November 1, 2024
Sitting up in my desk chair is still a challenge, so I’ve decided to attack these paintings “one at a time.” Well, it’s possible that my endurance will increase – we can always hope!
When you’ve reached the point at which you have 44 garments in your wardrobe, you actually should be in pretty good shape for getting dressed for most things in life. I started keeping track of what I wear every day, and since mid-June, I’m at about 40 pieces. With a bit of thinking, I’m sure that I could assemble a very workable wardrobe of 52 garments, which is our target for these six wardrobes. (12 months x 4 garments per month + the Christmas Day bonus four from when I announce the paintings = 52).
Oh yeah. 52 would also be EXACTLY the garments in the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe. Not that there’s any synchronicity to what I do!
So let’s start with this most beautiful of images:
Our heroine with this wardrobe has this assortment of tops – a wide range of tee shirts, shirts, sweaters, cardigans…
If you’re doing this kind of wardrobe starting with what you already own, things will shake out a bit differently. You might have a sweater or two that are pivotal to what you want to wear. Maybe you’ve found the perfect jeans, and so your pants are all set. When we start these wardrobes from absolute zero, we’re dependent on what’s available in the retail world from month to month…
Our heroine’s pants, shorts, skirts and lone dress look like this:
For me, I would start from scratch with a handful of scarves that all share a color palette, or at least a neutral. Even if you don’t wear your scarves all that often, you can use them as inspiration. We often use paintings as our source of ideas, and I don’t think any of us are actually wearing paintings…
If you do, give me a call…
If you have issues with your feet, you may never have this many pairs of shoes! And you buy shoes when you find the perfect ones, no matter what the season…
If you’ve got a pretty stable, adequate wardrobe, WHAT are you looking at in the month of November? Two things seem obvious to me – holiday party-ish things, and deep bitterly cold weather clothes!
These satin skirts are VERY popular right now – if they appeal, grab one and wear the dickens out of it, every kind of weather, until it’s destroyed. Other things that are current and easy to find right now – polo-style sweaters (US polo – the 3 button with a collar neckline), barrel pants and jeans (approach with caution, you can end up looking like a barrel!), and platform shoes. Only buy platform shoes if you can walk in them without fear. I’m a bit touchy about anything that might cause me to fall…
This heroine is grabbing her satin skirt, and planning to wear it with a recycled cashmere sweater! Yes, recycled! How cool is that?
To round out her November shopping, she grabs a timeless corduroy shirt, and an equally timeless chambray shirt. The snowflake brooch is lovely (and calling my name…)… Just to be absolutely sure that she won’t struggle to wear her new skirt, she checks Talbots and (of course!) finds the perfect shoes and bag:
corduroy shirt – L.L.Bean; snowflake brooch – Chicos; soft sable heather recycled cashmere sweater – L.L.Bean; chambray shirt – Caslon; bag – Talbots; flats – Talbots; warm boulder skirt – J.Crew
Do you know anyone who collects holiday brooches? When I was a child, I knew of at least one woman who got a new Christmas tree brooch each year. You could do this with snowmen, menorahs, reindeer…
What does today’s heroine have in mind for how to wear her new things?
While watching the World Series yesterday, I was reminded that being invited to five holiday parties does NOT mean that you need five new outfits. It doesn’t mean that you need anything new, actually. Do your friends only like you for your clothes?
Thought experiment: What did the hostess wear to a holiday party you attended last year? Do you remember?
love,
Janice
p.s. Ten years ago, we packed with a scarf as our inspiration. A scarf in somewhat difficult colors…
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Well, as it happens I do wear paintings. LOL 😆 I wear two images from Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and “Irises”, one of Monet’s “Lilies”, and one of Tiffany’s “Dragonfly”,though technically that’s a window and not a painting.
Anyway, this is a lovely for a soft or muted wardrobe and with small tweaks to the ivory, khaki and brown can skew either warm or cool.
I do find it hard to believe she doesn’t have a nice pair of chambray jeans.
