December 28, 2018
Ah, our friend who loves peace and quiet… She was smitten with this painting from the first time she saw it:
She found this painting to be so moving that she decided to base her wardrobe around it. In order to focus her shopping, she isolated a couple of key phrases and a small color palette that she drew from the painting:
She’s been very pleased with the results!
In January she decided to get away for a peaceful long weekend at a resort that would be relatively deserted in the winter… Her plan was to go for walks, sit by the fireplace and read, and just generally relax and absorb the tranquility!
She found much to enjoy… So much so that she went back in April! Packing for that trip required a little bit of flexibility, because she knew that she could encounter warm days and cool nights.
By August, there was no denying that she was visiting the resort as much for the company of her new friend as for the peace and quiet! Meeting someone special at your favorite place is an extra vacation bonus, isn’t it?
When she made her plans to go visiting in October, her new friend suggested that she leave some clothing at the resort! That’s a lovely gesture, a definite sign of a growing friendship, eh?
As the end of the year approaches, she has some decisions to make! The possibility of living permanently at the resort must be addressed… She knows that she won’t have a lot of space if she moves in with her friend, so she’s whittling down her possessions, starting with her wardrobe.
Her travel wardrobes, assembled together, give her this:
27 garments – not excessive! Her accessory wardrobe is lovely…
She is thinking that she needs to round out her wardrobe, somehow, before she moves… Once she’s up there, she won’t be going shopping very often! And she wants to be comfortable and happy as she settles into her new home…
But how to analyze? She sorts everything out – jackets, sweaters, shirts, pants, to see if she can see any gaps or weak spots:
She sees 3 things that she might want to address:
- not enough tee shirts or shirts to get through a week of laundry; (laundry more than once a week isn’t efficient!)
- She only has 1 pair of pants that aren’t jeans! Of course most of the time she wears jeans and that’s fine, but occasionally she might need something more, and
- She doesn’t have a blazer or “nice” jacket. Nothing fancy – she does NOT need a suit – but maybe something that would feel a little bit more “together” than a cardigan.
So I suggest this:
blazer – Isabel Marant Étoile; earrings – Anzie; tee shirts – Uniqlo; loafers – Donald Pliner; pants – L.L.Bean; poncho – Rag & Bone
Nothing here is overly fancy, but each piece here has a LOT of possibilities!
When the weather warms up she will need to go shopping; by then she will want to visit her family and explain everything to them….
Thank heavens she can work from anywhere, so long as there’s an internet connection!
love,
Janice
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I love the way you curate those wardrobes. Do you do consulting too? If I send a picture of my clothes, would you see what could be a good thing to complete the wardrobe with? I am starting a new job but since I live in Sweden it is mostly casual wear with an occasional jacket once in a while, depending on the client I meet
Love the April scarf ? and you!
Another one of my favorites (or are they all my favorite?). I would like to live in this painting, and I don’t think I’d change a thing in the wardrobe you’ve selected. Beautiful!
This might be my favourite.
I do have a painting hanging in my dressing room but it is not my inspiration. I need to work on that and change it out.
Your phrase about her not caring about fashion but wanting her clothes to hang together and look appropriate, that’s me.
Like many of your other readers, it’s tough for me to limit myself to just one color scheme. I do love lots of different colours but I’m am predominantly blue and green. The grey will come more into my wardrobe as my naturally warm hair turns naturally cool grey.
There was a grey overcoat in the very first instalment of this story. I would include that for sure.
Thanks for another great project, Janice.
I love this painting and this wardrobe. Moving to a peaceful resort? Yes, please! My thoughts for adding to this wardrobe were more along the lines of a heavy winter coat, hat, gloves, scarf and snow boots. Days outside in the snow, nights by the fire with her friend.
Yes! I love blue and gray and have so many of these items already. I don’t do the camel brown so much but it does add a nice contrast. Will think about that! Thanks, Janice for all you do. Hugs from South Carolina.
What a beautiful painting and the wardrobe is a lovely interpretation of it. Such soft, relaxed colors and clothes.
I see the need for winter outerwear, seriously. Also missing is a very nice dress, perhaps in the golden accent color, which could be used a bit more in sweaters, pants, or a plaid jacket so that it does not look as if she wears the same thing all the time from a distance
Could you possibly do a wardrobe that relates to someone with snow white hair and is a “winter”. I don’t wear any pale colors, nor orange and brown. Thank you.
There are many links to capsule wardrobes featuring warm colors here: https://www.theviviennefiles.com/a-common-wardrobe/
Some nicer clothes, yes, the blazer is a good start…Some more t-shirts too. I don’t know the climate of the resort, but she might need more warm weather clothes to get through the whole warm season as she needs on a short vacation. And as others have already pointed out, more outerwear in general! Aren’t these fictional women ever cold?
If you look at the first travel there is a wool coat, dark grey and also a scarf and gloves, so I dont think she will be that cold. Sure you can have more than one jacket for winter. I prefer a nice warm jacket about kneelength for everydaywear and then a woolcoat for dressier occasions
Gray and blue are always lovely. So peaceful.
A denim skirt might make a good addition/substitution here.
Laundry once a week being efficient got a dark chuckle from me. We have 8 cats and so I wash CURTAINS weekly, to say nothing of clothes. Then again, these grays would harmonize nicely with the cat hair.
This is one of my favorites also and I love this heroinne’s story. The only thing I see needed here is a warm winter coat or parka, gloves, and hat. Obviously this is a casual place to live. A friend of mine bought this grey heathered parka. It was surprisingly lovely. It would go nicely r=with this wardroveL https://www.landsend.com/products/womens-heathered-squall-parka/id_327563
Janice Collins Coyle, Washington DC
I bought a parka from Lands’ End, very much like this one, 13 years ago! One of my closest friends said to me the other day “your coat looks new – have I see this before?”. Uh, yeah, like about a thousand times! You can’t wear them out…
hugs,
Janice
I love this wardrobe! Both the palette and the soft, casual nature of the clothes are so appealing.
I love the way the camel brightens this wardrobe! I was thinking a pair of charcoal gray slacks would be very useful for her. – nancyo
This is my favorite of this year’s wardrobes. I just love the peaceful feeling of the painting, the colors you chose, and the clothing items: simply lovely. Thank you for all your time and effort in creating these collections for us to enjoy and by which we are inspired.
Hi Janice,
I have been collecting your beautiful collections for a bout a year now, since I found you. This is my most favourite. But I must say I love striking colours too. Especially in dresses for Church.
The thing is nearly all your clothing is referenced to where we can buy the clothes. Is it possible for you to do that with this collection?
I would really appreciate it if you could.
Thank you for all your hard work.
Diana
If you click on the hyperlinks in the text above each of the images, it will take you to the original blog post that addressed that part of the wardrobe. But after so much time, I suspect that almost all of these things have long since sold out!
hugs,
Janice
Hi Janice,
Thanks it worked but all sold out will have to find something similar instead.
Keep being strong and beautiful, we love your work.
Diana BFA Design