May 25, 2022
Self-Care
The medication changed her body. She’s bigger now. But she’s also better!
Now she needs a new wardrobe for the next few months; this is her plan:
She lives in a lovely part of the world, with a VERY temperate climate; it rarely gets below 29 degree F in the winter, and seldom above the mid-70s in the summer! Sounds like heaven to me…
Like all wise women, she start with her dark neutral, in basic but not boring pieces that can be worn and worn and worn…
Sweater – L.L.Bean; white tunic shirt – Treasure & Bond; long-sleeved tee – Lands’ End; pants – L.L.Bean; quilted cardigan – L.L.Bean
Lovely light blue – a soft color like the sky full of clouds…
Cardigan – Nordstrom; light blue shirt – J.Crew; blue camp shirt – Caslon; dotted shirt – Boden; jeans – ASOS
Green pants in the shade she envisioned were hard to find, so she just got another pair of grey pants! Why not…
And green… muted and beautiful…
Camp shirt – Caslon; striped linen shirt – Komodo; Bay leaf cardigan – L.L.Bean; chinos – J.Crew; bay leaf dotted top – L.L.Bean
Our heroine stops for a moment of reflection and assessment; so far, so good!
So for her last garments, she ensures that she has enough sturdy pants, and also a pair of “hot” weather pants.
A “sky full of clouds” sweatshirt can’t be resisted…
A pretty white top? Why not?
And a linen top that has all of her favorite colors in the stripes finishes off her summer wardrobe:
White embroidered tee – Orvis; striped linen top – Caslon; sweatshirt – Goodthreads; storm grey chinos – Orvis; white cropped chinos – Lands’ End
THIS wardrobe hangs together really nicely:
As much as a tidy template is great for making plans, it’s MUCH more fun to see a wardrobe spread out on a bed, a clothes rack, or a digital page!
You don’t have to be a blog writer (ahem!) to see the possibilities in this collection of clothes! Let’s look at some of her possibilities:
Having one’s wardrobe well-organized can do a lot to improve quality of life; those of us with chronic medical stuff going on should make this a priority!
And do we think that this heroine well-deserves some accessories?
love,
Janice
p.s. Five years ago, I reviewed one of the many “must have items” lists; you still don’t need these things!
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I love the painting and the colour palette. Very similar to my own although my clothes tend towards the darker shades of the blue, green and black with the lighter shades as accents. It would definitely be nice to see accessories for this heroine. Thank you Janice for introducing me to this artist. I can’t wait to see what else they’ve done.
This replay says everything I was going to say!
Going to buy that sweatshirt
This is such a lovely wardrobe, well planned but also full of details that add interest! I’d definitely love to see it accessorized.
I also love this painting and color palette. This is the one I’m moving into, my greens are a little “‘brighter”. I enjoy wearing the soft blues. Yes, accessories would be great! Thank you Janice.
Of course I love the blue and yes, accessories would be a great addition to this wardrobe.
I love the painting and the soft blues, particularly the polka dot shirt and tie dye sweatshirt which looks like clouds. The green is too dark and muted for me. I’d need to find a brighter green. That said, it’s a balanced wardrobe. Yes please to accessories.
The painting reminds me of the view on the Boise River Greenbelt at this time of year.
The possibilities with this wardrobe are endless! Grey is still my favorite neutral so adding a second pair of grey pants makes perfect sense to me. You could drop the same grey pants and tops into an entirely different set of accents. I love it with warm pink, warm reds, blue, bright green, coral, buttercup yellow, purple, bright navy, soft white. Oh.. and lime. Yes, it looks great with lime, apricot and red-orange. And I’ve only named the clear, warm colors I love to wear. But I’ve seen women wear it with burgundy, fuschia, etc etc.
I love this. I want to go buy all new clothes, ha ha… I think I will lay out my own current wok clothes (in my colors) in this scheme and see if it works.Maybe that will stave off the shopping bug…
First off…big yes to accessories. Second thing…another lovely plan from Janice. I’m not a fan of gray or black, so having noticed that there is a sand and a smidge of brown, would just swap those in. Ugh…weight gain changes are so hard to bear, aren’t they? The heroine here has all my sympathy on that count. But…a new mini capsule would make it less painful to a slight degree. Looking again, I really like the brighter shades of green that are leaning to yellow-green. Those would pop against the soft blue and white. Very pretty.
You had me at blue and green. Always a winner for me.
The painting itself is beautiful but it makes me a little sad. The rider and the walker are parting with their backs to each other. Have they had a quarrel?
That’s very perceptive of you. Perhaps they have passed each other and the rider may yet pause and turn round…
Maybe they’re strangers, and he’s smitten with the intelligence and calmness of her expression… Or maybe they’re sweethearts, and they’ve had to part for a while, but he still can’t quite let go…
Oh my, so many possibilities!
love,
Janice
Pink instead of blue, and replace the button-throughs with a reduced-fastenings version, and I would happily hang it in my wardrobe.
