May 6, 2020
The Need for Zest…
She’s doing fine, really. But she does acknowledge that only being able to go outdoors every few days, in a mask, hurrying to get errands completely and back to the safety of her home, has caused her to feel… muted.
Not that she doesn’t love her grey and white core wardrobe! But the need for a bit of zing, a touch of excitement, or the jolt of an unexpected color, is beginning to be felt in her heart.
So when she saw this, she was smitten!
It wasn’t too difficult to distill her spring and summer color palette from this gorgeous painting:
She’s going to indulge for warm weather, this year. She still has to be on a camera conference call at least once a week, and she often has to stand up and present the status of different groups, on the huge project chart which now lives in her living room. (you’d have to work there to appreciate how nutty they really can be…)
But she is going to be smart, and anchor her “flight of color fancy” in a core of neutrals:
silk tank – Eileen Fisher; white cardigan – Lands’ End; cotton sweater – Lands’ End; buttoned cardigan – Lands’ End; white seersucker top – L.L.Bean; grey tee shirt – Banana Republic; white long-sleeve top – L.L.Bean; white tank – L.L.Bean; white crop pants – Lands’ End; jeans – Lands’ End; grey shorts – J.Crew; white shorts – Lands’ End; tee shirt dress – Old Navy
Of course, let’s note that the yellows and greens don’t have to match, if they’re not going to be worn together. Matching would be great, but it’s certainly not essential.
After much consideration, she treated herself to these cheery choices:
Yellow top – Gap; green wrap top – Banana Republic; tossed lemons polo – Lands’ End; yellow cardigan – Lands’ End; lemon print skirt – H&M; green sweater – Lands’ End; yellow skirt – Goodnight Macaroon
Yes, skirts! Since she discovered that she could wear something under her skirts to make them more comfortable, she’s learned that they’re every bit as comfortable as shorts or cropped pants.
And since she’s going to be on screen in front of her entire department, she’s going to dress us sometimes; let them think that she’s dressing up every day for work!
When everything was hung together, it felt as if the sun was shining in her closet! She could have sworn that it smelled faintly of lemons…
SO MANY POSSIBILITIES! She was excited. Invigorated, even. It’s not something that one usually asks from a wardrobe, but in this case it worked out beautifully…
I’ve got to admit, when I had these garments all over my computer desktop, it seemed to make our entire bedroom brighter! (yes, I’m sitting at our dining table, which is NOW in our bedroom…)
What brightens up your life right now? For me, it’s both having Belovedest here in the apartment ALL DAY EVERY DAY (seriously, I love it), and the new pink fun pieces I’m now wearing. It doesn’t take much, does it?
love,
Janice
p.s. 3 years ago, my dear friend La Photographe and I went to New York – I have some packing philosophy in this post, as well as my favorite “what did I pack” images.
p.p.s. Lands’ End has shorts in the same “tossed lemon” print as the polo shirt that I’ve included. I was within INCHES of putting it in this wardrobe too, but I can only find them in Petite sizes and Plus sizes…
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I know I’ve been saying this at almost every post, but this wardrobe is so cheerful! Just looking at that skirt put me in a good mood. We should all have a couple of such pick-me-up pieces in our closets.
As I mentioned in another comment, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my ideal wardrobe and your teachings, and I’d like to recommend some that worked particularly well for me to fellow readers.
1) Nail polish in your accents: I’ve never really had the patience for nail polish, but I liked how it looked in some of your wardrobes and recently decided to treat myself to some polish in one my favorite colors. It makes such a difference in how I look and feel, and it’s a great way to breathe some new life into my wardrobe without actually buying clothes.
2) Figure out how you use the colors in your palette – I’m not very good at explaining myself, so I’ll just make a few examples:
– I wear black and brown mostly as outer columns/”suits”, although I sometimes use black for inner columns as well, so it’s best if I match the shades and concentrate on having enough dark neutral bottoms and layers rather than tops;
– I don’t wear light neutrals that often, and when I do it’s always on the upper half of my body (+ dresses) and never in a “twin set” style, so it’s okay if my “white” pieces aren’t identical, and I shouldn’t buy tons of them;
– I gladly mix shades of purple and wear them everywhere (preferably with lighter shades as tops and darker shades as bottoms), so I can have a substantial amount of purple clothes in different shades, but they should still have similar values.
You get the gist! This is something you should keep in mind while contemplating a purchase, as it helps determine how much use you’ll actually get out of it and therefore whether/how much it’s worth spending on it.
3) If you have some favorite pieces, figure out the specific characteristics that make them your favorite, so you can keep your eyes out for other pieces with similar features. This is probably especially helpful if, like me, you otherwise have trouble coming up with a unifying “vision” for your wardrobe.
I like your idea of keeping favourite pieces but what to do with them if they don’t fit? I do regret passing on some favourite items because they were no longer fashionable or don’t fit. Now, my daughter wears and redesigns old clothes she finds in charity shops for a vintage/retro look. She does wear one of my dresses but suits different colours to me. However, I have a lot of shoes and we have the same shoe size. So she wears my high heeled shoes from the 80’s and 90’s which are perfect for 1930’s and1940’s inspired outfits!
Redesigning clothes sound wonderful! I’m not a very “trendy” person, so I usually don’t mind if my clothes aren’t very fashionable, but I do have trouble letting go of pieces that don’t fit… I think it’s probably fine to hold on to such pieces if they’re a minority and you think there is a realistic chance you might wear them again, otherwise you should probably donate/sell/pass them on to someone who will cherish them (I loved the birthday idea in the interview!) and concentrate on finding new items you’ll love as much…
Great advice, Alice. I employ the rule of 3. If I cannot think of 3 items I already own that will go with a contemplated purchase, it stays in the store! I usually find 5-6 different ways to wear everything when I’m sticking with my palette. That’s the key. Years ago, I joined thousands of other professional women and had my colors “done.” Most of the accent colors work together, but if I keep the focus narrow, I get even more mileage from my purchases and I know it all looks great!
