June 22, 2020
Ah, this is finally looking exactly like the weather!
Grey heather top – Chelsea28
There are no wardrobe rules. None. I might make suggestions, and offer guidelines, but you should make your own choices! It’s your style…
I absolutely would mix patterns with these shorts – anything that looks as if it might be one of the prints in the patchwork is a reasonable choice:
earrings – Lover’s Tempo; seersucker shirt – L.L.Bean; sleeveless shirt – Treasure & Bond; shorts – L.L.Bean; espadrille sandals – Chinese Laundry
If you’ve got cool earrings, let them be the statement part of your outfit. Simple, classic clothes are a perfect background for accessories:
Compass earrings – Patricia Nash; white cotton cardigan – Banana Republic; olive tank top – L.L.Bean; sea grass shorts – L.L.Bean; sandals – Marc Fisher Ltd.
Let’s mix some brown and black, eh?
Earrings – Julie Vos; brown linen shirt – Uniqlo; wrap top – Banana Republic; black linen shorts – Caslon; sandals – Esprit
A print that includes your 2 neutrals is a perfect choice. This heroine could swap out for navy shorts, or a white skirt, or navy pants….
And talking about annoying color names – why is “Donegal” in the name of this sweater? Has this sweater ever BEEN to Ireland? Was it made in Ireland, or from Irish materials? Nope – but it’s flecked like a Donegal tweed, and that’s enough to convert a geographic name into a garment adjective…
earrings – Lonna & Lilly; cactus flower Donegal cardigan – Lands’ End; striped tee – L.L.Bean; white linen shorts – Caslon; pink sandals – Marks & Spencer
And the print that includes your neutrals doesn’t have to be a traditional floral or stripes – what about some jungle animals?
Earrings – Biko; white cardigan – L.L.Bean; sleeveless animal print top – Banana Republic; shorts – Zella; grey sandals – Mephisto
Never forget that tortoise shell (fake, of COURSE) is a perfect way to bring brown and black together in an outfit:
Earrings – Lauren Ralph Lauren; ochre cardigan – Banana Republic; linen blend splitneck shirt – Ann Taylor; black linen shorts – Caslon; sandals – Easy Street
Since I lift weights (well, I used to, before I was locked out of my gym…) I love sleeveless tops. A plain sleeveless tee shirt would be very useful in this wardrobe:
White, black and pink tanks – Lands’ End; sleeveless white shirt – Lands’ End; pointelle cardigan – Halogen; white sleeveless tee shirt – Uniqlo; striped tee – Banana Republic; striped short-sleeved sweater – Max Mara; pink cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; black shorts – Lands’ End; black silk pants – Eileen Fisher; black skirt – Lands’ End; shirtdress – Banana Republic
For those of you playing along at home, here’s the updated list!
And no, I didn’t forget the 6 scarves; I thought that I would change up the order of things to bring the smallest bit of variety to our lives. Variety isn’t something that I have in large quantities right now, I must admit!
mint green “A” Floral scarf – Aspinal of London; cranberry tee shirt – L.L.Bean; Mandala scarf – GISY; zesty orange polo shirt – Lands’ End; shield scarf – Aspinal of London; black wrap top – Banana Republic
navy lion and peacock scarf – Aspinal of London; navy linen-cotton top – Banana Republic; mustard “A” Floral scarf – Aspinal of London; grey tank top – Lands’ End; Magenta Robins scarf – Aspinal of London; azalea tee shirt – L.L.Bean
Do you feel like your summer wardrobe is adequate? I NEVER feel like I have enough summer clothes. It’s odd, because in the winter, if I have jeans, a flannel shirt and a cashmere turtleneck, I consider myself fully attired. But in the summer, no stack of tee shirts, row of linen shorts, or handful of linen dresses ever feels sufficient…
What’s with that?
love,
Janice
p.s. Three years ago, I showed a flashback to EIGHT years ago, to a camel and blue travel capsule wardrobe that has not dated at all... That’s my goal! Timeless. Elegant. Classic.
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This series is great. Thanks for showing all different sleeve options. The orange polo is cheery. I used to wear polos a lot.
I definitely have enough summer clothes, especially that we do not have a very long summer here on the Black Sea. I have to really make an effort to try and wear all my summer clothes. Thanks for this series, I love it and have pinned all of the posts for future wisdom.
