December 27, 2024
When the phone rang, she knew…
“We need you to come in for the weekend – Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. We need coverage for the full twelve hours each night…”
At least she doesn’t need to wear a uniform, but that almost makes it harder, at the very last minute!
Deep breath, remember what’s important…
And then figure out what’s clean!
She channels one of her favorite paintings, and decides that she’s going to just wear neutrals. Keep it simple, low-key, and focus on her support role…
She won’t really have to go outside – they’ve got a spare room for her in the facility. Although she will almost certainly take a few minutes to walk outside, every now and then…
Turtleneck – Alex Mill; earrings – Capucine De Wulf; scarf – Elizabetta; vest – L.L.Bean; boots – Vionic; suitcase – Bugatti; jeans – L.L.Bean
She packs a skirt, although she doesn’t have to… but on Saturday night, she will join at least part of the staff for dinner. The least she can do is make an effort!
Earrings – Adina Eden; silk scarf – Delinor; black cashmere v-neck – Alex Mill; chambray shirt – L.L.Bean; cream sweater – L.L.Bean; brown shirt – Alex Mill; wool skirt – Eileen Fisher; scarf – Kueen; brown corduroy pants – Lands’ End; boots – Coach; bag – The Sak; loafers – Børn
Before she gets changed and heads off, she takes just a minute to look at her weekend wardrobe, to make sure she’s got enough, and the right things. She realizes that she should wear her tall boots, but she’s not changing the plan now! They will fit just fine in her suitcase.
And she could pile in a lot more jewelry, but she doesn’t want to bother – she’s hurrying as it is, and she’s afraid the could lose something! Pearl earrings go with just about everything – certain everything she’s packing…
How will she dress? Pretty much any combination of these pieces would work fine, but she has things in mind:
She can’t complain – she has a job, she’s going to be home for both Christmas and New Years, she’s appreciated and yes, loved, by her co-workers.
The world is full of people working this holiday; never forget their contributions to our health, safety, and well-being!
love,
Janice
I applaud anyone who works over Christmas. This includes backroom staff who keep machinery and IT working. Those workers are often on 24 hour call out during holidays. I can imagine this scenario when one of our major UK supermarkets had an IT failure on 23 December affecting loyalty card discounts and Christmas food deliveries.
What an intriguing painting – it looks like a waterfall. The blue is quite deep like a Prussian Blue or Deap Teal Blue on my phone screen. Yet another intriguing colour combination to wear with brown.
I love the Elizabetta brown and blue scarf. My minimum jewellery would always include a necklace or pendant with an open neck shirt plus a ring. Perhaps, I might wear earrings more regularly in 2025. A brooch or a pin would look pretty on the black cardigan as a nod to the season.
Tweed coats might be having a resurgence from your Parisian observations. I gave a soft pink and grey boucle tweed coat which is perfect for the mild weather we are having at the moment.
This is such a wearable capsule. A retail associate at one of our department stores told me earlier this month that we will see a lot of brown available in the coming months. Yay! I’m discovering how much I love it. Somehow, it works exceptionally well with a range of neutrals and brights. Very nice with navy and chambray. When our heroine is home, I envision her grabbing a few bright scarves to change up the mood of her browns: flamingo pink, aqua, bright blue, warm mint, peach, tangerine, yellow. I’m also loving the Vionic booties. In winter, you never know when you’ll need footwear with traction. Oh, and tweed! 💙💙💙 So enduring.
Janice, I just adore this. It’s a great capsule wardrobe even for not traveling! I’m with Beth T….I adore the Elizabetta scarf and could easily wear this year ’round. I may need to add this to cart! I especially love how you have used brown, blue AND black as the basis for this capsule, as they truly work together and on their own.
As the daughter of two hoteliers, I completely understand this scenario, too. The holidays and work are not mutually exclusive concepts in this line of work either.
I also love the Elizabetta scarf. It’s amazing. And agree with Beth T about how intriguing the painting is. To me it looks like an island in the ocean with waves breaking on the shores. I wore navy/blue and brown/camel a couple of years ago. Still have most of it. It’s a lovely combo. There was a bear scarf and a vest from Alex Mill (?) that you had featured with your post. It was beautiful. One of my boys worked yesterday. He told me he “sold his soul” to work day after Christmas so he could have Saturday the 21st off for his brother’s wedding. I am very much looking forward to next week, the first of the year, and the new paintings! FYI – I had a green velvet pant suite from J Crew bought almost a year ago for the wedding. When I walked in the bride and her mother said it looked stunning. Thank you to Janice and all of you and your comments to help me pull myself together!
I also like the way these lower-key colours end up looking so classic and stylish together. Funny, I was imagining the heroine working somewhere like a treatment facility.
What a profoundly beautiful and striking painting. The wings of Gabriel? I appreciate the understated feel of this wardrobe. It’s relaxed but professional.
I felt that those were the angel wings too. That’s one of the things that I really like about abstract expressionism – you can see so many things, and they change with time.
love,
Janice
Long time reader, first time commenting … just want to express my appreciation for your amazing posts and outfits over the years. The original Common Wardrobe post remains my favorite post ever after all this time!
I’m glad you had a great time in Paris, and I wish you an amazing 2025.
Don’t be a stranger; I always want to hear from everyone about their likes, dislikes, preferences and dreams!
Love,
Janice