January 25, 2021
She’s dreaming of warmer weather, and she’s determined to at least FEEL like spring is coming…
She starts here:
And this is her color palette – her base is going to be navy and white, but she’s really interested in these accent colors!
Before she tears off into this project with blinding enthusiasm, she pauses to consider if it’s realistic:
- their home is always warm in the winter,
- she’s not going to be going out much at all – wearing white pants won’t be a problem because she can skip them if she needs to go out into the slush, and
- she can layer her chosen garments if she needs to warm up.
She starts by choosing her navy and white Common Wardrobe – the base upon which she will build:
Cardigan – L.L.Bean; navy and white tees – J.Crew; navy cotton sweater – L.L.Bean; dotted shirt – L.L.Bean; striped tee – J.Crew; canvas pants – L.L.Bean; pull-on denim skirt – Lands’ End; white jeans – L.L.Bean
Of course, she can always wear her long-sleeved tee shirts too…
But what she REALLY wants to wear is her gorgeous green blouse!
Cardigan – L.L.Bean; notch-collar tee – L.L.Bean; washed green thermal top – Treasure & Bond; blouse – Paisie
And yes, it might be the dead of winter, but she’s going to wear her cool print skirt! If it’s always super-warm where she works (at home), why not?
Long-sleeved tee – L.L.Bean; corduroy shirt-jacket – L.L.Bean; striped tee – J.Crew; skirt – J. McLaughlin
So far, this is what she’s assembled for her Garde-Robe du Mois. It doesn’t look like she’s going to the beach, nor to summer camp… But it does have a definitely sunny feeling, doesn’t it?
At this point, she can be logical, impulsive, or a combination of both!
The striped tee shirts and the cardigan are pretty logical; the pants… might be a stretch for another woman. But she loves this shade of blue, and so she’s taking the plunge!
Navy striped tee – L.L.Bean; aqua striped tee – L.L.Bean; bandana print pants – Melody Ehsani; white cardigan – J.Crew
She hangs everything up together, and HAS to smile…
For a moment she’s tempted to just close her closet door and fix herself a cocktail, to celebrate!
But our heroines are ALWAYS sensible, so she quickly reviews in her mind 10 obvious outfits hanging in front of her:
I confess that I was wearing my white jeans through at least November; maybe I should take a look at my summer tee shirts and tops for some mid-winter inspiration?
love,
Janice
p.s. Remember our water engineer? She traveled with a wardrobe of blue, grey and navy…
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Love it! The colors, the items, just gorgeous.
Having just decided on a travel wardrobe of navy and purple, I can’t tell you how delighted I am those pants come in purple also! I am always on the look out for non-white light weight summer pants. Have a great day everyone, now I”m off to bundle up for our current cold snap.
This is perfection. It is very much my color scheme, and I see that I could whittle my closet down by a few items and still have enough to create hundreds of outfits.
These colours reflect the signs of Spring. We had snow on Saturday – just a few inches which is fast disappearing but enough for kids to go sledging and build giant snowmen. Everything looks and sounds so different in the snow. The snowdrops are out in the woods, the holly was sprouting new pale green leaves and a winter flowering camelia is blossoming in someone’s garden. Today the sky is brilliant blue. I love this time of year.
Could this wardrobe become an extension and additional accent colour for the water engineer heroine in the look-back? A handbag by Jill Haber Charles that appeared in the look back would compliment this very well – navy with aqua, blue and green squares.
I was thinking along the same lines! I could take this blue and green and add it ti the water engineer’s palette and be very content with the chosen colors.
This is perfection! I love a navy and white base; it is amazing how versatile it is with just the addition of a couple of pieces in an accent color. Thank you for all you for us!
With a couple of tweaks this would make a lovely cruise wardrobe.
This is a palette I like to wear, and I love all the stripes that say “spring is coming”! I could just about take this as is, though as usual I would tweak it a bit. I’m not AT ALL a fan of the printed blue pants (which look somehow even worse when seen on the model…weirdly short and styled with giant white sneakers is not a look I can get behind), which I would swap out for a pair of medium wash blue jeans or, if the elastic waist is key, navy sweatpants/yoga pants/joggers. The second pair of green garments didn’t do it for me either. I don’t love the dusky shade with the brights and neither silhouette was appealing. A slightly brighter color and simpler garments would be better to me…or substitute a pair of light blue items instead…which would look terrific with the print skirt.
I have a question that is pretty basic, but that I’m truly curious about. For Janice building out multiple capsules a week and showing us examples of specific capsule concepts, I understand where the 9 navy/white items came from in this specific instance. But as a broader idea…when you’re developing a non-travel, day to day capsule starting from your own closet, once you have your palette with your neutrals, is there a reason to select a (seems-to-me) limited number of items for the common wardrobe? I am a navy/white aficionado so were I to gather my navy and white items to make a common wardrobe, I would have more than 9 (or whatever) season-appropriate pieces. Granted, my wardrobe is too large, but surely many people have more than 9 (or whatever) items in their core neutrals. Is this choice functional? Aesthetic? Philosophical? Experimental? Just for fun? A chosen challenge?
