June 5, 2023
I can’t quite get used to the idea that it’s already June! Time will pass, regardless of our ability to keep up…
As I’ve quickly learned, this wardrobe, as with all of them, is pretty well-balanced in terms of functionality:
And arranging this particular wardrobe by color is sort of fun, but again doesn’t show any big gaps or problems!
So our heroine just went shopping for some useful summer garments!
Necklace – Arms of Eve; ivory cotton cardigan – Alex Mill; dress – Alex Mill; pearl bracelet – Marie June Jewelery; striped tee – Alex Mill; sneakers – L.L.Bean
Our heroine truly feels that she is comfortably prepared for most things she needs to do – what a nice way to feel about one’s wardrobe!
I love the richness of these accessories!
When our heroine gets home, she gets onto Skype with a couple of friends to show them her new clothes and accessories – and then pulls together some outfits, to get their opinion…
If I’m going to try to assemble another (smaller!) wardrobe based on a range of one color – what color will it be? I know that grey for autumn and winter would be pretty simple and successful, but I’m not at all sure what color to consider for warmer weather…
Let’s ship to cool, subtle colors!
She does feel a bit skewed toward cool weather in her wardrobe, which might make sense if that’s her favorite season!
She never really designated a “neutral” for her wardrobe – I think it was assumed that it would be grey. Still, her colors are pretty well balanced…
But no dress! For many people that’s not a problem, but this heroine knows that in the VERY hot weather, nothing is more comfortable than a long, loose dress:
Earrings – Talbots; grey tee – L.L.Bean; dress – Lands’ End; bracelet – Karine Sultan; cardigan – Lands’ End; sandals – Vionic
At this very moment, our heroine’s wardrobe has more blue than anything else! But wardrobes change often – she’s not concerned. If you have what you need to wear today, and for the next week or 2, the future can be handled IN THE FUTURE…
Our heroine has made the deliberate decision to own both gold AND silver jewelry. Most of us skew this way – there’s no rule that says you can only have 1 or the other…
When her parcels arrive in the mail, she shuts off her email and her phone, makes herself a cool beverage, and then heads into the bedroom to take some time to full integrate her new purchases into her wardrobe:
Everybody does this last step in their own way – but don’t skip those moments when you take the time to clearly see how your new purchases will be used!
Now let’s visit our last heroine of the month…
Arranged by type of garments, we can see that this heroine has a wide range of options:
When arranged by color, her wardrobe shows us that she could use some darker brown/rust, or maybe some green… Navy wouldn’t go amiss here either, frankly!
But she sees this available, and the obvious possibilities jump off the screen at her:
Smoky quartz earrings – Opuline; allspice linen tunic – Lands’ End; tiger eye bracelet – Gosia Orlowska; linen top – Lands’ End; allspice linen pants – Lands’ End; sandals – Clarks
When THIS package arrives at her home, she fixes a pitcher of iced tea and calls her best friend to come over and join in the fun!
She still has a range of colors in her wardrobe, but there’s no denying that this allspice brown will be SO useful…
And her accessories continue to delight…
The 2 of them have a good time steaming her new garments, and then matching them up with all kinds of things she already owns – what a feeling of accomplishment!
Our heroines have all had pretty productive months! I – frankly – don’t know which of these I like the most…
love,
Janice
p.s. Nine years ago, a reader asked me how to choose a black and white Hermes scarf… I had ideas!
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Oh my gosh. That first wardrobe is just wonderful, and the new additions just beautiful If my coloring were different I’d be all over that one. Thank you!
Interesting color combinations. As a cool season the Arrival of the Normandy Train would suit me best with one exception. The light blue pants and top don’t seem to mesh with the softer tones in the palette. I’d probably substitute with a soft white version.
I am surprised at how much I love the Degas wardrobe. It is so soothing to my eye and appears so easy to wear. Evidently, soothing and calming are what I expect from my wardrobe these days. That was not the case when I worked in an office setting. I had such different criteria then.
Anyway, I too was wondering if I could put together a similar wardrobe in another color (one more flattering to my coloring). I have no clue what color I would choose, probably blue. I so much look forward to seeing what you create in the near future.
Finally, I felt that in some cases (e.g., Degas), the wardrobes were sufficient and no additions were needed this month. Despite having everything the wearer needed, I understand the allure of adding in something new. The additions are very well reasoned and selected. So cohesive.
I wonder if you could do navy fading into paler blue as a single colour wardrobe?
My favourite of these is definitely the Renoir….it just seems like it’s a very practical wardrobe that is varied enough to not get bored.
Second the navy and blue!
Third!
or navy and chabray/denim?
So interesting that you asked about a one color wardrobe. As I was looking at the Degas wardrobe and thinking how easy it is to get dressed, everything goes together and how calm and lovely it looks, I wondered about putting together another one color wardrobe. My first thought was blue, from navy to cobalt to sky blue. It would be so pretty! I am not a grey person, but that might work for someone else. Green might be difficult. I love olive green and emerald green, but don’t think they go together harmoniously. Shades of purple would be very interesting.
I love your wardrobes and how clever you are with colors and accessories.
The Edgar Degas is the most cohesive wardrobe. I may be tricked by the common colour(s) but this wardrobe has a signature style of earthy colours and organic shapes. It holds together. It tell tells me this woman is adventurous and travels with an easy, coordinated wardrobe. She can wear this at the sea shore or in the desert or in a chic little city cafe. It’s lovely and calm.
Could I wear it? Hmm. I’d probably get bored and crave some colour pretty fast BUT as a designated travel wardrobe this could be a winner.
