December 4, 2023
Ah, the last visit to these wardrobes! I’m going to look at two of them today, two on Wednesday, and then the final pair on Friday.
I confess that I will miss these six paintings! But I think that this exercise is both interesting and useful – we all need to learn to live with fewer new garments, and to wear what we own frequently. The level of waste on our planet that comes from clothing is shocking…
Let’s start with this most evocative painting; imagine what trains and train stations meant to cities, back in Monet’s time. They were new, definitely faster than anything that had come before, and changed their view of distances…
Let’s take a quick glance at our heroine’s wardrobe before she heads out for her December shopping:
Thirty-five pieces of clothing is – frankly – quite a lot. Most of our grandmothers, and many of our mothers, grew up and lived much of their lives with far less in their closets than this!
This heroine is a pretty casual person, but she’s realized that she will need to look festive for some upcoming events… not SKIRT festive, but there are still ways to make this happen:
Cashmere turtleneck – Orvis; labradorite earrings – The Jewellery Store London; silver shirt – Nordstrom; pewter loafers – Gentle Souls by Kenneth Cole; bag – Olga Berg; pants – Nordstrom
Two dressy garments, and a beautiful sweater, will go a long way. A true evening bag and some shiny shoes, and she’s pretty well set; her wardrobe “vibe” doesn’t change at all, but she has more options suitable to respecting those who wish to entertain her!
Similarly, her accessories don’t “feel” different, but she will have appropriate choices for celebratory occasions:
What are some of her “new clothes” options?
And just for old time’s sake, let’s look back at six other outfits from her current wardrobe – not necessarily something dressy, or even appropriate for winter…
Yes, I’ve included the silver 2-piece outfit again. I’m smitten with it, and I’m QUITE forgetful these days!
I’m tempted to whittle my current wardrobe down to 38 garments and see how many combinations I can devise…
Next, our very disciplined heroine who is a true fan of Rothko:
Her existing 35-piece wardrobe is pretty well balanced, and last month she bought a lovely 2-piece navy velvet outfit which put her in a good spot for the winter holidays… But there are always gaps, even in the best-planned wardrobe. It’s simply impossible to have EVERYTHING that you might be able to use, and thank heavens for that!
The first thing that I really thought this heroine might want is a cotton turtleneck – maybe because it’s been cold here lately, and I’m a fan of the usefulness of having something to layer under a sweater.
She also owns both a navy corduroy vest AND navy corduroy pants. There’s a blazer available too! This is such an easy and obvious decision, unless our heroine is utterly against blazers.
And finally, something that’s NOT solid. Since this heroine embraces the classics, a striped tee shirt seems an easy choice – so many ways to wear it…
Gloves – Echo; forest moss turtleneck – Lands’ End; Navy corduroy blazer – Alex Mill; tee shirt – J.Crew Mercantile; waterproof boots – Blondo; scarf – Inkanti
Her new wardrobe hasn’t changed much, although that striped tee shirt is a clear departure from the majority of her things!
And her accessories look very much like they belong to her! A clear focus in shopping can eventually lead to a wardrobe that reflects nobody but you, and that offers you easy and beautiful options every morning:
How will she wear her new clothes? She already knows:
Just for fun, let’s look at six other outfits from this wardrobe, to remember how many possibilities she truly has:
Thirty-eight pieces of clothing, to get through… maybe the rest of the winter?
Could you make it? I might well give it a try!
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I tried to answer the question “Can Vera Bradley bags be part of a Chic Sighting?” Let’s make it clear – ANYTHING can be chic. ANYTHING. Chic is more the person than the garments or accessories!
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These two wardrobes reflect just how enormously skilled you are at putting these collections together. I could spend a lot of time mentally constructing outfits from them. I’m thinking heroine #1 can get mileage from that dressy skirt by bringing it down a notch with a turtleneck, sneakers and a denim jacket. I’ve seen that look recently and I quite like it. Heroine #2 cannot go wrong with the striped tee. Kettlewell Colours has quite a lovely array of striped tops in gorgeous colors. I will wear my striped Breton tee with a print in the right color.
You’re so right about the number of garments our mothers and grandmothers wore. My mother was relentless in her hunt for high quality pieces on sale. She had a few coats. One or two dresses for “good.” She wore house dresses. Just a few. And for gardening, 1 pair of jeans and my dad’s old shirts. She DID have a beautiful collection of lingerie in the most beautiful colors: soft blue, lemon yellow, coral, red… because Dad bought beautiful sets for her for every birthday, Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
Ha. Looking back, I just realized those were dressy trousers not a skirt. Same idea. I can think of at least 3- 4 ways to wear them. You’ve taught me well, Janice!
They are just lovely. The Monet would be so beautiful on many people. I need a little more variety, so I’m more partial to the Rothko although yellow is not one of my colors. I do have navy as my primary neutral, and shades of green as accents so I have followed this one closely. It’s always so amazing to see the entire collection of clothes and accessories. Looking forward to next year already! Also, wondering what happened with the heroine who had just retired, and is she adding anything for the holidays and/or winter? Though most the wardrobe was on the warm cozy side to begin with. Our book fair at the library starts today. Have a good day ladies.
