I’ll be back off and on for a week or two until things settle… Your kind messages and support help keep me sane right now. much love, Janice
November 25, 2020
She’s quite happy with how her wardrobe is progressing; she’s basing her choices on this painting she just discovered, and the color palette she developed from it:
She has her clothes all ready:
marled cotton cardigan – L.L.Bean; blue turtleneck – L.L.Bean; glen plaid sweater-blazer – J.Crew; Black open front jacket – Eileen Fisher; purple cashmere sweater – J.Crew; red cotton turtleneck – L.L.Bean; Floral turtleneck – H&M; bright meadow cashmere sweater – J.Crew; Burnt orange satin blouse – Express; v-neck cashmere sweater – L.L.Bean; black turtleneck – J.Crew; Fair Isle cardigan – Boden; white tee shirt – J.Crew; black tee shirt – J.Crew; butter yellow tee – L.L.Bean; corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; v-neck shift dress – Eileen Fisher; wool pencil skirt – Eileen Fisher; white turtleneck – J.Crew; velvet ankle pants – Eileen Fisher; pleated skirt – Anne Klein
This is already a pretty fun wardrobe, but she’s eager to see what accessories will add. The perfect scarf is all this outfit needs – a pair of earrings and some loafers finish this outfit in a classic way!
Black open front jacket – Eileen Fisher; tee – L.L.Bean; corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; melting earrings – Missoma; scarf – Echo; loafers – Steve Madden
A sweater with texture and a pendant with a real eye-catching pattern are perfect for a work day:
marled cotton cardigan – L.L.Bean; turtleneck – J.Crew; wool pencil skirt – Eileen Fisher; earrings – Napier; pendant – CarterGore; pumps – MICHAEL Michael Kors
The turtleneck print is subtle but its just right with her green sweater. And why NOT wear green earrings?
bright meadow cashmere sweater – J.Crew; Floral turtleneck – H&M; velvet ankle pants – Eileen Fisher; earrings – Kate Spade; tote – Madewell; boots – Golo
She wears her orange-ish shirt under her black shift dress – and finishes her outfit with another scarf that makes it all work:
Burnt orange satin blouse – Express; v-neck shift dress – Eileen Fisher; earrings – Missoma; scarf – Echo; pumps – MICHAEL Michael Kors
Yes, a red turtleneck and blue earrings! At least she was a bit more restrained with an elegant black headband…
cardigan – Boden; floral turtleneck – H&M; pleated skirt – Anne Klein; earrings – Adornia; black pleated headband – Tasha; boots – Naturalizer
It’s colder in the office on Fridays – they turn off the heat at noon! But she can manage that with a plaid cardigan jacket and mixed print scarf:
glen plaid sweater-blazer – J.Crew; tee – J.Crew; corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; earrings – Kendra Scott; scarf – Echo; loafers – Trotters
Oh BRIGHTNESS! Some days just require some light…
purple cashmere sweater – J.Crew; turtleneck – J.Crew; wool pencil skirt – Eileen Fisher; earrings – Samuel B.; scarf – Echo; pumps – MICHAEL Michael Kors
Then there are other days when some really pretty jewelry is all you want or need to add to your outfit.
Black open front jacket – Eileen Fisher; red cotton turtleneck – L.L.Bean; velvet ankle pants – Eileen Fisher; earrings – Givenchy; necklace – Givenchy; loafers – Trotters
This heroine knows how to rock a pretty scarf – and those earrings look pretty perfect with her turtleneck!
Turtleneck – L.L.Bean; v-neck shift dress – Eileen Fisher; earrings – Alex and Ani; scarf – Echo; boots – Golo
Why not wear a brooch? They’re lovely…
v-neck cashmere sweater – L.L.Bean; burnt orange satin blouse – Express; pleated skirt – Anne Klein; earrings – Missoma; brooch – Kenneth Jay Lane; slingbacks – Rockport
What a cheerful assortment:
I don’t know if any of you read the blog Dress Like a Parisian by Alois Guinut, but her last post was ALL about the importance of accessories!
love,
Janice
p.s. Four years ago I linked you to some of my favorite posts based on art without any identifiable subject or object…
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You have such a way with accessories. It must be a gift. Thanks for doing this at this time.
