December 6, 2021
Why yes, this is supposed to be the last installment of the Autumn Weekly Timeless Wardrobe. Welcome to my life of confusion!
Frankly, once I was in the groove sorting these wardrobes and looking for additions to each of them, I just kept going. When I was more than halfway through THIS post, I realized that I was too far along to really be able to finish the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe in time!
I know you understand…. Thank heavens!!!
It’s time to address the grey and brown outfit – the bane of my blogging existence for the last year:
If I was starting this one over again, the clothing would be grey, a bunch of shades of pink, and white, and the leather accessories would be brown. That would be both distinctive and lovely…
But NO, I had to at least try to find brown clothing. We will make these decisions, and unless we are madly wasteful and just pitch out the brown clothes, we need to figure out how to make things work well for us.
Nobody dies when your wardrobe is askew.
Here’s the wardrobe with which our heroine enters this episode of our drama:
Functionally, she has a good balance. She has quite a few outfits here, so it’s not as if she won’t be able to get dressed!
For all of the manic trouble I thought I had looking for brown clothes, our heroine has a pretty nice stash of things!
Purple, not so much. But as the winter holidays approach, purple is available. I should remember this for the future, eh?
So I stocked up on purple tops – I would take all three of these in a heartbeat! And for the balance of her wardrobe additions, I was able to find garments that combine grey and brown. This is going to make it so much easier for her to combine her 2 neutrals, every once in a while:
Purple turtleneck – Banana Republic; waffle-knit Henley top – Goodnight Macaroon; poplin shirt – And Other Stories; grey & brown plaid skirt – 12 Storeez; tweed sweater – Fia Clothing; flannel tunic – Lands’ End
Her accessories are lovely – I really like how much orange she has! Imagine a bitter cold day, a mostly grey outfit, and some orange accessories!
When these are sorted, they still look good…
The biggest issue that she could have is a need for a brown bag and brown flats to wear with her skirt sometimes. The brown earrings with silver combine brown and grey (silver is grey, right?), and the 2-tone scarf seem made for her. And the necklace was just a whappage item…
Smoky quartz earrings – Zayd Makarim; scarf – Tickled Pink; smoky quartz & pearl necklace – Jaques; suede flats – Børn; bag – Hyer Goods
What do we learn from all of this? If you really love 2 neutrals that are quite different, learn to be patient, and search diligently for things that work with both neutrals. Ultimately, you don’t have to own the world’s most infinitely “mix and match-able” wardrobe – you just have to be able to get dressed every day and feel beautiful and be happy. It’s not a contest.
And finally! This most popular scarf:
Even if the colors don’t suit, I suspect that most of us could wear a lot of this wardrobe without struggle!
One of the best aspects of this wardrobe is the large number of “1st or 2nd layer” tops – these are pieces that are so versatile! When you know that you need a new sweater (or sweatshirt), it’s worth remembering that you could look for something that could be worn on its own, or over other tops…
Sorting by color reveals what might be the only real weakness in this wardrobe – 1 sweater that has NOTHING else that matches it, 2 olive green garments, and 2 in coral. There’s nothing inherent wrong with having a few stray orphans, so long as they go with your neutrals, but we have to look for something to learn here!
Okay – this heroine doesn’t have a simple grey sweater. Easily fixed. She only has 2 print garments – a plaid flannel shirt that looks equally good with blue or grey is the obvious December answer!
That poor stray green sweater? There’s a denim shirt that matches it…
Yes, this heroine has 1 skirt that is good for cool weather, but I thought that a denim dress would be enormously useful for her. And a coral sweater will make it possible for her to wear coral all year ’round. (could the print skirt be worn in cooler weather with tights, boots and a coral sweater?)
White jeans? I don’t know. I just think that white jeans are surprisingly useful, and I thought that they would be pretty with both her neutrals and her accent colors…
Cashmere sweater – L.L.Bean; flannel shirt – L.L.Bean; dusty pine denim shirt – L.L.Bean; denim shirtdress – Pieces; coral sweater – J.Crew; white jeans – Lands’ End
Her accessories are great fun:
Sorting her accessories makes it clear that her earrings skew very blue, as do most of her other accessories! And she has plenty of sandals, but her only loafers are silver…
At this point, coral earrings, and light green ones, make good sense for her! A simple grey bag, and some comfy clogs will help her get more mileage out of everything she owns.
And I could NOT resist this cowl scarf. It has hints of blue. I swear I think it has hints of coral and green! It might end up being her favorite accessory for months:
Orange agate earrings – Leslie Granthon; blue bracelet – Nareerat; green amethyst earrings – Auree Jewellery; cowl scarf – Studio Myr; crossbody bag – Botkier; clogs – Dansko
And thus, with successes, marginal successes, and quite a few lessons, we wrap up this year’s “6 Scarves, 12 Months” series.
I will share next year’s scarves on New Year’s Eve this year… I’m looking EVERYWHERE….
love,
Janice
p.s. Seven years ago, I tried to clarify the difference between the French 10-piece Wardrobe, the French 5-Piece Wardrobe, and Project 333. It’s interesting for me to note that I still own a LOT of the clothes that I show here!