It’s strange how my summer wardrobe is twice as big as my winter, but with the feeling of nothing to wear. For me, I think it’s because I have too many coloured, printed (and clashing) items and too few neutral pieces to balance things out – I learnt that from you! I would love to see one of your analytical posts addressing this issue again using all the main neutral colour groups.
In the winter I am happy with black trousers and jeans because all my tops go with either. I don’t wear either in the summer so bottoms are white or coloured trousers and long patterned skirts. Then the tops don’t go with the coloured trousers or skirts so I have to buy others that do. The 1 bottom – 2/3 tops is just not easy with coloured and patterned bottoms so it gets to 1-1 for both acquiring and laundry so… and so it goes on until I have completely lost the plot.
My Mum used to say: one to wear, one spare and one in the wash. Works for me especially if I really like wearing the item of clothing!
Love the new colors this summer of Uniqlo long-sleeve linen! And what’s with all the summer clothes and nothing to wear. It is the truth!
My summer wardrobe is bigger than other seasons for many reasons:
1) Hotter weather means changing clothes after getting sweaty during an outdoor activity like gardening, playing tennis, or a going for a long walk
2) I’m not comfortable doing many summertime activities in a dress so I need to change before an activity and then can change back after the activity
3) Heading somewhere “nice” for an evening event or activity requires something more formal than shorts and a sleeveless tee or even a simple sundress
4) Wearing print tops to compensate for not wearing a scarf or statement necklace which means the top is more memorable and therefore in rotation less frequently
5) Lack of a 2nd layer to add additional color and variety in the overall look can make wearing the same basics feel boring
6) Owning too many of the same tops in different colors rather than several different styles can also lead to boredom (I’m getting much better at remembering to consider different cuts, styles, and fabrics while searching for the same color to replace a top)
7) No desire to do laundry more often
For all these reasons and probably more, I acknowledge my personal need/want for a larger summer wardrobe and budget accordingly (shopping time, closet space, financial resources).
Thanks for showing us that fun animal print shirt, which is a nice nod to the 1980s safari-themed Banana Republic. It brings back pleasant memories of visiting the BR store at the mall when I was a kid…I could never afford to buy anything there, but it was a great place to further fuel my dreams of being some combination of a big game field biologist and Indiana Jones :)
Sharon, Cherry, and Lena’s comments regarding summer wardrobes resonate with me. In my case, in the summer I want EVERY color and EVERY print (whereas that’s not as much an issue for winter since sweaters and vests are mostly available in solids, and for cold weather I can more easily funnel this covetous impulse into buying inexpensive scarves instead of tops and skirts). And while summer in Minnesota is not a blink and miss it situation, it’s really not long enough to support the number of pretty, colorful tops I want to own. I actually made some good strides this summer shoring up my supply of neutrals and coordinating main accent colors, so I’m in great shape…for somewhere that has a summer that is about 15 months long. So there is still work to be done there. But my closet space is large enough and I have things very well organized, so I am in no rush to winnow things down.
I agree that there never seems to be enough summer clothes. It seems that no matter what my situation (college student, business smart work, business casual work, or casual work), I simply never am happy or satisfied with my summer clothes. It doesn’t help that Texas begins to feel like summer as early as March and it can last well into November. I love the coziness of winter clothes and always want ALL the sweaters, which makes no sense for my environment! I have been inspired by this series over the past year time and time again, yet I have struggled to implement it even though I am sure it would be immensely helpful. Anyone else struggling with picking and committing to colors or even a particular personal style???
I love colour and pattern but often have ‘orphans’ that don’t go together or lots of tops or knitwear bought on the off-chance that it was the right shade to go with a patterned skirt or dress but weren’t quite right. So I know all about the “I have loads of clothes but nothing to wear” syndrome.
I needed to get some control over this as I was swamped and didn’t have room for half my clothes. So, since the beginning of the year, I have used Janice’s Weekly Timeless Wardrobe to revolutionise how my hanging wardrobe and my drawers of tops and knitwear are arranged. Lockdown put an end to shopping and gave me time to sort out, evaluate and reorganise.
First of all I tried on ALL my clothes, whatever the season. If they fitted me
very well, I kept them. If they didn’t fit for whatever reason, or if they were damaged or worn, they were sent to charity. I had to be dispassionate and my daughter helped with this assessment.
Next, I decided to work WITH colour and pattern instead of trying to split neutrals and accents. So I organised everything into broad colour groups that include neutrals and accents, plain garments and patterns.
