August 25, 2023
This painting is about as far as you can get from Chicago weather right now; our heat index is over 100F, and we are NOT leaving the building…
But we still have to prepare for autumn and winter; one thing we can be certain of is the eventual arrival of bitter cold and wind!
Hurrah! /s
Our heroine has always believed that shades of grey belong in an autumn wardrobe – where would beautiful trees be without their trunks?
She’s onto something…
She pulls winter clothes out of boxes, and garment bags, and other odd places, and starts to sort, steam (the clothes, NOT her!), and prepare things to donate…
First – charcoal grey!
Cardigan/blazer – J.Crew; scarf – Anthropologie; crewneck sweater – Nordstrom Signature; tee shirt – Lands’ End; pants – J.Crew; boots – Lucky Brand
And then camel – THIS scarf is so perfect for this wardrobe…
Cardigan – J.Crew; scarf – Elizabetta; crewneck sweater – J.Crew; camel pants – L.L.Bean; skirt – J.Crew; pumps – Gentle Souls by Kenneth Cole
And finally, jeans, a couple of tee shirts, and a cozy sweater, as well as some jewelry… She realizes that she can get dressed easily for weeks at a time with just 12 garments!
blanket scarf – Mackintosh; duo crystal ring – Yaa Yaa London; rust tee – Caslon; lace agate earrings – Banana Republic; grey pearl necklace – House of Olia; oatmeal heather sweater – L.L.Bean; 3-strand bracelet – Soul Journey Jewelry; heather camel tee – J.Crew; tiger’s eye necklace – Chico’s; camel loafers – Eastland 1955 Edition; jeans – H&M; rust & grey scarf – Fiorio
She almost certainly will add to this – a dress for holiday events, if nothing else. Imagine a camel sweater dress, or a charcoal grey velvet dress!
She looks at her possibilities with a very analytical eye – starting with monochromatic outfits:
Then she considers the possibilities of wearing one color on top, and the other on bottom! Sometimes, this can look like a twinset pair of tops, and other times it can be just a simple sweater…
Of course she wants to remember that she can wear a matching 2nd layer and bottom – even if it’s a cardigan and jeans! Sort of like a 21st century suit.
Not a bad start – she still has a rust tee shirt and a cozy ivory sweater to mix into things!
I love this painting so much – I’m already considering it for including in next year’s “6 Paintings, 12 Months” posts. What think thee?
And what other art have we seen that might qualify?
love,
Janice
Like this post? Save it to Pinterest!
I love Ivon Hitchens! But brown and beige don’t really suit me, so I’ll probably be matching up my frequent charcoal with some other colours from your next art capsule collection.
Meanwhile: some time ago I asked about the lovely quilted ankle boots you showed in olive green , in a previous collection . Please could you tell me more about them, and where to find the maker?
The link was in the January post. Sadly, when I follow the link to the boots now it would appear they are sold out. Sometimes if you do a google search you can find items other places.
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2023/01/six-paintings-12-months-january.html/
Love these colors! Not mine, but love them just the same. I think it would make an interesting painting for next year.
Amanda, the boots are Camper brand, the website is Nordstrom, but I think they are sold out. You might query the Nordstrom website. Also, for your previous request for wide legged pants, presumably high waist, Lands End has some in the new fall clothes. If you click on any lands end link here, or go to the brands list that Janice supports at the top of the page, Janice gets credit for your purchases. Which is supportive of this great website she has! Good luck!
I vote for her to add a sleek camel sheath dress, because that way I’ll know where to find one! 😊. I’m more likely to add turquoise or green-amber accents than rust, but I’m all in in the camel & charcoal!
ooo imagine rust AND green-amber accents! both look fab with camel & charcoal!!! Great idea :)
YES!! I would love to see this included in next year’s roundup! These are my colors so I’ll start NOW putting them together and hope that I’ll see more come next year to create an entire capsule wardrobe. Thank you so very much for ALL your hard work! I truly appreciate your posts!!
I love this collection! Maybe I need to stray away from black!
Well, you promised a lovely post and you delivered! That pearl necklace is amazing! I’ve been introducing camel to my wardrobe for a couple of years now. Pieces here and there. I already had gray, though navy is still my go to neutral all year round. Much like navy, (well, maybe not quite as bad) I find there are many shades of camel, and it’s sometimes called khaki. And then there’s khaki green and khaki brown just to make it more confusing. I would love to see this included in your six paintings collections. Well done! I shall drool over this all day. (Although truthfully I probably have enough similar items in my closet to make this happen!) Have a good weekend everyone!
