July 7, 2024
Oh yes, she knew IMMEDIATELY that this was going to be hers!
She could see her color palette a mile away:
She goes to visit friends at the beach every weekend. Literally. If she visited the SAME friends, she could leave some clothing at their summer home, but she moves about and visits a variety of people…
If you’re not reading Ninth Street Women, you should. One of the things that’s really material to all five of their lives is the time they spend in the Hamptons. In case you think I exaggerate about everybody leaving the city to go to the shore every weekend…
Her first outfit just sort of fell into her lap…
scarf – Echo; earrings – Heidi Daus; tank top – Lands’ End; cardigan – J.Crew; clutch – OhSun; black cropped pants – Mango; sandals – Beautiisoles
And then – NOTHING. Any turquoise item she found either cost $500, or didn’t come in her size, or was 100% polyester. She refused to cave in on this, though. The clothing market will NOT dictate her preferences!
She decided to focus on black and white clothing, with turquoise accessories….
Earrings – Liz Oliver; scarf – Echo; sweater – J.Jill; bracelet – Nellou Jewellery; pants – J.Jill; ballet flats – Geox
Turquoise ballet flats were NOT to be found. Turquoise sandals were elusive, unless she wanted cheap rubber flip flops…
Nevertheless, she persisted!
scarf – Echo; earrings – Alon Diller; bracelet – Alon Jain; cardigan – J.Crew; dress – J.Jill; sandals – J.Jill
As she proceeded to fill her nifty weekender bag, she began to rather love the black & white with a touch of blue…
Earrings – Gemondo; scarf – Echo; black top – GAP; ballet flats – Sam Edelman; weekender bag – Béis; white linen pants – Alex Mill
When she start to pack, she realizes that there’s a lovely clarity about this wardrobe:
And it’s small size and limited palette does NOT mean that she lacks options for how to dress; she’s ready for gallery openings, a religious service, a picnic, a day sitting on the porch watching birds…
What occurs to her pretty quickly? She could easily swap out all of the turquoise for ANY OTHER COLOR! Brown? Hot pink? Bright yellow?
How much fun could that be?
love,
Janice
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The aqua really brightens this wardrobe. Nice!
What a great treat for Saturday! The accessories really make the difference. I don’t wear scarves, but the earrings are lovely.
This is just sooooo lovely! And easy to realize/implement?! Thank you!
Kind regards from Germany!
I agree, what a nice surprise for a Saturday. This is just lovely, and yes, would be easy to swap out the different accent colors. We are having a mini heat wave here in the PNW, nothing like other parts of the country are suffering through though. I shall be getting out my sundresses today. I love dresses when it’s hot out. Hope all is well with you Janice, and thank you.
Thank you for this treat today! The scarf is delightfully fun! As someone who loves and wears turquoise often, I have found nice turquoise sandals at Spring Step (like the Flexus Ceri or the Azura Starry sandals). Hoping your weekend is restful and blessed.
I love this scarf! (Okay, it’s the books. I’m always a sucker for anything bookish.) I know you’re telling a story/making a point about the power of accent-colored accessories, but a quick search on Lands End revealed a few more torquoise items. Not as many as I hoped, but a few including the cutest floral dress perfect for the beach. Not a complaint about your hard work and methods, just a FYI if anyone was smitten. I appreciate all you do!
I tried to avoid anything that was synthetic/designed for swimming. It would be so easy to do a BIG swimwear wardrobe in turquoise, wouldn’t it? I just wish that they had a nice cotton shirt, or a linen dress, or a cotton sweater…
hugs,
Janice
Good morning! Lovely outfits. I just added the turquoise tank top to my Lands End bag. That shade works well with my navy and grey basics. In my bag still rest some Starfish velvet pants! Great sale at the moment. Has anyone had experience with these velvet pants? We are sweltering in California atm, but planning for the holidays seems oddly satisfying….
