August 12, 2024
For a heroine who loves ivory and shades of brown, who loves turquoise and coral accessories, who wants to just pack four outfits and then not think too much about clothes…
For autumn travel, she immediately sees her color palette:
She will probably travel in this outfit – these are the darkest pants that she’s taking with her, so it might be a good idea!
She doesn’t have much turquoise clothing, but for travel, she doesn’t need more than just a sweater that goes with everything:
Her vacation isn’t going to be particularly dressy, but she’s not going to want blue jeans… IVORY jeans, on the other hand, might be just right!
They don’t have any very formal plans, but a casual skirt might come in handy. These days, any skirt might be be dressier than what everyone around you is wearing!
Twelve pieces – if she wanted to pack a “Whatever’s Clean 13,” she could add a turquoise shirt, or a rust sweater, or a shirt in a print of two or three or four of these colors…
She has four outfits, and that’s really all she needs… except…
You’ve always got to consider the possibility that you’ll rip the sleeve off of your ivory shirt. (well, that’s sort of dramatic…) or spill red wine on your white skirt, so that it’s at the laundry for two days. Having a wardrobe with you that intermingles, and will pick up any slack for “out of commission” garments, is handy:
I once went on a six week business trip. Six countries. The first day, in the first country, I tore the bottom two inches off of my ONLY lightweight shirt…
I hemmed it (see, that travel sewing kit IS useful!), and wore it as a cropped top for the rest of my trip. In retrospect, I should have just gone shopping!
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, we experimented with a Four by Four wardrobe in black, grey, camel and cream. These colors are perfect for a small wardrobe!
Memee says
Love this!
Regina says
Absolutely love this wardrobe! Classic and timeless …wonder how it would look adding a pair of jeans?
Decogear says
Taupe and Cream! This combination is so soothing to me, and your ability to find the perfect earrings is magical.
Kim says
Love the simplicity of this travel wardrobe! Just beautiful.
Jeri B says
Beautiful! I have been hoping you would do something with this scarf. I am adding more ivory and tan and caramel to my wardrobe. This ties it in perfectly with the turquoise and coral I already have.
Pepper from Minnesota says
Hmmm wouldn’t that rust tshirt be lovely in the Denis wardrobe? Wonderful capsule!
Maria says
very pretty and classy.
Since I’m a bit clumsy, I would swap pants in rust red.
April in SugarLand says
I nearly always feel like the beige/cream/camel wardrobes are drawing me in and trying to sway me their direction (these are not flattering colors for me). Todays is just lovely and I would love the personal coloring for this. I just went back and looked at the Klee wardrobe again -it does not draw me in- and perhaps I’ve discovered something for me. The yellows and greens feel too bright and too dark while the blues and pinks feel too too pale and blah. I think I need the mid range of colors and slightly muted. Now to consider that for my Navy and white basics!
Shrebee says
Janice,
Love, love, love, this concept of 4 interchangeable outfits and then do remixes ! However, I would probably narrow down the number of pairs of shoes to two . For my purposes, as I am bottom heavy, I might need to exchange the 3 light colored bottoms for 2 in the darker tan value, while retaining one in the lighter value to create an inside column with a light top, and then add an accent color topper for a Whatever’s Clean 13 . Whew, that was a long winded sentence ! That scarf is gorgeous ! I have a long Labor Day packing need coming up, so once again, thanks for the inspirations !
Dee says
Love this! The scarf is to die for. I find my own personal wardrobe going this way with creams and camels, using turquoise, coral, violet and green accents. Love the simplicity. You have given me more food for thought.
Sheila says
While I always love the look and idea of the camel and cream (and even adding gray as you’ve done on occasion) I would look like death warmed over. For me I would sub out navy, and the coral and turquoise would need to be a little deeper colors. More saturated? Some of you are much better versed in the proper terms than I am! Have a lovely day.
KC says
I would wear this whole collection :)
Sally in St Paul says
This capsule is definitely one of those “gorgeous and well suited for someone who isn’t me” wardrobes with the dominance of ivory pants pieces and the particular camel shade of the buttoned sweater-jacket (how it looks on my screen anyway). But if I had to tweak it to make it work for a vacation with the least number of substitutions, I could:
-switch out blue jeans for the ivory
-switch out brown pants that coordinate with the brown sweater jacket for the ivory
-ditch the camel sweater-jacket and substitute as many coordinating colorful scarves as would fit in my suitcase in its place so I could more happily spend so much time in neutral clothing :D
Sheila says
That last one cracks me up – thank you Sally!
Susan says
Beautiful capsule, but as someone who can’t wear taupe/beige etc, could you do a similar capsule, but for someone who is a “winter”. I fall solidly into jewel tones and also have white hair.
Amanda Hudson says
Beautiful! I purchased this scarf as soon as I saw it. Looks great with taupe and pinks. Right up my alley.
Amanda Hudson says
And grays, I meant to mention!
Mary says
This is amazing, sophisticated, and how I think my ‘fantasy self’ wants to dress. In real life, I live in the PNW, have 2 muddy pups, and an almost miraculous way of spilling stuff on myself! 😂
However, this is still useful in the extreme, as now I know the fantasy woman I may buy things for but never actually wear.
Lily says
Another great Echo scarf. Very wearable color scheme. If I were to choose one scarf, from the collection, I would pick Pippa Drylage’s crane scarf. I love the image and the denim blue color scheme would be useful for me.
Louise Jennings says
Deliciously simple and sophisticated choices.
Deb Jones says
Newbie here. I seem to fall in love with just about every capsule you come up with! This one is so gorgeous. I can imagine walking down the streets of Italy and feeling very chic!
SewLibrarian says
This scarf reminds me so much of some of the older Hermes scarves. It’s beautiful, and the wardrobe itself is also beautiful and beautifully coordinated. I would look terrible in it, but my daughter probably would look great. She is a fan of Kendra Scott jewelry, so it would all go together. I second Susan‘s idea of asking you to do a wardrobe with white and “winter” colors.
SewLibrarian says
Coming back to say actually, for Autumn I could see using a light gray for the neutral rather than white. To me white says Summer or maybe Holiday, but not Autumn.
Becky says
I absolutely love this capsule!! Love having light neutrals, and love the combo of turquoise and coral. Just lovely.
Ellen S. says
This is just wonderful and I do love these colors! I look forward to seeing more dresses too!