August 6, 2020
Accessories! My favorite things in any wardrobe… except maybe a glorious sweater, or something velvet…
I’m going to use just the Spring Weekly Timeless Wardrobe, and 1 Cluster of accents, for this; I’ve got a reason, trust me!
Remember this amazingly useful bunch of stuff?
sleeveless sweater – Marks & Spencer; navy crinkle shirt – L.L.Bean; Oatmeal linen shirt – L.L.Bean; striped tee – J.Crew; striped tee with hearts – Marks & Spencer; Navy merino-blend cardigan – Banana Republic; navy tee – J.Crew; White tee – L.L.Bean; navy daisy print tee – Marks & Spencer; navy pleated skirt – Uniqlo; linen pants – Nine West; sandbar cropped chinos – L.L.Bean; navy linen blend shirt dress – Uniqlo
If we add these seven Accent and Extra garments, we will have a nice tidy 20-piece wardrobe. In my world, that feels a lot like 4 5-piece clusters! (or, of course, 5 4-piece clusters! you could find a few other combinations, I’m sure…)
Sea glass tee – L.L.Bean; navy gingham shirt – J.Crew; faded spearmint tee – J.Crew; white linen shirt – Pure Navy; print shorts – Lands’ End; navy dotted skirt – J.Crew; dress – L.L.Bean
These are the 20 Spring garments to which we will be adding accessories:
As has been my habit lately, I’m going to assemble six outfits from this fun little wardrobe, and then add accessories to each outfit.
For this first one, I’m envisioning the linen dress unbuttoned to mid-torso, with the tee shirt underneath. Rolled sleeves, of course. I’m still so smitten with this scarf; I love the variety of colors of hydrangeas, and this scarf captures that variety perfectly…
earrings – The Met Store; faded spearmint tee – J.Crew; navy linen blend shirt dress – Uniqlo; scarf – PJ Studio Accessories; espadrilles – Clarks
Sunglasses are ALWAYS important…
Sunglasses – Coach; striped tee with hearts – Marks & Spencer; sandbar cropped chinos – L.L.Bean; watch – Daniel Wellington; shoes – Keds
I’m feeling more and more like one of these magnifying pendants might be a smart addition to my wardrobe. In an emergency, you could even use it to start a fire!
navy tee – J.Crew; navy dotted skirt – J.Crew; earrings – Agnès de Verneuil; magnifier necklace – The Met Store; espadrilles – Clarks
I’m very fond of this bracelet…
Sunglasses – Coach; Sea glass tee – L.L.Bean; print shorts – Lands’ End; bracelet – Kendra Scott; green canvas shoes – Unionbay
A brooch isn’t usually on ANYBODY’S list of “must-have” accessories, but I really think they make a big impression. I must remember to wear mine more, when I start going out into the world again!
Brooch – Nadri; bag – Marc Jacobs; Navy merino-blend cardigan – Banana Republic; faded spearmint tee – J.Crew; linen pants – Nine West; espadrilles – Clarks
I see this 2nd scarf tied in our heroine’s hair… And yes, you certainly may wear sneakers with a dress. The weather is lovely, and you’re relaxed…
earrings – The Met Store; dress – L.L.Bean; scarf – PJ Studio Accessories; shoes – Keds
Okay, here are the THIRTEEN accessories that I’ve added to this wardrobe. THIRTEEN, as in the number of weeks in a quarter of a year…
earrings – The Met Store; earrings – Agnès de Verneuil; Sunglasses – Coach; hydrangea scarf – PJ Studio Accessories; bag – Marc Jacobs; watch – Daniel Wellington; Brooch – Nadri; bracelet – Kendra Scott; magnifier necklace – The Met Store; blackthorn scarf – PJ Studio Accessories; navy canvas shoes – Keds; green canvas shoes – Unionbay; espadrilles – Clarks
And of course, 13 accessories + 20 garments = PROJECT 333!
Who expected this to show up so nicely?
