November 2024 “Six Paintings, Twelve Months” – First Painting, by John Nash

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:

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…