October 19, 2020
She Chooses LOTS of Accessories!
She has her inspiration:
And her clothes are all chosen (as well as 1 scarf!):
navy cabled cardigan – L.L.Bean; adobe cardigan – L.L.Bean; Fair Isle sweater – L.L.Bean; Sherpa-lined cardigan – L.L.Bean; green tee – H&M; cream flannel shirt – L.L.Bean; Navy tee – Uniqlo; toasted coconut flannel shirt – L.L.Bean; oatmeal tee – Old Navy; rust tee – A New Day; faded sage sweater – L.L.Bean; cream cotton/linen shirt – Solid And Striped; color blocked tunic – L.L.Bean; Greenwich Village scarf – Urban Fable; khaki skirt – Chic Classic; jeans – L.L.Bean; English saddle corduroy pants – J.Crew; navy sweatpants – Lands’ End; stone wrinkle-free pants – L.L.Bean
So she heads into the kids rooms with a handful of garbage bags, and duly loads ALL of their clothes into the bags…. It’s what they wanted, and she’s so happy that they’re going to be away from civilization for a few months that she’s NOT going to quibble about odd wardrobe requests….
And then, she walks into her bedroom. She needs to pick up some shoes, and whatever other accessories she might want for the next few months. Her first inclination is just to grab her loafers and a pair of slippers and call it a day, but then she pauses, to take the time to think about this with herself and her feelings uppermost in mind…
She realizes that she just might be a LOT happier – on a silly, superficial, level – with more jewelry. And shoes. And LOTS of scarves. So she starts thinking about what she has up at the cabin, and she starts making choices…
A forest trip deserves leaf earrings! A warm wrap is never wrong, and toasty loafers in her rust neutral are just logical
crecream flannel shirt – L.L.Bean; Fair Isle sweater – L.L.Bean; stone wrinkle-free pants – L.L.Bean; earrings – Bloomingdale’s; alpaca scarf – Alpaca Loca; slippers – L.L.Bean
She already has 1 scarf up at the cabin, but she KNOWS that she wants her amber earrings, as well as her waterproof boots:
adobe cardigan – L.L.Bean; oatmeal tee – Old Navy; English saddle corduroy pants – J.Crew; amber hoop earrings – petit moments; Greenwich Village scarf – Urban Fable; waterproof boots – Blondo
She’s not 100% sure that she did the right thing in packing her navy color-blocked tunic, but it’s there now, so she might as well make it look great!
color blocked tunic – L.L.Bean; jeans – L.L.Bean; mask – Johnston & Murphy; scarf – Barbour; chenille lounge socks – Splendid
It’s part of the upcoming Autumn Curriculum that the kids will fix dinner at least once a week; she plans to dress nicely for these dinners!
cream cotton/linen shirt – Solid And Striped; green tee – H&M; stone wrinkle-free pants – L.L.Bean; labradorite earrings – Auree Jewellery; iolite/labradorite necklace – Ela Rae; gold loafers – Aerosoles
Holy mackerel! She’d better grab some gloves – at least in the mornings and late evenings, it will get quite cool. Although the kids have agreed to carry firewood, she might need to go out for other things…
adobe cardigan – L.L.Bean; toasted coconut flannel shirt – L.L.Bean; navy sweatpants – Lands’ End; mask – Karina Grimaldi; gloves – Lands’ End; slippers – L.L.Bean
What the heck – she’d better grab a hat and some wool socks too!
