October 23, 2020
I’m the ONLY Person Available?
sweater – Boden
She knows the answer… When the tech who works at the clinic finally took a few days off, there would have to be someone on-site in the data center, and there really isn’t anyone else who knows how to repair things. (“Have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?”)
sweater – Boden
So she’s going to suck it up and wear her new sweater! In fact, she’s going to build her entire travel wardrobe around the colors of her sweater. Why not? She’s going to either be in the data compound or quarantined in her room at the visitor’s center…
She starts with 3 outfits that she knows she wants to take with her:
sweater – Boden; knot earrings – Talbots; azalea cotton turtleneck – L.L.Bean; corduroy knit pants – L.L.Bean; boots – UGG; socks – Tavi Noir
They’ve already seen snow, so she’s wearing her serious boots for the drive…
Rich turquoise tee – L.L.Bean; enamel earrings – Lauren G. Adams; mask – Kavio; cashmere cardigan – L.L.Bean; jeans – Agolde; tote – Calvin Klein
“Remember, you don’t have to dress up much at all – most people there wear slippers, and a lot of them will be wearing pajama pants…”
Slippers = yes. Pajamas pants = NOT IN THIS LIFETIME.
Earrings – Givenchy; plaid flannel shirt – Old Navy; heather river cashmere sweater – J.Crew; socks – Urban Outfitters; slippers – Muk Luks; knit pants – H&M
She’s all sorted and mentally prepared…
when she has another call with the director:
“You know that we’re going to need you here for the entire week?”
Sigh…
Teal floral mask – Nordstrom; blue floral mask – Pine Paisley; pink striped mask – J.Mclaughlin; white turtleneck – Lands’ End; floral blouse – Nine West; pink earrings – Kanishka; grey cashmere sweater – J.Crew; striped wrap – KOY Clothing; necklace – 2028; pink cardigan – Boden; rich turquoise turtleneck – L.L.Bean; pewter ballet flats – Softwalk; grey knit skirt – Express; grey cable tights – Hue
If she’s going to be there on Thursday, she will be there when the Directors Meeting occurs. Another big sigh… she pack a blouse, skirt, tights and flats. There’s a slight chance that someone will think it’s clever and “managerial” to drop in on her…
So she grabs the medium-sized suitcase, into which she packs all of this:
Before she closes her bag, she runs through her various options. She okay if the weather is very cold. She’s okay if the weather is only normally cold. She’s okay if she somehow pours coffee all over herself in a moment of complete insanity…
And she has a sneaking suspicion that the full-time tech hasn’t updated the actual WRITTEN PHYSICAL RECORDS for a really long time…
She makes sure that she has her favorite pen in her handbag; nothing like being a technical expert who gets to write things down!
love,
Janice
p.s. Three years ago, we started with an Hermes scarf in orange, rose and sand, and met a heroine who tried to skip the office party…
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Loved this sweater (indeed would be happy with most of the wardrobe ) but think the other colour way is even better but sigh not meant to buying new clothes. However a girl can dream and if I was starting from scratch this would be a good starting point.
Oh what a pretty jumper? I have a similar design on a pink base with blue, ivory and grey pattern.
This jumper is perfect and so delicate in pattern. Weirdly, it is called Grey Melange which does nothing to hint at the bright array of colour. It also comes in a lovely more pastel colourway called Cut Glass Blue which is an ivory background with the pattern of lighter blue, mint green, light grey and the flash of bright pink.
Grey Melange? The word melange makes me think of blancmange which is never grey! Cut Glass Blue – well at a pinch cut crystal does have a rainbow of colour in bright light.
Boden seem to have a monopoly on Fair Isle this season with several more styles including the traditional yoke pattern jumpers, a dress, hat and scarf. All in gorgeous colours. There are also lots of options for kids too. Check out the website.
Pink and Teal are growing on me as accents with grey. The blouse seems a tad summery in floral style but then our heroine may well end up staying a lot longer…! She could also add in a touch of yellow for spring.
Thanks for brightening up my day.
Janice, you have created another lovely group of clothing. It never works out so well for me and I think I have figured out why, you do not have to worry about fitting all these items to an individual body. It always looks good on paper! In real life we have thick waists or large busts or something else to bother with. So the lesson to me is your wonderful suggestions are just that, suggestions to be adjusted by each of us and for me not to think I must get each matching item. A little slow to realize this fact but it will allow me to relax and enjoy your offerings as art not a requirement of what I must have in my closet. Keep inspiring.
Linda
Oh Linda, I’m SO HAPPY that you understand this. If I were to try to pull together wardrobes for every woman in the world, I would die an exhausted and unhappy blogger! But I want to show possibilities, and prettiness, and how some thought, patience, and focus can help us all be much happier with our wardrobes. It’s an inexact process, and we are always working on our own wardrobes – we should enjoy ourselves as we progress, learn ourselves better, and get more gorgeous!
big digital hugs,
Janice
Linda, I know what you mean. In addition to finding items that work on our own bodies, it’s also sometimes a struggle to make one’s wardrobe as mix-and-match as the capsules here. I have long lamented my issues with getting accent colors that at least blend well, but I also find that not all lengths and silhouettes of garments play as well together when worn as on paper/screen. If one is truly committed to a small wardrobe (which I am not, haha), it can be an interesting dilemma…for example, do I look for the one perfectly versatile grey cardigan that I can wear with everything, or does it make sense to have a couple different ones (say, a classic shorter button up cardigan and a long open cardigan) to wear with different pants/skirts?
