July 20, 2020
If I were going to start this list from start, I might put these shorts a LOT earlier in the summer list! But I don’t think that retail inventories are normal this year, do you?
Linen cotton shorts – Uniqlo
Since we’re almost finished with the Summer wardrobe, and we still have all of the Spring clothes in our (imaginary) wardrobes, we can be pretty relaxed about any guidelines for this next addition:
It makes a lot of sense to have a pair of shorts that matches your favorite 2nd layer; it’s like having the world’s most casual suit!
earrings – J.Crew; linen shirt – J.Crew; tee shirt – L.L.Bean; shorts – H&M; tote – Madewell; canvas shoes – Keds
If you have this “suit” in white, there’s literally no color that you can’t wear with it!
earrings – Narayani; cardigan – L.L.Bean; floral front-tie top – Lucky Brand; capris – Alfred Dunner; tote bag – Longchamp; sandals – Rodo
Remember that if you cant’ find accessories that match your accent color, you can always choose metallics…
Paisley earrings – Lalana; white cardigan – J.Crew; navy paisley top – Calvin Klein; white denim skirt – Marks and Spencer; navy paisley bag – Diane von Furstenberg; sandals – Karl Lagerfeld Paris
Heck YES wear 2 colors together – these are both bright colors, but linen usually makes colors look somewhat muted. That makes the tee shirt and overshirt work well together:
earrings – Anne Koplik; linen shirt – J.Crew; pink tee – J.Crew; white shorts – J.Crew; bag – Balenciaga; ballet flats – Mansur Gavriel
You might not want all of your accessories to be teal, but maybe you do!
Earrings – Adornia; white linen shirt – J.Crew; aqua print top – L.L.Bean; white denim skirt – Marks and Spencer; bag – Calvin Klein; sandals – XOXO
If you want a really pretty long skirt for warm weather, this might be the perfect time to look…
Earrings – Kendra Scott; ruana – 14th & Union; white shell – L.L.Bean; lace skirt – Le Marais; gunmetal clutch – Nina; sandals – Sun + Stone
This wardrobe needs white shorts!
White, black and pink tanks – Lands’ End; sleeveless white shirt – Lands’ End; pointelle cardigan – Halogen; white sleeveless tee shirt – Uniqlo; sleeveless dotted top – H&M; tie-dye tee – Majestic Filatures; white linen cardigan – Eileen Fisher; black shorts – Lands’ End; black silk pants – Eileen Fisher; white shorts – Boden; shirtdress – Banana Republic
Next week we finish the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe! What a year…
Does anybody else feel like the last 52 weeks has seemed like it was a year long?
love,
Janice
p.s. Four years ago – one of my FAVORITE stories – about our heroine visiting Paris, and finding that she needs to add a bit of pink to her navy and white wardrobe….
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Maybe after the summer I’ll get my shelved plans back on track and try and recoup some sort of ‘normality’ back into my life. Yes I agree that this year has flown by and I’ll be a little sad when this series finishes next week. Would it be possible to do some more wardrobe building examples using the different neutrals, additional accents and accessories? As others have mentioned, this series has been very useful for identifying gaps in seasonal and travel wardrobes and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed playing along. Today I’m off to get my hair cut & coloured for the first time in six months!
Lovely selection, though my favoured light neutral is silver grey and I wear wide leg linen trousers (not a shorts person). The tops are so pretty and summery, particularly the pink floral tie top and the blue paisley floral top. The blue paisley bag goes very well. I would wear green and pink together.
I like stylised flowers and have a plum top with deep pink flowers and I’ve just bought a white tee shirt with purple and pink stylised flowers. I also have an ivory and blue floral dress with similar flowers.
I must confess that I’ve gone a bit mad on the t-shirt front, taking advantage of the sales. Having got rid of a load of tops because I lost weight last year, my t-shirt drawer was looking a bit plain. I needed more pattern to add interest and variety in high summer when I’m not wearing scarves.
So I looked at my accent colour gaps and chose carefully – pink, purple and green. Ordering online because you can’t try things on on the shops – no point going. If something arrived and it didnt fit (even though I order two sizes) or I didnt like one little detail or thought that it replicated one I already had, then back it went.
Green is a challenge because teal, jade, duck egg and other blue-greens are the only ones that really suit me but find myself drawn to light sage green. However, I have learnt that if the sage is at all ‘yellow’ in undertone, it’s wrong. A greyed sage green is better. Another thing I’ve learnt is to always try on off-key colours in daylight and ask for someone else’s opinion who knows what suits you. If I get the thumbs down from husband and daughter, I accept that the colour or shade is wrong on me, even though I still like it as a colour. Imagining someone you know wearing it and it suiting them, takes the edge off disappointment.
I’ve now added the purple and pink floral mentioned earlier, a pink one with blue/bright pink dragonflies and a light sage green with soft pink flowers.
I debated about an ivory tee with a teal floral pattern. Again its stylised and looks like an all over polka-diamond pattern. After having a chuckle that it reminded us of the pattern on hospital issue pyjamas, I’ve kept it for my country walks capsule. After all in the woods – who else will see me?
Reading this column has taught me that I dont have to settle for almost right or second best. There are PLENTY more tops to choose from….
Please would you round this off with a look at all 13 items in different colour groupings. It a big ask I know.
Following on from Sharon’s hair update, I have another week to wait before my hair is cut. I’ll have about four inches cut off but I’m not going to have a layered bob which I have had for years. My layers have grown out and my hair feels much thicker. We shall see.
Beth T, I 100% agree on the patterned tops for summer. I’ve added a few to my wardrobe this summer as well; navy background with a pattern in some combination of pink/coral/olive-moss/white/pale yellow. It’s good to be picky about them!