Fair Isle sweater – L.L.Bean; jeans – L.L.Bean; hat – Lands’ End; scarf – Lands’ End; wool socks – Falke
She can clearly see that she will wear her soft sage green clothes for nice dinners…
faded sage sweater – L.L.Bean; cream cotton/linen shirt – Solid And Striped; khaki skirt – Chic Classic; pearl hoop earrings – Banana Republic; scarf – Urban Outfitters; ballet flats – Steve Madden
Masks wear out! She grabs literally EVERY mask that she still has at the house, as well as packing all of the masks that the kids had worn. And then she carefully packs another necklace, and her favorite tie-dyed socks…
Sherpa-lined cardigan – L.L.Bea; rust tee – A New Day; stone wrinkle-free pants – L.L.Bean; mask – Monte; necklace – Sonoma Goods for Life; socks – Riverside Tool & Dye
She stands between her closet and her dress for another long minute. She knows that she has more than enough of everything that she needs for the next 2 or 3 months, but after another moment of hesitation, she grabs her camel cashmere scarf, and slips on her brown bracelet. Her gold knot earrings are right there beside the bracelet, so she slips them into one of her socks…
cream cotton/linen shirt – Solid And Striped; Fair Isle sweater – L.L.Bean; stone wrinkle-free pants – L.L.Bean; earrings – Talbots; bracelet – Xinrui; cashmere scarf – Halogen
NOW, this is what she will have in her wardrobe until almost the end of the year:
The joy of this complete and well-planned wardrobe will be felt in the weeks to come, as she gets dressed every morning without a lot of stress, and goes on to have wonderful days…
It’s going to be fun!
love,
Janice
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Splendid – she has got her priorities right. She will look great for all eventualities, though I still might have put in a jersey dress. I love the labradorite jewellery.
I laughed as I imagined her going round stuffing the kids clothes into refuse sacks. Kids like to mix and match and ‘borrow’ each others clothes. Looking at photos of me as a child, I seem to wear an odd assortment of clothes most of the time, except for best. However, she might bring back different clothes because “so-and-so said I could keep it.”
Also I could never understand the ‘black tights with everything’ phase including in the summer. Teenagers wore black tights with shorts ! I can only put it down to restrictive business dress codes in London that stipulate black tights. So once you have a drawerful of black tights, you might as well wear them all the time! Shops compounded it by only offering black and natural tights. When I wore smart clothes for work, at least you could find tights in navy, grey and charcoal. Let’s not get into a debate about whether an employer has a right to stipulate what a woman wears when men can seemingly wear whatever….
I’m so glad that I could wear tie dye socks to work and no-one would bat an eye. Perhaps, I shall look out for some in pink,blue and lilac. Fortunately, my feet are small enough for me to buy socks in the girls section.
I only wear skirts, so tights seem ti be the solution, but alas! I also find only black, while my heart pines for burgundy, teal, ivory, etc. Not to i mention that fleece lined, plus size tights are impossible to find
Same here. Perhaps there might be an late 80’s/early 90’s revival when coloured and patterned tights were all the rage. However bright red tights were only for the brave!
I have found coloured tights in ‘new clothes’ in charity shops in the UK. German brands have warm linings. Perhaps we can share links here?
I found several websites that sell ‘coloured tights’ including one in the UK that also factors in different shaped legs! Pretty Polly and Gipsy also do coloured tights. Hope you find some to jazz up your outfits.
Isha, yes, plus size tights are hard to find, period. Plus size tights that aren’t black…haha, better start looking now. Add “fleece lined” to the requirements and you’d have better luck finding a unicorn drinking from a holy grail. I have spent ages looking in stores and online and have never found a single pair in my size at any price.
I have some (not black, not fleece lined) tights that I have wanted to replace or add to, but I haven’t been able to find what I’m looking for online in a brand that doesn’t get terrible reviews for poor quality/durability. Historically, I have had to dedicate multiple weekends to shopping stores to stock up on tights for the coming season, looking for a pair here or a pair there. For some reason, a given store might have a few pairs of plus size tights but the retailers generally do not sell them online. Given COVID, I’m not feeling comfortable going to the Mall of America to thoroughly explore every single relevant store to find even 1 pair of non-black tights in my size, so it’s going to be a tough 6 months. Black continues to be a major part of my cold-weather wardrobe, and if I decided I wanted to change that, I’m not sure what I’d do. I couldn’t possibly find enough non-black tights to make it through the winter when it takes so long to find even a single pair.