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2023/09/a-cool-weather-capsule-wardrobe-start-with-a-fair-isle-cardigan.html/
You do raise good points about being more content with fewer items. I am going to see if I can whittle down to 36 items of clothes for a full year, and 36 accessories. I think the accessories part will be easier than the clothes! Maybe 42/30 split? I usually do 22/20 clothes and accessories for a 6 week “season” so combining a summer and a winter wardrobe, knowing many accessories overlap, would work.
But would I be happy wearing this all year? I change every 6 weeks for variety and to stop me shopping for clothes I don’t need. I would have to really consider this carefully.
I was pretty happy when I did Project 333, but then I didn’t have 36 items for the whole year, it was only season by season. I’m not sure I could do it, although I am game to give it a try. I’m doing a ‘no buy’ year next year, so if there was ever a time, it was now.
The Monet painting is so beautiful, as is your collection of clothing. Love the dressy pieces that can be worn in so many ways.
I have been trying to swap out my clothes seasonally and buy or make a couple pieces that seem to round out what I’m wearing that season. Year one was rough, but year two is really good because looking back at my pictures I can see what I want to change/adapt for the next year. For example, last fall/winter my clothes all ended up being a little too dark. So I’m working on adding some lightness to things. And the comments in the look back… that got crazy! I have a friend that loves Vera Bradley, she struggles with seasonal depression and the pretty colors and prints give her a happy boost each day. I love that for her!
I really like the second set with navy, yellow and green. During the Black Friday sales I purchased a pair of Navy suade booties very similar to the Navy Nubuck booties you showed but mine have a lower heel which I need!! Great wardrobe and booties!! I’ve looked for a comfortable Navy booties for a long time!!!
These wardrobes are both so beautiful and came together so well! The Monet really makes me wish I could wear those soft, gentle colors.
My problem is that I’m too much of a magpie, and I tend to want to wear a slightly different color palette for each season. For example, I only want to wear coral in the warmer months and only wear purple in the fall. I’m not sure how to navigate this much discipline and still be happy with the variety. I think I truly will have to use a wardrobe tracker app and see if I wear as many different colors regularly as I think I do…
Fellow magpie here! if you are “rigid” about your color per season… it may work OK for you to buy pieces in the correct fabric/weight for your given season, and maybe use pattern for your transitions. From your example: sleeveless, summer-weight coral top; 3/4 sleeve fall weight purple top; short sleeve top in transition weight in coral & purple print. (For the record, I’m still trying to figure out what colors I wear in which seasons…my problem is sometimes i just want a splash! in the “wrong” season. so far, cardigans help with that – that spring green that you’re just dying for in the winter, pop that green cardigan over a grey or caramel long-sleeve tee)
Ezzy, your idea of using prints to transition between seasonal colors is really interesting! I think prints are an under-incorporated element to a capsule wardrobe, but I know not everyone is as enamored of them as I am. Print scarves are another great option I could see working here, at least for the correct seasons (I know even the most minimal scarf can feel too warm in summer in some places).
Of course we love to look at the $200+ silk scarves that Janice curates for us, but there are SO MANY inexpensive print scarves in a range of colors/prints/materials for our consideration. Every thrift store, ThredUp, etc. has a lot of scarves to choose from; most of my scarves were bought second-hand, which is a very wallet-friendly, ecologically sustainable way to go. And unlike with clothing, fit is not an issue, and the vast majority of scarves will not go out of style.
And a scarf with a wee spot or two is NOT to be overlooked – once its folded and worn, the spots may be completely unseen! We must learn to be more open to wearing things until they are legitimately worn out, right?
hugs,
Janice
I slightly differ my color palette for each season although my neutrals basically stay the same, denim, navy, brown/grey, white and then I change my pops of color each season, or at least alter the shade. In the summer I might favor a brighter pink and turquoise, but in the fall I want the muted berry shades and teals. I do have a few red/green things that I pull out after Thanksgiving for a couple months. I actually put some things away off season in a bin and it’s so fun to pull them back out after I haven’t seen them for several months to wear them again. Gets me excited about my closet!! I also have a handful of things that make up a dressy capsule mostly in navy.
Kristi, I LOVE that you put away clothes for a while and then pull them back out with excitement!
I think this is a brilliant alternative to the ruthless purge-then-buy cycle that many people seeking a more manageably sized wardrobe find themselves falling into. If the issue is not that you dislike some of your clothes, but simply that you have too much available to you at the same time, storing some of the items away seems like an obvious solution to me.
One of the consequences of a small wardrobe is that even if your clothes are of good quality (by modern standards), the items will wear out faster. If you have 3 black Ts that you like, why wouldn’t you put 2 of them away to use later instead of purging them? I know, purging FEELS GOOD when you do it, as does buying something new. But I sometimes think that the purge-then-buy cycle is the absolute worst and it seems to be something a lot of people get caught up in when pursuing minimalism without having a really specific, realistic idea about what 33 items they need to be happy…or even if that’s really a possibility for them.