I’m going to look at accessories for the other 3 seasons; this should be fascinating when it’s all pulled together into one big wardrobe!
love,
Janice
p.s. Just 2 years ago, the artist was Renoir, and the palette was soft grey and blue…
Like this article? Save it to Pinterest!
This is a wardrobe I could certainly wear! With the stripes and the white, I don’t even mind the navy. It feels light and nice. The accesories might be a bit too much for me, but that’s precisely why I read! I’m figuring out so many of my preferences. I would switch the earrings, bracelet and necklace for something more minimal, more geometric.
I love what is going on here, and will surely wait excitedly for the next wardrobes with accesories.
These two scarves are a delight and would fit into my wardrobe perfectly if I could justify the price! I love the rest of the accessories, particularly the blue flower earrings which are exquisite.
However, I would choose a more delicate beaded or crystal bracelet and a floral sparkly brooch. I have a sparkly green pendant that would be perfect with this wardrobe.
I do have a magnifying glass on a chain which is great for reading the exceptionally small print on food packets in the supermarket! I carry it in my handbag in a velvet pouch. It is one of those purchases that you’d look at in a shop and ask “Why?” Once you have one in your bag, you will find it endlessly useful.
Unfortunately, I’m still not sold on all that navy because I rarely wear it on my top half unless I wear an accent colour cardigan over a navy core, which is rare. So I would limit the amount of navy, swap out some of the tops and knitwear for more green and include a patterned skirt or dress.
I have a collection of coloured and patterned handbags but I only use them on special occasions as it is such a faff, swapping stuff over. They never seem big enough either. I haven’t used any of them this year…
Beth, been waiting for you to post this morning. Thanks for the advice yesterday on completing templates. Getting started now. I wear brooches – vintage Juliana usually. On my jackets. I love both those scarves as well, and could see them in my wardrobe. Thanks Janice for the way you pull everything together! I’m sure it’s not as effortless as it seems. I have trouble with shades of color, so every now and then I do end up with orphans. (discussion from yesterday) I could swear it worked right in the store/at home.. and then I get to work and go “what were you thinking?????”
And thank you to Sandy as well.
We all do that! I’ve had to go right back to the store because I simply couldn’t hang the offending garment in with all of the rest of my things!
hugs,
Janice
I had a good ferret around Janice’s archived posts – thank you Janice for being so organised! Search under the ‘decluttering’ tag for posts on sorting your wardrobe by colour and type of garment. There is also another post in June 2018 on dealing with impulse purchases and orphans – however that doesn’t have any tags to it – perhaps Janice might add it to the Decluttering tag?
All excellent advice and help. Thank you Janice!
Thanks Janice for tagging the June 2018 post on impulsive purchases under the Decluttering tag.
With those two gorgeous scarves, I would find it impossible to resist adding in at a minimum a pink T and pink ballet flats as a second accent. I don’t think the Project 333 police would mind ;)
More pink is never a bad idea!
hugs,
Janice
Me too. I like green and pink together.
So pretty and very spring-like! I would probably swap out one of the mint green T-shirts, maybe for a pink T, or something else green. – nancyo
I can’t imagine just accessorising an outfit with just two items or wearing those same items every day for 13 weeks! I’d take all these items you’ve chosen just for a weekend away!
My prescription glasses have reactalite lenses – very useful on a sunny day but I also have prescription sunglasses for summer or low sun in early spring. So as these are necessary so that I can see, they aren’t an accessory for me.
I always wear a watch. i used to regard this as a functional and necessary item but I now have three with different dials and straps. So this is a daily accessory. My next watch will have the date and day of the week. I have to look at the calendar to remind me. I can’t believe its Friday tomorrow – where has the week gone?
I always wear a bead necklace or pendant but sometimes both – my minimum would be six necklaces/pendants.
I always wear a bracelet – my minimum would be four – navy, green, pearl and silver.
I always wear a dress ring – three would be a minimum for a season but I have fewer of them in total and where them throughout the year.