Beautiful! I think this would be a lovely painting for next year.
Add me to the list who’d love this as one of the paintings featured monthly next year. It would be really interesting to see that camel skirt with some pieces to make it more casual. Maybe worn at holiday time with ivory cashmere or a subtly sparkly top to bring it up a notch. I’m always intrigued by the idea of how much one very classic clothing piece can be worn in a multitude of settings.
This reminds me of an older lady who was in service club I joined a few decades back. Every autumn and every spring she purchased one beautiful mini-capsule in her pastel colors (taupe, soft pink and soft blue.) I NEVER saw her in anything else other than these pieces, which looked expensive, btw. The very minimal wardrobe was absolutely perfect. It looked so good, most folks were probably unaware she was dressed in the same pieces repeatedly. I have to add that this is more challenging today because too many clothing lines switch color direction so frequently.
This is such a handsome wardrobe and that great painting would be a great starter for 12 Month wardrobe next year. The camel and charcoal/graphite are wonderful together but it would be fun to see accent colours explored more.
I love the idea of a grey velvet dress. My daughter had one when she was ten and it was gorgeous.
Hi,
Help please! I need suggestions about packing a beautiful pleated skirt in a small case, different hotel every night. Horizontal creasing is difficult to steam out.
Thank you so much,
Pat
I haven’t tried it but perhaps laying a plastic bag or tissue paper on the skirt and then rolling it, rather than folding it, would hep with the problem of creasing. Also, I would pack it at the top of the pile so that nothing adds weight on top of it. If your bag rolls, I would place it at the end that is opposite the wheels so it will sit on top.
Thank you, Wendy, your suggestions are just what I needed to get a packing strategy going.
Much appreciated,
Pat
Love this! I have been seriously planning on removing the chocolate brown from my very autumn colored wardrobe and replacing with gray as my brown hair turns silver. This shows me it can be done and done beautifully! Thank you Janice for all your work and wonderful ideas.
This is beautiful. Not my colors, but lovely. It would make a good addition to next year’s 6 paintings. I still vote for “My Puppy’s Favorite Life”. I love those colors so much!
Laurie, could you post the link for “My Puppy’s Favorite Life”? I’m curious about the painting and haven’t had luck finding it. Thank you.
My favorite puppy’s life
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2020/05/start-with-art-my-favorite-puppys-life-by-fiona-rae.html/
This is a beautiful winter wardrobe. And I might well wear one or more of the outfits. But I just can’t imagine an entire monochrome/neutral wardrobe. I’ve noticed that I crave variety in color, and I wonder if this really is a psychological or visual difference from most people. Does anyone else feel this way?
The grey pearl necklace is gorgeous, and in my experience, grey pearls are a very versatile piece of jewelry.
Book, I Think I crave color, but when I get some accent colored tops, after the first week I find myself wearing the same navy or blue tops. Jeans in the winter, tan or chambray shorts in the summer and blue knit tops year round. I’ve finally given up and just go with it lol. It does seem as if quite a few of the ladies here are very into color, though.
Although I’ve been trying to move to a more neutral wardrobe with fewer colors as accent colors I do find scarves to be very helpful (when not blazing hot outside) to add my color I crave.
Thank you, Sandy B, for the link to My Favorite Puppy’s Life. Beautiful colors in the painting and clothes.
You are not alone. I also love the colorful variety. That’s why I keep my capsules next to each other in the cupboard all year round and make spontaneous decisions. (today a red top with a colorful necklace and camel pants)
Best regards
Suggested artists: Matisse, Kandinsky, Dufy. Please have a color scheme suitable for high-contrast winter coloring.
Thank you so much for your brilliant work!
This is gorgeous! I would love to see this wonderful painting next year! I think rust and any grayish green would be beautiful accent colors! Really great accessories too. Thanks Janice!!
Sugestions for next year..
Maybe the following painting for a light grey and white based wardrobe.
https://konradmagi.ee/en/works/jewess/
And for a colourful wardrobe – Mark Kostabi – “”Millenium of Loneliness”.
When I saw this painting in an exhibit recently, I thought “That’s one for Janice!”
https://www.centrepompidou.fr/fr/ressources/oeuvre/cAepqa
Oh my YES!!!
hugs,
Janice
I concur. This painting would add a myriad of possible combinations.
Oh, another beautiful painting. Luckily it will be cooler here next week and I will wear warm clothes in autumn colors. In the picture I see honey and red-orange brown. I wish everyone a nice weekend.