I think this is my first time to comment although I have been following the blog since early 2016. I’m not sure how many pics I’ve tried to take of the summer sky with fluffy white clouds showing all shades of gray on the bottom with a few trees poking into the picture frame. And now here it is in a painting! The biggest challenge I have in adapting the wardrobes to my needs is reducing the numbers of 2nd layers and long sleeves. I live in Houston. Hot, hot, hot. At least 8 months of the year I wear shorts or skirts and t shirts. I also have a couple t shirt dresses. Long sleeves and pants just make me sweat. Which is never a nice look! I have seen some women who “glisten.” I am not one of them! Thanks for the blog. Accessories for this wardrobe is a great idea.
Since it’s called ‘Sunlight on the Road’ I would find a way to include some of that pretty, buttery yellow into the wardrobe. Does she need so many cardigans? What about a denim jacket or pretty shawl/wrap of some kind? Sadly, I just get a whole ‘faded & washed out’ vibe here. That green…:( Anybody who has a health issue, no matter how temporary, does not need reminding of this. Hopefully the accessories will jazz the wardrobe up. When I was dealing with a protracted illness a few years ago (abdominal so I can relate) I had a loose, grey linen dress I wore on constant redial due to its comfort as pants ain’t friendly to a bloated post surgery belly… A friend commented that I really needed to add a colourful scarf as, in her words I looked like ‘death warmed over’ I bought a red cotton scarf and a pair of red sandals. Made all the difference in the world to how I looked and felt. Flattering/favourite colour around the face can provide a much needed uplift to the spirit.
I love this color palette, including the muted green (this color makes my eyes pop). I don’t think it looks sad or washed out at all. Of course it wouldn’t suit everyone, but for a heroine with the right coloring, this palette will make her look her healthy best!
I have also lived my own version of this heroine’s experience, though my significant weight gain from new medication happened more gradually over a course of many years. I wish I’d known just how much more weight gain I was in for as I moved slowly from a size 8-10 to 22-24! A capsule wardrobe makes a lot of sense for this kind of scenario, and though obviously it doesn’t work as an illustration, I would use my experience to recommend that such a heroine strong consider what she can purchase second-hand. (I mean, that’s always my recommendation from a sustainability perspective, but with a medical weight gain scenario, you really don’t know whether how long any of these items will continue to fit comfortably long enough to get your full value from them at retail prices.)
Also, man, LL Bean missed a trick not having a pair of pants in that bay leaf color! The grey is fine but I do love a muted green column of color.
First, the medicine worked and she is better! The most important thing. Next, I keep coming back to this and looking at the serene colors. Calm and comforting. To my eye, anyway. Very easy to combine. So many pieces that I would wear. The only adjustment I could see would be more elastic waists. Love the sweatshirt. Accessories would be great.
Janice,
I am loving the gentle peacefulness of the colors in this capsule. Instead of gray , I would have to swap it out for a darker denim blue color or an olive green . Loving this one !
I think accessories would be lovely.
Janice, thank you for this. A lovely scarf and a beautiful wardrobe, but the kind and gentle way you wrote the post really got me. This is where I am right now, and it’s very difficult for me on various levels. Thank you.
❤️❤️❤️ this wardrobe and the softened colors. I really appreciate the understated tones and am looking forward to the accessories! It would be interesting to see a few ways that accessories could be used elevate the “dressiness” factor to allow the heroine feel comfortable at a concert or nicer dinner out – I know it can be done!!
Hi Janice and Everyone: blue, grey and white-yes, and I would need a different green or accent co!or. I could go for the buttercup yellow or some apricot as some have mentioned.
This is a capsule I could walk right into and enjoy the whole spring and summer. Beautiful.
Last month I bought those exact LLBean pants in the first grey cluster, and they are extremely comfortable. They run a little big to size and are a summer weight cotton jersey knit with 10% Lycra to keep the shape. I got mine in navy.
I machine washed and dried them, no shrinkage that I could tell. Slight fading of surface threads like a sand wash effect but not too bad.
It’s a heavier fabric than a T-shirt cotton, but equally comfortable and fits loose, not glued on like tights or some yoga pants. Definitely casual pants- these won’t pass in black for dressy pants say.
I decided to replace my last 3 zip pants with these. I have recurring bouts of diverticulitis and comfort is key. I have 2 more coming in the mail in the charcoal grey of the first cluster shown above that I ordered last week.
If anyone is wondering about those pants, that is my experience.
I love your approach to wardrobe design! The lighter blues & muted greens have always been my favorite color palette. Do you mind me asking what software you are using to identify the colors in the inspiration art piece. Thank you!
Near the time of this original posting, I went ahead and bought the Goodthreads sweatshirt that reminded you of clouds! In person it is more tye-dye less clouds, but nonetheless perfect for my needs. It is finally almost late October and I am wearing the sweatshirt with some black leggings! Warm for sure and brings the outdoor in! I usually buy secondhand; this has been one of my few new purchases of clothes in the past couple of years