November 25, 2024
Our heroine has a couple of weekend holiday trips this year, and since the people that she will see don’t overlap (that’s handy!), she’s decided to really refine a small wardrobe and take it for all of her trips…
AND!!! She’s really being brought down by the darkness that comes so early in the Northern Hemisphere this time of year. Therefore, she’s decided that she’s going to work with bright colors to accent her chosen neutral of navy…
This scarf would be delightful in the heat of summer, but she’s going to make it work in November and December!
She’s chosen her accent colors from the many that she found in the scarf. Orange might be tough to find in November (oddly enough – isn’t it a fall color?), but she’s not worried… She doesn’t need to have every color with her!
Her travel outfit is BRIGHT! And warm, too. She will hang her navy coat in the back seat, in a garment bag, for when she wear a skirt. Otherwise, she’s going to be indoors almost all the time. Her family and friends won’t be hauling her out to sled-ride or ice skate!
and yes, you can put a pin on an insulated coat or vest – just do it carefully. I can generally get at least the insertion point for the pin’s bar to fit through a bit of quilting stitching, and then I poke the tip of the bar back out very gently. When you take the pin off, take a minute to smush the holes away…
scarf – Echo; snowman brooch – Talbots; earrings – Talbots; red vest – Lands’ End; white turtleneck – L.L.Bean; green cashmere sweater – J.Crew; navy knit cords – L.L.Bean; red shoes – Minnetonka
Knowing that she will be attending at least one even that’s solemn and that her mother likes her to dress conservatively for that, she makes certain that she has enough of her core navy to prepared. Offending people is NEVER in good taste, no matter how great you look.
Ornament earrings – Talbots; green earrings – Gold & Honey; blue lightbulb brooch – Talbots; fuchsia scarf – Elizabetta; necklace – Gem Bazaar Jewellery; evening bag – Jewel Badgley Maschka; pink cotton sweater – Boden; navy cashmere sweater – J.Crew; cobalt turtleneck – Lands’ End; skirt – Boden; striped silk shirt – Boden; Navy pants – L.L.Bean; loafers – Earth; flats – Vionic
The night before she leaves, she double-checks everything – navy opaque tights? navy sheer stockings? extra socks?
Picturing your outfits, and actually imagining getting dressed, can help you remember these essentials.
Enough brights to cheer up everybody she sees, and enough neutrals to be appropriate – just right!
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, I was adding metallic accessories to wardrobes to dress things up for the holidays. I’m still astonished by seeing shoes with SPIKES STICKING OUT OF THEM! A careless moment crossing your legs could require plastic surgery…
Definitely my kind of wardrobe; navy with accents is my style. I could wear any one of those outfits.
With regard to brooches (pins to you) going into quilted items, you are right, use the quilting lines, but I also put a piece of felt behind to support the pin and put less stress on the garment. I do this for knitted items too. In fact I keep a felt square in my jewellery box, ready to use. My bug bear is the sticky backed “badges” that you expected to wear at venues to show you’ve paid and may enter. They sometimes leave a sticky residue on quilted items, or waxed coats, that is impossible to get off. I refuse such stickers these days.