January 18, 2017
Such an interesting email….
Say you live outside the United States. You’re retired. The weather’s always reasonably warm and nice. You only shop every year or two, when you visit in the US…
And THIS is your inspiration:
Dragonfly with Red Wings Hunting a Snake by Joan Miro
I’m really liking these colors, and this WHOLE scenario!
In the interests of establishing a solid basis upon which we can build, I’m going to assume that our heroine either owns or already plans to purchase these pieces:
At this point, we’ve got a solid starting point, and a lot of fun things to find!
I’m ALWAYS going to recommend that you buy the sweater or tee shirt or top that goes with your cardigan. Even if you aren’t the sort to wear a twinset, having pieces in the exact same color means that anything that goes with ONE thing will go perfectly with the other. It’s just faster and simpler, in the long run, to take advantage of items manufactured to match, rather than scrambling around trying to match things on your own.
Living in a warm climate suggests to me a LOT of tops, because they’re the pieces that are going to need to be laundered most frequently. They’re also the garments that usually cost the least, and make the biggest difference in your appearance, since they’re so close to your face. So let’s start loading up on those glorious accent colors, eh?
When it’s warm, I want my knees to get some air! You can always wear a special garment under your skirts to make your thighs more comfortable, if that’s a concern. This skirt is such a perfect embodiment of the colors of this capsule – I wasn’t going to resist…
Another accent color? Sure! I’ve chosen a variety of necklines for these tee shirts, but you can stick with just one style if you have a favorite.
If you don’t wear shorts, a pair of capris, or another skirt, would also make a lot of sense here. This is such an excellent neutral color with which to work in warm weather – it’s classic, and it’s easy to find.
Okay, here’s the point at which the concept of “Whatever’s Clean” might fall apart. Some people will absolutely NOT wear a striped tee shirt with a floral skirt, and that’s fine. I’m assuming that my heroine is a little bit adventurous, or at least willing to bend the rules…
I frankly didn’t expect to find anything at all in the color – but this tunic is SO perfect. It would make a great short dress, if that’s something you do, or a tunic over pants or capris. What a glorious shade of marigold!
This dress isn’t going to really “mix and match” with the rest of this wardrobe – I suppose you could wear the tan cardigan… but a simple dress is such a nice thing to own when you live where the weather’s pleasant. If this is completely out of the question, tan capris would be very useful, and might be substituted here.
More stripes! But these are so subtle, even I would wear them with the floral skirt, just to see if anybody was paying attention…
Doesn’t this put you in the mood for warm weather?
Just to envision the way in which these pieces can be worn, I’ve pulled together 6 outfits, with some appropriate accessories. This wouldn’t be a bad way to live, would it?
What made this even MORE fun was remembering that, just outside my apartment windows, is a shattering ELEVEN degrees Fahrenheit….
love,
Janice
Like this Capsule Wardrobe? Save it to Pinterest!
I love this. I would substitute black for tan but its fun and fab :)
I would absolutely wear either of the striped tops with the skirt. In fact, I have a pink/green/brown/cream floral skirt that I regularly wear with a green/cream striped top in a similar pattern to those shown (green stripes ~1/4 inch, cream stripes tiny).
And the summer under-skirt garments have changed my life! So much more comfortable!
– Kaci
Would you point me to them? Sounds like a really good idea. I'm totally charmed by this skirt, even though the reviews aren't wonderful (fading with washing, etc.)
–Mary
Here's a link to Jockey Skimmies
http://www.jockey.com/catalog?q=skimmies#/page=1
Kaci is right – they have changed my life too. Now I enjoy the comfort of skirts and dresses all summer long.
I wore dresses every day last summer, and even in temperatures over 100F I was more comfortable than I have ever been even in tank tops and shorts…plus I looked good enough to go anywhere. After trying Jockey Skimmies and several other brands of wicking underpants, I settled on UnderSummers. Lighter weight, cooler, and dry faster than Jockeys. LOVE them! https://www.undersummers.com
Wonderful post! I'm going to Oaxaca for 10 weeks at the end of February. Daytime temperatures are warm but evenings and mornings are cool. I volunteer in a library and I tutor. I will follow the Whatever's Clean 13 as I already own the LL Bean pants, capris and a navy cardigan. I'll take my tan denim skirt instead of the shorts. My neutrals are there. I don't own any red or yellow so I will change out the accent colours to bright blue and green and choose simple accessories from my collections. I forgot about the "bloomers". If you walk a lot in heat, they work very well. Merci.
This is a very happy collection and looks like summer. Stripes with flowers are great for anybody in my opinion. What makes it work is the combination of colours and sizes of the stripes and the print, small stripes with a big print and bigger stripes with a smaller print.
Looking forward to hearing about your Irish adventures.
Deb from Vancouver
This is my wardrobe in different colors and I am working on a plan to, with a single addition to any day, go from casual to what I call city casual. Such as getting a call from dearest to come out for lunch with him and a few other suit wearers. I never wear shorts.
Gosh, I just just love this collection…Miro is one of my favorites, but never would have thought such bright colours could look so pleasant and not a tinge of garish! Thanks for all you do. : )
Even though navy is not my color, I love this collection! I am craving bright colors at the moment, since our weather, though warm, is grey and dreary. Thanks for brightening my day, Janice!
I am going out on a limb here by saying that mixing a stripe with a floral is something that can look quite stunning on a young woman and not so much on an older one. Don't ask for an intelligent explanation.
This will work wonderfully for the weather here in SW Florida!
Just looking at the color scheme, I didn't expect to like this one, but the resulting outfits are really sharp.
Miro is so whimsical! I could almost do a version of this wardrobe, using a darker caramel color with navy, and picking up some of that turquoisey blue along with red for the accents. – nancyo
Great post!
Wonderful post! I'm going to Oaxaca for 10 weeks at the end of February. Daytime temperatures are warm but evenings and mornings are cool. I volunteer in a library and I tutor. I will follow the Whatever's Clean 13 as I already own the LL Bean pants, capris and a navy cardigan. I'll take my tan denim skirt instead of the shorts. My neutrals are there. I don't own any red or yellow so I will change out the accent colours to bright blue and green and choose simple accessories from my collections. I forgot about the "bloomers". If you walk a lot in heat, they work very well. Merci.
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I am craving bright colors at the moment, since our weather, though warm, is grey and dreary. Thanks for sharing.
I don’t know if you read comments on older posts, but I just love this wardrobe! I can’t say I ever mix prints, but the colors are fabulous. I live in south Florida, and these are wonderful, stylish choices for someone who loves rich colors rather than pastels.
I try to read all of the comments! I’m so glad that you liked this – it’s such a great painting – it was hard to do it justice!
hugs,
Janice