September 20, 2019
It’s one thing to get a good work wardrobe sorted out (as we did for our heroine on Wednesday), but how do you know that you’ve got the accessories that you need, and moreover want?
Let’s remember our source of inspiration…
Our heroine’s going to have to go back to work in her office, after years of being able to work from her home 95% of the time. She’s got her clothes sorted, but she’s not sure about her accessories…
So she pulls together 5 outfits – 1 for each bottom in her work capsule wardrobe – and then determines what accessories she would wear with each outfit.
First up, she knows that she will be wearing her black pants a lot…
black sweater blazer – J.Crew; turquoise silk top – Diane Von Furstenberg; black washable wool pants – Lands’ End; earrings – Argento Vivo; watch – Olivia Burton; loafers – Louise et Cie; bag – Nordstrom
And she knows that her tan pants will be important, so she wants to be certain to have the right shoes, as well as a couple of fun red items…
red cotton cardigan – Lands’ End; red & white striped tee – Lands’ End; tan pants – L.L.Bean; earrings – Sphera Milano; sunglasses – Quay Australia; red socks – Maria la Rosa; gold suede loafers – Johnston & Murphy
She knows that she needs to have a couple of good black bags, and some shoes… Earrings and scarves might not be essential, but they’re certainly going to make wearing a limited number of garments more fun!
black cashmere cardigan – Lands’ End; black & white striped tee – Lands’ End; black coated denim skirt – Jen7; tote – Tory Burch; earrings – Adina’s Jewels; ballet flats – Ecco; scarf – Tommy Hilfiger
She suspects that she might feel more comfortable if she tones down her red garments just a week bit for work…
black sweater blazer – J.Crew; red blouse – J.Crew; red ankle pants – Halogen; socks – Marni; onyx earrings – Aurelie Bidermann; brooch – Kate Spade New York; boots – Ted Baker London
Sometimes, she knows that she will have to dress UP, and she definitely wants to be certain to be prepared when that days appears!
black cashmere v-neck sweater – J.Crew; white silk shirt – Banana Republic; tweed skirt – J.Crew; pearl & onyx necklace – Colleen Lopez; earrings – Talbots; gloves – Cejon; shoes – Allegra James
Remember, Wednesday after she worked on her work wardrobe, our heroine had this pulled together:
After a little bit of additional attention, things look much different…
I think accessories are wonderful; I can wear basic clothes as long as I have great jewelry and shoes! What about you?
love,
Janice
p.s. 3 years ago, Picasso inspired a taupe and soft blue wardrobe to wear to an art show in Milan…
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With the addition of these quirky and playful accessories I’m beginning to get s sense of just how much fun this heroine is.
That taupe+soft blue wardrobe is really good. I’m looking for replace navy+another color or maybe another colors+navy (?) to create so gentle wardrobe.
Nice, thanks for inspiration.
Really enjoyed the accessories..but $70. For one pair of socks. Yikes! I realize this is blog makes suggestions about how to buy less and have more style. I always look.forward to M,W, & F, and I had been looking for interesting knee socks.. but this just threw me for a loop!
This was super helpful! I never seem to have the right assortment of footwear and you’ve just made it easier to see what I’ll need most as I plan for the upcoming season. Thank you!
I’ve pared my accessories this year, from tons of inexpensive baubles to a handful of classic pieces that will last me forever and work with everything.
Also, I like this set up. The one color full set 1st core of four. and then two different accents sets in the 2nd core of four. I’m sure you’ve done that on other posts, but with these colors, I noticed it instantly. I’m using this setup for my Q4 wardrobe rotation. Same clothes all year, I rotate them each quarter into different color sets, based on a scheme you have on site.
I struggle so much with accessories. Nearly all of them! A necklace? I feel like I am playing dress up. A scarf? Too fussy and I end up frustrated and tossing it on the bed before I’ve even left the house. Shoes? I can only wear absolute flats and end up in sneakers almost all the time due to frustrations with what I can wear and what I like and what is comfortable. Rings? I only want to wear my wedding ring and engagement band. Bracelet or watch? More feelings of playing dress up. I’m an average sized person in general but I seem to have tiny wrists and this enhances the feeling. Even with the small sized Fitbit band I wear it at almost the smallest setting.