Gorgeous colours. I just love this.
I love this too, but feel like I am living on another planet. Temperatures in n. California in upper 70s and 80s for the next few weeks. So tired of warm weather clothes. Argg.
This is so pretty. The colors are gorgeous. I have three pair of those LLBean cords in the slim leg and absolutely love them. I wouldn’t have tried them if you hadn’t featured them so often :) thank you for that (I think). Talbots has quite a few things in these same colors if anyone’s looking. We are going into our first cold snap today and over the weekend – not super cold, but colder and even the possibility of snow in higher elevations. I’m trying to think of the coziest happiest thing I own to wear to work today. Have a great weekend.
What a gorgeous, casual wardrobe. Love all the pretty colors! Just curious if one can actually drive in those bulky Ugg boots? Seems like it would be difficult. Obviously I don’t have to drive in snow. Have a great weekend, Janice!
Looking out my window today with the snow coming down, I can’t help but thinking of the next five months of dark, icy Winter. This colourful collection would be just the ticket to cheer it all up. “Cozy and cheery”. Now there’s a mantra for you. I especially would love to wear this collection in the late Winter, after the reds and sparkles of the holiday season have passed. The cold season is so long here that I tire of my same warm clothes. I often turn to Aqua in January, going into the second part of Winter and the coming longer days of sunshine and Spring. This will be going to my Pinterest for inspiration. Thanks, Janice.
Lizette, yes! I swear winter in Minnesota is 6 months long, so I think of it as 3 different seasons and adjust my palette across them. This wardrobe would fit perfectly into the latter part of winter, when we’re all ready for spring but it’s still snowing and cold.
This is so funny! I live in Texas and do this too, but for summer. I have late spring, summer, and early fall groupings that look different but are still all for warm weather. You have to do something!
In the UK, we just have ‘The Weather’ which is unpredictable depending on which way the wind blows and that can change overnight – cold one day and a heatwave the next. This why the Brits seem a bit obsessed with it and if ever their is a lull in conversation, just talk about the weather! I’ve known it to snow in June and for roses to be still blooming in December.
We pack for ‘all eventualities’. In recent years, the weather comes in extremes which is a challenge for the emergency and environmental protection services to handle. The only blessing this year was the lovely Spring and early summer with day after day of warm sunshine from March to June! ??
I think I would prefer warm sunshine or even snow in the US than this dark, dank and drizzly day in my corner of the UK.
I bought some teal and pink socks a while ago. They’d go perfectly. One pair is striped (wearing) and the other two pairs have flowers and butterflies.
Hi Janice
I’ve just been re-reading your excellent decluttering guides from August 2017. Three guides – by colour, function and clusters.
I swapped my six month wardrobes over a fortnight ago but have yet to go through my spring/summer clothes before packing them away. Not that, I really wore ANY of them because of the lockdown!
Perhaps now is the time to streamline my summer wardrobe and have the courage to donate unused garments to charity. There is one dress which I think I might wear more often if it was a skirt which my daughter could alter for me.
So this weekend, I shall use your guides to help me. I’ll also include bags, belts, and shoes. It should be fun but I need to be brave…
It must be serendipity that I’ve also just rediscovered a Starting from Scratch series you did in Feb 2018 using a wonderful photograph of a Snowy Owl. Please may I make two suggestions:
1. I’d love to see more posts taking inspiration from photographs of nature – birds, moths and butterflies, flowers, landscape scenes etc.
2. Last year you serialised a wonderful Weekly Timeless wardrobe. Just wondering whether a Starting from Scratch of clothes and accessories could be serialized over a long period too.
Hmm… I will ponder that – there’s certainly no reason I can’t think of some way to do that! Except for my increasing dimwittedness…
hugs,
Janice
Dear Janice, you are not dim-witted, though I can sympathise with trying to work through Fibro fog. I try to imagine the sun is just on the other side of it.
You are so talented at finding quite amazing and inspirational images, then telling the stories of a growing theatre of heroines. For I imagine them waiting in the wings to come on stage for their starring moment. The tales they tell are then reflected in the most imaginative colour schemes for their costumes, designed by you. You are the wardrobe mistress in the theatre!
Since finding your blog, the way I view my clothes has changed considerably. I no longer have ‘just clothes’ but a wardrobe of endless possibilities to weave my own story every day….
Big hugs
Beth T
I love it. The specific pink and teal colors perfectly straddle the line between soft and bright, and they are delightful with the light grey. This capsule is a nice cool-toned refresher after the recent warm-toned wardrobes. I like the fair isle sweater more each time I see it. The pink striped scarf is superb also!
These are the colors I chose for my winter capsule! I would love to add that sweater to the mix!
Your stories are wonderful along with your clothing capsules. These aren’t my colors but are my best friends so I saved it. I can do the capsules but my stories would lack. Thank you for all the time you spend doing this site. You bring me and many others inspiration and much joy!!
Its labour weekend here in New Zealand which often marks transition from winter to summer. I’m planning to look at my wardrobe overall, work out what gaps I have and what current trend I would like to add. I’m not perfect at ur all, but packing light for flights has become so much easier since I started reading this blog and applying the key principles.