September 5, 2022
Has anyone else read Ruskin’s “Stones of Venice?” I own a gorgeous antique set of the FULL THREE VOLUME painfully thorough books… They’re beautifully bound in green leather, with gold tooling, and they’re sized to be packed when going on the Grand Tour of Europe.
I confess that I took 1 volume with me a couple of times I traveled to Venice; it was amazing how little has changed there since Ruskin’s time…
So, odd as he was, I’m a fan!
Ruskin’s Meadow modal/silk scarf – PJ Studio Accessories
This heroine saw her friend’s new blue garments, and was inspired to go back to her “source scarf” and take another look. Sure enough, she could easily incorporate more blue into her wardrobe, too!
And she found earrings that included “her” blue and olive green – those kinds of finds are such fun…
Earrings – Oscar de la Renta; peacock cashmere cardigan – Lands’ End; shirt – Orvis; thermal knit scarf – Treasure & Bond; koala print scarf – Un Poco; skirt – Samsøe Samsøe; blue suede pumps – Saks Fifth Avenue
Her new purchases bring a stronger presence of blue to her wardrobe, but they don’t clash at all:
And her accessories keep getting better and better! Those blue shoes are a real change of pace for her…
Her new slate blue purchases are the same intensity as much of her olive green neutrals, so they look just right together…
Having a blue shirt is a nice way to break up an olive “suit.”
We’re starting to see just a few leaves this shade of yellow, in Chicago… There will be more soon!
Our heroine really wanted a cashmere turtleneck – she was delighted to find one in a lovely chocolate brown! With classic brown chinos, she now has a solid column of brown upon which she can wear all KINDS of things…
And a corduroy shirt – nothing spells autumn like corduroy:
please note that the bottom scarf here is described as being grey, and the loafers are “black amethyst.” What in the WORLD they really look like is hard to know!
Earrings – Nest; sea blue corduroy shirt – L.L.Bean; zigzag scarf – Missoni; brown cashmere turtleneck – Lands’ End; thermal scarf (they call it grey???) – Treasure & Bond; “black amethyst???” loafers – Sam Edelman; brown chinos – J.Crew
Her wardrobe grows gradually, but never changes the overall mood and feeling:
I love these accessories – I can’t explain why, but these are my favorites!
With so many scarves, and lovely jewelry, wearing a solid column of color is far from boring:
I love the monochromatic textural beauty of this 2nd outfit:
The corduroy shirt completely changes the feel of the textured top, and takes simple white clothes into fall…
Is there a garment, or fabric, that really expresses the change of season for you? For me, it might be corduroy pants, or a cashmere sweater…
love,
Janice
p.s. TEN YEARS AGO (holy handbags of Buddha!) I introduced the original Common Wardrobe. It was the core uniform of the advertising world, back then; it served as the neutral background for a range of expressive and sometimes outrageous garments!
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He sure was odd. Loving these dusk blues and greens. Olive calls me more and more these days.
Julie in Melbourne
As lovely as these wardrobes are, my preferences were covered in the previous post. So instead I will add a comment related to the look back post: November 12th last year has a good breakdown of how to work out what the individual items in a common wardrobe mean to you. E.g. For me, button through shirts are replaced with various styles of tunics that can cover the same functionality.
I’d still like to see the Ruskin wardrobe with that intriguing mauve from the flowers. Love the soft blues with olive. I like the Gingko wardrobe but it feels a bit flat and one dimensional. Perhaps some pattern to draw the colour palette together or changes in hue?
If I can find lovely mauve, I will definitely include it next month!
hugs,
Janice
I love love love Ruskin’s meadow. I looked at the Koala scarf when you previously used it, and even had it in my basket and couldn’t pull the trigger on a square silk scarf – which would probably languish in my drawer. I’ve just never figured out how to manage them. I’d quite forgotten this would be the post today so was just delighted to see it. For me, corduroy means autumn. Not quite the weather for it here yet.. another few weeks. Have a good day everyone.
That shade of blue is so versatile. I liked it with the grey, and now I like it with olive. To me, a cheery flannel shirt says fall.
As a skirt and dress wearer, I guess Autumn is here when I need to add pantyhose, leggings or tights to my outfit plus closed toed shoes.
Like Beth T, if I owned the beautiful Ruskin’s Meadow scarf, I think I would like to emphasize the pale purple flowers. I also like her idea of adding some patterned garments.
Nice fall inspiration. Where can I find the link to the cap-sleeved multi-colored top (and skirt)?
