October 8, 2020
It Was the Kids’ Idea…
Remember this heroine, and her gang of friends that were going to the lake house?
The children asked for a “Meeting of the Commune” after dinner. Nobody quite knew when they became a commune, but if it entertains the kids, right?
The bottom line? Let’s stay here until at least the end of 2020.
- The adults can all take turns going into town for essentials, and to mail their ballots;
- The internet service is more than adequate for all of the kids to do their school work here;
- Everybody will be able to spend a LOT of time outdoors, which they can’t do in town;
- The kids have volunteered to help cover the windows in their rooms with the clear plastic stuff that helps keep cold air out, and
- to help carry fire wood! Also,
- they’re all prepared to bundle up and deal with living well into the winter in a house that wasn’t necessarily built for winter.
The adults are all, frankly, relieved!
So our heroine gets her 4 hour window to drive back, buy a metric ton of groceries, drop off her absentee ballot, and pick up more clothes for her entire tribe…
Her wardrobe? She’s already planned out her Weekly Timeless Wardrobe for autumn:
Navy tee – Uniqlo; oatmeal tee – Old Navy; green tee – H&M; rust tee – A New Day; navy cabled cardigan – L.L.Bean; toasted coconut flannel shirt – L.L.Bean; cream flannel shirt – L.L.Bean; faded sage sweater – L.L.Bean; jeans – L.L.Bean; khaki skirt – Chic Classic; Sherpa-lined cardigan – L.L.Bean; navy sweatpants – Lands’ End; English saddle corduroy pants – J.Crew
It’s not going to take any time at all to get clothes for the kids – she’s pretty much been told to just tip up all of their winter clothes into garbage bags and the kids will take care of things themselves…
She knows that with the clothes that she’s packed, she has at least a dozen outfits:
But she feels that she might want just a few more things; 3 months (or longer) will feel like a long time, she suspects!
So she stands by her closet for a long minute, and then grabs these things:
Fair Isle sweater – L.L.Bean; adobe cardigan – L.L.Bean; cream cotton/linen shirt – Solid And Striped; Greenwich Village scarf – Urban Fable; color blocked tunic – L.L.Bean; stone wrinkle-free pants – L.L.Bean
NOW, she has all of this to last her through the winter holidays:
THIS wardrobe gives her plenty of options – if something is in the laundry, or otherwise out of commission, she will be fine…
Now, she just needs to brush up on BOTH math and science – she’s agreed to take responsibility for those 2 subjects for all of the kids…
At least she’s not the one tutoring Latin!
love,
Janice
p.s. Three years ago, I shared with you a few of the shop windows of Paris...
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I have been fantasizing about our family decamping to the Wisconsin northwoods (somewhere with good internet, of course) for the rest of the fall and this post is NOT HELPING! ?
Now I will spend all morning planning my wardrobe for this fantasy trip.
I hope we get regular updates on this adventure!
Ditto – although I’m very grateful for a job to go to every day, keeping up with the tech piece and insuring students have what they need is exhausting me. Think I’d much rather be in a cabin – say on Whidbey island – with my boys and dogs. I’ve been carrying road maps back and forth to work and on breaks planning a road trip for summer :) Happy Weekend!
Sheila,
Whidbey Island ? So are you near Seattle ? I used to live 14 miles north of Seattle back in the 1970’s !
Yes, Kirkland.
I live in Seattle!
Lovely colors and combinations, especially for Autumn. But will you find some heroines with cool coloring and help them out too please. This is a difficult year, colorwise, for us it seems.
Yes please, I second a wardrobe for cooler colouring. The rust would be burgundy or wine and the green would be more teal and aqua. Some purple and pink would be lovely too as would lighter blues.
Shopping for cool tones hasn’t been easy either. Unless you want a wardrobe that’s pure black and white.
I was in a store by baby clothes for the newest member of my extended family. I noticed that there was a whole section of clothes that would fit in well with this wardrobe but mostly girls and boys clothes are in cool colours. You would be hard pressed to find autumnal colours for boys.
Janice,
My kinda’ colors and lifestyle garments ! Thanks for this !
You nailed it! This is absolutely one of the most satisfying capsule wardrobes I’ve seen on this site, against some really tough competition. (I’d have to check to see if it is the MOST satisfying one.) I love fall clothing and fall colors, which helps, but I was curious to discover what makes this wardrobe, taken as a whole, work so well.
It’s a great color palette. I’m a huge fan of navy in general, cream is a perfect complement to navy as a fall light neutral, the aloe is an accent that is almost a neutral, and it doesn’t get better than rust/cognac (another almost-neutral) for fall. All the colors work together beautifully…though this exact aloe and rust seem happier with a bridge piece. If the aloe tended a bit more toward olive, it would work perfectly with the rust on its own, but even so, the palette is terrific. It’s even close to, but not exactly, one that I could wear.
I made a matrix with the colors across the top and the garment types along the side to check the balance. My first YES! button was pushed when I saw a t-shirt in every color…that always is a great start for me. The second YES! was seeing bottoms in the dark neutral, the light neutral, and one accent color. YES! #3 is having a full complement of twinset, column, and suit for both neutrals and one accent color. Just from the matrix, it’s clear that the ability to mix and match is very very strong in this wardrobe. Now since I’m me, I would ideally see the full complement for the second accent color also for completeness sake, but it’s completely not necessary. Given the size of the wardrobe, it’s the same choice I would have made. To wear this wardrobe myself, I probably would like to see the full complement in an aloe/olive rather than the rust, but it’s quite lovely with the rust, especially given the specific garments. I also noted the presence of dark wash jeans with appreciation since I’m a Gen X who can’t fathom a casual wardrobe without jeans.
