September 15, 2023
RETIREMENT!!!
One of her first projects is to get EVERY SUIT out of her closet. And all but 1 pair of pumps… And donate them to Dress for Success.
She will, of course, save a nice dress and cardigan/jacket for somber events…
But now, she’s buying SWEATERS!!! She could never wear sweaters to work… And a patterned sweater just piles on – she couldn’t wear any patterns except the most conservative, menswear-inspired prints. If she never sees a pinstripe again, it will be too soon!
Dangly earrings… swoon…
She fell in love with the cardigan, and determined that her first 13 garments would be based on the colors in it…
Waffle tee – L.L.Bean; earrings – Soru Jewellery; cotton cabled sweater – L.L.Bean; pants – BP.; scarf – Elizabetta; corduroy shirt – BP.; socks – Wigwam; flats – Camper
If you like this shade of “Green Dune”, please note that Nordstrom has dozens of garments in this color!
She debated about buying the turtleneck in the same colors as her cardigan, and then realized that – since she likes THIS sweater on its own merits – she would be silly NOT to buy it…
Fair Isle sweater – L.L.Bean; sapphire earrings – Mounir London; Henley sweater – Orvis; blue moon flannel shirt – Orvis; scarf – Eliabetta; corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; leather sneakers – Naot
She wants a pair of light pants – she could NEVER have worn these to work. And a sweatshirt! Yes, the ecru pants will soil easily, but she’s spent SO MUCH money in her life dry cleaning suits, she doesn’t care what she has to do to keep these pants clean!
Earrings – Barse; burnished red waffle-knit Henley – L.L.Bean; scarf – Kinalba; ivory sweatshirt – H&M; grey turtleneck – L.L.Bean; grey checked scarf – Phenix; ecru pants – Alex Mill; boots – Sorel
Her closet looks so different from what she has worn for decades… But she thinks that this is going to be just as easy to wear.
She is, frankly, not used to combining a bunch of separates into a range of outfits, so she takes some time to try on all kinds of ensembles. This is a smart thing to do!
After a few minutes of trying on all sorts of combinations, our newly retired heroine realizes that these garments would be perfect to pack for an autumn vacation!
love,
Janice
p.s. Four years ago, I found out just how versatile a nice pair of tan pants can be – for those of us who wear warm colors, or cool! The pants are still available!
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I can’t wait to retire…
14 more years and counting until my retirement…this looks like such a calm and cozy wardrobe. I love it.
I’m with you justyna, hopefully I’m only two years away. I love this. Different shades than I usually wear, but I would be quite happy if all this were transported to my closet. I have the blue/gold colorway of this sweater, bought after your post of Jan 4 of this year. I wore it quite a bit last winter. Ideally I could wish that it actually had buttons instead of being open, but it’s very cozy and warm. Fortunately for me, working in a middle school gives me the ability to dress very casually – no more pumps and suits for me! I remember the Dress for Success years, and worked in the business field at the time. All the little gray pin striped suits and white blouses and those little bow tie things. How things have changed. Have a great weekend ladies.
Sweaters purchased without buttons aren’t my favourite either. I have found large decorative hooks in the button section of a fabric store and sewed them on at the optimum spot for my frame. It’s made a world of difference and it’s an easy fix – no special sewing skills required.
Even easier, you can buy clip-on cardigan/poncho/shawl clasps on Amazon (and I’m sure other places). The one I have is leather with a metal clasp, but there’s a bunch of types. When I don’t feel like having my cardigans flowing around me, I just use the clasp to keep it closed. Then I can move it to another cardigan or just take it off if I feel like being flowy again.
Don’t do it Ladies. Tail back, go part time, get a different job in another field but think carefully ere you retire….apparently up to 30% of short term memory is lost in the first year of retirement https://www.ageist.com/lifestyle/inspiration/the-secret-to-immortality-why-ill-never-retire/?mc_cid=ee759f2244&mc_eid=a498b0ca64
and I know, from personal experience of colleagues…it is a quick route to ill health.
. This is utter nonsense, I retired at 65 now 68, as a healthcare professional as have many of my cohort. Remaining physically active, monitoring one’s health, having lots of interactions and interests are key! Also I may suggest laying off the booze which seems to be a big issue with this age group. Should I advise my 66yr old friend who is currently gorilla trekking in Uganda to return to her well paying but soul bleeding position to return! Ha not bloody likely.
I could never retire completely – I can’t be around my hubby that many hours a day! But I’ll be 70 in a couple of years and looking forward to some volunteer work or something…..
No plans to totally retire any time soon, but I am finding that working interferes with my hobbies! Luckily, it’s my own business (financial advisor) and I make the schedule. I’ve pretty much quit marketing and gotten rid of anyone who aggravates me, and a while back I realized I didn’t have to look quite so corporate–no jeans or anything, but not skirted suits any more either. I’ve been doing this long enough that I don’t have to sell credibility quite so much.
