September 28, 2023
Incognito
She judges gardens. Every weekend, she goes to another city, and tours all kinds of backyards and front yards, and picks the winners…
And NOBODY knows that it’s her! Well, the people sponsoring the garden walks always know her name, and they know her email address from which they will receive the big announcement…
Vest – Barbour; earrings – Ebru Jewelry; cotton sweater – J.Crew; watch – Olivia Burton; scarf – Echo; pants – Alex Mill; weekender bag – Rains; boots – Munro
She shows up for both days of the walks, dressed inconspicuously, not taking notes, not being a pompous “garden judge” who lords her authority over the poor gardeners…
She always packs the same 10 garments, for the entirety of the autumn (or spring) judging season.
The first things into her bag is her favorite turtleneck – cotton, but hefty enough for a cool day:
Of course she packs jeans – half of the people touring the gardens (at least!) will be wearing jeans. Very unlikely to cause anyone to look twice:
One thing she always assumes is that she can take OFF a layer, but that she should start the day dressed warmly. The most low-key flannel shirt humanly possible is her favorite!
If she’s only going to be away overnight, she has plenty of clothes packed at this point:
She likes to pack for at least 2 nights away – possibly three, so she stops to think about what will be both useful and low-key…
A warm, beautifully cabled cardigan?
Black pants? Corduroys are always appropriate for cool weather, and when she spots her favorite shoes in a color that’s perfect with her tan pants, just tosses them into her bag too!
It could get warm – a short-sleeved tee shirt in denim blue will go with everything she’s packed so far. A pretty scarf is never a bad choice, too!
Tee shirt – L.L.Bean; bandana – Echo (sold out)
She CAN’T find a top that really matches her tan pants, so she backs away from that idea, and thinks about what she might want if the weather turns cool. A cotton turtleneck that she can layer under 2 or 3 other things is a good choice – it packs tiny, but can make a big difference on a windy day!
And a small handbag – while she doesn’t take notes or photographs while she’s touring, she still needs at least her phone and wallet…
Here’s where she is – 10 garments, but not quite enough accessories, maybe…
Her favorite waterproof sneakers in black, denim blue floral earrings, a pretty floral bracelet, and AN AMAZING scarf:
Monet scarf – The Met Store; William Morris blue flower earrings – The Met Store; bracelet – Rifle Paper Co.; waterproof sneakers – Dansko
Now, she has a wardrobe with a lot of versatility, options for a range of weather situations, and a glorious assortment of floral-themed jewelry and scarves:
She’s packed this before, so she KNOWS that it works. But for our amusement, let’s take a look:
Interestingly, she does NOT have a garden at home; she lives in a condo!
love,
Janice
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Love this! And with a few exceptions (which I probably wouldn’t wear so would substitute out) I’m betting I could pull this together from my own closet. With the addition of some of the accessories of course! Worth the wait Janice. Thank you!
I love your combinations, but why are they always based on pants. Some of us don’t like pants. Could you do a few with skirts and dresses please.
I agree, especially with advice on dressing warmly in skirts and dresses during the cold weather.
And some of us LOVE pants, and do not wear skirts! I’m finding that we get a mix provided, which suits me just fine.
agree with mmep – some of us love pants and hate/cant wear skirts and dresses! usually Janice provides a mix with 2 pants and 1 skirt; on a rare occasion she does all pants or all dresses. A little something for everyone! :)
Just imagine the pants are skirts. That’s what I do when she uses skirts—which I love in theory, but almost never wear in real life.
I love this so much.
I love this wardrobe! Worth the wait for sure.
Now, THAT is a career I could love! One pair of gloves if it gets cool and a neat little umbrella can round out her accessories. After all, she has the waterproof sneaks and enough layers. I vote for a flowered umbrella. One she found once on a judging journey at a sublime garden center she likes to visit. She could easily add a casual weekend skirt to wear with the sneakers (they do that in Paris!) and a tee in case one of her locations turns hot.
