May 17, 2024
If only one could find clothing as vivid and compelling as this image:
Please note that this is just a detail from the much larger room screen that is the original artwork…
Our heroine loves her navy wardrobe, but she feels the urge to really get bright this summer! So she decides to work with her favorite image, and to add this palette to her classic wardrobe core:
Her core wardrobe already includes one green top… she’s ready to pile on with the green!
striped earrings – Canvas Style; navy earrings – Talbots; blush earrings – Kendra Scott; scarf – Vineyard Vines; hat – Nordstrom; striped top – Staud; striped linen shirt – L.L.Bean; Cardigan – Olsen; striped top – Lands’ End; sleeveless sweater/vest – Lands’ End; tank tops – L.L.Bean; green top – Boden; dress – Lands’ End; White sleeveless top – L.L.Bean; white shorts – J.Crew; navy shorts – L.L.Bean; linen pants – J.Crew; crossbody bag – Betsy & Floss; espadrilles – LifeStride; sneakers – Naturalizer; sandals – André Assous
This heroine knows that Boden is the place to look for a vivid accent, and a pretty dress! She takes her time, and assembles the following French 5-Piece Wardrobe for hot weather:
Green onyx earrings – Charlotte’s Web Jewellery; The Met Cloisters Garden scarf – The Met Store; gold clutch – Arms of Eve; Ceylon yellow top – Boden; green cardigan – Boden; floral top – Boden; linen dress – Boden; white linen skirt – Boden; green sandals – Talbots; gold sandals – Nordstrom
NOW, her wardrobe for summer reflects her love of classic navy and white, as well as giving her some striking options in accent colors:
As any clever heroine should do, our friend takes each of her new garments and assesses the versatility of it with her existing clothes. Don’t think of this as a chore – this is the fun part!
For your reference, this is the list of 13 garments that make up the three clusters in the Summer Weekly Timeless Wardrobe. (“for those of you playing along at home…”)
And this is the list of all 52 pieces of clothing – one per week for a full year! Who couldn’t get dressed with these items in their closet?
Don’t you get the impression that one could spend the entire summer doing themes and variations on neutral colors with accents? I may revisit this one last time, because there’s a new Echo 100 scarf that fits into this line of thinking perfectly!
love,
Janice
p.s. Is it ice cream season on your home? If you make ice cream at home, I can’t recommend The Perfect Scoop by David Leibovitz strongly enough! When I worked at Williams-Sonoma, any time someone bought an ice cream maker, I pretty much forced this cookbook onto them – and nobody EVER returned it.
He is also the evil genius behind our favorite homemade breakfast- Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Granola!
p.p.s. Eleven years ago, I was playing around with the idea of The Common Wardrobe (i.e. garments that pretty much all of us own), and ventured into navy with pink…
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This is so very pretty! I’d love to see a few more pieces in the sunny yellow, but it’s a tricky color to find, isn’t it?
Fabulous combination of items!! I just thrifted a Peplum Tee so similar to the print. On mine the yellow is more mango and the flowers are more dark purple. A wild card item for me color-wise but I think it is going to be versatile.
Such a pretty wardrobe. The accents are infinate. I would use periwinkle and teal.
I absolutely adore this. I’d still have to tweak the colors a bit (navy instead of black, something else besides white) but I love the green and yellow additions. I’d also like to see another piece with yellow – even a print… I found two green tops yesterday on sale – one piece, a green striped tee, I’d been looking for a couple of years and couldn’t find a style I liked in the price range I needed. You’d think that would be such a simple thing…. Love love love the Morning Glories. Thank you, Happy Friday to everyone, and have a good weekend.
oops just realized the above wardrobe IS in navy. duh… It’s been a long week. I have tons of navy….
Love this crisp combo! Although cream is better for me than white, in this case I would go with white. I even have an older Vera Bradley crossbody bag that has a polka dot pattern in navy, green and white that would be perfect for this palette.
