As of 7:36 Central Time today, I changed the downloadable file that many of you purchased. I understand that the first file was NOT downloading at all! I’m so sorry… If I could avoid these computer-ish snafus, I would!
love,
Janice
July 9, 2020
The Kids Can Canoe All Day…
And the rest of us can hike, or go with the kids, or sit on the shore and watch…
She thinks this is brilliant – the 3 families will distance from each other for 14 days; the house is plenty big enough. It will require some vigilance to make certain that the children understand what’s required, but they’ve been pretty smart, so far…
Knowing that they’re going to be there probably ’til the first of September, she wants to plan carefully. She pauses, quietly, to take a look at her favorite inspiration:
She loves this, and thinks that it’s terribly appropriate for planning for a lake vacation!
She pulls out her brand new Weekly Timeless Wardrobe template for summer, and starts thinking…
She knows that she’s going to focus on her navy and white wardrobe core for summer – it’s been her standby for years! But she also knows that she wants some things that are… softer? gentler? less “starched naval officer”…
Hmm….
First up, the 13 garments that are the core of her summer wardrobe:
Tank tops – Lands’ End; striped tank top – Old Navy; white cardigan – Eileen Fisher; navy cardigan – Banana Republic; shorts – L.L.Bean; orange draped tank – Joan Vass; navy daisy print top – Tommy Hilfiger; white eyelet-yolk tee – J.Crew; gingham linen shirt – L.L.Bean; poplin dress – L.L.Bean; navy pants – L.L.Bean
Then, she veers off in to what might look like an entirely new direction…
Scalloped-trim top – H&M; orange gauze top – L.L.Bean; floral top – Lucky Brand; paisley dress – Nanette Lepore; front-tie linen top – Calvin Klein; striped Henley – Three Dots; heritage stone cropped pants – L.L.Bean
She’s a little bit nervous about pulling all of these pieces together; nevertheless, she persisted! (yes, a favorite quote, and the text of one of my tattoos!)
Yes, everything won’t go together. But she pauses for a few minutes, and jots down a generous dozen outfits…
She starts with the classic navy and white outfits – fail-safe, appropriate, comfortable and flattering:
Then she starts adding outfits that include her seven accent pieces:
This is going to work well! She has options, she can change the “feel” of her outfits, and she will always be cool and lovely!
It’s nice to have options; when so much of life is constrained and limited, at least the sense of choices and possibilities is important!
love,
Janice
p.s. Why YES, you can get those template for yourself. For a paltry 99 cents, all 4 seasons, plus the master list, can be yours! (I have to charge to help pay for the guys who host the files, and who make all of these links possible…)
p.p.s. I have absolutely NO confidence in the link above, so if it’s acting badly, let me know!
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Your posts are an absolute joy – I look forward to each new one and feel inspired every time.
Even if I personally wouldn’t wear the colours, there are always lessons to be learned.
Equally I enjoy re-visiting the archives.
What I found most intriguing about this post was that you mention your tattoos.
I’d love to know more.
I’m in my late 50s and got my first discreet one three years ago.
I find I dress in the colours of the lavender, cornflowers and foliage of my often visible forearm art.
Oh, my….I do think you may have outdone yourself with this one. It’s an incredibly good teaching moment here, showing how a timeless core wardrobe can work with new pieces that may change over time. I love everything. I’d need two more bottoms and a jacket and some accessories to have a complete, workable wardrobe, but this is near perfect in its design.
You WERE planning on giving our heroine some accessories, right? ;)
Great post! I take issue with our heroine’s assessment that everything won’t go together, though! Looking forward to those accessories!
I love the understated humour in this painting. The person in the middle looks over-balanced and they could soon all end up in the water!
For me the biggest quantity of blue is the mid-blue/denim of the water with navy as a secondary dark neutral.
I have several items that I can wear in the blue and green category, though there is a phrase – “blue and green should never be seen”. I dont know where that comes from or whether it’s even true.
So using the summer template plus seven extra items, I’ve just mapped out a packing list with my favourite holiday colours – denim/chambray, navy, coral and white/cream. I’ve added in my “green country walks” capsule, though my greens are bluer in tone – jade, teal, mint. I do like sage and I have tried on the H&M top and it was too yellow on me – sigh. I did swap a dress for a skirt/top/second layer combo that I always take on holiday.
The paisley dress is gorgeous but doesn’t come in blue but I shall keep an eye out…..
Now I am all set for a LONG holiday. I wish I had the courage to GO somewhere, even to a self-catering cottage miles from anywhere.
I’d love to see some shoes and other accessories with this. It’s going to be an active but relaxing holiday so she will need at least casual shoes, hiking boots and sandals. My feeling is that you would need at least two different scarves to wear as a neckerchief and a wrap for the cool of the evening.
Jewellery could be simply metal but coloured beads or can often ‘tie’ an outfit together. A statement piece can lift an outfit from ordinary to special.
Choices and possibilities, as you say, are important at the moment. When I go away, I often take more jewellery than I could wear so that I can have that choice. The fact that I often end up wearing just a few pieces for the entire holiday is beside the point. I take pleasure and comfort from knowing that the rest is available for when the mood takes me.
Thank you for sharing snippets about yourself over the past few months – purple hair and now tattoos. May I suggest that you could add another motto – “Having the courage of her own convictions”. Your posts give us that confidence in spades.
Hi, This isn’t a shirt dress but it is super cute in person: https://www.jcrew.com/p/womens_category/dressesandjumpsuits/smockedwaist-midi-dress-in-paisley/AR902
Thanks – that is lovely.
This post is so helpful in showing how the timeless core works with (or underneath?) the other clothes. Thank you! (That’s going to help the fall planning.)
