December 4, 2020
She lives a simple life, but she loves the idea of indulgent masses of jewelry. While that’s not practical for her, a scarf that shows such a thing is perfect!
The Bones of the Trees
This is her plan for a long weekend away, looking at trees…
She’s going to drive, so it’s not a terribly long trip. And she’s not quite sure what she will find for weather; hopefully she will see beautiful late autumn days!
lab-created opal earrings – Kohl’s; mask – Boho Me; cardigan – L.L.Bean; flannel shirt – J.Crew; white scarf – Portolano; tote bag – Longchamp; watch – Swatch; corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; socks – Under Armour; suede loafers – Geox
Nobody can quite figure out why she’s traveling to look at trees, now that the leaves have fallen!
Silver knot earrings – Pichaya; red earrings – Delmar; sapphire isle thermal-knit tee – Old Navy; navy hooded cashmere cardigan – L.L.Bean; dark cranberry cashmere crewneck – L.L.Bean; plaid flannel shirt – J.Crew; quilted coat – J.Crew; blue infinity scarf – Echo; navy gloves – Hades; yellow cardigan – Benetton; plaid scarf – Polo Ralph Lauren; navy and white turtlenecks – L.L.Bean; red mask – Front Row; stonewashed jeans – L.L.Bean; navy nylon bag – Most Wanted; ribbed tights – Marks And Spencer; pleated skirt – J.Crew; ballet flats – Trotters; yellow socks – Urban Outfitters; waterproof boots – Josef Seibel; fleece-backed pants – L.L.Bean
She’s got things for very cool, for moderately cool, and for swishing along a paved path in a skirt and sweatshirt or sweater! She pretends that it’s a kilt…
She’s teaching herself to identify trees by the configuration of their branches, and the appearance of the bark. This is the perfect time of year for her trip!
love,
Janice
p.s. If you adhere to a particular season to describe your color preferences, this post from 6 years ago will suggest a few scarf possibilities…
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I really love that blue plaid shirt… trying to think of a way i could work it into my wardrobe, but I never wear blue except for navy! I did take the look back. That was really interesting. I’ve been told I was a winter in my 30’s, and an autumn in my 50’s! I’m not sure how one goes from cool to warm… I could understand if I went softer. And now, with gray hair, but autumn colors really don’t work so I’m floundering. I found the advice in the look back to wear what you love and be happy something I can work with. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
Sheila, Imogen Lamport at Inside Out Style blog has some posts about shifting your color palette when you start going grey that you might find helpful.
I am interested in having a color analysis done, and can see the advantages to having a narrower color palette that makes you look your best, but I really do enjoy just wearing colors that I like. And as with many people, depending on what color system it is and what it pays attention to, I can get contradictory results (that’s where golden hair, green eyes, and cool pale pink skin get you). So I haven’t wanted to spend the time/money on it.
Some colors do seem to look better on me than others. Sometimes I don’t care about that so much and sometimes I do care. But with the exception of a few colors that really look terrible with my pinkish skin (like mustard, very warm camel/tan, poppy orange-red), I have found that I can wear almost any color if I wear a scarf that harmonizes with one of “my” personal colors…by which I mean, a color in my physical body, not from a color palette for a “season” or whatever. For example, I have a quilted vest that is a sort of rust/brick red color that is a pretty meh color on me (but is very useful and I like the way it looks otherwise). But if I top it with an appropriately colored scarf…teal, olive, navy, taupe-grey, soft white with rose gold polka dots, soft white with gold snowflakes…that nicer color next to my face is enough for me to be satisfied with it. And since I don’t ever want to wear that vest without a scarf anyway, it’s no trouble. If I were to need to write one of those “6 word books” on the subject of how to fix an outfit that color-wise is not the greatest, it would be: “Wear a personal coloring appropriate scarf.” Haha!
In the 1980’s I bought the Colour Me Beautiful book and worked out pretty quickly that I was Summer but as the years went by, I felt that wasn’t quite right as I liked some Autumn colours.
The next book Always in Style introduced the idea of being more than one season and that varied depending on the clarity or depth of skin tone. I was a apparently a Summer/Autumn but that didnt feel quite right either because some of the Summer colours were too by then too bright like red and bright pink. I preferred the softer muted colours and the muted autumn colours of the combined season.
Then I found the third book by CMW called Colour Me Confident (a few pounds second hand) that looks at colour by dominant colouring type. I then discovered that my hair, skin tone, eyes were of medium values – nothing dominant. I was a Soft and Cool, sometimes called a Soft Summer.
Now that my hair is going white and my skin tone is even softer, I prefer the softer colours even more. I can wear the darker colours in Autumn/Winter which is why I have a wardrobe full of purple/berry colours and teal with a touch of navy. However, red is a rarity for me and it has to be more raspberry or burgundy.
I tried the colour quizzes on the Kettlewell colours website and this confirmed my choices.
I think I was probably Cool and Soft but I’m now Soft and Cool. Though I still love deep orchid, fuschia pink, and plum-pink.
It helps me no end to be able to disregard clothes in shops because they are too bright.
Hope that helps. Most of the CWM are very cheap to buy second hand.