Years ago, I subscribed to England’s Royal Horticulture Society magazine. I don’t know if it’s still done, but entire communities entered into an annual contest called Britain in Bloom. Gardening is a competitive sport. I once traveled to England to see the Hampton Court Garden show and a half dozen gorgeous garden centres. It was absolutely incredible. 😍😍😍😍😍😍
I love this capsule and, like Sheila, could replicate it from my wardrobe swapping black for navy and smartening up the second layers. Spring in Britain in April and May can be be as warm as a summer day. I love to wear a blazer or coat with a dress, skirt or smart trousers when I’m visiting gardens. The gardens are looking their best; so should I. The Wedgwood Scarf is inspired and looks like the painting in reverse.
We love our gardens in Britain whether you have a window ledge, balcony, a suburban garden or large estate, we can all do our bit to help nature thrive. Britain in Bloom is still ‘blooming’. We love to visit country house gardens, nature reserves and botanical gardens. From the snowdrops in February to cyclamen in December, we can make flowers grow but the gardens are at their best in May and June.
One of my favourite garden schemes is the National Garden Scheme where people open their house gardens to visitors. Sometimes whole communities will have a weekend of Open Gardens. Seeing what can be done in a garden of a similar size to yours, gives you lots of ideas. Tea and cakes are available too (the British invented Afternoon Tea) and all the money collected goes to charity.
My husband was once mistaken for a Top Garden Judge in an NGS Open Gardens day. He was looking dapper (as usual) and cuts a striking figure at 6ft tall wearing a smart summer suit, shirt and tie with a broad brimmed straw hat. The owners were going out of their way to talk to him and giving us a guided tour of their gardens. We are genuinely interested in how and why people have designed their gardens, so like to ask questions. It was only when later in the afternoon an garden owner, asked if my husband was the critic, but we had to say “No”, that we realised we’d perhaps been given special treatment. Once the man had overcome his disappointment, we still got a guided tour though we had to confess that we knew little about the plants. When we got home we looked on the internet to see if there was a picture of the Top Garden Judge. We had seen him in one of the other gardens. He looked nothing like my husband, was dressed in tweeds (hot day – not a good idea) and looked like a gardener!
I am now been educated about plants by a friend of mine who is a keen gardener. I’m even using Latin names.
Fabulous story! We do not have a growing season like that where I live, but I wish we did!
English garden tours always make me think of Midsomer Murders, or the Miss Marple novel where she goes on a coach tour (although that was houses, not gardens). Hopefully this heroine will have a cheerier time.
Midsomer Murders is one of my favorite shows! That’s why my heroine could NOT be one of those snotty garden judges – she would be the first victim!
hugs,
Janice
I love everything about this neutral travel capsule. Thank You for the inspiration to shop my closet and add a few pieces.
Think those are my most favorite combinations of colors. Mmmmm. Is that denim blue tee shirt the one LLB calls Raven blue? It looks darker on their website, at least my screen thinks so. Have been looking for that shade for ages!
This is vintage indigo. It’s near to being sold out so you may need to call them …
This is so perfect! My husband and I are heading to back east for a driving/walking tour of New England in just ten days. It’s very special: I’ve never seen a forest of autumn leaves before, so this trip will let me check something off my bucket list. We are expecting chilly weather and lots of rain—both of which are outside my normal life in the low desert Southwest–and my wardrobe. I ordered weather-proof boots based on this wardrobe, and will be arranging my travel bag based on the lessons I’ve learned here. My day job is teaching and directing volunteers in a community garden, so this particular post resonated with me very strongly. A similar post that used olive green for one of the neutrals, with maybe sage or teal for accents, would be delightful.
If anyone has any suggestions about particulars of what to expect on this upcoming trip, I’d just love to hear them.
Plan to dress in layers. Mornings and evenings can drop down into the 40s while temps in the afternoon can be dramatically warmer. Think triple top options – base layer short sleeve tee, a button down long sleeve shirt, and a topper of some sort, maybe a cardigan or a fleece pullover. I add a lightweight hooded rain jacket when rain is in the forecast. Umbrellas are less useful when walking in a group as you tend to bump into people. You’ll be very glad you ordered weatherproof boots! Munro boots are very comfortable for everyday walking. Enjoy “Leaf Peeping” as we call it here!