I love the idea of coordinating with a cardigan (there was a pink and grey one a while ago that I couldn’t resist), but I do it a bit less casually. With a dress or silk blouse and tailored pants, this would work for me with clients.
Anyone who doesn’t trust your expertise and advice is NOT worthy of your services!
hugs,
Janice
I agree with all the viewpoints here – not “having to” cope with working for money is fabulous, but totally stopping thinking/moving/socializing is often a quick route downhill. Bodies & brains are made to be used… and there are so very many things out there to do for the joy of it, especially with all the experience & skills & grace that we build over the decades! 😊
I retired during the pandemic because the toxic atmosphere in the office made me ill. The busiest people I know are retired! Retirement is not ‘giving up’ but living each day as it comes, devising your own schedule and making time for people and activities that are worthy or need our attention.
This is the infinitely wearable wardrobe! So many possibilities all the time. I remember owning a pair of ivory cords that got enormous use from the fist cool days of fall through the lingering chill of winter as it refused to go away. (We seem to get that a lot in my state.)
It might be fun to revisit this wardrobe to see what she adds for the holiday season. And then for transitioning into spring and summer.
Loving this as I have been retired 2 years, travelling, enjoying my hobbies and keeping active. Another who wants to see this transition through the seasons.
Oh I can so relate to this! I can still remember the day over 10 years ago that all those boring black, navy, and gray suits went to the consignment shop and how much fun it was to buy pretty colors.
I notice the big emphasis here on casual and practical fabrics, sturdy boots, etc.: as you said, she may have kept something for Those Occasions, but this is a wardrobe that says “home life” but doesn’t look sloppy.
It reminds me of a couple of previous wardrobes: the mom-of-however-many who planned to stay at the lake house through the fall, a couple of years ago; but also the woman who was a bit “gobsmacked” when her husband requested that she try dressing down a bit:
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2017/05/how-to-pack-a-foolproof-travel-wardrobe-in-all-neutrals.html/
It’s not easy to make such a big change in one’s (life)style!
I was so disappointed that the third outfit set didn’t match the colors in the cardigan. I realize ivory is a netural but I thought you should have pulled another color from the cardigan that the Capsule Wardrobe was based on.
What other colors do you see? I thought Janice hit them all!
How fun! This is like a grownup’s version of back-to-school shopping without going back to school. Lol
The colours are absolutely beautiful!
These are wonderful colors, soft and cozy. She shall certainly be warm. Like another reader, I would love to see this going into the holidays. A lot could be done with the red-ish and the ivory I see in the sweater, long about December. As to retirement, it can be awesome, or if you don’t keep your wits about you and plan stuff to do, depressing. Family, hobbies and fitness activities. Travel if it suits. Avoid the Couch!
It’s great that our heroine is donating her suits; I’ve retired recently & didn’t have any suits to donate because it was a casual clothes job. So I already had nice sweaters–I’ve actually recently bought a vintage tweed suit to go with my sweaters!
Oh that sounds lovely!
hugs,
Janice
I’ll take the suits and give them a home where they will be loved . . . and maybe funked up by wearing them with bright t-shirts and lug-soled oxfords.
I’m not usually a fan of fair isle sweaters, but I’d make an exception in this case because of the colors … especially that Green Dune. Thanks for the tip about Nordstrom! Interesting, too, to read the various comments regarding retirement. I don’t plan to retire until two more years or so, but I’m already tailoring my wardrobe toward that next chapter. Fortunately my office job is business casual so I’ve done away with most of the ultra-business clothes. I’m almost to the point where my weekday wear nearly matches my weekend wear. Fun post today!
Thank you to Wendy for the idea about hooks! Am going to try it!
…Retired at 72, 10 years later, am still too busy to sit down too much except to read Janice’s blog! Haha.
I wore scrubs to work and donated them the day after retirement. As for adjusting to life after retirement…none, zero, nada! My husband and I wonder how we got anything done while we worked. A few times a week we look at each other and say, “There are just not enough hours in a day”. I think a lot depends on attitude going into the new lifestyle.
Amen to that! We love a relaxing evening with nothing to do. We keep plenty busy just differently than when working full time.
