July 1, 2020
After yesterday’s birthday festivities (I’m writing this on June 30th) I don’t have a ton of energy to write much! Happily, we all sort of know what these post are about…
Since so many of us are still either stuck indoors at home, working, or we’re without work and stuck at home being leisurely, I thought that some shorts and tee shirts would be useful this month!
And a sunhat – you are still trying to go out for a walk from time to time, aren’t you?
scarf – Aspinal of London; hat – Sunday Afternoons; white tee – L.L.Bean; turquoise tee – L.L.Bean; shorts – L.L.Bean; sneakers – Josef Seibel
I think leather athletic shoes look nicer than canvas or nylon ones. I know they’re not great for running, but for normal leisure wear, I feel like leather elevates the look a bit. What do you think?
As always, if you can’t find at LEAST 2 ways (should be 3 or 4, honestly…) to wear a new garment, think again. I’m not saying not to buy something, but make absolutely certain that this is a direction in which you wish to go, and money you wish to spend…
This is still one of the prettiest scarves I’ve ever seen:
scarf – Aspinal of London
It’s surprising how far into the year we’ve made it without all of these wardrobes have white tee shirts in them! It’s not a garment that everybody needs (no such thing exists…) but for warm weather a simple tee shirt can be madly useful:
Scarf – Aspinal of London; hat – San Diego Hat Company; striped oxford shirt – L.L.Bean; white tee – Lands’ End; shorts – Lands’ End; sneakers – Cole Haan
I’m still loving these colors!
Each of the 3 garments that I added can be worn at least a couple of ways… This is always such fun to do – picking and choosing from the page is almost like having the things in a closet!
The more time I spend with this wardrobe, the more I feel like I can imagine the woman who wears it!
scarf – Aspinal of London
Why yes, if you want to wear a baseball cap, feel free! Just remember that your ears, and the back of your neck, are still exposed to the sun…
scarf – Aspinal of London; cap – Jeff & Aimy; azalea pink tee – L.L.Bean; golden plume tee – Madewell; shorts – L.L.Bean; sneakers – Gola
Unusual as it is, I’m still finding this wardrobe to be both practical and intriguing:
There are enough grey core garments in this wardrobe to make it easy to introduce accent colors without worrying that you won’t know how to wear them. Having your main neutral well-represented in your wardrobe makes your life easier, I promise!
Some months ago, many of you pointed out that the color in this scarf is more orange than red. Frankly, it’s possible to have BOTH red and orange in your wardrobe – these colors don’t have to match, or even look good together, if they’re in garments that won’t ever be worn together…
scarf – GISY
I don’t know why I don’t show more polo shirts – they’re timeless. And some women really look lovely in them…
And here I’m sharing a skort rather than shorts. I’ve worn skorts for working out for YEARS, and I heartily endorse them. They’re a hair longer, have those nice modest shorts underneath, and can be worn off to lunch afterwards if you’re in the mood!
scarf – GISY; hat – AEO; zesty orange polo – Lands’ End; Thai chili tee shirt – Madewell; skort – L.L.Bean; sneakers – Josef Seibel
This is such an interesting balance of colors; I think I’m going to need to track down some more beige, eh?
As always, each new garments bats above it’s weight! (baseball reference, for those of you in non-baseball countries – it means that something contributes more than expected).
I still haven’t purchased this scarf; I might not since I just got the OTHER Aspinal of London scarf for my birthday. But I might… I wear more than 1 scarf in the course of a (normal) week in cooler weather… hmm….
This wardrobe already has a lot of pink in it, so I thought that a couple of print top might be fun. And pink tennies!
I’m already sick of wearing a mask; it giving me “maskne” which is the ugly concatenation of mask and acne. So maybe a face shield is in my future?
scarf – Aspinal of London; hat with face shield – Izzy K.; floral top – Tommy Hilfiger; striped tee – Gap; shorts – Lands’ End; sneakers – Keds
Could someone just toss all of this into a (big) suitcase and forward it to me somewhere?
More new outfits:
Last, but not least! I think next month I’m going to rearrange the order of these, just for the living heck of it!
This heroine still doesn’t have a black tee shirt! That’s a scandal, in my wardrobe world…
And how fun is that crocheted top? It comes in black too….
scarf – Aspinal of London; hat – Jeff & Aimy; ivory crocheted tank – Express; black tee – Lands’ End; shorts – Lands’ End; sneakers – New Balance
I’m going to need to get this woman a nice black dress, soon!
Even without a dress, she has lots of possible ways to get dressed:
Do you think that you’re going to be dressing more casually this fall? I don’t expect that we’re going to get our of our apartment much more in the autumn than we do now, so I don’t anticipate many opportunities to dress up.
I can’t wait to get all dolled up to go out to a posh restaurant!
love,
Janice
p.s. Five years ago, our heroine was going away for a weekend, with a wardrobe in tan, turquoise and gold! The Augustus John painting with which we started is pretty stunning….
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I love the colors for the Aspinal Signature Shield, but I only see blush pink/taupe, what about the rust/cinnamon shade, or is it just my monitor?
These are all looking splendid though I can’t help but think that all these wardrobes would have benefitted by including a floral, paisley or other embellished top.
So I’m glad that you added a floral blouse to the Robin scarf wardrobe. It demonstrates what’s possible.
Well done, it can’t have been easy to put these together.
I would also add the Robin scarf to my wardrobe in a flash if I could afford to!
Beautiful, as always!
I’m coming around to working mostly from
home for the next year. For the past month I’ve been heading to the office once or twice a week, partly because I need to wear real professional clothes and leave the house, but it’s just not the same. No meetings, no drop in visitors, no concerts, the building is closed to the public, and I see a coworker in person for only an hour or two per week. It’s tempting to just give up and wear my home clothes to the office. It’s a bit depressing.
