September 25, 2023
I don’t generally think of Max Beckmann for wardrobe inspiration – his paintings always feel very cluttered and busy. But this one has a special charm:
Five Women by Max Beckmann
Our heroine really wants some variety in how she can dress this fall – as much as she loves black, she wants to be able to wear quite a bit of “beige/tan/oatmeal” too…
She wasn’t sure that this was something that one is allowed to do (what folly!) until she saw this painting, and realized that she would LOVE these colors:
She’s very organized – the first thing she wants to be certain of is that her black wardrobe core is perfect:
Polo sweater – Alex Mill; enamel earrings – Preeti Sandhi; cashmere cardigan – L.L.Bean; tee shirt – L.L.Bean; scarf – FramhŪs; black pants – J.Crew; bag – Mali + Lili; loafers – Birdie
Next, she very carefully selects her oatmeal/camel/buttercream/twig grouping – four garments, four color names! But they blend beautifully…
Oatmeal heather cardigan – L.L.Bean; earrings – Talbots; heather camel tee shirt – J.Crew; buttercream sweater vest – J.Crew; silk scarf – Soft Strokes Silk; twig corduroy pants – L.L.Bean; boots – Sorel
She pauses now, as all wise heroines will, and thinks about what else she wants, and how many “what elses” she needs. Four sounds right. A dozen garments feels like enough, for her, for autumn.
Chambray shirt – J.Crew; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; white gauze shirt – J.Crew; yellow sweater – 120% Lino; scarf – Jessie Zhao New York; jeans – L.L.Bean; wool sneakers – Allbirds
She clears out the entire front area of her closet, and assembles her autumn wardrobe in a nice bright place where everything is visible:
She’s VERY organized – she arranges a bunch of various outfits on her bed and takes little snapshots of each of them. She keeps these on her phone, for those mornings when getting dressed seems unreasonably difficult!
Hmm… She’s going to have to experiment with her yellow sweater; is it too “bumble bee” with black? Is it too odd a contrast with beige?
Wardrobes are seldom perfect!
love,
Janice
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What a tidy set! Three levels of dressiness, if that’s a word. Plenty of possibilities to deal with different weather and fall temperatures. A fallish accent color. Not sure about the yellow and black, but it seems to really work with the tan and blue. Since the blue is denim, it’s really like three neutrals.
When I looked at the color wheel I thought “meh”, but it actually all looks quite lovely together. I, too, always feel like yellow and black are reminiscent of a bumble bee so I’m not sure that particular combo works for me, but overall it’s quite nice and “restful”. Have a good day everyone. Happy Monday.
We could amuse ourselves as a group of TVF fans speculating about the backstory of this painting. What intrigue! It’s a good thing the capsule is so cheery.
The Zhao scarves are absolutely tempting. The little cats scattered throughout the design of scarf 2 are rather enchanting. And, yes! I wear that clear yellow with tans and camel. As someone who avoids black, I mentally substituted bright navy for the black and then you don’t have the bumble bee effect. It looks smashing with camel/tan/oatmeal as well. (Heading off to take a long look at those Zhao scarves.) 😍😍
I don’t think the ladies would be very flattered with this painting – I certainly wouldn’t be!
Ak, Thank you for the navy idea. It now works for me. I was toying with the idea of going back to black, which is available but not terribly flattering at this stage. I have a yellow T, and it works with my denim and tan.
I think the yellow would look quite fresh with tan. Too stark a contrast for me with the black though. Nice pieces and combinations.
I look at the painting and predominately see mid to dark blue. The cobalt blue dress at the front is dominant. The lady at the back left is also wearing dark blue. Her and the lady in yellow are beside a lighter blue curtain. The yellow and black leap out too. The beige wall is next to the blue curtain.
My take on this would be blue and beige as neutrals with black, white and yellow as accents. I regard black as an accent because I only ever wear black on my bottom half or for shoes/bags/belts. I would be looking for patterned tops/shirts that bring the colours together.
ps I just noticed the little “fans” of color in the upper right corner of the groupings. Marvelous!