Your green dilemma reminds me of my olive/moss dilemma. I like and wear both colors, but to my surprise, I think olive (with a hint of yellow) looks better on me than moss (with a hint of grey), even though I have cool/pink skin. A subtle olive works a bit better with my golden hair. Recently my husband also pointed out an element of my eye color I’d not noticed. I knew my eyes have a distinct navy rim, then a teal circle and olive circle that blend into each other. But I hadn’t realized that I have a yellow-green ring right around the pupil. When I wear olive, my eyes stand out. My husband has olive eyes, but the entire iris is basically the same color.
This is fascinating; I’ve finally figured out that the woman in Paris who does style consultations (Josie Mermet) took the colors that she recommended for me from my multi-colored irises. A purple outer ring, a fair amount of warm brown, and a touch of soft greenish flecks…
No WONDER she sat and looked so closely at me! But figuring this out still doesn’t explain how she was able to discern so much about me personally, and about my work. It was cool, and almost creepy.
hugs,
Janice
Wow your eyes sound amazing! My eyes were grey as a child like my Dad’s. When I hit 13 they changed and my irises are a soft pale green with a grey ring round the pupil but a teal outer ring. My hair is a dark ash brown now going white. My mother had really dark bottle green irises with yellow flecks. But then she had beautiful dark auburn hair and olive skin.
I also am sad that this series has come to an end, but I would love to see it all wrapped up in an e-book.
But need it really end? Perhaps Miss Janice could be persuaded to continue on. Maybe two items every other week or something. I would certainly enjoy seeing the series go on, perhaps with a pandemic slant. Now when getting clothes is really a challenge. And the types of clothes have also changed. Good, clever strategies would be very useful now.
Pretty please?
I misread “pandemic” as “pedantic” and I was confused for a minute!
I really enjoyed the series too, and I feel it has taught me some key lessons about shopping with a plan, even though I haven’t really followed along.
Still, I am excited to see any new series that Janice has in store for us!
I, very much, look forward to a summary of the entire wardrobe, similar to the chart, but with the actual garments, to visualize the entire 52 pieces. Will you be doing that, Janice?
Well heck yeah!
hugs,
Janice
❤️
love your enthusiasm!!
you just brightened up my nightly blog reading.
Janice,
52 weeks has felt more like 2 years !
Haircut tomorrow — now one of the joys of life in what used to be considered a non event !
Did she ever get over the insomnia?
I suspect that after a few late night with her new friend, she managed to fall asleep…
hugs,
Janice
❤️
I have mostly given up on light colored pants because it is so hard to find pants robust and opaque enough to handle my lower body. But last September, I saw a pair of beige skimmers (just below the knee shorts) from a random unknown brand at a thrift store for $4 that looked like a possibility, and amazingly enough, they worked. I have found them to be a really nice alternative to the dark or bright pants I usually wear. I hope they last forever because I would be sad to go back to not having this elusive unicorn garment in my wardrobe. In many outfits, I actually prefer the look of a beige skimmers + white cardigan combination over the white + white version. I’m not sure why…hmm…
A previous commenter inspired me to imagine the heroines (not living in a pandemic for maximum vicarious enjoyment) wearing each of these outfits.
1) The unbleached linen set is perfect for a casual day at the farmer’s market (with sunglasses, of course!) for a green-eyed redhead who is lucky enough to tan (safely!) in the summer.
2) The pink floral outfit I imagine on a greying blonde who might get a lot of use out of the shirt with a soft moss green/olive, beige, or even navy bottoms also.
3) OMG the wedgewood blue top and bag are so perfect with the white + white! I see a silver-haired heroine with blue eyes and dark eyebrows visiting an aquarium with her grandkids (where that much white + kids is unlikely to be a huge problem).
4) I was happy to see that light green set again. Our fair heroine will definitely wear her hair back to show off those earrings, which are a perfect warm-weather bridge piece. After brunch at the botanical gardens cafe, she will stop by the gift shop and be unable to resist a lovely floral scarf that she ties on her handbag to wear out of the store.
5) I LOVE teal accessories. The earrings are a bridge piece between the white and teal, though very subtle. Maybe too subtle for me, in fact. I wonder, does anyone else struggle a bit with how to wear monochromatic prints like this with neutrals? I love this type of print but find them harder to style than other prints or solids. I gravitate toward either chambray/denim or a tonal color with this type of print, so it doesn’t feel as versatile. Here with the white, I like it OK (a white denim skirt is a really nice choice; I can imagine myself wearing it) but it still feels a little random rather than fully intentional. I think I need to see a teal/white patterned scarf on that bag. A scarf with white and teal, and maybe some orange/coral for a pop, would be perfect. These are’t scarves but there’s several good inspiration patterns in this pillow collection (where #5, #18, and #28 call to me the strongest for this use):
https://www.etsy.com/listing/600836406/orange-and-teal-throw-pillow-mix-and?bes=1
6) Time for a dark-haired boho chick to go in for a haircut. No face mask is required in her world, so she’s applying dramatic red lipstick without a care!
I would team the teal top with dark teal trousers but then pick out the lighter aqua colour in a cardigan.
I’ve been experimenting with a tonal look with shades of purple capsule wardrobe because I can wear it on the top and bottom. It is my favourite colour.
This afternoon, I spread all my lilac/purple clothes and scarves on my bed. I realised that i could add in grey as a second neutral and orchid/fuschia as a second accent which is found in the patterned tops. Looking at it all adding in coats and jackets and winter stuff squirrelled away, I realise that I have now got a WWT wardrobe just in these clothes. Its very pleasing!
I love the look back wardrobes and the romantic story. I can imagine you wearing this wardrobe Janice. I couldnt work out whether it was black or navy. Anyway, the whole effect and the inspirational images was stunning.
I do want all of my accessories to be teal!