I loved the post from Sept. 11, where you categorized types of outfits as (1) monochromatic (with and without 3rd piece), (2) suit-like, (3) twinset-like, and (4) columns of color, either inner or outer, with a contrasting 3rd piece. I am more analytical than imaginative (good for professional work but bad for clothing and decorating :( , so I find myself now looking at all the outfits in subsequent posts like this one, and my own closet, to put in one of these bins. Then I came to the green cable sweater and ivory pants here, or some of the sweater and pants combinations from the referenced past tan pants and stone pants posts, where there is no 3rd layer (e.g., too hot in summer, too bulky with sweater in cool weather) and strong contrast, and I wonder how readers would categorize that? Perhaps the blouse/top/sweater is patterned with enough of the pant color to be classified as “monochromatic”, as in the turtleneck and pants outfit here, or perhaps contrasting top and bottom is another category that works even without a pattern if the colors are mixed through accessories, and they otherwise contribute to an outfit in one of the established categories? Pardon any OCD here, but I am finding it helps to plan capsule wardrobes when I think in these terms.
Christine, I also like to have nomenclature for the different combinations. It’s clearer when there are no print pieces in the outfit. When prints are added, it gets more complicated. And some outfits could reasonably be categorized in multiple ways. I like to take into account the color formulas (inner column, twin set, etc.), whether neutral or accent (non-neutral; not whether it is a major or minor color in the palette) color is used, whether prints match the colors in the outfit or not, and whether a bridge piece is used that incorporates multiple colors. Scarves can be as visible as garments, so I sometimes include them in my terminology also. Here’s how I think of the example outfits Janice supplied, if that helps:
#1: Inner column + matching print
#2: Twin set + neutral
#3: Inner column + matching print
#4: Monochromatic / column of color
#5: Print + 2 neutrals from print
#6: Colorblocked neutrals + bridge piece scarf
#7: Print + 1 neutral and 1 accent color (i.e., non-neutral color) from print
#8: Outer column (suit) + accent color
#9: Colorblocked neutrals
#10: Monochromatic / column of color + matching print scarf
#11: Inner column + neutral + bridge piece scarf
#12: Outer column (suit) + neutral + bridge piece scarf
#13: Print + 1 neutral from print
#14: Print + 1 neutral from print
How do other people break down outfits based on how colors are included/combined?
In case it’s not clear, I personally use the term “colorblocked” for a 2 or 3 (or more) piece outfit in which no colors are the same. Olive top + white pants = colorblocked. Grey top + black pants + purple cardigan = colorblocked.
Thanks so much for your thoughts!
Hi Christine and Sally! I’m another nerd with categories ;) I too think of this ‘stand alone’ outfits as ‘color blocks’, but just divide them into muted/blending (like Sage + tan) or bright/contrasting (like pink + black).
And I’m also finding these categories extremely helpful in my wardrobe transition and fall planning!
Cheers and blessings all ❤️
Looking at the outfits in all these different terms is a little mind boggling if you do not really know what looks best on your body type. Last week I did a “try-on” session and actually took pictures of myself in the outfits. It was so revealing! It is one thing to lay an outfit out on your bed or imagine it in your head or even look at yourself in the mirror, but taking a picture (for me) was like turning on the lights.
Cindy, I can’t reply directly but I 100% agree that the proof is in the photos. A lot of stylists (e.g. Imogen Lamport) strongly recommend a daily outfit photo (that doesn’t have to be posted on Instagram!) to help figure out what looks best / what we like on ourselves.
And there’s nothing like trying things on to make you realize that things like you hate how the new trendy pants shape looks on you, that the dress and cardigan that are miraculously in the same color won’t layer well together, that the pretty skirt has a silhouette that doesn’t work with any top you own, that color you liked so well in pants absolutely drains all life out of you when worn as a shirt, etc. We often sort of hand-wave these issues when putting together theoretical capsules, but they are make-it-or-break-it concerns for a real wardrobe.
Thank you Sally for your input. I am glad you agree. (I deleted/closed my Instagram and Facebook accounts about 2 years ago, so no pictures there😉)
What a lovely wardrobe. I particularly like all the sweaters. I’m a big fan of fair isle, it’s so pretty and such a variety of colour options. I knitted a two colour fair isle jumper last year, and am looking forward to a multi-colour project for next winter (with “my” neutrals and accents). Knitting is one of my retirement interests – there is lots of learning, which is good for the aging brain :)
Janice, I love the green flare leg pants. Thank you for showing something with a different cut. What a difference it made to the way I looked at the overall capsule. Rather than looking at the colours, I noticed the shapes of the pieces so much more…and thought about how I would wear or not. Great exercise for our eyes to see things in a new way. I would keep the green, blue and ivory colours, the green pants, and the 2 Fair Isle sweaters, but would adjust most of the other items to cuts I like better. Yes, please to following this lady into Holiday capsule, winter, spring and summer.
Hi Christine and Sally! I’m another nerd with categories ;) I too think of this ‘stand alone’ outfits as ‘color blocks’, but just divide them into muted/blending (like Sage + tan) or bright/contrasting (like pink + black).