I am a soft summer, so my colour groups are: blues (including navy and denim); pink/red; purple; green; grey; white/ivory. The blues can be a neutral or accent depending on how I wear them. The blues and the pink/red group account for about half my clothes. Purple and green are smaller groups. Grey and white/ivory are true neutrals in my wardrobe because they will go with all the colour groups. By the way, if I was attracted to colours such as olive and camel, they would go into the broader green and brown groups.
Using the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe I assigned each garment as a top, bottom, pattern or plain, light, medium or dark. Dresses were a matching top/bottom, jackets were a second layer and coats a 3rd layer (not on Janice’s chart because we have fewer of them and they tend to be in major neutral colours). In the smaller colour blocks, one item might have more than one purpose. I also looked at the neutrals I could borrow from.anpther group.
Within each of these broad groups, I ordered all the clothes by shade or tone from light to dark. This incorporated all my garments that I thought were right but weren’t. I could then look at them as tones or shades of colour that I liked when I bought them so could be used.
Patterns were assigned to colour groups by hanging them up at eye level in daylight, standing at a distance, and deciding what the predominant colour was or the one that leaps out. It might not be the background colour. Put it in the group for that predominant colour (I did change my mind sometimes). You might already have a top/bottom or second layer that you wear with it so put it next to that. I also changed my mind over that as well. If there are two predominant colours put it between the appropriate colour group or hang it with other individual multi-cloured items. You could then wear it with the other colour as an ‘accent’. If a pattern feels ‘wrong’ then discard the item. In my case it was anything with yellow in it.
Having sorted my hanging wardrobe, I also colour blocked my t-shirts, jumpers and scarves.
It has been a revelation looking at colour blocks and tones. It has reduced my orphans because instead of failing to match a ‘not quite right’ shade with one particular garment, I’ve used Janice’s suggestions and tried it with something else with sometimes surprising results. Sometimes an orphan could be a subtle shade which is present in a patterned shirt or cardigan. Worn underneath it can be more interesting than plain white.
I identified real gaps according to the WTW chart and could see where the colour groups merged and melded through pattern. Although the clothes are arranged by colour group, I can still ‘borrow’ the neutrals from other groups.
I could see mini-capsules emerging as many of the colour blocked patterns contained another similar groups of colours:
Blue denim/navy with coral pink/cameo rose ivory and stoneor grey;
Purple, turquoise/aqua, grey and white/ivory;
Purple, plum and grey
Pink, teal and ivory.
I have tried on lots of different ‘new’ outfits and it has been fun. I’m now looking at my jewellery and highlighting pattern details like Janice does. Footwear is also considered.
Looking at shades and tones helped me to decide which ones I preferred wearing at different times of year. I also considered the weight or thickness of the material, necklines etc. Patterns sometimes were also seasonal. I only relegated to storage garments that really were for winter based on depth if colour and material.
Currently, my wardrobe could now take me from Spring to early Autumn. I’m not fighting colour and pattern rather embracing all its varied hues and tones. Discovering that I could create complete outfits based on tonal values in patterns in the same or neighbouring colour blocks has made pattern a friend instead of a conflict. The Weekly Timeless Wardrobe ensures that I can swap items in or out and take these colour groups into the depths of winter and the heights of summer.
Beth T, this is phenomenal! You’ve clearly put a lot of thought and effort into your approach. I have saved your description to a separate document for me to reference. I have always arranged my closet by garment type, then by color, but this color-first approach interests me a lot as does considering navy, blue denim, and blue in a single “blue” category rather than separate. I love the idea that a garment that may have seemed like a “fail” at first because it didn’t go with the intended wardrobe item really is a “win” because it works with other things. Integrating this with the WTW is genius. I’m very curious what revelations might arise from my own closet using this approach. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing, this is so interesting! I particularly like your idea for the initial sort into broad color categories that include neutrals/accents as well as solids/prints. Now that you’ve mentioned it, it seems like such an obvious place to start. I’m headed to my closet – this is going to be fun!
Hi Janice and everyone! Great comments all around. I agree that I have a lot of summer clothes for the reason that I am always changing in and out of them during the day. One thing I decided to focus on was to create groups of neutrals based on what I seemed to have a plethora of, and prioritize buying just those colors. I looked at the grouping as short-sleeved/ sleeveless tops, long sleeved tops OR light sweaters, pants, and shorts/capris/skirts. So I guess it is based on how hot or cool the weather decides to be :)