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Where did the coral sweater come from?
looks like j. crew cashmere in their coral to me. https://www.jcrew.com/p/womens/categories/clothing/sweaters/pullovers/cashmere-classic-fit-crewneck-sweater/BA400?display=standard&fit=Classic&color_name=bright-poppy&colorProductCode=BA400
Dear Sheila,
I put a link in to the sweater – thanks for asking; I would have never realized that I MISSED THAT ONE COMPLETELY… Welcome to my world!
hugs,
Janice
My thoughts on your question about wearing a print skirt with tights, boots and a sweater…..it would look great but I find the skirt rides up due to friction with the tights. In theory, a slip would fix the problem (and would also make the lightweight skirt warmer in cold weather) but nearly all slips (rare animals at the best of times) are knee-length or only a bit longer. Skirts made of heavier fabrics – denim, corduroy, wool – work better. I’ve spent the autumn in Poland and have seen many young women wearing silky/polyester pleated skirts with tights. I’ve not seen any such combos since the temperatures dropped a couple of weeks ago.
I’m excited to see the six scarves for 2022!
I think it depends on the tights as well. I don’t get the stickiness between the skirt and tights when I wear very smooth tights, though I do sometimes with more textured cable knit tights.
Thank you Lilibear. I”m back! Having slept on the couch a bit since my first look-see at midnight (PST) this morning. I’m betting you made a lot of people happy by the addition of the purple items in the first wardrobe. I’ve followed the Mt. View Scarf most closely as I do have the scarf. The colors in it are just incredible. Love the additions. Thank you for all your work on these. And I must admit I”m happy to not have to wait until Wednesday!
While all wardrobes are great, the Mountain View is still my favorite. The grey and brown turned out surprisingly well. The purple additions help immensely. Looking forward to next year!
As with all things, hard work and perseverance pay off. I’m particularly interested in the grey/brown tunic – it’s a pity I’m not looking to buy any new clothes for now.
Oh my heart. That purple Henley is what I’ve been looking for and didn’t even know it. And it comes in grey as well!
Thank for another excellent year of lessons. Your handiwork is greatly appreciated. Can’t wait for New Year.
The mountain view is still my favorite. But would love, love to see a gray wardrobe with brown leather accessories. Love that combo and I don’t see it much out and about.
Cheers!
PS – Loved the flashback link with today’s post!
Can we please have an updated black, white, and red wardrobe? You have some beautiful examples on your site but I would love to see what you would put together now. Thanks!
The idea of a grey wardrobe with brown leather accents sounds very appealing to me, and something a bit unique. Brown is not one of my colours, but I’ve been looking for a way to add a bit of it, especially in the tones that lean towards cognac. Now I’m off to read your flashback post.
What an amazing set of wardrobes – all six of them!
I think I can understand why you have struggled with the brown and gray wardrobe. Every month, I look at it, and I find the color scheme of the scarf to be visually jarring. Admittedly, people do see colors differently.
I’ve tried to work out my problem with it. At first, I thought it might be the pink that was creating a false note for me…but I finally decided it’s the brown background. Thinking that I like all the colors in the design, and how much nicer they would look on – for instance – navy. So I went to the Echo website, and lo and behold, they have it on a navy background and I do like it much better.
I do love your use of scarves as starting points even though I don’t wear them very often. Quilters often use a favorite print as a “focus fabric” for their color choices.
I would love a wardrobe next year that features vivid blues and greens. Maybe a warm weather wardrobe for those of us who don’t have much winter weather?
Many thanks for your fabulous wardrobes and delightful writing!
That was from the Book Goddess….
Mountain View started strong and stayed a winner until the end in my eyes. But I really like the additions to the brown and grey wardrobe; switch out the orange for emerald green and I think it’s looking pretty sharp!
I’d like to see Hermes scarves again; I never thought, ‘oh I must buy that,’ i only ever used them for color suggestions. I’d also suggest using the scarf (thinking here of the difficulty with that brown scarf) as an accent when the colors themselves become highly problematic. To make our lovely hostess’ life easier, my last suggestion is: Don’t do this to yourself. Life is short. Use scarves that do not promise to wear you down and out. ;-) Interestingly, I used to wear quite a bit of brown and purple. I never thought a lot about finding brown, maybe because there was more of it 20 years ago or more? I still have a great leather coat in dark brown, and even though I don’t wear such dark shades I will wear that coat until someone rips it from me. This will happen when I meet a Vivienne Files’ reader, desperate to find brown, I suspect. ;-)
Gosh wouldn’t a Vivienne Files convention is some delightful city be the most wonderful treat!
Some day, post Covid…
hugs,
Janice
Ive loved this whole series, thanks for doing it!!!
Re the gray and brown wardrobe. It’s not my favorite, but I do find it amazing how different the accent shirts look with a gray bottom vs a brown one – they do match both, but look almost like different garments!!
Thanks again for your work on these and all the time!
I agree with several of the commentators here. The purple additions to the brown/grey are perfect and I would have added more purple accessories. I agree that the navy version of the scarf brings the colour palette of the flowers and butterflies together more cohesively. However, I would also have swapped the orange to green a long time ago and made the pinks more intense. Life is too short to struggle to create cohesion with such uncomplimentary and jarring colours.
I still like the Mountain View but year round versatility is limited for me. It would be a good early spring to autumn wardrobe for me. I would add teal blues and greens for winter plus a winter weight bottoms. A chunky second layer in coral or blue would help. All the footwear is white or grey; I would add boots in mid-blue and a mid-blue bag.
A wonderful series! Btw, the denim dress link is going to the denim shirt..
Thank you Janice for another great wrap-up for these wardrobes. My favourite all year has been the Mountain View. And you are right about the white jeans, they can be worn all year, as long as it’s not slushy!
The link to the denim shirtdress does not seem to work – it goes to a denim shirt from LL Bean. I tried the Pieces website but was not able to locate the dress. I’m looking for a plain long-sleeved mid-weight darker denim shirtdress to replace a beloved Talbots one. Like Winnie the Pooh, I have gotten a little thick around the middle. Too much hunny??
I fixed the link – thanks for letting me know!
hugs,
Janice