And I’m also finding these categories extremely helpful
I just wanted to add I’m enjoying these longer conversations! We seem to either be more or just more chatty, which makes me check the post 2 or 3 times to read what everyone says ^_^
Obviously, this is rooted in Janice’s great abilities in creating these wonderful capsules.
Happy weekend all!
Arwen, same here. I come back several times a day and usually learn something each time. Sometimes it continues through the weekend…
Speaking of continuing through the weekend – which I’m never sure if someone sees or not. I’m not sure I ever thought of my wardrobe in the terms of categories of how I wear them. Yet, after Monday’s post I did think of it each day as I laid out my clothes. I discovered my typical “uniform” at least right now is an outer column with a print top. Once it’s cooler and scarf weather that will change I think. I too have really enjoyed this longer discussions lately. All sorts of food for thought. And it’s always a welcome break from whatever is going on at work…. been a very busy couple of weeks as we start the school year. I was so happy to get out of there last night I forgot both my sweater and the sweatshirt I’d worn as it’s cooler in the mornings now. I won’t miss the sweater, but will miss this sweatshirt this weekend as it’s my favorite for walking the dog :(
I love the commentary & analysis, and people’s personal take on how they’d wear the wardrobe. Janice’s posting usually arrives around 8 or 9 pm, so I check it out over the course of the evening and form my own opinions. Then in the morning, many people’s comments have arrived, so I read them with my coffee, and reconsider my opinions :) But often the commentary does continue, yay, & I usually check out the posting for anything further once the next posting is up. Much joy, thank you Janice and all.
p.s. Is it Kari who was doing 100 days in the blue dress? I was dying to hear how that went, if you feel like saying :)
It might have been Kristi…not sure.
Hi Vicki! No, sorry to disappoint, but I am not a 100 day person. I’m lucky to get 2 days in a cardi and jeans with the nightmare hot flashes and the leaves me soaked to the skin sweats that go with them. It’s a cool challenge for those who can meet it.
It’s worth trying – after the hot flashes are gone! I learned a lot…
hugs,
Janice
Ah yes, I hear you. Definitely not the time for a 100 day challenge! That is in the past for me, & I now probably wear my clothes for too long! Am pondering some type of challenge, but not decided yet. :)
Just checked again, it never disappoints when there’s something new!
BTW, sorry for the duplicated comment, not sure what happened!
Dear Janice,
I have been following you on pintrest for a year or more now and have been learning SO much! I recently went through a gastric bypass and lost over 130 pounds, so I have been using your blog as inspiration for making my new wardrobe for my smaller self. I needed to start completely from scratch, with different silhouettes, a cohesive palette, and …well..Everything!
My husband, who isn’t at all into fashion, and never has been, has been watching my transformation and just today asked me if I would revamp his wardrobe, since mine was starting to look really good. I’ve been showing him your blog as he is a very visual learner. We went through some color analysis and found that he is a Cool Winter, aka black and white and deep gray, and all the beautiful, cold, vivid jewel tones are right up his alley.
So I was wondering, do you ever put together sample wardrobes for men? Where would one shop, other than amazon? And would it be possible someday to show a palette for men using black and deep gray, with a touch of white, accented with purple, blue and red?
That would be so amazingly helpful!
Pepper in Minnesota
PS: He’s 6’5″ tall and is a bit over 350 lbs. Finding clothes to fit is not easy!
As another retiree, I too would like to see how this wardrobe transitions through the seasons. This is such a lovely soft relaxed look. Love it.
I am a romantic and still love a nice skirt and tee to pop around in at the open air markets and wineries. Summer I am always in a beach dress and flip flops due to the hot hot summers. I wonder how this heroine will dress in the future.
I’ve packed for five days – shades of blue with a splash of pink. Plain trousers – navy cotton, teal blue cotton and navy jersey. Five patterned tops – shades of blue and blue/pink floral/spot. Navy/blue open knit jumper, light blue marl jumper, soft pink shimmer jumper. The only outlier is a grey cardigan that goes with one top I’m wearing on the journey simply because I don’t have a teal blue or turquoise jumper that would look better. Something to bear in mind. Three scarves – blue hues, blue shimmer, blue/pink. Might not wear any of them. I have a navy wax jackets and hat plus a 2 in 1 plum waterproof with inner fleece jacket. It’s going to rain most of the time. I’m also taking navy lace-ups, black ankle boots as a spare pair and navy walking boots.
Beth, that sounds very lovely, and very organised! I like the colour palette. Have a great time, despite rain :) They say there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.
I officially retire next month, so this post is ideal! You’ve given me some great ideas. I’ve already got most of your suggestions in my wardrobe
Hi all. Retirement strategy: Physical, Mental, Social.