The only accessory that feels comfortable and like “me” are earrings. I have tried a little bit of wearing and using different accessories but they just don’t feel like “me.” Should I just give up? Stick with my earrings and let that be it? Keep trying because accessorizing differently adds mileage and diversity to outfits/wardrobes? Realistically I should probably try harder in the shoe department because barefoot just isn’t an option most of the time.
Stick with what you love, and what feels comfortable! Keep trying from time to time, because we all change as time passes, but never be disloyal to your feeling and preferences. Yes, you won’t have that easy “pulled together outfit” that a scarf gives you, but you will be honest about what you do and don’t like, and that’s much more important!
hugs,
Janice
I live a casual life in a small town and at one point had some of these struggles. Now I wear as few accessories as feel comfortable. First I had to make sure I had what was necessary. Wedding ring and Fitbit. But I was unhappy with my earring group, and would not wear any at all. So I bought simple medium sized studs in white gold, yellow gold, rose gold and a small diamond. I can adapt to my outfit and have a dressier option if needed. I do also have a plain, thin gold chain, but rarely wear it. So now it is solved. Shoes are harder, as quality seems to have slipped in recent years. I want to buy quality but am afraid they will still be uncomfortable. So that is my current problem to solve, and usually do as you suggest and wear walking shoes. And I might just leave it at that!
I’ve commented recently on how I unexpectedly had to get a new, smaller wardrobe and used your archives extensively to create my new wardrobe based on “Build a Capsule Wardrobe from Scratch”. I used new budget-friendly items plus thrift store finds my personal shopper (my daughter) finds, and classic old pieces that I can now fit into again and/or had altered. I have a great wardrobe for fall and was so happy to have cooler weather in Seattle this past week so I could start wearing it.
Regarding your accessories question, I have 8 scarves for fall/winter – some old and some new – that allow me to mix and match my capsule pieces and have so much variety! So my scarves pump up the color and style of the capsule. In my somewhat obsessive/compulsive way, I wrote down all the possible combinations and found that I have 25 unique outfits to wear to my business smart-casual office. That’s over a month of work days without repeating an outfit! I wrote them down because 25 is too many to remember and this way I won’t repeat a combination too often.
Thanks again for all your ideas. I’m still looking for some items so I’ll check back often.
The taupe and blue wardrobe is lovely! Thank you for the reminder. (I enjoy looking back. Some of those posts are from before I discovered your site!)
I’ve been reading your blog for years now. You have helped me shape my wardrobe in so many ways <3 I have aton of scarves and jewelry. The right accessories can totally change the look of an outfit. I just discovered a new outfit in my clothes this Friday because reading your blog has taught me how to mix and match the same clothes and accessories in so many different ways. I really appreciate you!
4×4 is the template that I use most often for travel. I’ve done that mixed color Second Core of 4, and it works really well! The typical way I do it is two bottoms of one neutral (eg taupe) and two tops of another (say, white). Accessories add a lot of punch! – nancyo
I don’t wear a lot of accessories as I feel overdressed in my town, a coastal town full of holidaymakers and retirees. I do have a lot of scarves, and last week received another as a gift. My first thought was that I don’t have anything to wear it with, but decided to challenge myself. I was able to put together a teal and grey Breton from 2015, over an inexpensive darker teal cami, bought same year, my new grey jeans and a mustard/copper cardigan, also old. The scarf was mainly a berry colour, but had all those additional colours in it. I didn’t actually wear the scarf, although it did look wonderful with the outfit. I would never have thought like that before TVF! Now I just need to look through all my other scarves, for more “new” outfits.
I had a wool black and white skirt like this once – I wore it at least once a week from October to April for years with lots of different good and accessories – I loved it.