Yes, thank you for taking time to do this. I live for accessories! I’m particularly drawn to the red/orange floral echo scarf. I always have challenges getting square scarves to do what I want though, so tend to stick to rectangles. Continued thoughts and prayers for you Janice, and for all of you in this community Happy Thanksgiving wishes no matter how you are celebrating this year.
Sending warm thoughts to you! I would think that this wardrobe is so cheery that it would have healing powers!
What a beautiful, cheerful wardrobe! A wonderful contrast to a very grey and gloomy day, at least in my part of the world ( Finland). Sending you lots of warm thoughts and positive energy. Thank you so much, Janice, for taking the time to spoil us with this lovely post
Sending positive thoughts and best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving. No matter what this year has brought to us, we all have much to be grateful for. Thank you for brightening our world with your wardrobes ??
The purple top and earrings with the rainbow coloured scarf jump right out and call my name. What a great combo for a dreary, covid winter day. Love it!
I hope you’re feeling better soon. Thanks for making this effort for us, your devoted and loyal readers.
Best wishes to you for what you are going through.
Please know that one of the things I am thankful for is your blog. I look forward to reading it and thinking of changes to my wardrobe.
I enjoy reading from the archives too! You provide such a depth of content.
Your writing style is wonderful.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you for sparing the time to bring colour into our lives this week. It’s a dreary day in the UK too.
Oh the sparkle and ‘sunshine’ in your selection. The jewellery is so pretty and would fit well in my winter wardrobe. The Art Deco style brooch is a standout winner. The silver pendant and amethyst earrings are gorgeous.
The two floral scarves make me yearn for Spring. I almost want to get out my Spring things but NO I must be restrained.
I’ll be thinking of you as you get things settled. Hope you can still enjoy a festive Thanksgiving with your nearest and dearest.
.
I also have a question for everyone.
Teal is a main colour for me this season but have a problem finding jewellery to go. I either wear silver, clear stones or pearls. Or I coordinate the jewellery with the colours of the patterns, I wear with teal – purple, deep pink.
I really would like to find teal coloured sparkly stones that would go with a dark teal party top. The stones dont have to be real. Costume or vintage jewellery is my thing,
Emerald or dark green stones are the wrong colour because I don’t wear those colours. I would like to find something that’s more blue/green in tone but not turquoise or jade. It also needs to be SPARKLY!
Any suggestions?
Hi Beth t, try Alexandrite gemstone, there are lots of necklaces, earring etc online and it’s sparkly. The gemstone is purple and a deep bluish teal and depending how it is cut can be very sparkly. Hope you find something to go with your top.
That’s the one that’s purple in natural light and teal in artificial light? I find that fascinating…
hugs,
Janice
What about aquamarines? They’re a lovely clear greeny-blue, and I suspect would be smashing with teal.
I would check into Swarovski crystal jewelry. Definitely sparkly and they have many, many colors!
Thank you ladies and Janice for your suggestions. I’ll have a look. I like the sound of Alexandrite.
I spoke about Juliana rhinestone jewelry awhile back. I found most of it on ebay – including a teal piece. You might have to put in green, or blue, or try teal (so many different shades!) I think there’s an ebay uk? Seems to me I’ve bought yarn there….. etsy might have some – search for vintage. Also Ruby Lane – I bought a couple of pieces there. The nice thing about ebay is I can put in the search and then it emails me each day with what’s come up…. sometimes it took awhile to get the color/combo I wanted. :)
Thanks Sheila. My only problem with online marketplaces is there is sooo much choice.?
That’s why I prefer collectors fairs and vintage shops. But the fairs are cancelled because of Covid and the shops dont reopen until the end of next week because we’ve been in lockdown again for a month. I might persuade my husband to come with me to our favourite antiques arcades on the pretext of Christmas shopping…. ?
