September 17, 2020
One last visit to this most wonderful of paintings (unless someone reminds me to look at it again next Spring!), to add some accessories to our Shakespeare expert’s travel wardrobe:
To refresh our collective memories, this is the wardrobe on which she settled:
mixed-cable button-front cardigan – L.L.Bean; tee – J.Crew; navy ponte skirt – Halogen; navy corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; sand cashmere cardigan – N.Peal; blazer – J.Crew; Camel skirt – Express; camel corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; floral print shirt – L.L.Bean; Fair Isle turtleneck – Baum und Pferdgarten; Azalea tee shirt – L.LBean; Light Ocean tee shirt – L.LBean; Striped top – J.Crew; Pink phlox cotton sweater – Lands’ End; Cotton poplin shirt – J.Crew; Jeans – L.L.Bean
Of course she already has some accessories – but not nearly enough!
gold earrings – Talbots; Brown earrings – Talbot; safety pin brooch – Talbots; bag – Urban Originals; tie dye mask – Cotton Citizen; navy mask – Bespoke; 21 inch scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; loafers – Dr. Scholl’s; pumps – Talbots; camel scarf – Reis
She’s pretty methodical about choosing more accessories – she works her way through a handful of representative outfits from her wardrobe, and adds accessories that feel right for that outfit, as well as maybe some other outfits from her travel plan.
First up, she really REALLY wants to wear pink earrings, and she realizes that she’s long overdue for getting her sunglasses with her!
Pink phlox cotton sweater – Lands’ End; Cotton poplin shirt – J.Crew; Jeans – L.L.Bean; earrings – Kate Spade; sunglasses – Kate Spade; loafers – Driving Club USA
She originally only had camel shoes with her – that was nice for a day or two, but if she’s going to be away for weeks, she wants some other options!
Striped top – J.Crew; Camel skirt – Express; bracelets – Joan Vass; tote – Longchamp; ballet flats – FitFlop
Now that she’s established in her position – temporary though it is! – she feel more comfortable bringing just a touch of whimsy to her outfits. A cocktail scarf, and “narwal vs unicorn” socks should do it!
mixed-cable button-front cardigan – L.L.Bean; Azalea tee shirt – L.LBean; navy corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; earrings – Club Monaco; scarf – Kate Spade; unicorn vs. narwhal socks – Sock It To Me, Inc.
Her hair has handled the lockdown better than she expected, but a headband makes a lot of sense, still…
Light Ocean tee shirt – L.LBean; camel corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; headband – Ella & Elly; earrings – Kendra Scott; boots – Chaco
She wasn’t sure about her tall boots, but they’re just so perfect for so many of her outfits! And it’s never wrong to have extra masks, these days…
sand cashmere cardigan – N.Peal; floral print shirt – L.L.Bean; navy ponte skirt – Halogen; mask – Nordstrom; scarf – Mackintosh; boots – Nautica
NOW, when she looks at her accessories, she’s almost overwhelmed with choices! When you’re wearing the same 16 garments for a while, accessory choices keep things feeling interesting and fresh:
This is definitely a heroine after my own heart – more accessories than clothes! That’s a LOT of shoes… but still not insane.
What’s the most pairs of shoes you’ve ever packed, and why?
love,
Janice
p.s. Just 2 years ago, we looked at how we might prepare to participate in Project 333!
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This wardrobe is shaping up so pretty! She will have lots of choices to vary her outfits with her mood and the weather. I’d likely swap some cognac shoes into this capsule, and add another scarf or two that incorporate the accent colors. – nancyo
Awesome. Especially the “narwal vs unicorn” socks!!!! I had a friend remark recently I am the only person she knows that can pull off mismatched striped socks while wearing Birkenstocks! Something to be said for working in a Middle School where I can somewhat indulge my whimsical side. This is just a great wardrobe – thank you for the time and effort. Hope you are feeling better!
Very nice! I liked how just two small pink pieces…a pair of earrings and a pair of socks…really cemented the pink accent into the collection. Ocean blue earrings and socks (whimsical, yes!) would do the same for the blue while taking up almost no space at all. A pop of color is fun, but I definitely prefer to have the option to integrate an accent a bit more into an outfit by repeating the color another time.
6 pairs of shoes works for me, though 4 pairs of shoes in almost the exact same tan color would be overkill. I would switch out one of them for a more colorful and/or patterned pair.
OK, since we are talking about shoes, I have a question that’s been lurking in my head for months now that I’m ready to pose to the collective wisdom of this group. What’s the deal with loafers?
It’s not that I don’t understand loafers in general (I do own and wear some myself), but I don’t understand the rationale for them as frequently shown. To wit, I often see capsule wardrobes here and elsewhere that contain both a pair of ballet flats or other low vamp flats and a pair of loafers in the same neutral color. In this one, it’s navy ballet flats and navy driving mocs. When I see this, I wonder: Why have duplicates in the same color that serve the same function? I view the use cases for loafers as a subset of the use cases for low vamp flats (i.e., I wear loafers only with pants but low vamp flats with pants or dresses/skirts) so it’s almost worse than a duplicate…it’s a duplicate that is less versatile.
