Our heroine from yesterday has a tidy and very well-planned wardrobe, after her few additions to what she used for business travel. But she’s in pretty serious need of some accessories, I’d say!First off, let’s remember what her inspiration is for her wardrobe:
Our heroine finally got her well-deserved (and long overdue!) promotion, and picked up a few more garments to finish up her wardrobe. She’s going to be traveling a LOT…
But she didn’t buy anything BUT garments – no more shoes, scarves, nor jewelry. That’s just not fun!
lip stain – Yves Saint Laurent BlackRed Code; nail colour – Chanel Pirate; jacket – L.L.Bean; brown earrings – Latelita London; tee – Ojai Clothing; sweater – Uniqlo; blouse – Blue Les Copains; ivory blouse – Equipment; watch – Skagen; leopard scarf – Saachi; tortoise earrings – Vanda Jacintho; silk scarf – Hermès Les Legends de l’Arbre; teal shirt – Lands’ End; cardigan – L.L.Bean; dress – Dusan; labradorite earrings – Heather Hawkins; necklace – Nest; bracelet – Auree Jewellery; sweater – L.L.Bean; teal tee – L.L.Bean; ivory sweater – Lands’ End; teal cardigan – L.L.Bean; clutch – Inge Christopher; twill pants – L.L.Bean; suede skirt – Vince; high-waisted pants – Uniqlo; corduroy pants– L.L.Bean; handbag – Orciani; boots – Marc Fisher Ltd.; pumps – Athena Alexander
Although she’s made her reputation at work for her empathy and her ability to provide coaching and correction in a warm and constructive manner, she is at heart also a really organized woman! After a bit of thinking, she decided to try to have a structured approach to her accessory wardrobe, in the same way as which she had planned her clothing. This is her plan, designed specifically for her needs and preferences:
brown earrings – Latelita London; labradorite earrings – Heather Hawkins; tortoise earrings – Vanda Jacintho; bracelet – Auree Jewellery; watch – Skagen; necklace – Nest; silk scarf – Hermès Les Legends de l’Arbre; leopard scarf – Saachi; handbag – Orciani; clutch – Inge Christopher; pumps – Athena Alexander; boots – Marc Fisher Ltd.
In her methodical manner, she looks at her color scheme and realizes that she doesn’t have a classic pair of cream earrings; cream = PEARLS to many of us…And she loves her lone bracelet so much that she knows that she would wear a couple more – maybe one that blends shades of brown, and one that is mostly brown but picks up her teal accent color…
(This is a very efficient and effective way to fill in “spots” in your accessory wardrobe: What are your main wardrobe colors? Do I have a (bracelet, pair of earrings, etc.) in that color, or in colors that will integrate that color with my other clothes?)
earrings – J.Crew; first bracelet – Alexis Bittar; second bracelet – Sydney Evan
After she searched high and low for the perfect bracelets, and her simple but fun earrings, her plan looks like this:
brown earrings – Latelita London; labradorite earrings – Heather Hawkins; tortoise earrings – Vanda Jacintho; pearl earrings – J.Crew; bracelet – Auree Jewellery; watch – Skagen; brown bracelet – Alexis Bittar; labradorite bracelet – Sydney Evan; necklace – Nest; silk scarf – Hermès Les Legends de l’Arbre; leopard scarf – Saachi; handbag – Orciani; clutch – Inge Christopher; pumps – Athena Alexander; boots – Marc Fisher Ltd.
She’s working from top to bottom on her Accessory Wardrobe plan for our purposes, although I think that most of us would have started with shoes…A brooch can make SO MUCH difference. This looks like it’s going to be a big year for floral fabric brooches, so she finds a perfect one… And a couple of amazing necklaces, too!
(regarding fabric brooches – don’t get sucked into paying hundreds of dollars for one of these unless you have lots of extra cash, and you find something that you absolutely adore; there are going to be literally thousands of these everywhere for very modest investments…)
fabric floral brooch – Chanel; brown necklace – Alexis Bittar; pearl necklace – Judith Jack
She has so many more options now than she had just a few weeks ago – and her accessories all look so lovely together!
brown earrings – Latelita London; labradorite earrings – Heather Hawkins; tortoise earrings – Vanda Jacintho; pearl earrings – J.Crew; bracelet – Auree Jewellery; watch – Skagen; brown bracelet – Alexis Bittar; labradorite bracelet – Sydney Evan; teal necklace – Nest; fabric floral brooch – Chanel; brown necklace – Alexis Bittar; pearl necklace – Judith Jack; silk scarf – Hermès Les Legends de l’Arbre; leopard scarf – Saachi; handbag – Orciani; clutch – Inge Christopher; pumps – Athena Alexander; boots – Marc Fisher Ltd.