Because it seems like extra effort/time to artificially limit your core (and to stay on top of the laundry to the required extent) than not to. Especially with something like the plain navy and white tops…it seems so much easier to have a few of each so you will always have one clean if you find yourself wanting to wear a white t-shirt several times in a short period.
This is not at all meant as criticism of Janice’s examples on TVF or anyone’s choices about their own wardrobes, I’m just curious about it. Because it seems like people are choosing to live out of a suitcase in their own homes…or to hang the items from the suitcase into the hotel closet ;) …and that boggles my mind! For example, I would never force myself to choose the one pair of jeans that I am going to wear all month when I already own a few pairs that I could rotate through. But it’s clear that some people are all over this kind of idea (or variants on this idea, of course; I know not everyone is doing exactly the same thing), so I’m missing something!
Sally in St. Paul,
I buy duplicates of all plain core items for laundry purposes . In addition, in core colors, I might have a beige heavily textured vest as well as a lighter textured one, so no, I do not restrict myself to a certain number of core pieces . In addition to two beige vests, I have a beige cardigan and a beige 1/4 zip plus two at home beige knit pants as well as two away from home dress pants, but then we are getting into varied functions of the clothes. I also have two lightweight beige shirts of different textures for around home wear as toppers. I tend to do this with my other neutrals too — brown, denim, navy, and olive green .
I think this is an exercise that some people are finding appealing – the 21 garment garde-robe du mois. I’m happy to come up with an edited and limited capsule when I’m traveling but am not personally tempted to try it in my home for a month at a time. Different strokes! – nancyo
This collection is great for winter in Florida. The blues and greens have a nice fresh feel that works across the seasons. Love it!
Sally, I have multiples in the pants I wear most often. In tops, if I have a multiple (which is seldom) in the “core” they are usually of different materials – say a knit tshirt material, and then maybe one in a blend that’s one step up. I do have tops that are a core color, but then have a pattern/additional color. I put them all in the same place with my core items. I naturally gravitate towards the accent colors and patterns. I don’t wear white, or cream, or any of those light colors, so I use red almost as another “neutral” in my wardrobe. Does that make sense? I stick to a common wardrobe only in the very loosest of terms in that I have most of the items, but I wouldn’t be using JUST those items for an extended length of time.
Thanks for your comments, Sheila. That does make sense. I can see how some people may to have the common wardrobe be a central aspect of the wardrobe, while others prefer to go stronger in patterns and accents. It also makes sense to me to vary the type of top when you do have multiples in one core neutral.
This is making me think that when I see the 9 (or whatever) items in the common wardrobe, I might take the number of items less literally. For example, I love a basic long-sleeved T as a first layer in winter, so I might look at the navy T and think: OK, based on my own preferences/lifestyle/climate, that one T might represent my shorter crew navy T, my longer (more tunic length) navy T, and my V neck navy T.
Hi Janice. Lovely post. Just to let you know I put together a Vivienne -inspired outfit of grey and black, with blue accents, for my first covid vaccine appointment. Always good to feel pulled together and strong.
Hi Joan Cecile, I think we should all frame your comment:
“Always good to feel pulled together and strong.”
No matter what we are doing, feeling confident in our appearance helps enormously.
IA motto for our times.
Thank you. Beth T for your comment! I so agree. Since finding Janice and the Vivienne Files, I even coordinated an outfit for an er visit. Silly? I don’t think so.
Hi Janice and Everyone! Beautiful colors!
When I set aside a 21pc wardrobe for a month, I usually cull my choices from my existing closet-ful. I usually have duplicate pants/leggings and turtlenecks in core colors so if something needs laundering I have back-up. Some 21 pc sets have been more versatile than others, which I think is a function of a garment weight not matching the season.
The colors in the original artwork and wardrobe remind me of beach glass, and thinking about sea, sun, and sand is a very nice break from eleven months in my house and the current freezing weather. Thank you for that.
I’ve just come back from the beach for Australia Day and those lovely colours were seen everywhere, the sand, the sky, the water. If it’s not warm where you are, those lovely tones will have you feeling in the spirit in no time.
Thank you Elma for suggesting that the image reminds you of beach glass. I was pondering what the image reminded me of. My thought was the sun shining through new leaves or fish eggs. I often wonder why artists don’t name their work or at least suggest what their inspiration was.
Thank you for this escape into Spring/Summer colors. Yes, Sally I keep several basics because of washing. I didn’t start this until I was older. Makes life much easier! I do tend to buy them all of a little different design or fabric. I found when I bought two or three of the same item my wardrobe wasn’t quite as fashionable!