November 6, 2019
She loves this painting…
And so she decides that when she goes on vacation this autumn, she will use this painting as the inspiration for her accent colors! Her core wardrobe is navy and white…
navy cabled cardigan – L.L.Bean; navy cashmere crewneck – Halogen; navy hooded sweater – L.L.Bean; white button-front shirt – Lands’ End; navy & white striped tee – Caslon; white tee – Lands’ End; navy ponte skirt – Lands’ End; dark wash jeans – Lands’ End; navy corduroy pants – L.L.Bean
She knows that she could travel with just these pieces and do just fine; she might want a couple more shirts (although she remembers that she could certainly wear her crewneck sweater without something underneath it, for more options…)
But she sticks to her heart, and starts to search for green. She decides that she doesn’t needs to wear her green tops together, which gives her quite a bit more freedom than if she were going to try to get 2 matching garments! (2 green pieces at once feels, to her, like a bit much…)
And she’s willing to pay a bit to get what she wants – her heart is really quite set on this!
Cosmographia Universalis scarf – Hermès; jade stud earrings – Effy; tee shirt – Lands’ End; cardigan – Scotch & Soda; socks – Boohoo
She could easily just stop right here! There are so many ways to use these new pieces…
But she really wants that yellow too! She loves the intensity of the almost acid yellow, although she might change the buttons on her cardigan…
And a flowered blouse – how fun is that?
yellow cardigan – J.Crew; pearl and chalcedony earrings – Rituu Agarwal; floral blouse – J.Crew; socks – Maria la Rosa; bag – Patrizia Pepe
NOW, she has SO many different ways to get dressed! (and with 13 garments total, she has that oh-so-tidy “3 to wear, 10 to pack” number…)
If you’re not 100% sure about an accent color, a small “test-drive” in your wardrobe makes sense. Decide if all your pieces need to match, how much of a hurry you’re in to find all of your new things (patience is a real virtual when trying to find madly out-of-season colors..), and how much you’re willing to spend for your experiment.
I could see myself doing this in order to expand the usefulness of a favorite scarf… What color might you try out?
love,
Janice
p.s. 4 years ago, we shared a great scarf, and a black, white and soft pink wardrobe…
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I saw that painting in person this summer and thought it would be nice to see a “vivienne wardrobe” inspired by it. Beautiful use of the colors in it! I wear colors like that in the summer but it is nice to see something bright and cheerful during the dark winter months, too.
The “French 5 Piece Wardrobe” is one of the most endearing lessons I’ve learned from The Vivienne Files – one of many, but definitely the one most used.
A “layerable“ top, topper, scarf, earrings, necklace combo allows me to try a color with my neutrals-heavy basics without breaking the bank. Two or three points of color in an outfit makes the difference!
The socks are adorable but I will leave those for others… I have mixed feelings about colored shoes, dithering on the decision due to expense of “real” shoes I can wear to work.
Thanks, Janice!
Janice,
A “ slot machine “ basis with two accents — love it ! If I did a brown, taupe and tan “ slot machine “ with two accents , creating a “ Whatever’s Clean 13” —it’s a perfect packing scheme — thanks, Janice !
Mad about this painting. Thank you so much!
Janice, thanks so much for this. Love the items you chose!
What color do you think her hat is in the painting? To me, it looks kind of like perhaps a muted plum, and I think I could include that color with these shades of green.
Yes! I love that plum, and the shot of cobalt in the hatband (even more so because I can’t wear either the green or the yellow!) – nancyo
Love this! It is quite similar to the packing plan I used for our family Christmas trip to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon, and a ladies’ trip to Salem, Mass the following spring.
Such cheerful colours, and don’t they show how versatile a basic navy and white wardrobe can be. Looking at the painting (and the stunning Cosmographia scarf) has made my day.
I love these color combinations, all of which fall in the perfect color palette for my hair and skin tones. As I am rather tiny in stature, I keep the bright colors as accent pieces so as not to overwhelm my frame, preferring them close to my face; hence my penchant for colorful scarves (or perhaps it’s just my French blood — we do adore our scarves, particularly Hermès). Have you thought about adding a colorful belt? I have several that I love. Would love to see what you can do w/that, Janice!!
This would also be lovely in the summer with light beige, gray neutrals. I absolutely adore this painting.
I just bought my first Hermes scarf. A Baobab Cat. I am very happy with it. But do I remove the washing instruktion label?
Thank you!
I always do – it’s a matter of whether or not it bothers you. If you can figure out how to tie it without the tag showing, you could leave it on, but I can’t be bothered with working around the tag…
congratulations!
and big hugs,
Janice
Ahhh the French 5 Piece wardrobe capsule accents. Aka my husband’s relief from seeing me in wall to wall neutrals. I get to enjoy my neutral core and when he requires some colour I can pull out something from these mini capsules and everybody stays happy.
I love lime green and that scarf is gorgeous along with the T shirt. I have a lime top and a favourite lime aqua & navy scarf in my green accent group along with some Venetian glass bead earrings.
I’d like a colourful tote bag in there as a pop of colour as shown in the yellow capsule.
I like small hits of intense colours so I’d maybe enjoy a lime and navy top instead of the cardigan and that would freshen up my lime collection.
And bring visual relief to my husband who enjoys colour and occasionally objects to my over use of neutrals.
Thanks Janice!