And for me, the visual impact of loafers and low vamp flats is very, very similar. If it were a more different shoe style, like a pair of lace-up Oxfords instead of loafers, that would make more sense to me because you get a very different look when you add Oxfords instead of ballet flats. If the loafers were patterned or otherwise more of a statement shoe, that would make sense too. But a basic low vamp flat and a basic loafer seem needlessly repetitive in such a small wardrobe…especially when the loafer does not seem particularly more comfortable/walkable than the low vamp flat.
In a related question, what shoes do you wear this kind of sock with? I don’t mean a whimsical sock, but this kind of thicker sock (as opposed to a thinner trouser sock). In the pink/navy outfit with the pink socks, no shoes are shown. Would our heroine wear the navy driving mocs in that outfit? Or a pair of boots? Because I probably wouldn’t wear the ballet flats with that kind of sock…I would wear a thinner trouser sock instead. I don’t own a lot of this kind of sock anymore, and the ones I do have I mostly wear without shoes (#1 to sleep in, #2 to wear for a bit of warmth indoors with a slipper or other house shoe, #3 when I am going to someone’s house where I know they don’t wear shoes indoors at all).
I wear them with my converse low sneakers, boots, and Birkenstocks…I almost always wear socks in the fall/winter/spring… I do not wear socks w/my moccasins.
Got it, Sheila. Those all situations where I can see these socks.
I wear socks with lace-ups as slip-on shoes slip off my narrow ankles, unless they have an elasticated back.
However, as my skirts are ankle length, I can get away with wearing socks and lace-up leisure shoes instead of tights and flats. I’m finding that putting on tights more of a faff as I get older.
I would probably only include one pair of plain flats with the other coloured or patterned. Perhaps instead of the courts iinclude a trouser ankle boot with a heel that could be also be worn with thick tights with a skirt. The long boots might then be redundant. So six pairs of shoes and boots reduced to four or five.
Beth T, avoiding messing about with tights is a definite advantage to your preferred skirt length!
I love the square scarf with leopards on it.
However, considering that she is directing an open air production, rehearsals will probably have to be in the open air too. She’s likely to be standing for a lot of the time.
So I’d ditch the kitten heel court shoes as they will sink into grass and swap a court with a low block heel and a rounded toe. The navy skirt looks a bit more dressy so perhaps courts in navy which would even up the footwear colours. The long boots might be also be tricky to pack unless worn on the journey down.
My only addition to the jewellery would be a gold or silver chain and pink bead necklace to wear with the open neck shirts. Plus some rings.
On loafers and ballet flats. Loafers are meant to be worn with pants. You can choose to wear them with trouser socks or a thicker sock. As for ballet flats. These are generally intended to be more for wearing with skirts and dresses. You could instead just pick a comfortable shoe you enjoy wearing with a skirt or dress that’s casual in nature to replace it if you have a more casual wardrobe. A dressier shoe would cover you for casual and dressy if that’s what you need. You can wear these with or without hose or tights. I hope this helps you. Natalie
I find loafers to be generally speaking more comfortable than ballet flats, and the ones I have actually work well with skirts and dresses, at least within the frame of my overall style! So I guess it depends on a lot of factors…
Natalie (sorry, nesting problems), I think that must be it. I will readily wear a low vamp flat with pants (with or without trouser socks), but it sounds like that may be a non-traditional choice. If a person didn’t like these kinds of flats with pants, or wanted to wear a thicker sock, the loafer comes into play.
I have several pairs of low block heeled courts (1.5 inch heel) that I wear under trousers as well as with skirts and dresses. I’m fact, I’ve just ordered a pair with sparkly heels to wear with velvet jeans, skirt or dress at Christmas!
In my twenties and thirties, I used to keep a pair of moccasins for driving in the car swapping them over with the high heeled courts when I got in. But now I mainly wear trousers and lace-ups or boots to work, I don’t bother. A podiatrist told me that slip-on shoes didn’t provide enough support for my feet if I was doing a lot of walking.
By the way, Janice, thanks for the Project 333 look back. My next task is to review my autumn/winter wardrobe.
I have followed your advice to of assess a travel wardrobe when you unpack. Whilst I was away, I made a mental note of what I wore and which garments got more use.
I had taken darkwash jeans, grey jeans, navy cords and purple stretch trousers and plum jersey trousers for a week away. I travelled in my purple stretch trousers and wore them once more. My darkwash jeans got muddy on the first day, so I kept those for early morning walks. I wore the grey jeans and navy cords equally for the rest of the week and wore the plum trousers on one occasion, we came to back to the cottage to change before going out for dinner. I had taken far too many tees and camisoles plus two thin polos, thinking that as the weather was changeable, I would need lots of options for layering. I didn’t need them. On the couple of days it was colder, I put a thick jumper over a thin jumper (worn over a tee shirt) and then my fleece. I should have taken my thin grey jumper as well because the orchid pink cardigan I had taken was too sparkly and dressy, apart from at dinner, and the chunky jumpers too thick on warm days. I wore my thin pink jumper most of the time. I also had four shirts but only wore two the most. My walking boots got very wet and took two days to dry out – I should have waterproof sprayed them before we left. I also had blue lace-ups, grey lace-ups and black ankle boots as well. They all got even use. A useful analysis for next time.