Digging through a storage bin of sweaters the first week of February can feel like Christmas all over again! That’s my plan this year…
hugs,
Janice
Hello,
interesting comments. I photographed my seasonal capsules, each with 2 accent colors, and they are hanging next to each other in the closet. I don’t have space to outsource…
I have many scarves or shirts that combine my colors.
Once a year I take everything out of the closet and am happy about my favorite clothes.
I like the silver pants and shirt in the first group, but the link doesn’t take me to the item. Any ideas?
Hmm… I just checked the links and they were good. But that doesn’t help you! They are both from Nordstrom, and they are described as “Shine Oversize Shirt” and “Shine Wide Leg Pants.”
Hope you can find them!
hugs,
Janice
Both wardrobes are lovely. I definitely need to put together some capsules and wear heavily then make some decisions. I have recently figured out that some pieces I used to wear and just didn’t quite suit make excellent/stylish gym wear coverups. (the much younger women have similar coverups and I couldn’t see spending money on something just to get me warmed up for working out). I’ve also decided an old cashmere cardigan is a good “robe” at night. I sometimes need to look at things differently.
I don’t remember your post on Vera Bradley bags from 10 years ago (I was having a very bad time at my horrendously busy non-profit job that Christmas, I probably never got online for pleasure!) so loved taking a look at it today. I’m one of those people who wear mostly solid colored clothing so LOVE my VB bags! Nowadays I don’t have as many since I’ve found other lighter brands with better placed pockets (Vera has been skimping on pockets for several years now) but would love to see you revisit that post with newer patterns. Count me as someone who likes all your posts even when the colors or style aren’t for me!
I am really struggling with the capsule wardrobe concept. I love the Monet painting and the associated color wheel. I visited an LL Bean to try on the featured light teal chamois shirt and it wasn’t love. I loved the pink version, and the burgundy, the navy and the camel. Everything except the one shown. I probably like a dozen colors and neutrals. And I love fashion. Lots of styles and looks. So I like the idea of minimalism, but…
I get so many positives from this blog, but first and foremost is living with a well-curated minimal wardrobe comprised of things I love. Not only am I helping to control waste, but I love looking in my closet and seeing all the clothes I own nicely maintained. I get overwhelmed by seeing too much. If I walk in a store and the racks are jam-pack, I have to turn around and leave. Last count I had about 75 items; including coats, PJs, swimsuit and shoes for all year. I dare say, that Janice’s guidance and direction in building highly versatile, beautiful wardrobes has been a true inspiration! Thank you!
Thank you Cindy – I have about 80 items and was feeling that surely there must be somewhere I could eliminate. Some don’t get worn much – a couple of blazers, a couple of dresses – saved for funerals, weddings, etc…. Was analyzing the Rothko wardrobe and the various pieces and figured out where I go off the rails. My weakness is sweaters. Cardigan or pullover, doesn’t matter, I adore sweaters. My wardrobe could actually fit 38 pieces if I were to give up the sweaters. 🤣
Sweaters keep me from getting to a smaller wardrobe. Eventually, I will either tire of some of them, outgrow them, or wear them out. I’m not going to beat myself up about not getting to a specific number; I think it’s more important that we be really cognizant of our consumption and try not to be wasteful. Anything else is just a method!
hugs,
Janice
I tend to change my preferred neutral with the season: black in winter, charcoal in spring, navy in summer and espresso in fall. And since I like colour my accents stay the same all year.
I would love to be able to be happy with the Monet wardrobe. It appeals on so many levels. To walk into my closet and see these pieces would make my heart sing. For about a month. Then I’d be looking for more colour options. My compulsive mind and my magpie tastes are difficult to reconcile.
Thirty-six pieces would be totally doable for a season. But not for a year. So, still a work in progress.
Whoops, sorry! I was just responding to the question at the end of the blog regarding trying to get through the rest of the winter with 38 pieces. Since a lot of my clothing crosses seasons, I stated the number in my wardrobe. I certainly wasn’t implying that a specific number needed to be adhered to. Did not intend to give that impression.
Lily, your comment really stated some of my own feelings about capsules as well. I may never be a minimalist in the way many TVF readers are, but the big takeaway for me has been using the ideas to tighten down the items I buy so they adhere to a plan. I use the ideas to help me decide if I love a piece and if it fits my plan which is all about colour. I have removed many items that were the wrong colour for me as well as worn out items…though there are still a few ‘elephants’ hiding in the closet. 3 years now of weeding out with more work, but fewer wrongs remaining. I truly think my magic number will be a monthly capsule of about 32, but some will remain in the next month and others rotate out. The big thing for me was learning that I am happiest with white, cream, mint, kelly green, aqua, ice blue, pool blue, bright indigo, camel, copper brown, pale yellow and gold mustard. Nothing comes in unless it is one of those.
Way back in 2021 there was an Echo Scarf in the Six Scarves series. The colour palette was very similar to the Monet wardrobe, and I have used that as a base since then. Of course not as tidy and streamlined as Janice would do, but it has set me up for good choices!
While the silver outfit is beautiful, it is a bit too dressy for me. I will use the inspiration to find a darker charcoal metallic blouse and shoes that I can wear with jeans over the holidays. They should also fit in with the rest of my wardrobe, mostly navy and denim.