Maybe it’s my monitor or maybe it’s me but I am not getting a ‘clear yellow’ vibe from the painting or colour wheel. More of a citron or chartreuse shade that leans a bit toward green/yellow/gold. The yellow and blue options just don’t read ‘autumn’ they look too summery and light. Although they are colours I wear they’d be packed up for fall. I am thinking that the intention of an artist to use a particular mix of colours in a painting is not because they ‘work’ or ‘compliment’ each other often it’s for the opposite reason. True, often a painting or object may inspire one to mix in a new colour but adapting not adopting must be considered. The two neutrals are lovely ( though my personal choice would be a darker camel, more elegant with black). I just think the accents should reflect the under tones of the neutral core and be reflective in some way of the season.
The individual parts are beautiful, the sum just looks odd.
Just my opinion.
I really like these together. I think since she only has one yellow sweater, maybe it’s a color she just wears for general cheeriness once in a while and it doesn’t have to go with everything. The other colors are neutrals and work together really well. I think this is great! She could even throw in a few more one off colors (maybe the berry/plum that seems so popular this year or a teal) in shirts/prints/sweaters that would coordinate with jeans/black/tan pants and sweaters/toppers. That would be really fun!!!
That plaid scarf … swoon!!!
There’s a good amount of variety here for such a small, almost all-neutral wardrobe. With denim obviously a neutral, the chartreuse sweater is the only accent color piece, and it’s a bit of an oddball choice to my eye. I think I would prefer to adopt a nice accent color blue, like the woman’s dress, and translate the yellow-ish color to gold jewelry, rather than try to force the chartreuse sweater to work with the black and/or tan.
The yellow of the sweater is coming across as a very clear yellow on my iPhone, and slightly greenish yellow on my computer monitor. It looks amazing on my phone so I’m going to say it’s just color correction lol. I don’t wear much yellow but this one does tempt me. It’s so cheerful!
I semi like this…but would use the tan and blue as neutral, pull the yellow to a deep gold and omit the black. However, I do like the shade of yellow shown. And LOVE the scarves. I have to share that I bought my mom’s birthday gift early…gorgeous indigo turtleneck and a scarf. I love fall sales as with careful planning, usually can manage to save a good bit on the planned item & slip in a tiny extra. Now to convince her that her ratty sweater really does need to go out the door…
You do wonder why people hang on to ratty clothes. Good luck with replacing it.
Maybe at the time the item was purchased was a happy time, or it was worn for a special happy occasion, or it just is soft against the skin. Maybe it can be worn in the garden with no concern. All said, it may still need to be looked at a bit more objectively and tossed in the ragbag or the trash. I am speaking to myself as I think about a dreadful long tee-shirt-like night gown that is a lovely yellow but has holes and runners like stockings and a printed blue tee shirt that is also way past dead.
I’m off topic today, but Janice, I thought of you with gratitude this morning, as I got ready super-fast & with no trouble at all … in navy tee and cardi (aka the twinset), that I know match well as I bought them AT THE SAME TIME and FROM THE SAME PLACE. And charcoal pants.
Also thought of you as I watched the Irish play South Africa. A good game!
Thank you so much for this post and all the others. It has litterally changed the way I think about clothes and how I buy them (used to be almost shopoholic) It’s so much fun and inspiration in your blog. Creativity and love of colors and art. Never stop doing this blog, I just love it! ❤️
Monika from Sweden
I love the blue and yellow scarves, but I really hate those kinds of yellow. Maybe as a button down shirt, but not the sweater. As we in Seattle prepare to bid goodbye to that big thing in the sky until May, I feel an antique gold sweater would serve me better. I do love those enameled square earrings. I’m personally trying to find dress pants that come in a cinnamon color and a burgundy as well as a medium gray that isn’t marled (always reminds me if sweat pants). In a fabric that is heavy enough for winter and machine wash and dry.
Janice, I hope you and your mother are doing well.