January 17, 2024
Since the temperature here is a whopping THREE DEGREES Fahrenheit, let’s help a heroine who is planning her summer wardrobe!
We’re going to try something kind of new – assembling a 4 by 4 Wardrobe by choosing four 4-piece clusters! Each cluster will give her at least 2 outfits, and all of the clusters will be able to work together. This is a good approach if she wants to shop (or closet-shop!) gradually, and if she’s finding that clothes in her favorite colors are proving hard to find…
She wants navy, she wants white, and she wants accents of bright blue – maybe this painting is a good starting place:
Blu su bianco, bianco su blu by Paolo Quaresima
One thing I’ve been assured – our heroine doesn’t like white leather goods! I can understand that; happily, our painting offers a wonderful tan accent that will be perfect for bags, shoes and sandals…
She lives somewhere that has occasionally VERY cool summer days, and she also wants to be able to start wearing this wardrobe in April… So pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a long-sleeved tee shirt should serve her well:
Navy poplin shirt – L.L.Bean; turntable silk scarf – Echo; striped tee – L.L.Bean; pants – L.L.Bean; cotton crewneck sweater – L.L.Bean; loafers – Birdies
She wears shorts regularly – even if it gets cool in the evening. Here again I’m sharing a quarter-zip top with you – it can be pulled on over all kinds of other things in this wardrobe…
Navy quarter-zip top – Lands’ End; bag – Zantany Concepts; cobalt tee – Lands’ End; white tank top – Lands’ End; navy shorts – J.Crew; sandals – Dansko
Linen clothing is about the only warm weather gear that’s widely available right now. Oh, and if you need a swimsuit, Lands’ End already has them in! (they sell tons of swim wear, and with good reason…)
So let’s grab a white tunic AND white linen pants right now, while we can find the sizes we need!
Turquoise tee – Whistles; earrings – Charlotte’s Web Jewellery; striped tee – Lands’ End; white linen tunic – Lands’ End; white pants – J.Crew; tan suede loafers – Trotters
At first, it seems like 16 garments is a LOT of clothing, but when you choose things 4 items at a time, they add up quickly. We’re already at her last 4 pieces!
I’m not really sure if the 1-shoulder top is going to suit every heroine, but the colors are perfect for this wardrobe so I took the chance… And a linen shirtdress can be dressy, can be worn over a swimsuit, can be worn as a duster over a top and shorts or pants… They’re really the kind of garment for which the “cost per wear” drops really quickly.
One-shoulder top – St. Cloud Label; sleeveless white shirt – Lands’ End; striped linen dress – Lands’ End; belt – Treasure & Bond; white linen shorts – Lands’ End; sandals – Easy Street Shoes
When you put it all together, it is a good wardrobe for someone who wears a uniform a lot of the time and doesn’t need a huge summer wardrobe. Or for packing… This would pack so easily…
And does it look right when you put it into a template and scan over it?
Why yes, she needs more accessories…
But she has literally dozens of ways to get dressed, no matter what’s clean, or what the weather is going to be:
I wish I’d been able to find more accent blues for this wardrobe, but I still feel like this turned out well… Should we do accessories for this heroine?
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I finally caved and put together a wardrobe in the colors of the iconic Burberry scarf. While I still don’t want to wear the scarf, the colors go brilliantly together!
Like this wardrobe? Save it to Pinterest!
PLEASE do accessories! I adore these colours and it’s stinking hot where I live 🥵
Love this! And most of these I already have in my closet. Except for the fabulous one shoulder top. Yes, please, more accessories.
It’s a warm 33° here in Florida. Y’all stay warm and safe!
How strange. This popped up on my Instagram feed the other day @art.infinitus I do believe, and I thought how striking it was. And yes, more accessories please!
You’ve stumbled on one of my best sources for paintings! I have a STACK of images saved on Instagram…
hugs,
Janice
Yes to accessories.
She might even expand this wardrobe if she has a wedding or two to attend. When the weather really heats up, she might not be as much in the mood for navy.
I LOVE this painting, and this is absolutely my wardrobe palette. Unlike you I’m NOT a neutral girl, and would wear much more of the brighter blues – so yes please bring on the accessories!!
This is my colours. Bought white Linen pants and a v-nick Cashmere sweater in that bright but soft blue.
I can shop my wardrobe for this in the summer. Though I would have a lighter navy and more turquoise.