This is the link
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2022/07/july-2022-six-scarves-12-months.html/
hugs,
Janice
Envious of your lovely-sounding books! I have read only bits of The Stones of Venice, but I am very interested in Ruskin’s influence on William Morris (and he’s my person to study right now), so I might end up back tbere too. This wardrobe looks like it might be good for a Soft Autumn person–not the flaming trees sort of person, but more moss and twigs and lichen.
I like your soft autumn person description. Organic and natural.
Love the colors!!! They’re a bit off the typical wardrobe and beautiful together!!!
Beautiful colors and beautiful together. Not from a typical wardrobe. Love being a bit different and looking so rich.
Olive makes me want to duck and cover, but it is beautiful on many women and I think the way it looks in this wardrobe is exquisite.
Here’s a game I play with your scarf wardrobes: After I read the post, I like to go back and see if I can find 3-4 more outfits with the pieces you’ve just introduced. It’s impressive how far one can stretch these wardrobes. I can’t believe women don’t operate on a capsule system! Admittedly, that requires a lot of patience if retailers are obsessed with a certain color one season or two, and your neutrals are AWOL from the racks. But once you build your capsule, you have very little hard work to do. Having said that, I recently had a color reading with a House of Color consultant and was floored to see for myself how good a warm, clear chocolate brown looks on me. Whutttttt? It is not easy to find, however, as retailers love to make that brown verrrrrrry dark or put pink or red in it. “Nevertheless, she persisted.” So I won’t give up!
Another plea I’d make to designers/retailers: why make navy SO dark? If it’s so dark one can barely distinguish it from black, then why bother?
Ak, did they give you a *season* verdict? I have never been analyzed and am forever flip flopping on what my colors should be. I tend to go by what is available that season, which is not always good. Black!
Hi Sandy. — years ago I met with Color One (I don’t know if there are still colorists from the company.)
She matched colors from my own coloring and gave me a large chart and small flip chart for my purse.
There is no ‘seasonal’ or ‘type’ designation. it’s just very personalized.
Love seeing olive green and that slate blue together- it’s a rich look together.
I am really loving your recent posts and am inspired to mix up those wardrobe items
I already own. Can’t imagine why I haven’t thought to wear my blue button up shirts with my olive pants. I also love your choice of accessories. Thanks so much for all you do.
Golden yellow is the bane of my existence, so seeing these two wardrobes with colors *other than gold* added this month is so refreshing. The soft dark blue, brown, and mint items are all lovely. I loved seeing the darker blue cardigan with the light duck egg blue pants – such a gorgeous tonal outfit. Can we hope that the Ruskin capsule finally gets some of that muted mauve before the year ends?? (I would happily pretend the gold items never happened.) The striped co-ord in the gingko wardrobe looks better every month.
Am guessing those “black amethyst” loafers are actually a deep plum, which can definitely look brown depending on lighting. Sometimes a brow ish ourple is indistinguishable from a purplish brown.
And I LOVE the cashmere turtleneck/satin skirt combo, although I would wear it with riding boots not pumps
That peacock blue cardigan is so beautiful, especially with the little donegal tweed flecks. And the dark brown in the second wardrobe is right up my alley, it’s very cool to see a wardrobe built around it.
My big splurge this year is on a smokey teal, wool sweater set from Emmy of Sweden. So I can live without that cashmere Land’s End peacock cardigan. But wow, what a fabulous color.
For me, fall really starts when I pull out my heavy wool sweater. My sister brought me Aran-style cardigan from Ireland several years ago that’s my favorite top layer for coldish-but-not-cold-enough-for-a-winter-coat days.
My mom had her Aran cardigan on last night when we went for a walk! But she’s 88 – her thermostat isn’t quite the same as most of us…
hugs,
Janice
I am beyond thrilled to discover your blog. I’ve lost a heap of weight recently and on track to lose a heap more and finally be a ‘straight size’ for only the second time in my adult life (I’m 52). Since *none* of my clothes will fit, I’ll need a whole new wardrobe and I’m so excited to start from scratch and finally have a closet full of clothes in colours, fabrics and styles I actually want to wear, rather than just what I can find that fits. I’ve worn so much black in my life, while yearning for chocolate brown and olive (… choices here in NZ have always been more limited). So your wardrobe building advice and colour inspiration are giving me life, even though I won’t be able to buy the actual pieces. Thank you so much!
I bought that Ruskin’s Meadow scarf last year, and in person the colors are a bit different from how they look on the site/screen. First of all, sadly, the background is decidedly mint green, not any kind of blue, but there is a lot of teal (rather than slate blue) of all shades in the foliage. The yellow is quite minor, as to be virtually non-existent. There is mauve, but even more, there is a good deal of burgundy and some rusty red, which is lovely. It also has dark lines which would make black or charcoal a great accent or neutral. – nancyo