I think our current need to spend a great deal of time at home is a great opportunity to really sort out and clean out things that have been neglected for a while; I have a plan with my closet that is probably going to drive Belovedest COMPLETELY over the edge…
But right now, let’s look at some cool cardigans, shall we?
You might feel that you don’t really need another cardigan for warmer weather – you know your requirements best! But I find that I have to have at least an over-shirt or some kind of 2nd layer with me most of the time, if I’m going indoors at all…
Of course there are wonderful sweaters that look beautiful with our six favorite (current favorite!) scarves:
navy lion and peacock scarf – Aspinal of London; reef blue cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; mustard “A” Floral scarf – Aspinal of London; gray cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; Magenta Robins scarf – Aspinal of London; grey linen cardigan – Eileen Fisher
I love the feel of a long, “duster” style cardigan – I like fabric that swishes around my legs!
mint green “A” Floral scarf – Aspinal of London; white linen duster sweater – Banana Republic; Earth Mandala scarf – GISY; orange cardigan – J.Crew; shield scarf – Aspinal of London; antique cream cardigan – Madewell
I’m still picturing a summer in which one wears hot pink, black and white…
earrings – Gloria Vanderbilt; tee shirt – Lands’ End; white cardigan – Eileen Fisher; cotton no-wrinkle pants – L.L.Bean; canvas shoes – Keds; straw tote – Sensi
Yes, this next tee shirt is eye-wateringly expensive! But if this isn’t the time for some dreaming and fantasy, I don’t know when a good time will be…
earrings – JAI; tee shirt – Etro; cotton sweater – Banana Republic; olive no-wrinkle cotton pants – L.L.Bean; tote – INC International Concepts; canvas shoes – Roxy
Another pricey tee shirt, but it truly makes the outfit. If you see a really stand-out shirt that you love, it could be worth it…
earrings – Majorica; tee shirt – Isabel Marant; bone cardigan – Eileen Fisher; granite canvas pants – L.L.Bean; bag – Travelon; sparkle sneakers – Keds
I love all of these warm shades together…
earrings – Farra; tee shirt – H&M; cardigan – Marks & Spencer; pants – Lands’ End; shoes – Pikolinos; bag – INC International Concepts
It’s subtle, but I love the horizontal stripes in the tee shirt, coupled with the horizontal weave of the cardigan, and then that stripe on the bottom of the tote bag – such things are among the wee joys of my life!
infinity earrings – Oscar Figueroa Escorcia; tee shirt – Lands’ End; cardigan – L.L.Bean; wrinkle-free cotton pants – L.L.Bean; backless sneakers – Keds; bag – Marks & Spencer
Of course, you don’t ever have to wear tee shirts; I would love a nice camp shirt or two for warmer weather…
earrings – Alexis Bittar; olive shirt – Lulus; cardigan – Halogen; twig chinos – L.L.Bean; shoes – Josef Seibel; bag – Sonoma Goods for Life
I own the pink cardigan here – number 37. It is the prettiest color…
white, black and red tees – Lands’ End; floral tee – Lands’ End; linen cardigan – Halogen; shell pink linen shirt – L.L.Bean; striped tee – Banana Republic; striped short-sleeved sweater – Max Mara; pink cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; black cropped pants – L.L.Bean; black cotton pants – L.L.Bean; velvet skirt – Marks & Spencer; striped sweater dress – Banana Republic
Here’s our master list of garments; now that I’ve got time on my hands indoors, I might tackle comparing this list to what’s in my closet.
Poor Belovedest…
love,
Janice
p.s. Seven years ago we looked at a whole BUNCH of ways to wear a pair of paisley pants…
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Janice,
Thanks for all what you do…. I discovered pink in the last year… as well… just by wearing a pink sweat shirt… I have had so many positive comments on the colour so have purchased other items to fit into my black and white… it also looks great with “linen tan” I think the pink cardigan would be good to have as well.
I was also thinking it is a good time to get things ready for the next season.
Thank you
Regina
I’m a big cardigan fan – my choice is a round or v-neck button up. I have them in a myriad of colours. In the UK Marks and Spencer have a staple round neck buttoned cardigan style which they bring out in different colours each season. They’ve also have patterned cardigans. I usually buy one to add to my collection… ?
Thank you for continuing your wonderful blog during these trying times. It is a much needed distraction.
Be well and make wise choices :-)
Mar
By the way, Janice, I’m still sorting my wardrobe out with the help of my stylish daughter. She says that my main problem is that I like everything to hand even though I only have storage space for half my clothes!