You’ve got us all so well trained on Whatever’s Clean templates, my eye immediately translated this template to that format – dark neutral row, light neutral row, interest row & extras…. 😊
And hey, we’re supposed to break into double digits today. Heatwave! 🤣
This is great! In Fort Lauderdale yesterday, the temps were in the mid-80s! I a lot of this in my closet as well, but would change up the tone of the bright blue to more of a dark teal. Can’t wait to see the accessories!
Perfect travel wardrobe and I love the colors. How could you not include the one shoulder top? It’s perfect. One could easily have this wardrobe and expand it with a few French 5’s (the possibilities are endless), and really be set.
Started out at 19 degrees but going up to 48. Tomorrow we reach high 60’s. Layers layers layers!
This is wonderful! Navy and white are two of my neutrals and cobalt blue is an accent. If I had the upper arms for it, I’d wear the one-shoulder top in a heartbeat (très chic!). I’d also like a true cardigan instead of the quarter zip, but that’s just me. This is exactly why I’m watching your all blue wardrobe for the year.
We’re going on a cruise of Greece next spring and, yes, I’m already mentally planning my wardrobe. I know it’s a little obvious, but I’m seriously considering just blue and white. This wardrobe would be perfect for that trip as long as one had good walking shoes.
I have that Lands End dress in chambray, and it’s very useful and fits like a dream. I was thinking about getting the linen one, although I’m not keen on the wrinkles.
The best thing about linen is that everyone expects it to be wrinkled. Lol. I’ve sometimes taken my linen skirt and instead of folding it, crinkled it broom skirt style and gave it a little twist. That gives the wrinkles a nice, intentional vertical fall that swishes nicely.
Oh, now THIS is my warm weather wardrobe (with the addition of hot pink)! Yes, please do accessories! I love the scarf, but it only came up in pink/red. I also really love the one-shoulder top, but I have no idea how to wear one of those. Some of us are well-endowed and must have supportive undergarments!
P.S. I finally got my purple Converse, which I have immediately incorporated into my black/charcoal/purple/cobalt winter wardrobe. Bliss! Except that it is too cold to wear them right now, warm boots are needed for venturing outside.
Laurie, once the Echo scarf image link uploads completely …. you’ll see the other color options in bars to the right of the pink/red image. It’s there!
Well endowed and needing supportive undergarments – I hear you!!! I’m not sure where you live, but I found a supportive, non-painful strapless bra that stays in place even if I jog (to avoid rain from the car to a restaurant, not actual exercise) from the brand Wacoal. it’s their “red carpet” strapless bra – would recommend giving it a shot! Only strapless bra I ever found to work for me…
The other option would be to get a “convertible” bra and wear it with one strap…
Oh my gosh. Im looking out over my Lands End sale haul atm. All in navy and shades of blue. Talking about a timely TVF post! Over the past few days I’ve carefully taken items out of the box, piece by piece, deciding which to keep, send back, or think about. And another group is waiting in a LE bag. The chicory blue you featured before, Janice, is really lovely IRL. I picked up a short sleeve tee in that color to wear with navy basics. The LE ‘bag’ is holding some teal blue items that also can be useful with navy. Im also wanting to add some pizzazz, so accessories are next. Lots of decisions to be made! Hugs, kisses and big smile to all this morning. BTW, I am keeping some great soft cotton summer-weight wide leg pants in navy, at a great price.They feature side slits, so I will stitch those up a bit before wearing. So much fun!
Yes, accessories would be great! The colors of this wardrobe are just lovely together and could easily be expanded, so this is a perfect starting point.
What a fun spring summer wardrobe, accessories please. My summer wardrobe has a lot of white and turquoise and I tend to shop in clusters as well so this hit the mark for me.
This is perfect for our upcoming trip to Egypt. I’ve been shopping my closet, and determined not to buy anything new for this trip. I am using all these colours but have added a bit of red since I have a great red linen long skirt that I want to bring. Maybe I’ll scale back and take out the red. However, I would like to say that this might be the perfect wardrobe to use the Aspinal silk scarf with lions in navy, turquoise and cobalt. I bought when you used it for one of your year long projects but I’ve never really used it much. Here we go. I think we have a winner! :) Thank you.
This is perfect for my upcoming month long trip to southern states this spring in my Airstream. The second cluster is nearly identical to a cluster I have in mind. The white pants and shorts will be a light gray instead of white. I ordered the white sleeveless shirt from Lands’ End in December and it is still on back order Hopefully, when more spring items show up, they are readily available. I think the Dansko sandals might be something I request for my Fat Tuesday birthday in February. Thank you, Janice. Once again you have put together a perfect and fun post for those of us who love blue especially.