Such is pandemic life. I will focus on my good fortune to still be employed.
Janice,
For Summer, I have shifted my preference from the first Peacock and Lion group to the lighter Peppermint, denim and camel grouping . I guess it’s because I already have these colors in my wardrobe and can create a module with them .
I thought the expression was “fights above their weight”—a boxing reference. Means the same thing, I guess. (Wishing I could listen to Vin Scully in case he said it…)
For me, the lion and peppermint wardrobes are in a dead heat for first place. I would combine the two, eliminate some of the beige, and smile happily on my closet. I am curious how the peppermint wardrobe will transition into fall…will some darker blue appear, perhaps?
The addition of the white and turquoise Ts definitely bumped up the lion one in my eyes. I personally find a white T about as much of a wardrobe necessity as it gets…it’s long been my warm weather go-to when I’m not sure what to wear with a patterned skirt/shorts/pants. Throw a denim/chambray shirt over it for cool mornings/evenings/AC and I’m set.
My favorite thing about these additions is the old-school leather tennis shoes! I am thrilled that wearing tennies with skirts has caught on as a mainstream look…long may this trend last. Honorable mention to the wonderful turquoise sun hat.
Still love this series. Keep in mind that wearing a face shield should be done in addition to a mask — not instead of it. I have one that I haven’t worn yet. I’m still very cautious going out. I wear a mask and gloves.
Well that won’t solve my face issue then, eh? I have just gotten into the habit of washing my face every time I wash my hands! I hope that my face doesn’t got the way of my poor cuticles…
hugs,
Janice
I’m having to use a lot more moisturiser as well.
Body Shop Hemp cream is great for sore hands. I think they do a soap as well.
You’re probably washing your face too much if you’re actually washing your face as often as your hands. Your skin might be having barrier breakdown. The best thing to do for maskne is gentle cleanse with a milk or cream cleanser, follow with an alcohol free toner and a lightweight hydrating day cream or moisturizer. Keep your heavy creams for night. Also if the entire time you’re outside and you are wearing a mask, don’t put makeup or sunscreen in the mask area.
Personally I’m enjoying the lion wardrobe since I normally wear a lot of turquoise.
Seeing these on the first of the month is so much fun. The robin wardrobe is my favorite, but I think I can hear it calling out for more white, especially a white top and jeans. Also I would sneak in all the non-mustard items from the mustard ombre A wardrobe.
I hadn’t thought about leather trainers giving a bit more polish to leisure wear shoes, but this is why I read your page every day! Knowing the logic and following through has made my wardrobe selectivity quotient rise with greater results! Oh..and that pink, black & white capsule is wonderful.
I can’t believe how quickly, and how completely, I’ve fallen for the idea of pink as a replacement for red in my wardrobe! For the last couple of years I have seen that I’ve been shying away from red, but I hadn’t thought too much about it. Sometimes, you just observe, and then keep things in mind. But then there was this ONSLAUGHT on pink scarves, and sweaters, and earrings etc etc and I realized that I had a new direction…
Maybe, when I turn 70, I will start easing from black to grey? We shall see!
hugs,
Janice
Thank you so very much for your timely “Pandemic Times” summer at home capsule, especially the source for the adorable baseball cap with shield that I just ordered for both of my “teacher” daughters! Thanks always for helping to keep our spirits high!!
Janice, I’m catching up on the computer and discovered I missed your b-day. Hope it was happy and well celebrated. From your comments it was. I also have moved toward pink and receive very positive comments consistently. I am in my 70’s and still wear black but also include grey and navy core clothes. Love your birthday selections/presents!
A Belated Happy Birthday
Susan
The addition of the two patterned tops to the Robin set made me realise why I have felt a bit off with all of these. That set now has five pieces with pattern apart from the scarf, far more than any of the others. I have recently realised I am really pattern driven in my wardrobe, even more than colour I think. I just love pattern. Of course you do need solid garments, pattern everything is too much, but I see now it is the lack of pattern in most of these schemes that has had me wanting something more. You always give me food for though Janice, I bought a lovely pair of cream with tropical print pants for summer, but they ended up being difficult to style as I didn’t have enough tops to work with them. New tops would have matched with nothing else. Lesson to self, stick with patterns in my colours.
Fellow print lover here, Cathie! I also need a higher proportion of patterns in my wardrobe for it to feel right to me. I think the scarves are continuing to do a lot of heavy lifting when I look at these wardrobes. The red/olive and black/peach would especially benefit from some more bridge pieces, I think. Every wardrobe could use another scarf that combines the palette colors and the mythical 2 piece dress in a patterned fabric.
Otherwise, here are my thoughts:
Lion – the striped shirt is perfect and would be in heavy rotation for me. I would add a navy polka dot T and a skirt I own that is beige with navy vertical stripes.
Peppermint – a floral skirt would be magnificent. A blue and white striped T would also be nice.
Mustard – a grey/white striped shirt and possibly a pink/white striped shirt or top.
Red/olive – the red/olive jewelry is a big plus here, but I think a red/olive/beige plaid shirt would help a ton. A botanical print top would also be nice, and remind us that red/olive go well together in nature.
Pink/black – wonderful as it with a nice variety of prints. But a black/pink/white graphic T (a floral one?) would be lovely, as would a black/white cardigan in a simple print or marl.
Peach/black – I definitely want more bridge pieces in this one. A black/peach cardigan and a black/ivory striped top would go a long way for me.
Sorry I’m late but I’m wishing you the happiest birthday :) thanks for all of your wonderful posts!