I’m pleased that you’re now introducing the capsules individually. With almost 52 parts, we can enjoy ourselves better. The skirt and the new pieces that came with it are so beautiful.
I have a shoe brand that has a lot of colors. They fit my wide feet perfectly.
By the way, I still want some light blue pants or jeans in this capsule.
What is your shoe brand, Maria? I have wide feet and am tired of black footwear.
Legero Shoes, europe
This is just beautiful. The woman I imagine wearing this look has ash blonde (or stunning grey) hair and twinkling blue eyes. This is a palette I’m attracting to, but just would wash me out. However, I have a friend for whom this would be pure, soft magic.
This palette…all year I thought for sure that the blue wardrobe would be “the one” for me, but this one has been my siren song the whole year long. Yes I would also add some blue denim jeans to it, as well. But there is one more month to go! Hehe!
I’m definitely looking forward to this more leisurely look at the large wardrobes.
Best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery.
I have loved this painting. I would also have more blue bottoms and a patterned top to tie it together. I have a light sage green satin skirt which I would wear with a pearl trimmed jumper.
Focusing on one painting/capsule at a time turns out to be a good idea. There’s a lot to take in. The scarves you’ve selected for this absolutely bring the right touch.
While we don’t wear paintings, there are certainly some really lovely scarves (usually found in museum shops) that are based on paintings. My friends and I were really wowed by a Mondrian-based light coat we spotted on the street a few weeks back.
Great idea with the satin skirt. I snagged a pair of chocolate brown wide leg satin trousers last spring for a banquet. I’ve worn them with a silk blouse/ slingbacks or a tee and colorful sneakers. I like I them with a chambray shirt and boots.
And finally, it’s such a good idea to rely on brooches, earrings and/ or scarves for holiday dressing- though I do own a cotton turtleneck holly print from Talbots I’ve worn for 25 years of holiday seasons. It’s remarkably versatile.
I just realized yesterday that I’ve been wearing the same orange “boo!” tshirt most years for at least the last decade and a half… this year’s changeup was little bat stud earrings from the farmer’s market & a black knit buttondown. 😊. Not one trick or treater has complained!
And yes, I’ve been stalking those satin skirts. They oughta be clearance-ing any minute now…
Janice, you win the tough-chick award – with all that’s been piling on you, you barely missed a post! (I got behind because I assumed you’d surely take a week or two off…). Thinking healthy thoughts in your direction!
I echo the appreciation for the one-painting-per-post approach.
I adore this painting and palette and have enjoyed watching the building of this wardrobe.
As a Canadian, I’ve never understood why retailers would market satin skirts – as pretty as they are for parties – in the wintertime. They’re cold and they often end up plastered by static to one’s legs. I say we should bring back taffeta; it is still dressy but it has more of a matte finish than satin (shiny fabrics are embiggoning) and taffeta is less likely to succumb to Messrs. Static & Cling. 😉
I would love to see the winter coats the monthly heroines would wear.
I’m glad to see that I am not the only one questioning satin skirts. Messrs. Static & Cling…ha!
Yes, agreed! Another Canadian who doesn’t see the point of satin skirts in the winter. It would just be a big static mess.
Love the overall wardrobe though!
I live in Houston, and I agree. Most of the satin skirts I’ve seen would not flatter me at all bc they are too close to lingerie weight, too flimsy and not enough body. Yes to taffeta. I’ve made some beautiful things thru the years, both for me and my daughters.
I also like the idea of one at a time. Often by the time I get to the last one, I’ve forgotten what the first one was and find myself scrolling up and down more than once to write my comment. Senior moments! 😂 I agree with Ellen S about the heroine who would wear this palette. I like it, but it would totally wash me out. It is lovely for the right coloring. Wow, November already. Have a great weekend everyone.
I still love this wardrobe though they aren’t my colors. I think this heroine needs a pair of very light wash bootcut jeans. That would give her a different silhouette and color of bottoms. Plus versatile with her shoes and boots. I agree with the other ladies about showing these wardrobes one at a time so we can savor every bit of them.
