June 2, 2020
I think we could all use some peace, quiet, and timeless classic simplicity… Calm seems wise right now…
And now that the weather (at least in Chicago) has become legitimately summery, it’s time to break out another skirt!
I firmly believe in the merits of skirts for warm weather – they’re cool, they cover as much or as little as you want, and they are appropriate for a ton more places than any pair of pants or shorts! If you have that “thigh thing” that keeps your from wearing skirts, indulge in 1 or 2 pairs of these and you will find you might actually enjoy a skirt!
Our navy and camel heroine already has a navy skirt, but when she sees this copper-brown skirt, she realizes that owning more than 1 skirt is no more ridiculous than own 2 pairs of jeans…
scarf – Aspinal of London; earrings – Banana Republic; chain necklace – Banana Republic; tee – Cuyana; skirt – H&M; bag – Nordstrom; sandals – Jack Rogers
Adding these 2 garments, along with luggage brown accessories, brings a lot of warmth and lightness to this wardrobe:
The camel tee shirt breaks up large portions of navy:
This is a great skirt – literally wearable for at least 9 months of the year, thanks to the dark color:
Ah, now this beautiful palette! I keep checking, because I’m feeling confident that this scarf will be reintroduced in this color combination. (fingers crossed…)
OH MY OH MY OH MY… 20 minutes after I typed that last sentence, THE SCARF WAS BACK!
scarf – Aspinal of London
This lovely pastel heroine has had a pair of blue jeans and a great blue cardigan for a few months – maybe she’s ready for another touch of blue? And I love how her leather accessories are so easy – warm beige!
scarf – Aspinal of London; mother of pearl earrings – Banana Republic; floral bracelet – Eliot Danori; blue linen shirt – L.L.Bean; white lace skirt – Stefanel; bag – Mali + Lili; sandals – Softwalk
This wardrobe remains so well balanced…
I love the idea of being able to wear a short-sleeved shirt under a sweater in cooler weather – this gets more mileage from a shirt than you might initially expect!
And of course the beautiful white skirt is perfect with mint green!
Should I update the color wheel for this heroine’s wardrobe? Since I’ve added white and pink to the wardrobe, the colors feel inaccurate…
scarf – Aspinal of London
Maybe it’s because the rest of the world is complicated and confusing, but a simple white outfit feels very… clarifying… and the mustard accessories keep you from looking like everyone else!
scarf – Aspinal of London; earrings – 2028; necklace – Gemondo; white sweater – Lands’ End; white elastic-waist eyelet skirt – 1901; bag – Sole Society; sandals – Toms
Maybe it’s just me (I feel that a lot, today!), but I think white in this wardrobe makes a TON of difference… I suspect a trend…
The white is particularly useful in the way that it sets a “base” upon which to wear her great scarf…
And her pink tops are perfect with this pretty lace skirt! I’ve had a black lace skirt for ages, and it’s surprising how often it can be worn – it dresses up really casual tops, but isn’t too “over the top…”
I often wonder if, in a different life, I might have ended up in a wardrobe like this next one… It’s interesting to speculate about what could be different, had I made a few choices in a warmer and earthier direction, back in the day…
scarf – GISY
This heroine is having the BEST luck with necklaces…
scarf – GISY; earrings – BIKO; necklace – Chico’s; sleeveless top – Banana Republic; olive pleated skirt – Lea & Viola; bag – Nordstrom; sandals – Miz Mooz
There’s still a powerful lot of green in this wardrobe, but the red bag and sandals, as well as the cool necklace, brighten things up quite a bit. Brightness is going to be an issue for the next few months, maybe?
If you’re determined to not invest in too many skirts, a medium-weight skirt in a darker fabric is pretty versatile – flowy and pleated enough to move in hotter weather, but dark enough to look right with dark tights and boots in the autumn…
Here again is an opportunity to use a sleeveless top in cooler weather. It’s tempting to store away these “summer” tops when autumn arrives, but we might not really need to do that…. Something to consider…
Dear oh dear…. my favorite…. not that I have a birthday coming up soon!
This heroine had, frankly, no real plan for what she would add to her wardrobe this month! When she saw the skirt, it all fell into place…
scarf – Aspinal of London; earrings – Aqua; necklace – Biko; bag – Bueno of California; linen shirt – L.L.Bean; floral skirt – Marks & Spencer; sandals – Camper
Great happiness, this wardrobe is going to need more neutrals! Next month might see an infusion of white, eh?
This is such a pretty shirt, and can easily be worn all year round…
It’s hard to tell from photographs, but I suspect that this skirt might work beautifully with a whole bunch of different shades of pink!
The most classic design of the scarves, and one of the most interesting color combinations!