I always carry a bag but usually a roomy bag. A pretty little bag like this would be for a night out – which ain’t happening any time soon.
I’m wearing brooches more but worry about putting holes in knitwear – minimum one or two.
I used to wear earrings a lot but not so often now. I dont know why -minimum two or three.
When I add up the minimums it comes to about 20. Is that too many? I have a lot of costume jewellery and probably don’t wear half of it.
Perhaps the time has come for a good cull or to be more selective and wear certain items in particular seasons or for specific occasions? I have too many necklaces, pendants and bracelets. Mmmm – this is a very useful exercise. Have you done a jewellery box decluttering blog?
Scarves are another area that I need to be more selective. I have a scarf drawer which could be put to better use if I knew of an alternative way to store them.but still be accessible.
I tried in my wardrobe but i had too many. A decluttering a scarf drawer blog would be a useful exercise. I got all of my scarves out a while ago and they covered a king size bed!
Beth,
I chuckled as we are, apparently, polar opposites. I was just thinking that was quite a lot of accessories. I would only need about a quarter of them for an entire season. Maybe year.
Except the shoes. Got to have plenty of shoes.
I love accessories – always always earrings. usually a bracelet (or two or three) as I feel it draws attention away from my old lady arms. A watch if I’m out and about (not in building w/clock) Not rings since the advent of COVID and I must wear gloves at work. I went through in the spring and did a cull of necklaces in particular. I find I don’t wear them because they just get in the way as I’m working and bending over the shelves, etc…. Brooches and especially scarves. I love scarves, though my collection currently isn’t that large…I have the “best” ones folded in a drawer, and the rest hanging in the closet. I guess I’m in Beth’s camp. Minimalist on shoes – I find if I buy print shoes I just don’t wear them, but have converse in 4 colors. I love this forum and it’s the 2nd thing I do every morning (except weekends, of course)
I would be very interested in a decluttering scarf post also. I am starting to creep up on “too many scarves to keep track of” (even though I have a list of all scarves in my inventory spreadsheet). Once you have gotten rid of or repurposed scarves that you don’t like a lot, that don’t look great next to your face, etc., I am particularly curious about ideas of what to do when you are still left with more scarves than you can/want to manage at one time but they all look great and you’re happy wearing them. Since scarves pack up so small, and they last seemingly forever, it seems like there could be ways of rotating scarves in and out of active wardrobe duty instead of just getting rid of a bunch of really lovely scarves. I mean, I absolutely KNOW that if I cut my collection of scarves I like and use down by giving away a bunch of them, I would simply start buying scarves until I was back to “too many to manage” again, which would be quite wasteful of time and money. And any solution that requires “stop buying scarves” as a critical step…well, I’m not sure I will EVER be able or even want to do that! Scarves are my signature piece that I wear closer to 365 days a year than 300, and buying, owning, and wearing scarves is one of the small joys in my life. But I’m sure there are better ways to manage/improve my collection than the one I’m using now.
Hi Janice & everyone: Really like the lightness of the mint (formerly seafoam) green. As I am one of the last 5 women on the planet that do not have pierced ears, brooches and pins are my jewelry accessories. I also opt for elastic bracelets because they are not so noisy any time I move. This is dependent upon the age of the clients I will be seeing. Today’s accessory was a pair of Batman ankle socks.
I join you in the five women on the planet without pierced ears. I’ve been put off by too many horror stories of them going wrong or getting infected. I prefer screw back fittings. I also prefer elastic bracelets as I have small wrists.
You might consider ear cuffs, no pinching from screw backs or clips.
I enjoyed your navy and sea glass as a summer option for navy, it’s more unusual than white or red.
Navy in summer works in certain temperature zones but not others. On the Costa del Sol in Spain, local women don’t wear solid navy or black clothes in the hottest months. Same with Southeast Asia. Could be why Diana Vreeland said, “Pink is the navy blue of India”.