I’ve never had a pair of these, but if I hadn’t JUST replaced my velvet pants, I would have grabbed a pair of these. Lands’ End is always so nice about returns; I never worry about giving something a try…
hugs,
Janice
So, thanks for the little nudge! I tossed a few more items into the Lands End bag, including pull on sneakers and a unisex zip sweatshirt. ALL on sale. And you are right about LE returns. Now with ‘Happy Returns’ it is a snap!!
Janice,
The chameleon in me immediately saw the colors ( for me ) two values of denim blue , stone ( my Summer version of white) with accents of yellow, pink ( just like the two shirt colors I bought last month) , and aqua blue. I’ll be packing next week for a few days of a family beach get away , and this was the fresh inspiration for colors that I needed. Thanks !
Oh, and while I think of it I forgot to add that when I want to wear a neutral bottom and 2 colors on top that are different from:each other, I borrow your trick of making the lesser volume of color in accent pieces of jewelry instead of in a top . For instance, if I wear stone colored bottoms and a periwinkle blue topper, instead of wearing an aqua or peach colored tank top under the periwinkle , I wear a soft white top , creating an inner column with the stone pants, and then add an aqua or peach necklace or pendant to bring in the aqua or peach in a much smaller amount . Finding a jewelry piece that includes the two accent colors would be perfection ! I would probably then also wear aqua or peach earrings or pearl ones , or even the same color metal as the pendant chain .
On the other hand, if the aqua or peach tank top is a very light value, closer to the stone pants value, also creating an inner column, I would wear it under the periwinkle topper , and then still add the jewelry . I’m under 5’3, so I have to play the elongation illusions with color columns !
As always, a lovely wardrobe. Thank you, hope you are getting some time for yourself. I love turquoise but it is hard to find in a linen. This is such a fun scarf with lots of possibilities. Have a great weekend everyone!
Black & white with lighter versions of the primary colors. Love riffs on either the primary or secondary colors. Would be easy to add the light yellow and pink as accent colors. Shrebee gives a great example of how to take an idea and make it her own.
This scarf has a lot going for it not just in color choices but also the design itself on many levels – bathers, their positions, the books. Lovely to look at.
Oooh I love this scarf and where the donation goes. Books I read as a young teen would be banned from me today. My office at the high school was in the library and the librarian and I had such fun putting out “banned” books and making sure everyone knew about them. It’s amazing what is considered unsuitable. Janice as always great job. That little turquoise clutch is adorable.
The aqua reads as a light turquoise to me…which I just adore. It would be lovely to pull the yellow, light green, red and pink from this scarf too. What a treasure trove of color to explore!
Message for dee who can’t find turquoise clothes. You could do what I did and dye something turquoise. I did it with dylon machine wash dye (there is a gsnd wash version too). It came out a beautiful shade of turquoise.
Last summer I had a favourite pair of white cotton jeans that picked up dye from other clothes in the washing machine. The jeans ended up looking dingy a bit beige and just plain ugly. So I died them bright turquoise. The thread stayed white being synthetic but it looks so good.
This summer they had faded so I dyed them again to be the vibrant shade I like.
Natural fabrics work best when dying clothes. Cotton linen viscose would all work well.
Good luck.
As only saw the post today, Monday hopefully dee sees my message.
Isn’t it lovely how a bit of colour makes such a difference to how the clothes feel. And how you feel wearing them.
Adore this look with turquoise and loved today’s pink version.
Susan
You know that I meant to write “hand wash”
Silly me for not proofreading before I send my message.
Susan
The turquoise accessories are gorgeous. This has got me thinking of a turquoise, silver and black colour combo for a dinner I’m going to – it’s on a boat!
I had a frustrating time today trying on linen/cotton trousers in Mark’s & Spencer. The short length should also mean short in all proportions. They seem obsessed with High Rise which on me is round my chest! The short length trousers are still 28/29 inches which used to be regular. They pool around my feet
However, I did buy a silver knit zip jacket in M&S. I found two gift vouchers in my purse that were nearly out of date. All it cost was the 10p paper carrier bag! Bargain!
I would keep the bottoms and make most of the tops pink and yellow. A combo I have always loved but seldom wear. It is nice to think about summer now.