I love the way the plan works and the choice of items and like April I would prefer a cardigan instead of a half zip top so I could leave it open it close it up.
The navy looks like black to me and I only wear black for funerals. In my head I swap the dark navy nearly black for anything in the same style from my wardrobe that’s the appropriate weighr for spring summer. In Ireland that means medium weight clothing most of the year. Could shop my wardrobe for most if thus but don’t have a shirt dress thinking about making one Have a great shirt pattern maybe it could be lengthened to make a dress. Do you think it should gave a straight even hem or should it have a shirt type curved hem that’s longer at the back?
Laurie ; I read somewhere that people put sheepskin insoles in converse trainers to keep their feet warm. Maybe you could try that. Or perhaps thermal socks would work.
Would love to see the accessories expanded..
I also struggle with finding navy blue and not navy black (someone called it “blavey” once, lol). Lands End “deep sea navy” is perfect but their “indigo” is too dark. J Crew Factory has a “marine navy” that is great, too.
Well like everyone else I absolutely adore these colors… I am thinking of ditching some of my pink for spring/summer (or using it more sparingly) and wearing more turquoise, bright blue and green with my navy and denim. I have green/blue eyes (they change depending on what I’m wearing) and those shades always seem to look good on me. Also I have really rosy cheeks (almost rosecea) and I’m noticing the pinks play that up and the greens and blues tend to calm it down. Please do accessories Janice!! That would be lovely!
Kristi, in my case (and although my cheeks aren’t pink) I’m finding I now prefer softer shades of pink (eg. Pastel pink and blush) than the more saturated corals and hot pinks I used to love. Not sure why, but it’s doing the trick for me.
I love them too, but have gotten a couple of things and they just blend with my face. I think because of my pink cheeks I need more of a contrast. Still figuring it out! :)
Kristi – It sounds like we have similar coloring. Since it’s so rare to come across anyone else with changeable blue-green eyes, I hope I can ask you a question. The topic of yellows has come up a lot lately, and how everyone has yellows they can wear, but I’ve never found a single one that I can without it making me look ill. Do you have a favorite yellow?
I tend to stick to my turquoise, bright blue, and green core pretty much these days as well, but visually I’m being drawn to lighter, warmer colors in this frigid weather.
I can’t wear any shade of yellow; I’m “everyday sunscreen” pale, with brown/green eyes with a purple ring around the iris, and ash brown hair. (now with purple highlights!)
For years, my parents wanted me to wear “autumn” colors since I was the only person in the family with brown eyes; bless them, it never really worked!
hugs,
Janice
I can sort of wear a butter yellow color, but I don’t love it. So I had a shirt I tried last year but ended up donating it. I do love a mustardy yellow with turquoise and navy tees, but I wear it in a cardigan and that seems to work. My hair is an ashy blond/brown going grey. And when I even out the pink in my skin with foundation the skin color is pretty pale too. :) Janice, it’s funny my mom has brown eyes and dark brown hair (well grey now) but she’s a winter so no autumn colors for her either! She does lots of black like you.
Add me to the loving this capsule group! I also have something similar as my summer wardrobe (adding some pinks), although I would switch navy tops for lighter colors. With the summers being longer in the Mediterranean, I need to be prepared with work wear for really hot weather, so it’s always good to start thinking about it.
Cheers and blessings!
Those are exactly the colors I use. I try to avoid even lighter navy around the face
(harder in the winter) and have a few pink tops.
I’m on holidays here in Lao where it’s hot and I’m limited to 7kg in total. So fun to compare this lovely fresh ensemble to my packing. I used your “whatever’s clean 13” as well as “foolproof packing” templates, and it’s working so well. Thank you Janice!
Absolutely beautiful! Yes please on accessories. I have a lovely cross body in a denim color that goes with so many different combinations including to these colors. Love the bold one shoulder top, even though I wouldn’t wear it. I’d hunt for a similar bold stripe in a different style while dreaming of this one. So many possibilities with this collection.
I already dress in mostly blue! I changed my base neutral from black to navy over the last several years as things needed replacing. I have no qualms about wearing different shades of blue together! In fact, I have a handknit cardigan somewhere in the two shades of blue in the painting. Best to dig that one out soon!
Thank you Janice for today’s wardrobe :) I’m having one of those days where everything is annoying, but this post wasn’t!
Very nice spring/summer wardrobe, and would travel so well. For me, I’d switch out the navy flats with white leather sneakers.