Yes, I understand :) I have to stay really focused on the exact thing I’m looking for! I get really distracted by all the sparkly colors. And anything that looks iridescent is just a trap for me. Good luck! I have an Alexandrite ring. “real” Alexandrite is quite expensive, but there are many lab-created stones now that are reasonable. The amount of color change is variable, but I love the stone.
Love the variety of these accessories! – nancyo
Dear Janice, I hope things settle well and quickly. Thank you for taking the time to come back and check in and with such a delightful post. I love how varied this heroine’s looks are, and with such a variety, there must be something for every reader in these looks…prefer a more muted pallete? the yellow and blue scarf, or silver jewellery, more into geometric, bold looks, many choices. The beautiful wooly scarves could be classic or playful and on and on. Fingers crossed for you and yours, my dear.
Eleanor
I hope things are going well for you and that you have a lovely Thanksgiving. I love this wardrobe – – it’s right up my alley. Lots of black with bright colors to enliven the days and nights. I don’t often comment but read you always and love and appreciate so much what you do. Thank you.
Today’s post was a delightful surprise! Thank you, Janice. All best wishes for you.
Many very appealing items today. For me, the standouts are the festive red necklace (perfect for the season as it a “holly” type vibe to it without being overtly holiday-themed, and thus wearable all year), the Trotters loafers (both the bronze and dark red are very striking), and the sea blue colorway of the patchwork print scarf (the orange is perfect for this wardrobe but the sea blue has whappage!).
I love seeing all these scarves. I like that 3 of the scarves (denim/yellow, orange/red, and bright plaid) don’t seem to have any black in them. A scarf with the accent color and black would be an obvious bridge, but in avoiding the obvious, you’ve shown us some lovely, less expected alternative looks. It’s interesting…my instinct is to treat black like a color that works best when bridged rather than a neutral that can stand alone. Blue denim is the most obvious stand alone neutral for me (yes, please, one piece in an outfit is enough for me), but the others aren’t far behind. But black feels, to me, very different. Perhaps it’s because wearing a pair of black work trousers is such a common default, and hence appears in so many boring/uninspired/random-looking office outfits, that I feel a need to make the choice of black look intentional (and my hair is blonde, so it doesn’t help). But with thoughtfully selected accessories, a bridge isn’t needed. No one would look at any of these outfits and think they are lazy or random. The orange blouse/black dress outfit exemplifies this. The orange blouse was my least favorite of the original garments, but that outfit accessorized might be my favorite (with the red necklace outfit in a dead heat). The repetition of black in the shoes is enough to satisfy me (and if she has dark hair, all the better).
And it’s very convenient if our heroine has another woman in her household who prefers a different neutral…for example, a lady with a navy/denim-based wardrobe would be thrilled to borrow the denim/yellow or bright plaid scarves! It’s interesting to consider the role these kinds of multi-color accessories could play for someone who has multiple neutral capsules, too. Perhaps someone has different neutrals for work vs. play or changes their neutrals with the seasons…or (like me) still has a lot of different neutrals in her closet because the attrition process is a slow one. Maybe she has started to see ever more grey hairs appear in her sleek black bob and is wondering whether it’s time to go grey-headed and slowly start shifting from black to grey in her wardrobe. If for whatever reason a person doesn’t have One Neutral To Rule Them All, a neutral-free multi-color scarf (or several!) might make a great utility player.
Thinking about your comment that two ladies in a house might share items – that is so true. My daughter used to pinch my scarves as I got bored with the ones I wore and she was experimenting with colours and patterns.
She recently had a clear out and has given them back to me ? along with a purple and navy paisley chiffon blouse! I’mrediscovering different ways to wear the scarves with my newly refined wardrobe and the chiffon blouse looks better on me! ☺
Mind you she’s keeping all my high-heeled shoes as I really can’t wear them anymore.
