October 23, 2019
I wanted to show how different accent colors can completely change the look of the neutral grey pieces that we looked at a couple of weeks ago… So I thought that my favorite artist might be a good place to start…
Quiet…
She’s going away for a week, and she doesn’t plan to do any more talking than absolutely necessary! That might sound odd, but her job requires her to answer questions ALL DAY, and she’s looking forward to being quiet…
scarf – Issey Miyake; blue topaz earrings – Alok Jain; watch – Olivia Burton; ring – Adina’s Jewels; periwinkle coat – Kenneth Cole; silk blouse – Eileen Fisher; pants – Eileen Fisher; bag – Patricia Nash; loafers – Karl Lagerfeld Paris
Of course, she will have to order her meals, and thank the various people who are helpful and kind to her…
cardigan – Banana Republic; stretch twill skirt – J.Crew; v-neck cashmere sweater – L.L.Bean; velvet jeans – Lands’ End; pumps – Calvin Klein; black patent loafers – Munro
But she wants to walk around and look at art. Maybe just sit for a while in front of a favorite painting?
fleur de lys earrings – The Met Store; pink tee – Lands’ End; celestial sphere earrings – The Met Store; patchwork scarf – Vince Camuto; blue blouse – Kobi Halperin; blue sweater – L.L.Bean; magnifying glass pendant – The Met Store; pink cotton shirt – Lands’ End; evening bag – Whiting & Davis; pink floral socks – Talbots; blue paisley socks – Smartwool; sunglasses – Maui Jim
Enjoying a good dinner all alone, concentrating on her food, and admiring the people around her… She bought herself a lovely “fake” wedding ring, to head off the occasional admirer…
Sitting in a café, sipping espresso and getting some style inspiration from the women in the crowd…
I love to travel alone when I’m tired and my creativity feels like it is at a low point; do you?
love,
Janice
p.s. 2 years ago, Bouquet des Fleurs by Jan van Huysum was the inspiration for a substantial wardrobe using navy as the core neutral…
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I love this combination of pink, blue and dark gray.
When I was younger, I wore a fake wedding ring to ensure peace. My cover story: My “husband” was back at the hotel, laid up with food poisoning, and I just had to get out for a little bit.
FYI, the delightful podcast “Stuff You Missed in History Class” did a wonderful episode about Marie Laurencin.
Those two blue tops are so incredibly clever! Both long sleeved, with similar necklines; the same color, too. And the embellishment: seams and gathers on the blouse, and knit pattern on the sweater, are so similar, too, which is where the cleverness comes in. Only the fabric makes one suitable for the fanciest dinner, and the other for the most casual. For a woman with certain style recommendations, these two tops could be perfection.
I am positively drooling over the periwinkle (looks powder blue on my laptop) coat by Kenneth Cole. I’d grab it in another color if I could afford it. I tried to send an email with the following suggestions, but my browser just sits and grinds when I try to send. So here goes:I’m giggling a bit as I write this. I am taking a break from packing since I have a LOT of decisions to make and it’s taxing. We are taking a 19 day road trip and I’m trying very hard not to overpack, but here’s the itinerary: 2 days of driving to Denver where we’ll get daytime temps in the 40s and dry on day one for kid soccer, but that night we’ll head up to Vail for fishing (only the polar bear types) or sledding or snow shoeing-yes, there’s snow! Then we have a few more days in and around Denver- where snow will have settled in for a few days. Temps back up to the low 50s for Halloween. Then it’s south to the four corners. (night time and morning temps in the 20s, daytime temps in the 50s.)
The next day we move south into AZ where the daytime temps range from the 70s to the 80s with nighttime temps around 45 or 52 depending on elevation. There’s driving, museum sightseeing (no cities) and camping (of course!) in a primitive campground -and some possibly rugged hiking. From there we move north, making our way through small towns and desert -a day of hiking in Death Valley (temps in the 70s) and 2 more days of travel through the desert and dropping temperatures. I think I’ve got this thing under control, thanks to you! I’m doing 3 clusters of smart casual with pieces ranging from cold weather to not as cold. One is all grey, one is all black and the third is full of red/orange accents. A fourth cluster is transitional between cold Denver and hot southern Arizona (lots of grey and teal!) And the fifth? Camping and hiking duds! There’s a separate bag for ski/snow wear- borrowing pieces from the camping cluster! When I’ve made my decisions, I’ll count the pieces and let you know how I did. I do know I have a LOT of grey and black! But, it would be interesting to see a Janice-written capsule for a 3 week road trip from snowy Vail to an Arizona border campground. (I LOVE your blog.) Also-have you ever considered doing capsules based on lovely Pendleton plaids? They’re gorgeous…and how about clan Tartans? I have a McDougall tartan scarf that I am building a cluster from. I adore it.
If you’re going to be in a car, you can pack what you need! It sounds as if this trip is going to require 5 clusters FOR SURE…
hugs,
Janice
Thanks for affirming I’m not crazy! XXXOOO
Oh, I’m not going THAT far…
hugs,
J
Ohhhhh, my colours! Such a lovely imagining of story, atmosphere and colour scheme. Yes, I too enjoy travelling alone for rest and restoration. Sometimes (often), though, a couple of hours out at a cafe and gallery is what’s possible. And that can be enough. But two weeks in the Low Countries with this packing scheme would be tops!
Janice, you always pick the most amazing scarves – I love scarves – but alas they are never in my budget range. However, I did pick up a Ted Baker London scarf recently that is almost identical to the Ted Baker pink and grey one in the Weekly Timeless Wardrobe Week 3 this year. It appears to be a darker pink and darker grey and is waiting in my mailbox at home! Nordstrom Rack had it for 1/2 off and I couldn’t resist. My first Ted Baker purchase. Today’s colors are right in my core and capsule range too. Beautiful.
Love the wardrobe, but the colors are are not quite for me. Just recently returned from Ireland the second time. Saw a beautiful painting by William John Leech entitled “The Sunshade”. Since my very favorite color is green, I’d love to see a 4X4 wardrobe based on the painting if you deem it worthy.
I, too, tried to send an email through your contact section, only to see the send icon just keep spinning.
Love your presentations!
I just looked up “The Sunshade.” I would be very interested to see a wardrobe based on the colors in it. I’m curious to see what you would pull out, in addition to the vibrant green.
I agree! My eyes went directly to the plum and cobalt blue, probably because all that yellow would be death on me! – nancyo
I travel with my husband and we love solitude. We cruise a lot. We get a nice balcony and choose a quiet cabin location. We reserve a table for 2 only when dining. We don’t have to interact with a lot of people that way. It’s a bit different than people think a cruise vacation should go but it suits us.
We often pick cruises with a lot of sea days and just enjoy our balcony watching the ocean and sky with various sea creatures appearing at random. Flying fish, whales, dolphins and sea turtles.
Flying fish are lovely— they are a steely silver metallic with blue grey markings and transparent iridescent wings.
As for this capsule I love it! The other capsule based on this artist is another one I can imagine myself wearing regularly. I’m saving both to my Pinterest file as my Grey Core wardrobe inspiration.