Thank you so much!
Leaf peeping is a new term for me. Great advice about skipping the umbrella; I’d intended to bring one. Rain jacket is now on my purchase list. And the triple top options will help tremendously.
This mix of neutrals is what I call “dressing from my husband’s closet” as men seem to be more comfortable than women are about treating neutrals as mix-and-match-able and hence wearing an outfit with multiple neutrals without overthinking it. Though the example outfits do not feature many 3 neutral colorblock looks, they would be very easy to create from this capsule as well and a lot of them would look great…esp. with the multi-tone scarves that just beg to be worn with a variety of neutral color combinations.
I also like how this could form the basis for a travel capsule on those occasions when she is not in her incognito judge mode and is in the mood to add an accent color or two. Taking a cue from the scarves, a dusky rose/mauve and a light (not necessarily denim-y) blue would be very easy to incorporate, but there are so many possibilities, esp. if she adds a colorful print scarf or two.
I would be tempted to switch out the tan pants for some that are more of a taupe color because that feels more in keeping with the overall palette. But (1) the tan actually works just fine and fits within the “husband’s closet” don’t-over-think-it idea and (2) these pants match so well to the sneakers that I think her selection is quite wise in creating a very easy-to-wear casual/hiking/walking pants + sneakers combo where all she has to do is pick her upper body pieces to complete the outfit. I suspect she may have some less aggressively casual items in taupe in her closet at home, but these tan ones are well suited to the purpose. It’s a terrific wardrobe for our heroine’s scenario.
Having a T-shirt in a denim-y blue is such a great idea for anyone who likes to wear jeans, and it really doesn’t need to be an exact match as mixing various washes of blue denim makes for a very nice look (even if one of the “denims” is a blue T).
Stand-outs for me are the blue floral wool scarf (wool is personally problematic for me, but it’s gorgeous) and the walkable sneakers…in simple muted neutral tones…that do not have gigantic blindingly white soles! Thank you for this find. Sometimes you just want a nice supportive sneaker that you can wear with pants that just blends into the outfit, and the common dark sneaker with the huge white sole doesn’t offer that. (Nothing wrong with it, of course, but it’s not what every person wants in every situation, yet that seems to be what’s offered to us almost all the time.)
Also I am VERY impressed that she has the memory to do this judging without taking any notes! Her years of experience have clearly created a highly sophisticated mental model for gardens.
As always, I love your analysis. The Indigo Blue is one of LLBeans colors they often have available in many items. It’s a really nice neutral blue.
I’m loving this! Although there’s too much black in it, that Monet scarf is awesome – and worthy of a stand alone post, if you ask my opinion!
Cheers and blessings!
Oh my goodness, I feel like you looked in my closet, saw the half I already owned, and created the perfect second half. This is me! These are my clothes! This is my inspiration board now!
I love the colors and clothes! Great job again Janice!! The only thing I would leave out is the extra pair of black shoes just because I try to pack light as possible and that seems to add more bulk for an item already covered. But I can see how some might want it. I might add a pair of flats that would pack smaller and be nice for evening dinners out… I am imagining she gets to try new restaurants on her trip!
Hi Janice, Today’s Echo scarf has been on my wishlist for a couple weeks. Now I might have to order it before it sells out!
These colors are staples for me, except the caramel. But I just bought two pairs of caramel pants, jeans and corduroy, for this fall and winter (along with jeans in a sort of raspberry/cranberry—!!!), so this seems like a vindication! It’s funny how a different color than what you’re used to wearing can seem almost crazy. I know it’s a classic color and love it on other people, especially with black. I’m hoping that after a few times wearing them it’ll seem normal. Your posts really helped me imagine these with my existing wardrobe before purchase, so Iknow if I don’t wear them it won’t be because they were stupid picks that don’t go with anything.
I love this wardrobe. I can’t wear the green and would substitute charcoal grey for the black but it’s lovely none the less.
But it’s 100 degrees here in Arizona so I haven’t worn anything but shorts or a dress since early June…
Loved this so much- great job. Have saved these images to my ‘travel wardrobe’ Pinterest board.