May 6, 2019
When we left our heroine on Friday, she had assembled a small, but quite versatile, core wardrobe with 11 garments:
earrings – Kendra Scott; tunic – Eileen Fisher; floral shirt – Caliban; watch – Olivia Burton; shirt – 1901; grey cardigan – Eileen Fisher; bracelet – Rituu Agarwal; necklace – Silvia Garcia; tank top – Lands’ End; brown tee – American Vintage; black cardigan – Eileen Fisher; bag – Allsaints; sleeveless top – Eileen Fisher; jeans – Lands’ End; scarf – Kate Spade New York; grey pants – Eileen Fisher; scarf – Louise Coleman; socks – Darner Socks; silk pants – Eileen Fisher; flats – Paul Green; loafers – Dr. Scholl’s
From here, our heroine’s choices will depend on what she most needs for her day-to-day life, as well as making certain that she’s prepared for those dressy occasions that catch one off guard. It is for the latter that I always suggest that ALL of us have a “nice” outfit in reserve. While you certainly can substitute pants for this skirt, if you’re absolutely NEVER going to wear a skirt, for most of us this next outfit will come in handy more often than we might expect…
skirt – Rachel Roy Collection; blouse – WtR; pumps – Donald Pliner
And we are kind of long overdue for getting this heroine a good jacket! The nice thing with this length of trench coat is that it can be worn with skirts or pants; but you might prefer a longer one. If you live somewhere that gets bucketing rain, longer is better protection, too!
While it might take our heroine a few months to find just the right brown sweater, it’s worth waiting for…
Coat – Kristen Blake; sweater – Khaite; shoes – Cougar
This is where our heroine finds her wardrobe. This might have taken a few months to assemble, so it’s smart to stop and really admire what has been accomplished. Patience should be appreciated and rewarded, right?
At this stage, it’s easy to slow down and be really deliberate in shopping. Our heroine should think about having a shopping list to which she refers when she’s tempted to buy something; it would be a pity to lose discipline and focus now!
After a month or 2, it might be time to buy an entire outfit, all at once! What a treat…
cardigan – Lands’ End; tee shirt – MM6 Maison Margiela; pants – Lands’ End
If our heroine is in a cold climate, she needs to be ready the MINUTE coats become available, so she can find her winter coat. While those of us who live downtown might NEVER wear a pink coat (it would be filthy in about 9 seconds…), the right woman could absolutely luxuriate in something this pretty!
coat – YMC; scarf – Faliero Sarti; boots – Freda Salvador
Accessories can be purchased gradually… Pink pearls seem like such a nice choice for this heroine, don’t they?
pearl earrings – Khun Boom; stud earrings – Michael Krainer; scarf – Nordstrom; pearl bracelet – Khun Boom; bag – Frye; necklace – Putu Putri
How about casual clothes? I’m afraid that many of us aren’t good about having a few “nice” things to wear around the house, or when we have to dash out for an errand. There’s no reason that our family shouldn’t see us at our best, right?
sweatshirt – Lands’ End; floral sweatshirt – Blugirl; striped tee – Nordstrom Signature; shorts – Caslon
Maybe this heroine is good with just owning a black skirt, but maybe she has decided that a dress would be useful too… The contrast of this brown cardigan is so nice:
Dress – Tommy Bahama; cardigan – Vicolo
By now, our heroine realistically might not need more clothes! (what a luxury that is, eh?) But let’s take a look at where we are…
It feels right, but is it balanced?
2 notes:
- When you choose an accent color like this rich brown, you have to be PATIENT… this color should be one of those things that is always in the back of your mind if you’re forced to walk through a mall… (wouldn’t corduroy pants in this brown be wonderful?)
- Because the pink tops won’t all be worn together, they can vary somewhat in shade; you don’t want to go really nuts with something hot pink or fuchsia, but shades of soft pink can happily co-exist in our heroine’s wardrobe…
When I looked at this wardrobe for a while, I could see that a pink “pull-over” sweater that could be worn alone or over her brown flowered blouse might be handy. And I can’t believe I’ve made it this far into this wardrobe without a simple black tee shirt for her! (I’m wearing a black tee shirt right now; this is true about 2/3 of the time for me!)