She really loves her 2 scarves, but she knows that a couple more could help a lot – especially with her knit dress! She might be able to find a scarf that she could wear with her dress, that would also bring her favorite teal color into the mix. That would open the door for carrying her teal handbag, or wearing labradorite earrings…. hmmm….
birds silk scarf – Aspinal of London; scroll print scarf – Liberty London
This is shaping up nicely! Our heroine is pleased…
brown earrings – Latelita London; labradorite earrings – Heather Hawkins; tortoise earrings – Vanda Jacintho; pearl earrings – J.Crew; bracelet – Auree Jewellery; watch – Skagen; brown bracelet – Alexis Bittar; labradorite bracelet – Sydney Evan; teal necklace – Nest; fabric floral brooch – Chanel; brown necklace – Alexis Bittar; pearl necklace – Judith Jack; silk scarf – Hermès Les Legends de l’Arbre; leopard scarf – Saachi; birds silk scarf – Aspinal of London; scroll print scarf – Liberty London; handbag – Orciani; clutch – Inge Christopher; pumps – Athena Alexander; boots – Marc Fisher Ltd.
Now, the leather goods! She’s got a lovely handbag, but she could really use a bigger tote bag. A pair of loafers would be useful on days when she has a lot of walking to do. She might also want a pair of dressier flats to wear with her sweater dress, and nice riding boots would look absolutely perfect with her suede skirt…
tote – Tumi; brown loafers – Arche; ballet flats – Nine West; boots – Cole Haan
Oh, THIS is going to make so much difference. She’s going to travel a lot, and those 16 pieces of clothing are going to be worn frequently, but she can change up the feel of her outfits a lot with these accessories in hand!
brown earrings – Latelita London; labradorite earrings – Heather Hawkins; tortoise earrings – Vanda Jacintho; pearl earrings – J.Crew; bracelet – Auree Jewellery; watch – Skagen; brown bracelet – Alexis Bittar; labradorite bracelet – Sydney Evan; teal necklace – Nest; fabric floral brooch – Chanel; brown necklace – Alexis Bittar; pearl necklace – Judith Jack; silk scarf – Hermès Les Legends de l’Arbre; leopard scarf – Saachi; birds silk scarf – Aspinal of London; scroll print scarf – Liberty London; loafers – Arche; boots – Cole Haan; handbag – Orciani; clutch – Inge Christopher; tote – Tumi; ballet flats – Nine West; pumps – Athena Alexander; boots – Marc Fisher Ltd.;
Now, when our heroine looks at her completed wardrobe, it feels much more personal and uniquely hers. Accessories make so much difference…
She now decides to re-visit her outfits that she assembled yesterday, and see how much more interesting everything looks!
Anybody who handles their purchases with this kind of discipline well deserves to be a Global Manager, don’t you think?
love,
Janice
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I like the organized approach to selecting accessories. It makes it easier to think about what would actually be most useful and therefore used more often. Thanks for the template.
In the color wheel there is a sliver of burgundy that in the original post was picked up in the nail color and lip stain. Would you consider doing another 4×4 wardrobe that uses the burgundy that could be combined with this wardrobe? Perhaps using the lovely Dockery Robin Silk Scarf as the inspiration – the colors could include burgundy, teal, olive and cream.
Your idea has been placed on the list with a big star beside it! (I owe you…)
Happy New Year,
and a big hug,
Janice
That Dockery Robin scarf continues to tempt!! – nancyo ps, on the leather goods step it looks like you didn't identify the loafers?
Fixed – today's blog post is definitely a group project! My only excuse is that fibromyalgia makes your brain foggy?
Happy New Year!
hugs,
Janice
Janice,
What restrained elegance here, with lush textures and prints ! I WANT this collection of everything ! My colors, my style of dressing ! Placing the accessories into an organized format has never occurred to me, I have just sort of collected in the different categories as I have gone along, but that also then places a limit on the number of pieces so that when all of the boxes have been filled, that is quite enough to satisfy ! Great idea !
When I pack for travel , I often use your trick of just changing the accessory color family , but wearing the same neutral garment pieces . I have loved that Aspinal bird scarf ever since you first presented it sometime ago ! And a definite yes in seconding Lena’s request for some burgundy pieces in this capsule ! I cannot express how much I am adoring these two posts!
I think I'd love to see this in a few more color schemes.
For instance, this fabric brooch is definitely expensive, but it's tempting me anyway. I already own Hermès Under the Waves scarf and enjoy snorkeling whenever I can…
https://store.moma.org/jewelry-accessories/jewelry/sculptural-fabric-brooch/125133-125133.html?cgid=jewelry-acc-jewelry#start=8
Happy New Year!
Sara K.
That brooch is AMAZING! I think that when something has real "whappage," all rules are ready to be broken! If you wear something a lot, get great pleasure every time you look at it, and take care of it, there's not reason not to indulge. I see a fair number of older Chanel fabric brooches available for resale, so apparently they WILL hold up if you are careful.
Happy New Year,
and encouraging the indulgence hugs,
Janice
OMG, that is *incredible*. Please buy it and wear it every chance you get.
So very pretty! I love the silk animals scarf! I know you had to postpone your Paris trip a couple of weeks ago, just wanted to say that I hope you are feeling better. Love your blog so much! It feels like a little treat each day to me :).
I'm much better, and I've rescheduled my trip for Valentine's Day – Belovedest is going with me! It all turned out quite well, I'd say…
hugs,
Janice
How lovely, how thoughtful! I nominate Janice for Global Accessories Manager!