less black if you could only have the number of items in your wardrobe, but love how the olive & grey play off each other, so it doesn’t look all the same, which I sometimes find black just doesn’t have that same change. Just looked at that outfit again, and I think you could add leopard here, and it would fit in so well.
I agree that Jeu de soie is a hard palette. I think the orange, red, blues would be hard to wear together, so you end up putting them with the brown which feels a bit stale /boring (?) after a while. I wonder if you’d used brown and a navy as the basics and just add some spots of other colours if that might have been more harmonious? Just my opinion. But that’s why I love your site – you are always playing.
Thank you for all you do -the options, the stories, the colours! It really is so inspiring.
It’s interesting to see the wardrobes with so many options in them now. I feel drawn to the simplest palettes (the first two) but suspect that I’d want a little more variety in my own “collection”. But then I’m a bit of a magpie. The more restrained palettes would certainly help to keep choices simple and the move towards having one’s own uniform. You also show clearly how texture and pattern add variety to a collection. Lots of food for thought here. Too hard to choose a favourite now – it’s always easier in the early months, I think!
I have been wondering….how many capsule wardrobes should a person have? Most of the clothes I have are black and white. When I started reading the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe series, I curated my closet and drawers so that I now have only items that I truly love and wear. I realized that I also have a lot of red in my wardrobe so I have followed the black/white/red WTW. I have added the fall WTW items that I did not have and am looking forward to winter, spring and summer. Is that to be my only capsule or do I branch out with the Rosace de Janos color scheme (and others)?
I do like the blue and lavender wardrobes very much, but they are a bit monochromatic for me, at least over the long term. Unsurprisingly, I love Zouaves et Dragons and I’m pretty sure it’s my top pick. I agree that it would be great with some navy basics. I am also really loving Jeu de Soie – the golden orange and cranberry are delicious! I think navy or olive would work well with this wardrobe.
It might be interesting to do a wardrobe series where one of your heroines took her clothing in different color directions – gradually, over time.
So much to look at! I think the La Clairier (peach and grey) and Nouveaux Amoureux (olive/black) are my favourite. But again, the take-away thought is a neutral sweater, shirt and pants that fit into my own colour scheme. I love the cords from J. Crew, but the price! Especially since I’m Canadian and the exchange is a killer. I will keep an eye open for something similar.
Inspiring as usual.
J Crew does have a sale of 40% off today with the code THURSDAY. I don’t know if the cords you like are on sale but usually most everything is when they have these sales.
On the post…I love the last wardrobe. I see yellow/gold in your color wheel but other than gold jewelry and shoes, I don’t see a lot of yellow in the clothing choices. Were you planning to add some later or is it only for accessories?
I really enjoy this series. In the Nouveaux Amoreaux, there is a scarf with a lot of rosy red in it. I would love to see more pops of this color in the collection, maybe in a print or plaid, or as one of the colors in in a set of multicolored beads, a watch strap or shoes (certainly lipstick, too, would also be a way to echo that delightful contrast).
My favorite is still the color schema of the brown wardrobe, and If I add brown ballet flats(because of skirts), 1-2 navy bottoms(because of navy pumps and navy bag) and nice XXL navy+brown shawl, I will be happy and I will easy to choose outfit. Maybe some brown stripe tee with long sleeves, too. Thank you for the inspiration, this wardrobe looks to me the most real and handy.
Maybe something like this:
https://ellebellenyc.com/products/birds-eye-blue-cashmere-scarf-with-fringed-edges
Les Nouveaux Amoureux de Paris with the green –
I would use gold/silver combo jewelry. Black shoes/belt/bags/gloves/coats with silver hardware. Replace the black clothes with grey and more khaki ranges (cream to green.)
The last wardrobe is so lovely and calm. It would look nice with a bit of the yellow accent color you chose, maybe a soft yellow sweater or a pretty yellow dress.
when are the new Hermes scarves in the stores(or on line)? this year i am planing to buy one.
thanks
NOW!!!!!!
Some of them will sell out almost immediately; others will be introduced gradually during the next few weeks. And it’s well worth your while to check out the Hermes sites from other countries; they often get different versions of the scarves!
hugs,
Janice
I love about 1/2 of all the wardrobes for different reasons…color, design lines, patterns. Lol. It’s probably why I’m struggling to perfect my own wardrobe. I’ve been at it for a couple years…your website has been a tremendous help and I appreciate you! I think the issue with the Jeu de Soie wardrobe is that it is mostly solid colors that really only come together with the scarf or the few patterned items. I don’t love those (different) solids together alone without a unifying piece…I just don’t think those colors are natural matches. This is one of the issues in my own closet. I tend to buy solids…I love the monochromatic look so I’m totally fine wearing columns…or even wearing different shades of the same color…but 2 totally different solids without a unifying piece just doesn’t work for me. The actual pieces are beautiful…and even though I KNOW there IS a neutral in that palette, it FEELS like it’s just multiple accent colors to me & that is why I think that wardrobe doesn’t feel as cohesive at the others. Just my opinion…I’m no expert by any means.
The absolute BEST part of this project is that I couldn’t begin to choose a favorite palette because you’ve curated these wardrobes so well. Some of the palettes are in colors I don’t really wear, but I’m mentally subbing in a color that would work. But these are all beautiful and provide so many excellent ideas.
I didn’t sew anything for this month; but I did put the necklace together! ;-)
https://sewrandom.blogspot.com/2019/10/12-months-12-outfits-october-outfit.html
You know, every year I find myself being drawn to the soft wardrobes based on gray…this year, the navy and purple is really appealing, even though my own wardrobe is much brighter. If I were to try to do this exercise again, I think I’d look for a scarf with gray in it, just to see if I could pull it off…