I went from Winter to soft Autumn after a hysterectomy stopped my pernicious anemia. I wonder how many women change seasons after their periods stop?
Love that cheery yellow. My wardrobe resolution for the new year is to add some yellow items.
When you mentioned using Echo scarves, I peeked at the site and this is one that I hoped you would chose (although I prefer it with the black background). Love all of the bright high-contrast colors. I miss kilts…how I loved the swish of the pleats! Finally gave up and felted all of my plaid wool skirts to use in craft projects.
I just really want to say thank you for your efforts on this blog. While I can’t say my wardrobe is completely curated (I have probably too many color palates I love), what I have gotten most is that I can create groups of clothing with interchangeable pieces. I’ve always wanted to be able to do that, but I didn’t get the clothes gene. Thank you for helping me!
If anyone buys this scarf, please email me a photo of it tied. I’m so curious how the pattern plays out. Love it, but don’t need any new scarves in these colors at the moment. Hope I don’t regret it.
[email protected]
I love the variety of accent colors! I NEED that variety. Thank you!
I think I would like to be this woman’s friend. Her wardrobe is so cheery. I love tree silhouettes too. Does she own a copy of “That Tree: A Year-In-The-Life of a Lonely Bur Oak”?
I’m with you. We drove to a national wildlife preserve yesterday along the mighty Snake River and ended up admiring the tree shapes and bark subtleties. A few birds are hanging about! Janice’s more rugged choices would have been perfect out there! And BTW..the Joseph Seibel boots look wonderful. I have Seibel shoes (one pair is 26 years old) and they are attractive, comfortable and durable.
AK, thanks for the information on Seibel shoes. I have my eyes on those boots and the white sneakers from the 6 scarves Lion wardrobe. Good to know that they are likely to be worth the money.
Thank you for using more than one cheerful accent color. My own wardrobe is based in dark navy, with some bright accents to counter the gloom of 2020!
My color season is Winter, or so I was told in my 30s. Back then I enjoyed very high contrast black and white with strongly colored accents. In my 60s I think softer contrasts look better. My colors are (mostly) in the mid to dark range and predominately cool tones.
Janice,
I enjoy looking at bare tree structure almost as much as I do when they are in full leaf ! Your sock colors are so cheery, but I am surprised to not see any red ones !
Since colors are more remembered when they are an outermost layer when worn, I am observing where you placed the accent colors into which level of tops or toppers. I see one bright patterned shirt, so that could be either a top or topper, a yellow cardigan, which could serve as either a top or topper and then the red and the blue thermal tee/sweaters , all of which could go under the navy cardigan or the hoodie, so the colored items serve as “ middle layers” or as top layers when worn inside a building . Combining them with neutral tops , the two turtlenecks or the neutral shirt, which can also double duty , is a smart strategy ! Within each of your posts, I try to pick your brain to understand your strategy for your selections, which I love doing ! Thanks for another colorful and fun capsule !
And then using one core neutral for bottoms and the very outermost layers makes packing a very simple process ! As I am bottom heavy, sticking to dark bottoms , or at least darker than my tops is a wise idea ! This capsule provides the variety of colored and neutral options that I crave, as do many of your other posts ! I need more than just one accent color, or I get easily bored with it .
Wow. Having suggested this one last night – what a joy to see it this morning! After a stressful week, this has perked me up no end.
I’d like to imagine this scarf as a jewellery box lined with navy velvet. When you open the lid out come hummingbirds on springs (instead of ballerinas!). Inside are sparkling jewels, gold and silver.
In the days when I wore lots of red, I would have loved this wardrobe and had a red plaid skirt. A Stewart Tartan kilt would look splendid. Gorgeous earrings.
We spend a lot of time walking around our local nature reserve and woods photographing nature. During the last year my husband and I have walked through the reserve nearly every day. We have take photographs of the trees in particular on one path with two veteran oak trees. Seeing the trees change through the seasons has been magical. Now we have gone full circle.
The knitted infinity scarf has given me an idea for a Christmas present…. Perhaps I shall find my crochet hooks and buy some varigated wool. This year, more than any other, is the year for homemade gifts.
Just beautiful! The scarf is a wonderful piece as is the wardrobe that emerges from it- much work from Janice to create it all. Jewel box, beth t is right.
Anyone who longs for a Kathkath Studios scarf, many are half price this weekend and maybe Monday.
Janice,
I was surprised to see that you did not use the inspiration scarf for any of the outfits ?
Oh, these last few posts have turned out to be expensive for me! I took a look at the Echo website and fell in love with several scarves and neck warmers. I have a number of Echo scarves from years past, and their quality is excellent, especially for the price. Nordstrom Rack (some of the stores) used to have lots to choose from, but I’ve not seen this brand there lately.
And I also would like to thank you, Janice, for all the work you do on this blog. It’s one of just a few that I look at daily.
I bought this scarf with the navy background, and I’m sorry to say I would not put it with *any* of the above clothing items. It’s not really a dress-down scarf, and it’s so dominating that I personally cannot think of adding it to anything with a pattern. Ack, no. It is a beautiful scarf and one that wants to stand out against a solid background.