PS The allspice pieces from Lands End would fit nicely into the Degas wardrobe.
I love the colors in the last wardrobe, the Renoir… so beautiful.
I think that considering color balance, the Renoir is a winner. Style wise, the Degas. And the Normandy train in terms of functionality. Personally, I would do adjustments in all of them or combine a couple of them. Maybe because of that when I saw the new additions I thought they form a new wardrobe!
As Rebecca, I would love a blue toned wardrobe, from navy to white or cream.
Cheers and blessings!
Also would love a blue toned wardrobe.
I’m droooooling over the allspice pieces. After avoiding brown for decades, I watched in total surprise as the House of Colour consultant draped me. The chocolate brown absolutely lit up my complexion. Whutttttt!?!? So, I am patient and persistent in my pursuit of this color. And I wear it with warm pinks, coral, warm & clear greens, aqua, yellow, bright blue, cream…
Oh..and the high top Chucks. Why, yes, I’d put them on with a dress if the mood struck.
And, when the weather gets hot (whether dry or muggy), a dress is so practical.
Degas: This wardrobe is wonderfully cohesive but bores me (one person’s “calm and relaxing” is another person’s “blah”) but I must say that I really like the new dress and sneakers together. I think the hint of juxtaposition between “dress = dressy” and “sneakers = casual” gives it just enough interest for me.
Monet: I love the garments added this month and the cool, watery tones of the overall capsule. I enjoy seeing a coastal-grandmother-adjacent wardrobe that isn’t centered on beige. I agree that the brighter light blue is a bit of an anomaly here, but I love the subtle energy these pieces bring to the capsule. I think they still harmonize well enough with the rest of the pieces.
Renoir: I dislike this warm shade of brown on myself but there’s no denying that it’s beautiful and is really adding something to this wardrobe to have these 3 color coordinated pieces. I am hoping to see more olive in this capsule soon since I consider it to be a great neutral for summer.
I’d love to see olive as a summer monochromatic wardrobe choice, though I acknowledge that olive is a tricky one because it can skew warm undertone vs. cool undertone and it can be hard to tell which one you’re looking at. It’s also challenging because the very pale olive colors are not nearly as common as the pale brown (tan/beige) or pale grey colors in clothing.
It’s not a neutral, but I think a blue-green (aqua or teal) monochromatic capsule would be gorgeous. Going from a very deep color all the way down to the very light watery version that borders on white…and possibly then white itself. You’d have to decide whether to emphasize the green or the blue in the blue-green.
Something with a blue continuum would probably be a more practical choice than either of those suggestions, however! Navy and white are classic summer colors, and it would be nice to see a gradation of blue colors in between. If you soften the colors slightly, you could get something that is lower contrast than the usual navy + white based capsule and hence would suit many heroines who struggle with the optic navy + white combo.
I’d love to see something in the casual range using chambray and denim. Not all coastal grandmothers are beige and white and play bridge. Some of us go for the blues in the middle tones and get dirty going fishing, baseball games and outdoor art festivals. How about a wardrobe for the not so rich snd highbrow. We wear bandanas not silk scarves. And heels? Pfftt!
I love the tonal feel of the Degas, but somehow the Renoir speaks to me more, even if I’d never wear olive. Over time, my wardrobe has evolved into mostly two tonal runs, one blue, from indigo through royal blue to periwinkle, and one teal, from dark blue-green through teal to light aqua. As my coloring has softened, I just can’t do high contrast outfits any more, but need color more than ever.
I would love to see something that incorporates burgundy and all the blues from navy to pale blue with some white/cream added. At last I am transitioning from black and white keeping those pieces for evening wear. I have purchased two trouser suits to start me off. One in pale blue and one in burgundy and I have a navy jacket so I would be really interested to see where Janice takes it from there.
Cherry
I love the burgundy blues combination. Have been trying to find a scarf or print top for a couple of years with little luck. Jones New York had a line of that combo last season. The tops were gorgeous but too dressy for my purposes.
Third that!
To the blue one-colour wardrobe. Misplaced :)
As usual the combinations are beautiful. To my surprise I am feeling so called to the Degas combination. These are colors I barely ever use but this wardrobe is so pretty. I did notice that the heroines are missing purses. For the everyday, for going out they just don’t have any!! Maybe a gap to fill next month? Thanks for all the beautiful ideas!
I am all about the Rothko and Renoir wardrobes. Both feature “my colors” and a more casual style. Together they put me in mind of Edith and the Kingpin, which was the first series that I leaned into when I started following Vivienne Files in 2018, and used to start my closet refinement. Now I’m looking to narrow down to have Navy and Olive cores with Yellow, Orange/Rust and Brown/Tan accents; with a health dose of denim/chambray. Your showcasing by color this month really laid it out for me and I can’t wait to do the same with my own wardrobe. Opening both in separate windows to look at side by side just made me so happy. I think I’m on the right track, finally. Thank you, Janice!
For some reason, I wonder if the Degas and Renoir heroines are friends. Whilst Renoir likes to wear all the colours, Degas chooses one of the colours and creates a wardrobe in all the shades and tones of that colour she can find. I do love the restful colours of the Monet but might add a touch of ivory.
Lots of people have asked for a blended blue wardrobe. I would find that useful. However, I’ve recently found myself wearing blended grey outfits.
My favourite of all these remains the Monet Arrival of the Normandy Train. The soft blues and greens feels so calm and soothing. Like a spa in a capsule. I love the wearable practical design. Hard to explain but this wardrobe in the Normandy Train is where I want to go.