November 4, 2022
I think this is my favorite…
This imaginary heroine had the exceptional good luck to wander into Banana Republic to do her shopping this month!
turtleneck – Banana Republic; necklace – Banana Republic; suede shirt – Banana Republic; horn bracelets – Banana Republic; loafers – Amalfi by Rangoni; pants – Banana Republic
One might say she went a bit overboard, but if she’s reasonably careful, she should have some of these things for the rest of her life! (I would buy a black suede shirt…)
Everything she’s purchased goes beautifully with her existing wardrobe:
And her accessories are gorgeous:
Camel and black look wonderful together, as do camel and ivory. This heroine is going to love her new pieces:
Let’s look at our next scarf:
scarf – PJ Studio Accessories
Today’s 2nd heroine had the equally good fortune to be in J.Crew when she decided that it was time to treat herself! (I try to stay out of the J.Crew store in Chicago; it’s simply too much temptation for me…)
Cashmere sweater – J.Crew; earrings – Kurt Geiger London; scarf – Rebecca Minkoff; white turtleneck – J.Crew; recycled plastic tote – Bembien; navy pants – J.Crew
This wardrobe is so appealing…
If someone gave me all of these accessories, I would replace my entire wardrobe with clothes to match!
She has plenty of new outfits now. Yes, she has lots of pairs of navy pants, but if they are different fabrics, in different shapes, they will feel different and look different. It can look subtle on a computer screen, but in person make a lot more sense!
I would wear the first wardrobe here in a heartbeat… but I could probably be talked into either of them without a lot of arm-twisting…
love,
Janice
p.s. Six years ago, we added some soft pink, grey and green accents to The Common Wardrobe…
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The camel and black – wow! Just wow.
Yup!
Wow indeed! I went to BR site when the white wool trousers were shown a few posts back and Hooly Dooly they have some really nice things, classic and adventurous and the fabrics seem high quality. I hate to see expensive clothes made with poor quality fabric it’s so disrespectful to the consumer, they think we will buy just because of a brand name. Janice, you turned me on to Black/Brown and Navy/Cognac combinations when I want to be low key but elegant.
Julie in Melbourne
Beautiful choices. Love the camel. And the lavender shades.
I’d take either one of these if someone were gifting. They are all coming together so beautifully.
I don’t wear black or camel, but this wardrobe is just stunning, especially the accessories.
Thanks Janice! I recently thrifted a pair of camel cords and you reminding me how good camel and black are together.
I love the camel and black and I wore this combination a lot a few years ago. I would swop the green for pale blue though. The navy is also nice but for me I would swop the green for blue and the lilac for pink. Personally I must try harder with the accessories as I do tend to wear the same ones over and over. Thank you Janice for a brilliant post.
Absolutely only item I would remove or find an alternative for is the white turtleneck in wardrobe #2. It just looks so mumsy with the crew necks and worn on it’s own is a no for me. She already has a navy turtleneck so maybe a roll neck in a more modern swing shape, Not meant to be worn under anything? Agree with you re the black suede shirt and though not my ‘colours’ the first wardrobe looks so sumptuous:)
I just love the camel and black wardrobe.
I wonder if you could give me some advice Janice? I am going to Texas to visit my daughter soon and I would like to buy two or three pieces from Eileen Fisher which would be versatile and long-lasting, preferably in a dark chocolate or dark neutral colour.I live in Ireland and her clothes are not readily available here. I have a very casual lifestyle with the odd dressy occasion.
If you can advise I would be very appreciative. I’m a uk12, a US 8.
Thank you.
Go to one of her stores and talk to the staff. If I were to buy 3 pieces from Eileen, it would be a 3-piece outfit – pants, top and 2nd layer, in a color that I could wear with lots of other things in my wardrobe. For Ireland, I would avoid all of her linen and silk (not that those things are really in stock right now) and concentrate on ponte knit or some of the lightweight boiled wool. Unless you want holiday clothes, in which case, she has beautiful sweaters and velvet pieces that will last forever.
Cruise through her website for a sense of what she has in the store. Also, don’t forget that large department stores will carry Eileen’s things – but DIFFERENT items that are in her boutique. Neiman Marcus, Saks, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom all get Eileen Fisher clothes – look at their websites too.