I’m not sure how long I’ll be working from home this winter, but every day that I can wear pants at home instead of a skirt/tights/tall boots combo to get me through the snow to the office is another day I can save the wear on my current limited tights supply. Yep, that’s the kind of calculation plus size women have to make in our marketplace. It’s ridiculous.
Dear Isha, I also only wear skirts as well. In long skirts, my daughter-in-law has taught me, when it is really cold you can wear leggings underneath with warm socks and boots. I live in Arizona but to me it does get cold in the winter. Natalie
This heroine is living my dream this fall! (Except for the whole global pandemic thing but we can’t do anything about that.)
This is just wonderful. I always take at least a couple of looks – one first thing with my coffee, and then later on during a work break on a larger screen and when I’m more awake :) I love the labradorite jewelry also. Many years ago I emailed you about what to wear with it and you (coincidentally) were just working on a post that included labradorite as an accessory! I think it was grays, gray/green, maybe a red? A woman aviator. And I had to laugh at the gold aerosoles. I am on my third pair in about 20 years. They are one of my favorite go-to’s and I wear them until they are falling apart. I also have the LLBean slippers – 2nd pair over the years and about to be replaced.
I love your blog, and all of your comments, and come back frequently to check and see if I “missed” anything before moving on to the next one. Thank you Janice and Happy Monday!
PS I’ve been thinking there are any number of you I can envision sitting down and having a cup of coffee with and discussing wardrobes….
Sheila, the same thought occurs to me as I sit here with my coffee…. ?☕
My cup would be green tea, but count me in! ;)
This wardrobe was already gorgeous and balanced before, and now it’s even better! I especially love the masks and socks, they fit in great and those kind of details always make me happy.
Bringing my breakfast coffee to the faithful crowd.
I like your “handle”. I am currently hiding from my back yard squirrels as I am out of peanuts and they look so sad when they beg for them and I don’t have any. I’ve actually been digging through my trail mix and fishing out nuts just to give them SOMETHING!
I feel that what is missing here is some sturdy hiking boots and some workout clothes. If they are in a cabin, I would assume that there is some daily hiking going on. Maybe our heroine would appreciate some workout clothes in a similar palette that would be acceptable to wear during breakfast, before she goes out on her daily hike.
I love this wardrobe and our heroine’s approach to clothes. And I agree re hiking boots, if the cabin is in the woods and adjacent to trails. I spend a large amount of time in wooded areas and a good pair of boots is always number one on my list, especially going into cool weather.
I’m always mystified at the stockings issue. Like the dinner outfit with the light colored skirt and gold shoes—bare legs in a cabin in November? Black tights (ugh!)?
ivory cabled wool tights?
hugs,
Janice
If you are looking for colored tights, check out snagtights.US. Amazing colors in a large range of sizes. Caveat: I have not personally worn them, though I do plan to order some. However, I did see them recommended on a Facebook group that I have generally found to be reliable.
Thanks for the tip, Book Goddess!
I will check them out. Hopefully they deliver to Ireland
Isha – I found that Snagtights and they have a UK website – Snagtights UK – which might charge less for delivery to Ireland.
Love, love, love this collection but the only colour I can wear in it is the navy. My cousins all got the appropriate red and auburn colouring. I agree about the coloured tights issue, I’ve been trying to find navy. I can find all nylon but no cotton which is what I need. Anyone have any suggestions. As usual Janice, you have done a lovely job with this collection. Gina from Sechelt
Hi Gina – I also don’t wear rust or orange as I have cool and soft colouring with ash brown hair going white. I could only wear navy, though that is a tad too dark near my face. However, I use Janice’s colours as a guide and mentally substituted the rust for burgundy (brownish red) and the beige for ivory (only on my top half). I would also swap out the sage which is too yellow for me and mentally replace with a more blue based green like teal and jade green. So this wardrobe for me would be Navy, Burgundy, Teal/Jade and Ivory.