Looking at the balance of solids vs. patterns, I was thrilled with the number of patterned pieces here and how amazingly they work as bridge pieces. Two garments that combine the two neutrals! Two garments and a scarf with all four colors!! I cannot possibly overstate how happy I am with that multi-color plaid shirt in this wardrobe…it is utter perfection. And even my general dislike for Fair Isle sweaters cannot dampen my enthusiasm for this choice (which I actually find reasonably attractive on its own merits). The scarf made me laugh when I clicked through to the site because it’s such a great example of the “it looks totally different when scrunched up and worn than when laid out flat” thing we were just talking about. I would NEVER have been interested in it the way it looks laid flat but it is lovely and a great fit for this wardrobe when worn.
I especially appreciate how amazing this wardrobe is, given that no individual piece is some kind of unusual superstar with show-stopping whappage. It really shows how a well-thought-out palette and the thoughtful curation of very “ordinary” pieces can lead to a wardrobe that is so much more than the sum of its parts. It’s also a good demonstration of the idea that when you have your fundamentals in place, it’s easy to see how you could expand a capsule to encompass different seasons/weather, a wider range of situations, or just a desire for a slightly greater number of options. I can’t help but think how easy it would be to add to this wardrobe toward a summery direction or a back-to-the-office direction, for example.
I’m bookmarking this one for future reference.
Naturally, I would LOVE to see this one accessorized!
Sally in St Paul – I tend to analyze capsule wardrobes as you do and I am excited to try out your matrix method. I’m creating a fall capsule from my existing closet and trying to determining what gaps need to be filled with new purchases. This is going to be very useful!
I also think the multi-color shirt is the workhorse of this capsule. All four t-shirts can be worn under it and one could have sweaters or toppers in all four colors to wear over it. Such versatility! I’m also leaning towards including bottoms in all four colors.
This is just such a warm and cosy looking wardrobe. I have a borg lined cardigan in navy so that’s a tick from me. I would like some longer cardigans but I like to be able to fasten them, but open seems to be the fashion.
I do like Fair Isle but have to choose a small scale pattern. The geometric pattern is unusual and is a twist on a traditional style.
The colour block navy and cream jumper looks so simply stylish with navy trousers. I’m too short and rounded to wear colour block garments.
The Greenwich Village scarf by Urban Fable is an example of a scarf that would be great as a painting (or inspiration for another wardrobe) but loses impact when worn. Perhaps, I would get some art supplies in town and hang it as a picture on the wall!
There’s lots of variety here. I hope that the kids are going to take turns to cook and clear up. Perhaps they might have a cooking or baking competition. After all communal living is all about taking a turn and making the most of your skills.
I suspect that having the kids fix meals is going to come up in their study of science – there’s no more useful applied science than cooking! That might be why one would opt to teach science in this household…
hugs,
Janice
Yes, this would be good on the math side too. How do you triple a recipe? Convert teaspoons to tablespoons? A very clever heroine.
?? I love the idea of cooking as applied science: physics of temperature; alchemy of flavour and taste; biology and plant science! Perhaps if they end up staying into next year they might keep poultry or goats, create a vegetable patch and orchard. You never know. I read recently that it took five years to recover from the impact of Spanish Flu…
Before I started reading the comments, I was thinking that for this situation I would definitely pack a stack, yes a stack, of my aprons. Especially for teaching science! So there is already one accessory to add!
It is, indeed a beautiful wardrobe. Not at all colors I would/could wear (I am death with spilling on anything white/cream/ivory) but on the right person it would be just stunning. Hat’s off to you. I don’t know how you do it.
I have been baffled recently that one of the chain stores in the UK is still selling summer clothes, swim suits and is not stocking new season clothes, apart from a few puffer coats and some garish Christmas jumpers (already). Now I know why.
The news today is that the EWM group, that includes the store chain I was in, plus Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Jaeger and Austin Reed, is going into administration. 1100 shops and 21000 jobs at risk.
The hospitality and events sectors, cultural and entertainment are all at risk from the continued UK restrictions which are all different depending on where you live.
There will soon be no reason to go out anymore…
Beth E, I sad to hear about Jaeger etc al. Here in TN we aren’t under such draconian rules, and life is slowly looking more normal. I would want some more festive clothes for Christmas and New Year, even if I was stating at home. Perhaps a long hostess skirt with a cashmere sweater and a lovely necklace or pearls.
Sorry for the typos.
Et al
Staying at home
What is a “hostess skirt”? Its not a term that I’m familiar with. Is it the length, the style or the material? If was hosting at home at Christmas, I would wear a long velvet skirt or trouser suit with a satin blouse and/or sparkly jumper. My jewellery would be sparkly with pearls and diamante.
I think of a hostess skirt as a long skirt that walks a line between everyday and dressy – perhaps in a wool plaid for Christmas or a solid taffeta or velvet for New Years Eve. I like your idea of sparkly jewelry.
This sounds like a FABULOUS way to spend a few months!! How fun – just like a mini-school and the kids get to socialize! I love this palette and these are certainly my colors. I agree with some of the things that Sally in St. Paul says – I would rework this just a bit for my professional capsule, which is what I am trying to build. Great idea Sally with the Matrix.
Thank you for sharing!
You inspired me… I purchased the LL Bean sweater – love Southwestern-inspired design!
Ah – shopping for clothes for holiday hosting at home – what a lovely fantasy this year.
This poor woman needs some tights or leggings to wear with that short skirt. :)