June 24, 2024
Okay, I think this is spectacular:
And I know the woman who wears this scarf – she embraces the primary colors, with black and white, and lives with a wardrobe that’s truly foolproof. This is her palette:
Packing is simple for her, as is getting dressed every day – reach into closet (in dark, with eyes closed – why not?) and get dressed…
But she does want to be sure that she doesn’t pack four dresses (well, maybe…) or four pairs of shorts! So she start with complete outfits. More and more I’m thinking that packing outfits that are part of the same family is a great way to assemble a travel capsule wardrobe – do you agree?
An outfit that can span moderate to warm temps is sensible:
scarf – Echo; earrings – Lala Salama; cardigan – Nine West; blue stone bracelet – Lala Salama; sleeveless top – L.L.Bean; black linen blend pants – Mango; tote bag – Alex Mill; sandals – Beautiisoles
Something for a hot day, but prepared for air conditioning punishment:
scarf – Echo; budgie earrings – Ninemoo; cardigan – J.Crew; tank top – J.Jill; shorts – J.Jill; shoes – Keds
When she’s feeling bold, but still wants to be comfortable:
scarf – Echo; earrings – Toolally; yellow sweater – Boden; cropped pants – Boden; tote bag – Kate Spade; sandals – Andrew Stevens
And when she returns to her neutrals, with some snazzy accessories!
Earrings – Ross-Simons; scarf – Echo; black top – GAP; baseball cap – Lele Sadoughi; red bag – Nina; ballet flats – Sam Edelman; white linen pants – Alex Mill
This is the travel capsule wardrobe, which is of course just her collected outfits:
Here’s how it fits into the Perfect 10 Packing template:
Expanding this wardrobe would be so simple:
- a black cardigan, for certain!
- a black & white striped top of some ilk…
- anything else blue – maybe a floral skirt in a print that includes all of these colors (I looked and LOOKED for this…)
- a red sweater or jacket,
- a print top in yellow and red, or yellow and blue, or red and blue etc. etc…
I suspect that a heroine who has been fond of these colors for a few years might already have all of these things in her closet. If her travel plans suddenly expand from five days to ten, she can manage!
And how will she wear these things? Pretty much any way she wants:
I can see the appeal of a wardrobe like this – not necessarily these colors, but in this kind of foolproof palette. What other color combinations are impossible to do badly?
love,
Janice
p.p.s. What are you currently reading? I’m in the midst of Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel. If you’ve ever wondered about all of the Abstract Expressionist art that I use so often here on The Vivienne Files, this will introduce you to five of the women artists, as well as some of the men who were also part of that movement. It’s SO WELL WRITTEN – it just flies along…
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This wardrobe is spectacularly vibrant and just made me happy viewing it. What a great way to start this sweltering day in the South!
I’m not wild about the scarf, but the wardrobe I could live with. Love the vibrant colors. Happy Monday!
I don’t wear bright colors, but I could see this scarf paired with periwinkle. It wouldn’t be an exact match, but I think the mix would be quite striking! You do find the most amazing scarves!
As someone who wears A LOT of periwinkle I agree! I wear it with orange, magenta, royal blue
Sheila,
I have one periwinkle shirt, which I am happy to be wearing as a Summer topper over a white top or tank , but I find it an impossibility to locate any prints to wear with it that pick up on the periwinkle ! A rather elusive color ! And I need softer tones to wear with it . Maybe with olive green on the bottom as well as beige, or stone neutral bottoms ?
https://www.theviviennefiles.com/2023/11/a-travel-capsule-in-navy-and-blues-start-with-art-the-blue-garden-by-lilian-muheim.html/
This was my original inspiration. The Larkspur color is gorgeous.
L.L.Bean (https://shopstyle.it/l/ccOhL) has over a dozen tops in Larkspur – what a great color!
hugs,
Janice
My summer wardrobe colors, though I use a different yellow and navy blue
An easy formula to work with – 1 dark neutral, 1 light neutral, and 3 harmonizing accent colors. Go bold or muted, whatever colors work for you. This post shows that starting with solid colors is the way to go. Then expand with more solids or prints. Happy Trails!
This is exactly how I packed for my month long sojourn this spring. Once I compiled about a week’s worth of outfits, it was easy to mix and match from these outfits for the remainder of the trip. This was all extracted from reading TVF for years! I am rereading Cannery Row. It has been years since I last read it and with recent travels to Monterey to visit my son and his family, it called for revisiting.
Janice,
I really like this idea of packing by starting with 4-5 complete outfits and then remixing ! I always include 2 neutrals and 3 accent colors, but keep all of the bottoms in the neutrals as I am bottom heavy. When I get to my goal weight, I intend to wear a pair of colored shorts, just to say that I can !