Love the painting, love the wardrobe selections! I think I have most of what is needed to recreate these lovely outfits. I will agree with the other ladies regarding one painting at a time.
Hope you are slowly mending. When I broke my ribs, I did a lot of curtsying, as it was painful to bend over to reach for things.
Janice,
While I am a “warmie” in color undertone, I am also close to being a neutral one, so the cool beige tones might be workable for me. My hair is more of a sandy blonde, rather than a warm honey blonde, and the muted, less saturated hues here are definitely what work for me ! Great job, as always, especially with all of your current health impediments ! Prayers for your rapid healing are continuing !
I’ve felt pretty ambivalent about this wardrobe all year. But today I see it differently. This would probably be quite flattering for me, as all the colors are muted and cool in undertone. I’m always drawn to the beige wardrobes but most of the time they skew too warm for me.
Not the problem for me would be I like more color! My navy/dark denim and white works so well for me bc I can just add my colors and it all works together. That said, the yellow French 5 I added last spring/summer hasn’t been worn since Easter. But I don’t want to get rid of it. I needed the “cheery” attitude the yellow gave me.
7 broken ribs! Ai yi yiKes!
Wear barrel pants and risk looking like a barrel! Indeed. Yes I would. And I feel the same way about the wide leg pants.
If there was ever a wardrobe that could use a pair of light wash blue jeans, this is it! More soft blue in general would be welcome, and I would love to see more print tops because that’s my own preference.
The satin skirt and cute bow flats are probably not very workable for most regions of the US for the holidays, but perhaps a heroine in the southern hemisphere would find it perfect.
Oh yes, as for wearing paintings, I have had a variety of t-shirts with artwork on it over the years; I particularly remember a few Matisse and Escher t-shirts from my high school/college days. I haven’t purchased a painting-based scarf but there are so many pretty ones available. At the end of this post, you can see me wearing my favorite DIY upcycled t-shirt “painting” top based on the classic Mondrian geometric design:
https://www.withinaworldofmyown.com/post/making-summer-last-with-a-pastel-outfit-for-sia-piet-mondrian
Wow, Sally you are so creative! I do like the dress and cardigan outfit, too. And rabbits!
I guess I’m one of the rare people who does actually wear paintings. Besides a few hand-painted tops and scarves, I have a Van Gogh Peach Blossom scarf, Starry Night knee socks, and I used to have a Picasso-painting (don’t remember the name) silk bomber jacket.
I collect snowflake brooches! They are a great way to make almost anything I wear holiday appropriate! I like to wear a cluster of small gold and silver snowflake brooches on my hat, lapel, sweater, bag…..
Love this color palette.
I love that idea! A little blizzard just for you! I have a vintage rhinestone snowflake brooch I like to wear for winter events.
Hi Janice, well done keeping up with this new wardrobe. I am an Autumn and a little round 5’2″ so I always wear a column of colour. I would like to add a pale blue long skirt to this. Love browns with pale blue. Packing to go to Costa Rica next week. Taking these colours plus gold mostly all silk. Take your time recovering we will wait. I have Fibro… and have found it easier to work on my bed with lots of pillows and a laptop. If you can try this it might help you. ☺️
I’m a light ash blonde with blue green eyes so this wardrobe was made for me. I also have no discipline. I don’t think I could live in a palette this tight. It is beautifully soft and calming.
This wardrobe is luscious. Not my colors at all, but I enjoy the style and the mix of the four colors. I do agree about the need for light blue denim jeans. I think I’ll look for a good satin skirt for the holidays. Navy would be beautiful in my wardrobe.
I personally collect menorah broaches and Chanukah earrings, and I have two beautiful vintage Trafalgar crown pins from my grandmother and her sister that I wear on Purim every year (one or the other, not both together!). I wear a Seder plate, lol. Our very special one was hand-panted in all my favorite purples, pinks, blues and greens and became my first wardrobe inspiration item.