Oh this is beautiful and a great reminder for me to pair my green tops with my grey bottoms. I’ve been reading a lot about people dressing to the nines to do chores and errands, although a few have mentioned that they wear their oldest or least important clothes to do the same. (I’m of the latter school, since I get home and put the clothes straight into a hot wash.)
Janice,
This post is a ray of sunshine today on this again showery day ! Sub out the gray for stone or light beige, and this could be my Spring capsule ! Thank you for being the bright and sunny point of my mornings !
I enjoyed your packing retrospective — as someone else commented, it’s like a “ slot machine” post, only it’s 3x3x4 ! It delights me when you show packing in clusters, as I like to think in terms of multiples of what goes with what at a given time !
While waiting for outside life to begin again, we have enjoyed watching the freedom of birds that come to our feeders on the deck. We have a small grove of mature trees off of the deck, which helps to bring in woodland birds that are in migration. I have just seen a gorgeous pair of Baltimore Orioles, a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, and a Wood Thrush as well as a beautiful male Cardinal at the feeders , all within a few minutes of one another ! Our turn to be out and about shall come too, eventually ! Meanwhile, there are blessings to be had with the respite from the noise of daily busy lives, when I might have missed seeing these wonderful birds !
Thank you for finding that cheery green and yellow lemon skirt.
I can’t wear yellow which is a shame because it’s so uplifting. I love the lemon theme with the prints. The skirt also has a matching blouse AND a sundress!
I love the cheerfulness of yellow too, but it does not love my complexion!
I recently bought this sweater for my birthday, I love how it keeps the neutrals up near the face but still incorporates yellow.
https://www.talbots.com/ombre-stripe-sweater-/P201121050.html
(Though I got my sweater on eBay) Keeping an eye out for more options along this line in design to use an accent color that I love to wear but is not flattering to my skin tone.
I don’t look great in sunny yellow either … but have found that the mustard / ochre tones work ok with my complexion and still provide that nice punch. Maybe try that.
That is such a clever idea! Thanks!
On the Lands End UK site they have Tossed Lemons shorts in Regular and all sizes. Described as 7″ patterned chino shorts and reduced to £20. The UK site ship all over the world including to the USA.
I love the idea of the green wrap top with the lemon skirt. I went to go see how much it is and there are two more options in the wrap top. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll make a purchase. Thank you for your blog posts. I do so enjoy reading them.
This post reminds me of an ice cold can of Sprite— refreshing!
That’s just genius! When you can move from visual to smell to taste to sound – that sort of flexibility delight me!
hugs,
Janice
This lemon/lime story is great … cheerful accents to the practical grey and white! I’m inspired to put a few outfits together with that color story and wear this week (I’m in the south). I’m also inspired to have a Tanquery and Tonic, with lemon and lime, as my nightly cocktail. Yes, nightly … let’s not judge.
Adore the Belovedest nickname. I’m in heaven having my husband, collegiate son, and I all together under one roof with dinners together every night. My husband and I were both in demanding/travel careers while my son was growing up … so dinner together was more rare than I want to admit. (He seems to have turned out OK nonetheless … even if not enthralled with this ‘opportunity’ to be at home with parents.)
Stay well – and continued thanks for the daily treats!!!
What a fresh and beautiful capsule! That print skirt is a workhorse. I would toss that into a suitcase in a heartbeat for an extended trip. I especially love that lemon yellow color. It’s hard to find precisely because too many women can’t/won’t wear it. (It likes me!) In fact, I’m in the process of knitting myself a cardigan out of cotton/bamboo so that it will be light for summer in grey with stripes of aqua, bright orange coral, light coral, lavender and lemon yellow. The stripes are of differing widths and always with grey between them so it acts as a background neutral. The fun of a piece like this is: I own those colors in T-shirts and tank tops. And I have grey neutral bottoms. LOTS of mileage out of such sweaters. I was inspired by a cardigan I now wish I hadn’t given away as it had stripes of orange-red, cranberry red, denim, grey, tan and white. It was a classic Talbots piece and it was absolutely a wardrobe workhorse: khaki pants, khaki skirt, denim pants or skirt, white jeans, red pants or skirt. It didn’t quite reach dressy, but could do in a pinch where we needed to be just beyond casual. Anyone else here notice how many nuances are required in women’s apparel as we move through life???
AK, the cardigan you are knitting sounds utterly perfect! Just imagining it makes me want to take up knitting :)
This is slightly odd, and unlikely: tomorrow’ heroine is pondering knitting her own cardigan, since we couldn’t find one available in retail…
What are the odds?
hugs
Janice
This is so bright and cheerful! I love the green sweater with the lemon print skirt. It’s been many years since I’ve had any print skirts in my wardrobe. Maybe it’s time to reintroduce them!
Janice,
You so inspired me this morning that I chose to wear a yellow long sleeved polo shirt as we are having chilly rain, and a yellow topper from of all places, Cabelas Sporting goods ! It’s actually intended to be a light weight comfortable fishing shirt, unlike a heavy fishing vest, and it’s an exact match to the yellow of the polo shirt and added just enough of an added layer of warmth for the rainy weather ! I added beige older trousers and blue and gold earrings . I felt cheered all day by both the yellow color and finding a casual twin set of sorts !
I wear print skirts all summer long (and I have some for cold weather as well) – nancyo