Shrebee,
Rooting for you and your colored shorts!
Bren,
You just brought a smile to my face, thank you ! That goal — I’m working it !
I think if you want to wear coloured shorts, you should give them a try no matter what your weight. Well tailored clothes that make you happy are bound to make you feel and look good regardless. Who knows, if you want to lose more weight, it might be motivating. And at the same time, maybe if you put them on and like the looks of them, you will find you don’t need to worry about your weight as much as you thought you did.
This was lovely and fun and so versatile. If I added a few more tees I could get by for quite awhile with this. The scarf has a great story behind it and $$ goes to a great cause. Thank you for introducing me to the Echo 100 series.
This one sparked a couple outfit ideas for the week ahead. I’m not a fan of yellow, coral would fill in for me.
Love the zing!pop! of this wardrobe. I don’t love the scarf.
My husband and I both fondly remember an outfit I had that was either on me, or in the laundry basket: Navy capris, lime green tee, and salmony-coral cardigan. I still love that color combination. Turquoise, cream, and dark brown also were in the mix in those days. Seems like good clothes were easier for me to find back then.
Another zingy wardrobe combination I’d love to try: Magenta, tangerine, and turquoise.
I love your color sense!
It’s a compelling scarf. The capsule is too vibrant for me.
I’m reading Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. It’s a slog. Heavy on philosophy/religion. I’m working my way through all the Pulitzer Prize winners for fiction. Evidently, to win the prize, the work must be soul crushingly depressing.
Sounds like a fun reading challenge! In today’s world of algorithms we’re often fed only variations on a theme … I applaud you for going outside the box!!! I’m reading “the sound of the future” about voice technology (Siri and more), and it is a slog for me too. We’ll finish reading though! Cheering for you!!
I’m sorry to hear that you aren’t enjoying it. I found it to be meaningful and memorable.
But each to her own taste!
Janice,
While I love the totality of your template , the layout puzzles me . Why not just put all like items in a row , like the 3 toppers of 2 cardigans and a sweater, the. 3 tops ( done) , and the 4 bottoms in a line ? I guess my simple brain prefers just that — simplicity, for ease of recall.
Actually, I think the pieces were told to me in this order, and I just followed her lead! I kind of like this, because it makes it clear that the first three rows are the essentials, and the last three garments are extras. I may re-design this at some point to be more clear though, it might be easier to use!
hugs,
Janice
I didn’t realize that! Based on the larger amount of yellow vs blue, I would have thought the yellow sweater was more essential than the blue cardigan… It does make sense though, from a mood and versatility perspective. Thanks for sharing!
Frankly, packing whole outfits that mix and match with each other are the only way !
I love this….and if one piece or two get soiled, you’re ok.
I liked the first 4 outfits. But the remix continued to show me that I can’t color block! If the skirt/pants are a different color than the 2nd layer top, the tank or t shirt need to be white. Then a scarf or necklace to tie those all together. I just can’t do 3 different colors. It makes me start to twitch and then I have to go change!
As much fun as a new box of crayons! Such a happy wardrobe.
Late comment here, I love how different the looks can be with so many accent colors. The one thing is that for a true summer wardrobe, 3 sweaters is too much for me. I would swap one for a chambray/linen shirt and one for a dress. But that’s just because we get a really hot summer in the south of Spain and barely have really cool AC!
The other day I saw someone planning for a trip to France in October. Beware that the summer is starting slow this year, you might find it still waves through fall! Anyway it seems true seasons are just a memory in terms of weather. Not a Borg, but we will adapt!
Cheering for Shrebee as well, go girl!!
I also pack this way. For my last, 2-week, trip I planned several outfits with pieces that I knew would mix and match. It worked great. For summer I always have a dress and a skirt too.
I love this theme of a dark and a light neutral plus 3 colors. That’s pretty much my wardrobe. For summer I habe white and black or white and navy. My brights are fuschia, royal, aqua and purple, but I usually only take 2 on a trip.
Wonderful accessories as usual!
I adore bright colors with black and white and color blocking. On my way into the museum where I am a docent, I encountered a woman wearing a two piece Mondrian-inspired outfit. It was wonderful, and I told her so!
On travel packing – I think we all know that layering is a good idea. I have also found that you should plan at least one outfit for warmer weather than you expect, and one for cooler weather than you expect. I went on a Rhine cruise in early May 2022. It was warmer in Strasbourg than it was in West Palm Beach. I really wished I had a pair of cotton capris.
As the Book Goddess, I need to give you a book recommendation. This month, my book club read The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. A great story which makes you think about identity, gender, and race.
I recently bought Five Women and I am really looking forward to reading it now.