Janice,
You have managed to create a bottomless feeling closet with the bright and happy colors and the accessories , which add to the variety of looks ! Well done ( no surprise there) ! You have found a perfect timing to add happy color color to these drab and cheerless times, as Covid drags on , though relief is in sight at last !
I hope that your world is back into a more controllable situation, I know that mine has been wonky with an elderly parent this week !
I echo the sentiments above about how your posts brighten and inspire the days of your readers , so add me to the list of the grateful !
A most blessed Thanksgiving to you and yours and to all of my fellow readers here —there is still so much for which to remain grateful !
*Oops, just one word of color, not two of them — and I thought that I had edited before pushing Send !
Hello Janice! I hope your endeavors are progressing smoothly. Thank you for the time and creativity you put into your posts. Just seeing COLOR in a parade of cloudy days makes my retinas happy (and keeps them from napping).
At one time a few years ago I printed out some of your ‘best ofs’ and put them in clear plastic protectors in a binder. That way if I am staring at my closet pondering what to wear I just open up my binder and get inspired! I find that now my wardrobe has morphed into different shades so one of my (fun) projects over the next few weeks is to print some new combinations that actually exist in my wardrobe rather than colors/clothes I wish I had.
Although I should take the plunge and buy something yellow…
Happy Thanksgiving to all ?
I bought a bright yellow sweater this year – it’s super soft and warm – It perks me up and as I look back on my calendar I see it’s the one thing I have worn every single week this month. I’m thinking I need that scarf shown with the purple sweater to wear with my pink, purple, and yellow sweaters! Extra does of bright!
Hi, Janice. Your posts are a continuing source of delight and distraction in these dreadful times. Thanks so much for all your hard work and creativity. Sending hugs and hoping that you and yours find some joy and peace.
I pray everyone here has a safe and blessed Thanksgiving. We all have ‘some things’ and many of us ‘a great deal of things’ to be thankful for this year. Praise the Lord! May we all count our blessings!
I salute you Janice. I started confinement in March with so many good intentions but after a few months found it very difficult to concentrate on anything for any length of time – and why has time flown by so quickly in this difficult year! So a big thank you for bringing much needed relief in these times. But please, you must put your health first.
I have very few clothes indeed, but accessories have always been my downfall! I couldn’t wear many of these items (I never wear black or bright colours) but there is always something in your posts that inspire! In this case, it has me wondering if I am way too cautious in the colours I do wear….
Same here. On many points. I had many projects planned. Not many are completed. I can keep my interest on things I really want to do, like cooking and reading favorite books over again. Not so much things like learning a foreign language or making a quilt. Oh, well.
I have studied this capsule plan. At first I did not care for it for me, because I have given up on much black. My tops are mostly drab navy and grey. But like you I thought, or wished I could branch out. Something cheery at this time of the universe would be most welcome.
Same here. I have the attention span of a carrot right now (or my little dog). I can’t even manage to go back to the afghan I was working on before all this started. Although as one son was applying to colleges and the other preparing to enter Air Force I was a little distracted. I also am rereading books I’ve read a zillion times, watching re-runs of old shows. Comfort things. Maybe start with a bright scarf and ease yourself in gently?
Sometimes it’s the little things that give much pleasure. Perhaps like Sheila says try something small for an accessory – a scarf, a brooch or necklace that just appeals. You’ll know the colours that will suit you as they are the ones which make you respond “Oh what a lovely colour….”.
If this was the year for taking stock, being thankful for what we do have, perhaps next year, we might be bold to try something new or different?
Thank you so much for all you do.
Sending prayers for your restoration and healing & wishes to you & your beloved for a lovely Thanksgiving.
After seeing the festive red necklace in this post yesterday, I was in our local department store and found a similar one. It was short so it would show up online. The price was very reasonable. I liked it. BUT I just thought, “ where am I going to wear this? I’m not going anywhere.” So sadly, I put it back on the rack.
A hard choice, but the right one!
We’ve all got to adjust ourselves to the current reality; some other time, we will go out and party like fiends!
hugs,
Janice