One of the best things about these pleated skirts is that the pleats flatten out pretty much completely just below the elastic waist, so that you can wear untucked tops overs them and they are nice and smooth!
scarf – Aspinal of London; earrings – Lauren Ralph Lauren; necklace – Kendra Scott; tee shirt – J.Crew; skirt – H&M; tote – Kate Spade; sandals – Jack Rogers
Here’s another wardrobe in which I might need to reinforce the neutral colors!
This tee shirt comes in FIFTEEN colors – and this “Flirty Peach” looks great with both of our heroine’s neutral colors:
A swishy skirt in warm weather just feel pretty…
Favorite this month? I have to admit that I’m still smitten with the black and pink wardrobe, although I can’t see myself wearing a pink floral skirt! Maybe I’m limiting myself…
love,
Janice
p.s. 2 years ago, we were engaged in this same exercise, with 6 different scarves! It’s fascinating to see how these wardrobes evolve…
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I love the colors of that last scarf and wouldn’t want to lose the “neutral-ness” of it by adding too much color. The light peach blends well and on my phone screen, when I look closely at the upper tassels within the black background, it almost looks like a moss green. That could be a nice addition – but it may not be truly represented on my screen.
Are those ‘under the skirt’ garments hot to wear? They look like they would be….
I’ve not found them to be so – they’re better for me than bare thighs!
hugs,
Janice
I find that the under skirt garments feel great, not hot at all. They actually keep my thighs from getting sweaty and sticky feeling. I highly recommend them.
I still like the navy lion and mint wardrobes best, but that last one is sneaking up on me. Right now it feels the most cohesive of the 6, and the various but harmonious shades of peach are just lovely. I’m already looking forward to some deeper rust tones once we head into autumn.
The reason I keep doing this project, year after year, is that it feels sort of like the way a “normal” wardrobe would grow – 1 outfit (or garment) at a time. So the ability to achieve coherence in this incremental way is an ongoing lesson… The things that fascinate me are weird, but sometimes useful!
hugs,
Janice
Yes! I was really struck by the addition of the floral skirt to the black, white, and pink wardrobe and the many different ways things could go from here. I would love to see a deeper exploration of this idea in wardrobes that are at least somewhat established (so not just the base set of neutrals, more like what we have in this post) but that also have some room to grow. When you purchase a printed garment that has whappage and fits into the wardrobe fine but is a little bit of a wild card in some way (perhaps because it introduces new colors and/or changes the balance of colors in the wardrobe and/or brings a different vibe and/or whatever), can you identify why it has whappage for you? Why you brought it home? How do you want this item to fit into your overall wardrobe? And where do you go with your wardrobe from here?
Thinking about the wardrobe our heroine brought the floral skirt into, I can see a lot of possibilities for why she brought it home, such as:
-She has a lot of solids in her outfit, so she was starved for prints in general
-She has always loved floral prints and missed them in this wardrobe
-She has a lot of pink and was attracted to a print that included pink but also different colors
-Her wardrobe was feeling a bit too dark for summer with all the black so she liked the light colors of the skirt
-She wants to wear more skirts in general
-She liked the silhouette of this particular item
-She feels that her wardrobe is kind of stark in its color-blocked pink and black, so she something with a more subtle blended look appeals
-She was attracted to the feminine feel of the skirt
-She wanted something that would look nice at a summer wedding but would still be part of her everyday wardrobe
-She doesn’t have as much variety in her wardrobe as she’d like, so she bought something that was “different”
-It reminded her of her favorite Easter dress from when she was 10 years old
-ETC ETC
Great post! I love what you do each time you go back to these scarves!!! I have the marigold Aspinal and have been enjoying outfits with pretty much the same colors/items you’re showing but swapping in teal for the pink.
Janice I have seen you choose the thin pleated skirt several times. I have avoided this as I have wider hips and waist and like the tops worn out. But i was interested to hear you say it is smooth over the tummy, I think, when ever I feel comfy trying things on, I’ll give this a try. The longer Skirt length is nice. I have found the pencil skirt the best style for me but would like to try something swishy and cooler for the summer. Will look for the under skirt shorts, great option to prevent chafing
Barb – I would NEVER wear anything that bunched up around the waist – I’m so short-waisted it’s almost laughable, and tucking things in looks as if I’ve rested by underwires on my belt! But I’m vouching for these soft fabric skirts with elastic waists – the fabric smooths out and lays nice and flat under an untucked top. One of the reasons I keep showing them is because I’m so gobsmacked at how good it looks; it’s definitely news for me!
hugs,
Janice
The pink scarf is now my firm favourite, particularly with the floral skirt providing lots more variables. Although as we enter high summer, I would add light grey as a neutral and maybe a touch of white.
Overall, all the wardrobes are coming along nicely but following the example of the Robin wardrobe, the inclusion of patterns (tops or bottoms) that bring together the neutrals and accents in each wardrobe would create an extra dimension.
Yes, my vote is always for including patterns in a wardrobe. And gray in the Robin wardrobe would be beautiful, and I’d make sure to add some dark pinks too. – nancyo