Bear in mind that Eileen releases a new clothes grouping each month, and each of the department stores will ALSO get new garments – typically near the last day of the month…
Go Ireland! Tomorrow’s the match against South Africa!
love,
Janice
I acknowledge that in person, up close, all the navy pants (and all the beige pants from the last post) won’t look exactly the same, but it still feels so monotonous to me. This is a “know yourself” situation, I think. And if the idea of wearing navy pants (or beige pants or whatever) feels like it would be boring…it probably will be boring to you in reality.
I would absolutely lose my mind with both of these wardrobes. The black and brown is gorgeous but I could not possibly handle wearing neutrals all the time…well, except when I pick one of my 3 green sweaters (why?). The navy one is better because that’s my favorite neutral and I like it with white and the many pink items. But 4 green tops…sigh.
Is the repetition of these item/color combinations meant to cover your bases across the seasons? Like, you have one green top for each season. You have 1-2 navy pants for each season. With this slow building of the wardrobe over time, I think I lose track of what some of the earlier pieces are (I mean, I can see it’s a green sweater but not if it’s a lightweight linen sweater or a heavier cotton sweater, etc.) Seeing the entire wardrobe each month, by the end of the year, it’s a little hard to see what’s going on because I can’t readily tell which of these pieces are in play for the current season.
I would love for the end of year wardrobe analysis on these capsules to get into the seasonality aspect of the items. That might help me wrap my mind around why what at first glance looks like more of the same makes sense in the capsule….because it does make sense to ensure that you have your building block neutrals for each season (if you use the same color palette year-round). And this might also make clear how small the functional capsule is at any moment!
I think I’m looking for more insight into how the structure of these capsules built for an entire year lines up with the structure of a more limited seasonal capsule we see in other posts.
One of the things I love about these posts is that she picks clothes for different people. You may find the blue pants monotonous but many women just want a workable wardrobe they look good in and don’t have to think about, and are not looking for flair. For my work clothes, I do want several pairs of pants that work with all my tops and are just different enough that you can tell they’re not exact dupes. Outside work, I like more variety.
Janice, I adore the first wardrobe!! My colors indeed!! Unfortunately I’m unable to wear heels or any slide-on shoes!! Love your choice of pieces to add this time around!!!
Thank you for the advice about the Eileen Fisher pieces. It was very good of you to be so detailed and I really appreciate it.
We are big Rugby fans here and will be cheering on the home team. They are very good this year and have a great chance.
Vicki.
They always peak before the World Cup! But we love them anyway…
hugs,
Janice
A win is always nice, so good luck to you … and at this stage it’s great just to have the opportunity to test the chinks in the opponents’ armour :) Meanwhile in New Zealand … we are loving the women’s RWC! The Black Ferns are playing the French team tonight.
So maybe I’m the outlier here, but the navy “Hydrangea” wardrobe is the one that I like. It just gets better each month. And the accessories are so yummy. Love it.
It’s my favorite too, but then again, those are “my” colors.
I might FINALLY love camel, after these three additions to the Tree of Life wardrobe. Still can’t wear it though …
Building w/ Tree of Life! Gorgeous options. I was prepped for a puffer vest addition and ZING, I get this amazing suede direction. And soft flexible loafers. Yep. Wardrobe-build necessities. Thank you. My closet has become a happy place.
I personally would merge the chrysanthemum and hydrangea wardrobes as the accents are so similar, particularly the pink-lilac/orchid pink and the green. I would wear with grey and navy. It would be good to be able to compare them next to each other.
This year my big purchase was corduroy trousers in navy, charcoal grey, teal green, teal blue, brown, burgundy and plum. I had a pair of purple cords from last year. It might seem excessive to have such an array of colours. But I love to wear accent colours and accent columns more in the colder months.
I hope that all wardrobes are going to have a winter coat and hat soon.
I love both these, though i could never wear the black and camel. It’s just a beautiful collection of clothes, for the right person. I can’t find the original posts for these, and would like to look back at them from the beginning (and find that black sleeveless dress!).
I really like the first scarf although my camel is brown and the green is much darker. One thing that I have found is if you go across the Gap stores, you can often find similar colors in the different sister stores. For example, the mahogany and the ancient mahogany from Athleta would work well with the first scarf is you wanted to go more brown than camel. They may not have exactly the same color at BR or Gap, but it often blends well. One big takeaway from VF is to make sure that if you add a color for a bottom, then get at least one if not two tops in the same color. In my case, I bought the mahogany skort and then decided that I should probably have the pants and then the fleece vest called out to me. Still looking for the perfect tee to go with the set. It is so seldom that you find a decent brown that I had to splurge. If you give a mouse a cookie . . .