As per today’s post, the four-color model of two neutrals (e.g., one dark, one light) plus two accents is an easy approach to a palette for travel, seasonal, etc. wardrobes. It works well with the 4×4 concept, and the four colors provide a lot options. If more color is desired, a third accent can be added to expand the palette.
Debra Indy,
I’m traveling next week for a 5 day “ long weekend” over Memorial Day, and that is the color formula with which I work , often throwing in that third accent color .
Great minds think alike! Formula is a better word choice. My first “capsule” wardrobe was Spring 1981 when I spent 6+ weeks backpacking in Europe. Mostly navy and tan with some print shirts. Pretty boring capsule but it worked from Malta to Inverness, Scotland, in all kinds of weather. Since then, my capsules have become more interesting and fun.
I love this navy, white and accent color wardrobes! This green is gorgeous along with the red/pink combos. These are my colors, I both like them and they suit my coloring. I will certainly be buying some of these garments along with some swim suits from lands end, the source of the Polk dot dress. Thank you for your beautiful work, effort and the accompanying stories.
Janice,
What a difference the French 5 makes with a variety in both colors and silhouettes ! Such cheerful additions !
Just an FYI Janice, I tried to look at the green Boden top in the first pic and it took me to the LL Bean button up sleeveless shirt.
I love this capsule!!! I have been trying to add more green lately as I always love it when I have it. But it seems like it has been hard to find. I’m going thrifting in a week with a friend and I’m hoping to find some more of it for summer. I have realized lately that I have the basics down pretty well but I’m missing some of the shirts like the ones in your additional group. Ones that have interesting details or a little bit of print. Ones that might help my wardrobe be a little more interesting this summer with less layers.
I thought Wednesday’s post with the orange and pink was made just for me! Now today I’m second guessing that. Perhaps this one is just for me! Last spring I assembled a French 5 in the yellow. Mine might be slightly cooler but very similar. I would really like to add green but find it to be tricky for me. I have a tie front t shirt in a very light sage with a white stripe and that works. I just purchased a bubble gauze dress in a darker sage. I’ve worn it a couple times and it “feels” right for me. These pretty apple greens as well as army/olive greens just do not flatter me! So, I’ll keep looking!
I really like this navy/white core. I have many similar pieces. And mostly short/ no sleeves which I appreciate as we are beginning to heat up here in SugarLand!
While this is gorgeous, there is more navy in the mix than I wear, but these colours are in my wardrobe. I have maybe 3 navy pieces, but at least 8 white. As for the accents, probably 6 or 7 each. I love the vibrant happy feel of this mix, but have to confess I also have about 6 light aqua and 4 pale lime items too. I really love this and would love to see this in a 12 month wardrobe.
Ooo… sounds lovely! I second that wardrobe/palette request!
I’ve been meaning to comment on these wardrobes all week and just now got the chance!
For some reason, I find the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe the most logical of all your plans, although I cannot explain why. However, I always wish they had more of the accent color(s). And this week you solved that with an additional French Five! This navy and white base is classic versatile for summer, and just the few extra accent pieces make all the difference in the world.
I also think it’s wise to include a “fancy” top like the navy-and-white striped halter top. It doesn’t have to be pricey, but a fancier top can, with the correct bottom and accessories, be worn to so many events (at least here in the Midwest): a nicer dinner out, a baby shower, or a wedding of average formality. A nice dress can also fulfill these needs.
Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into this blog, Janice. I’m a faithful reader over my morning coffee, although I don’t reply with appreciation as often as I know I should. I recently did a long weekend in Key West with a girlfriend using a personal item only. My wardrobe is now so well coordinated that when I saw the forecast had changed and I needed warmer clothes, I was able to instantly switch out my swimsuit and coverup for a long sleeve tee and light sweater without a thought, knowing the two new tops matched perfectly with the bottoms and other items I’d already packed.Thank you again!