Hope that helps.
Beth T
Hi Beth, I love your colours. So pretty. But alas, I need strong colours with high contrast. So I hit the local favourite thrift shop yesterday and found really nice pieces in plum/burgundy and fuchsia plaids. I’m a happy camper. Working with my navy and grey core pieces and pine green accents I think I just might have got the fall feeling that Janice so beautifully shows us. Thank you for your kind input, it certainly helps to envision your lovely colours. Gina
So, a question: does this heroine have room to keep the t-shirts and other things she brought in the summer, or did they go back home? (Maybe keep some for layering?)
She probably kept at least some things there – the weather can get quite warm for a day or two…
hugs,
Janice
I debated whether to pack up all my t-shirts but decided to keep a few plain coloured t-shirts back. They will be useful as an underlayer instead of a camisole (vest top) as thermal layers only seem to come in ivory or black.
Just a thought on the look back and all the black. When I worked and lived in New Jersey an eon ago I wore a preponderance of black. I found myself getting very depressed. Now, although black constitutes 25% of my wardrobe (really?) it’s mainly for core pieces, which I surround with so much added color I don’t feel the weightiness of the black. Last year I was trying to cut down on black, but I’ve since given that up. I need it as the neutral as gray does absolutely nothing for me. Navy shows up as an option from time to time…..Mostly when I’m wearing jeans.
Vermont Country Store has “cotton-rich” tights in black, navy, gray and camel up to 2X; wool tights black and charcoal up to XL.
I have not tried them but would assume they are good quality.
We are having the most delicious autumn here in Wisconsin….cabin-life sounds heavenly! (and wool tights if one is getting out of the jammies!)
Good morning Janice, I’m here with my coffee, too! This beautiful capsule speaks to me in every way. I agree with many of you concerning black tights; I don’t wear black, it does nothing for me! I just ordered navy tights from J. Crew.
As a lover of light colored skirt and gold ballet flats, it pains me to say it, but I’m not seeing this combo for November. I’d substitute a navy skirt (corduroy, perhaps) and navy flats/loafers. That seems more versatile and practical to me…but I also know I’m mad for navy and more-or-less meh on beige, especially for cold seasons.
Seeing this wardrobe accessorized really shows what a difference accessories make. Despite all the rust-orange, I loved the wardrobe, but I’m not as keen on it with the accessories. Each piece is lovely and quite right, but the overall effect is way too much rust-orange for me. It’s not just that I couldn’t wear it myself (though that’s a factor), but I’m noticing that I prefer to see it in much smaller doses rather than the cornerstone of a wardrobe, which with these accessories it’s turned out to be. I would lean very heavily on the green and navy for accessories…and now that I’m feeling overwhelmed with rust-orange, I would substitute out all the solid rust clothing (definitely the plaid shirt and maybe the Fair Isle sweater could stay) for a cool olive that would coordinate with the moss green.
I actually have two rust garments (a quilted vest and a pair of pants)…they are more cool rust-maroon than warm rust-orange but still, are similar to what’s in this palette. I’m enjoying these items a lot, but having seen our heroine’s rust-heavy wardrobe, I know that I already have the right amount…just enough to add a dash of rust to late summer/fall/winter outfits…and that I do not want to go any further with that color. So that’s time, effort, and money saved!
Gorgeous! I am very much in the city, but working at the kitchen table (ouch my back) and so I can see my back deck and fall leaves, and if I squint slightly, pretend I’m in some fabulous commune of cabins having coffee deck to deck with all you lovely folks,
I get my colored tights at We love colors. https://www.welovecolors.com/shop/womens/tights. They have a wide selection of colors and sizes but sadly, no fleece lined.
This is the perfect cozy, comfortable wardrobe for Covid-19 life at the cabin. I particularly love the rust and beige colors together.
Janice,
I am loving it ! My colors, my garments, my idea of fun !