Love the addition of the tan front-tie linen top. So pretty on its own, I wouldn’t have thought to use it as a second layer topper but it works beautifully with the paisley dress. It would also work well with any of the sleeveless tops under it. In my book, that’s a great little workhorse top that would quickly pay for itself. Well chosen, Janice!
I’m a recent convert to the “shirt over tee” as a lighter summer alternative to a cardigan or jumper. Particularly useful on country walks when you might be cool to begin with but then warm up. Shirts are also lighter to carry when you take it off.
I’m not sure whether I’d wear a shirt over a dress but the possibility is there….
I love these muted and neutral colors together and how they feel like they will give her 100 very different options. Having the variety of patterns, stripes and solids really expands the wardrobe too. One of my all time favorites.
Janice,
For my coloring, I would also select what Beth T suggests — for my dominant dark color I would pick more of a denim blue , with a few pieces in navy. You seem to travel with me, which is great ! As hubby and I drove on a country road heading for groceries the other day, it was one of those typical dreamy Summer days with blue skies, sprinkled with a few puffy white clouds, juxtaposed against the green fields of corn foliage, and I thought “ wouldn’t that be a simple Summer color scheme “ ! Inspiration is everywhere !
I am loving the colors in this painting, surprise, surprise ! Your seven additions really pick up the spirit of the piece ! Again, for my needs, I would probably sub out the striped Henley for a beige or off white light weight cardigan . Loving it !
This painting is perfect for the color capsule I’ve been slowly acquiring over the past several years. I love the navy, moss, rust and natural/tan colors together. Plus, the texture of the painting has the same feeling as the many linen garments in my capsule. A big proportion of my clothes were purchased second hand at a thrift store with a few being sewn by me, thus the slow process I mentioned. It has been so helpful to have a plan and colors to narrow my purchases, but I also love the serendipity of adding thrifted garments. I never know what will show up, but I immediately recognize its usefulness in my wardrobe when I see it. One of the things I miss the most about stay at home is my frequent visits to local thrift stores. I haven’t been to one since March.
You often mention that it is hard to find olive garments. I looked online for weeks for an olive tank a couple of summers ago to replace one that had seen better days. I finally gave up. At the thrift stores at least, I find many more moss garments than olive ones. I’m glad I enjoy wearing both colors.
Back to the post, I really like the direction our heroine took when she veered off. This new group plus the navy garments would be what I would pick. I don’t think the stark white resonates with the painting. Personally, I never wear it. I would switch those garments, including the prints for ones with the ivory to tan in your color circle.
I love reading the comments here. Thanks to everyone who adds to my enjoyment of the posts.
And Janice, a big yes to accessories for this wardrobe!
The stark white was difficult, because I was initially thinking of her as the “crispy starched” navy and white person, who veered off into the softer colors. I make things up as I go along!
Your system sounds perfect; we’re not in any screaming rush to assemble the “perfect” wardrobe, we’re just moving in that direction with all appropriate care, and NO haste…
hugs,
Janice
Dawn, I’m with you all the way on shopping in charity shops and also vintage fairs. My local charity shops in the UK are reopening this week.
I go to find tops, blouses, jumpers, and accessories. I just like to see what they have and rarely leave without finding anything that will find a place in my wardrobe.
Great wardrobe Janice. I purchased the templates to help me with a wardrobe purge. Certainly have the time now, I live in Central Florida and I’m staying home as much as possible. Stay safe everyone.
Such a great wardrobe <3! Really beautiful collection ;-) Thanks so much for that post!
https://markoweobuwie.com.pl/blog
“…ONE of my tatoos”??? Janice, you’re a constant source of surprise and delight. Love this collection! ?
Thanks (as always) for the thought and work you put into all your posts. And especially thanks for the template which I immediately purchased/downloaded!
Hi Janice: yes, the coral and moss/sage definitely soften the navy/white combo…May have to swap in olive green as moss/sage or even mint greens are nowhere to be found (Except in my garden!)
Think long and hard on that choice, because (I find) olive can be a lot more yellowish than sage or moss. If it suits you then run with it! But I know that I can wear the more bluish shades, but not a real olive….
hugs,
Janice
Janice,
While practicing with my outfits over this hiatus, I have found that I definitely prefer to combine wearing blue bottoms with the cooler green tops, as you just suggested , especially when pairing with denim blue, rather than going with olive green. Typically, I stick with the warmer accent colors to pair with olive as warm yellows, peaches, copper, muted coral, and rust, and of course, the brown family of sand through to chocolate brown . I have tried olive with aqua, but it doesn’t thrill me . Maybe an olive bottom, paired with an off white top and a soft purple outer layer. I always need to break up contrasting colors with the intermediary of off white .
The one color that I find is difficult to combine with others, but is a color that I love, is periwinkle blue . I don’t care for it with denim, and not with a medium beige either. Pretty much, I prefer using it with stone as my neutral .
I love the inspiration painting! I’d have to adapt it to my own colors, which do include pure white. And I was thinking when I read the storyline that after the first two weeks of living under the same roof together, surely the families wouldn’t need to distance from each other for the rest of the summer? – nancyo
Janice, REALLLY like this General Goal-Notes-Choice chart for Summer. Could use on for all seasons!
For one thing, it prints out with so much more space! And I love the room for choices.
Thank you for another of your wonderful innovations.
P.S. Charts download and print beautifully! Thanks again.
Love your blog so much <3 I learnt about so much color and style <3 Please can you make a +dark academia capsule wardrobe ?thanks for ward and stay healthy
Janice I think you’re spot on genius!
I love these colors and wonder if they can still be great for 2023 Sept cruise in Boston, Main, Canada?
I think they would be perfect almost anywhere, for almost any occasion!
hugs,
Janice