And the print blouse? Just a serendipitous little wonder I found…
Sweater – Banana Republic; silk blouse – Caliban; tee – Lands’ End
From here, our heroine doesn’t really need to actively LOOK for anything. Brown corduroy pants would be grand, as would a lovely warm turtleneck (in any of “her” colors) for the cooler weather. Of course, shorts, tank tops, and maybe a sundress are possibilities too, depending on the upcoming weather. But this, as it stands, is a very versatile wardrobe.
Imagine being in… London? for the fall semester with this to keep you for 3 months:
Just to be sure that this is as versatile as our heroine and I believe it to be, my last double-check is to make certain that I can “Whatever’s Clean” a baker’s dozen of garments (that meeting for which you take the train to Edinburgh?), as well as a 4 by 4 Wardrobe… (Eurostar to Paris for a week at term break?)
Get your wardrobe sorted, and you are free to get on with the important stuff!
love,
Janice
p.s. We do all understand that this is a good guideline for cleaning out a closet, right?
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I have been following your blog for about a year now and this is my first time posting. I live in Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean where it is hot throughout the year so cool and cold weather clothes do not apply. I do enjoy your thinking process and it has helped to see how cohesive and interchangeable my present wardrobe is. So thank you for all your hard work and I look forward to reading more of your posts. Deborah
Thank you for the point about cleaning out your closet. Following your lead for years, I have edited my wardrobe pretty well. However I still have a bunch of accent pieces that don’t fit in 100%. Those are the things I have trouble getting rid of. I may not wear them much, but I keep thinking they are a nice variation from from my standards when I need a little change. Sounds like rationalization to me.
BTW, so glad you included outerwear. Love that pink coat!
I have the same problem Lizette with a handful of really good quality pieces that have veered off into the Autumn spectrum of teal blue, pale gold, coral red and taupe brown.
So rather than donating, I have built a mini capsule around these items using four of my lighter ‘summer’ neutrals & accents of soft white, stone, sky blue and primrose yellow so that they all play nicely together. These outfits make a refreshing change from my usual navy & grey ensembles.
I love having a chosen color scheme and have learned a lot from this site, but I do believe many of us would be bored wearing the same 4 or 5 colors every *single* day of our lives, however much we love those colors. It’s ok to have a few “outlier” pieces for when you need a change of pace. Tops you can throw on with your neutral bottoms and dresses that can stand alone make great outliers. Our real closets don’t have to look as perfect as Janice’s posts!
Absolutely love these starting from scratch wardrobes and have been building mine for the past few years, buying in the sales as and when pieces appear. My only weakness is choosing and sticking to a small palette of just two or three colours that work together. Like many, I get enticed by what is available, what is ‘current’ and what mood I’m in when browsing. Basically, I just love colour and have no self discipline!
If our heroine really wants more of that rich brown, I saw it in many store windows in Rome! Just a quick flight from London…
What a satisfying conclusion to this “set”. It’s always good to read your thinking, Janice. It’s also useful to be reminded that getting dressed in the morning should/can be easy as well as pleasurable, and that our magpie tendencies can get in the way of that. (Note to self …)
I love this wardrobe, and it is very close to what I build for my cool weather travel wardrobes. My accent color is usually teal (rather than light pink), and I do love having some white tops for contrast. This year I was lucky to find corduroys in that brown color. I’m super tempted by that cable cardigan, but am trying hard to resist! – nancyo
I like Nancyo’s suggestion of replacing the blush pink with real.
Is it possible to see this post again but 28th real and a scarves and jewerly in that color.
Just a thought.
Teal. My ipone replaced teal with real.
NIce overall, but the brown seems too warm for the baby pink and vice versa.
Love your ideas and choices! It is more difficult to find nice choices in plus sizes though. I find that I’m all over the place with colors just because I’m happy to find something flattering, but not necessarily the right color choice.