She knows that I need to be warm even on a breezy summer day, hence I loads of cardigans and jumpers. She also knows that my Soft Summer colours suit me year round unlike her Deep Autumn colours which can be a bit dark. So she suggested that I allocate clothes to seasons based on the type of fabric, weight/thickness of the fabric, sleeve length, depth/tone of colour and pattern. I’m also using the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe to help with this process.
Her idea of allocating pattern is interesting. Some patterns can be worn throughout the year like dots, checks, geometrics but allocating the colour combination depending on its tone and depth. However her idea with floral patterns is to allocate a garment to a season depending on whether the flowers in the pattern naturally bloom or are usually associated with spring/summer or autumn/winter. Interesting….
Adding all these ideas to your Weekly Timeless Wardrobe is certainly helping me to sort and allocate garments to at least Spring/Summer (March to September) or Autumn/Winter (September to March). Within those six months will be clothes I only ever wear in high Summer or the depths of Winter.
The next step is to create mini-capsules for each six months and whole outfits including jackets and scarves, jewellery and bags. We will also take photos of the outfits.
Allocating whole outfits and taking photos will give me reassurance that I can wear my stored clothes at the appropriate time of year rather than drowning in too much choice.
Taking that a step further, I would like to create a memory book of outfits with the photograph and notes of the occasions I wore them.
Good luck with sorting your closet out. Hopefully your Belovedst will be like mine – raise his eyes and try to ignore the mess whilst congratulating himself that he has a well-regulated wardrobe….!
Beth, I really like your daughter’s ideas. Her allocation of florals, in particular, is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.
Roberta
Beth, I have just set up a system very similar to this after remodeling my closet. I’m really excited about it, and it’s working so far! I have small storage boxes in which I’m storing the collection of clothes that will switch with each period of time—for me, about every two months. All the core pieces will just stay out year-round. I am pleased that I won’t have to purge so many clothes I still like just to fit a restricted color scheme, since it will change so often. I live in a climate that is often very hot, so dividing clothes by color and how it fits into the seasons makes so much sense.
I have the same coloring as Roberta and the same challenge with too much out at a time. I am working at putting away colors/fabrics that are not worn in the season we are in – for example, I don’t like wearing black in spring or autumn so I put it away. Same with corduroy in summer – I’ll never wear it then. My biggest ah-ha was finding that my jewelry parses out by season fairly easily, too. So each season I get a whole bunch of stuff I haven’t worn for 9 months. Throughout the year I really do wear all of it, not just fall back on the same stuff (my silver earrings and Bangles stay out all year ’cause when is not a good time to wear silver hoops!)
I love how the pink pieces are slowly changing the whole feel of this wardrobe!
Love that Etro tee. Elfriede’s Fine Fabrics in Boulder, CO has some knit fabric with similar coloring and design:
https://www.elfriedesfinefabrics.com/shop/Knits/Printed-Jersey-Knit/p/Persian-Glass-Rayon-Knit-x43311026.htm
I also love Eileen Fisher designs and fabrics except not enough color. Wearing black on the top half of my body makes me feel dreary and uninteresting. White can get boring, too, before very long.
Thanks for sharing the link for the fabric. It’s nice to see beautiful fabric options are available.
I love paisley patterns. One top or tee can offer up so many outfit options. I have a paisley blouse in shades of green and blue with bits of ivory and hints of beige. I have at least four bottoms and four 2nd layers which co-ordinate.
I believe that this virus will cause belt-tightening no matter what one’s resources. Therefore, a $245 a t-shirt, gorgeous though it is, is not in the cards as I watch my savings take a hit. These cardi ideas are excellent for shopping one’s closet, and you are a genius at showing the potential of even everyday items.
Thanks for showing that there are some shorter length cardigans out there!!
I very much enjoy your links to earlier posts. The paisley jeans wardrobe is such an exquisite array of clothing. To my eyes, it almost looks like a gold and silver wardrobe and so elegant!
Hugs across the ether to you for inspiring us and showing us something beautiful!
Hi Janice
I was thinking it would be nice to talk about a self isolation/quarantine capsule of comfy home clothes; casual and pretty as we do dress for ourselves,helps us feel better.
I have been wearing a pretty scarf most days wrapped around my neck in different ways, cosy and comforting. I don’t want to fall into wearing old comfort clothes as i think your mood drops. any idea? suggestions??
whats everyone one else wearing?
LauraMaureen,
I love your idea of the 2 month switching, especially if they are accent colors. I have too many, but don’t wish to part with them, but do want to put them into rotation , so a 2 monthly rotation might be just the ticket, while the year round stuff stays in the closet ! Brilliant, thanks !
Brilliant is right!
hugs,
Janice