The groupings in camel and charcoal are top-notch selections. The color coherency (on my screen) for each group looks perfect, which is an achievement in itself! I really like the combination of these two neutrals more than I’d expected to. The sample outfits do a great job of showing some of the possibilities of combining them. Love the monochromatic (though I would personally add some colorful scarves/accessories as I’m one of the hard-core color-lovers) and the twin-sets and suits outfits with grey bottoms. These outfits feel easy on the eyes and well balanced.
I’m stilling mulling the camel bottoms with grey tops. The charcoal sweater + camel pleated skirt is a definitely maybe…though I would prefer it with a grey shoe instead of camel. For the others, I’m not sure whether I just don’t like the higher ratio of camel to charcoal or if it’s the lighter neutral on bottom/darker neutral on top that feels unbalanced…but I’m not as fond of these combinations. But again, looking at the camel suits with the charcoal top, I think the repeat of the grey in the boots creates a more balanced look than the version with the camel flats in which the grey top stands alone. I do wonder if my reaction would be the same if I saw the pieces layered up the way they’d be when worn rather than laid out next to each other, if that makes sense. In any case, very interesting!
Absolutely lovely! I don’t wear camel and as I have so many clothes I will not be adding any camel colored items to my wardrobe. I think I can sub in some ivory items that I already have and achieve a similar look, Great inspiration as always. It would be a beautiful painting to inspire us next year.
The link to the elizabetta scarf does not seem to be working.
I think the picture would be great for next year and that turquoise would be a lovely addition. Also lilac or what some people might call mauve would also look good.
Hello Dublin! Going to watch the match tomorrow?
hugs,
Janice
This is an unusual colour mix as we are used to seeing black with camel (a favourite as it is a little more sophisticated and provides the graphic contrast I love) Nevertheless this combination is lovely where there is good contrast. In this case I am not a fan of the ‘twin set’ theory for example the camel tee with the camel cardigan reads to me as dull and bland and are neither match nor contrast. The same tee with the charcoal cardigan looks more soigné and thought out especially with the scarf. Same with the charcoal tee and camel cardigan. The grey tee with the grey cardigan also reads tossed it on because it sort of matched.
Like Sally I am having difficulty with the lighter bottoms which I feel give a top heavy look to the outfit. The skirt and sweater would benefit from a high grey suede boot or a grey tight with a shorter grey boot. Light shoes just don’t look ‘autumnal’ or cool weather-ish to my northerly eyes though warmer climates might support the look. I’d like to see a little more if the rust/cognac going on in this wardrobe and a removal of whatever the upper left colour is in the wheel chart it is too close in tone to the camel. It could be replaced with a forest or pine green, maybe a lovely peacock, teal, petrol, aquamarine? You get my drift…
I love the colors in this painting. I would skip the camel and make the second grouping in deep rust.
Oh dear…this is NOT a criticism of Janice by any means, but I just don’t like the gray with the camel whether it is on top or bottom. I wonder if I would like it in a very pale shade sort of a fog or mist? A dark one just stands out too much for me. The camel and ivory are lovely though.
I too would not have thought to put grey and camel(which i love) together. Always fun to see how you think outside the box, just lovely. I am a bit surprised some readers do not like the darker top with light bottom. Guess this is a preference, but being an busty, inverted triangle shape, darker on the top works well for my body shape, so thank you Janice.
I am a long time reader of this blog and I think this is my favourite one so far! My only comment would be that the camel t-shirt seems very casual. I’m not sure I would pair it with the pleated skirt. I’d love to see this painting used as one of the 12 for next year. Thank you Janice for sharing your ideas with us!
Love the colors and the heroine pulling from “other odd places.” Guilty! I’m seeing more brown available this year and I can see how that could also be pulled from the painting. Coincidentally just ordered my first Fierce Lynx bracelet set in iolite in shades of grey that would pair well with the charcoal grey. Looking forward to more from this art inspiration.
I understand that some people don’t like white in winter or pale shoes and bags but as I don’t wear black or other dark colours I will wear white all year. Even white jeans or trousers and white jacket and coats I wear pale shoes and boots too.
I simple pair them with different colours depending on the season and my mood.
When I was a teenager (a million years ago) I was smash in love with Suzy Parker – her Irish setter hair, her honey-colored skin, her all-American way of striding across the page. I wanted so much to look like her! Since I am a classic Winter (dark hair, white skin), I knew it was never gonna happen. (Sob.) But if I had managed to magically change myself into her, this is EXACTLY how I would have dressed.