April 2, 2021
What rudeness on the part of Mother Nature – we will need our parkas today to go outside!
But we carry on with our Starting From Scratch building of 6 wardrobes – this months we’re stocking up on tee shirts, and adding in a few accessories too! This exercise has made it really clear what additional pieces are needed in some places… It’s interesting (at least to me!)…
These wardrobes were all somewhat out of balance in that they didn’t have enough tops, so we’re adding a few! Plus a pretty necklace and a simple, almost neutral scarf:
Chrysalis silk square – Echo; butterfly necklace – Dewa Arimbawa; grey sconce cashmere & silk wrap – Nordstrom; white tee – L.L.Bean; heather grey and bronzed ochre linen tees – J.Crew
The first thing I’ve learned: this wardrobe either needs to embrace the purple and gold, or walk away! This gold tee shirt looks forlorn here, although it comes together perfectly well in outfits with black or grey:
You will quickly notice that EVERYBODY GET A WHITE TEE SHIRT today… I’m a believer!
This first outfit is great – I’m not convinced by the 2nd one. Something as simple as gold socks could make all of the difference…
These colors continue to delight me – especially as Spring keeps delaying her arrival!
This wardrobe was in good shape for accent colors, but didn’t have a navy tee shirt! Sometimes we overlook the most obvious things that would be tremendously useful.
Patchwork Painted Floral silk square by Echo; floral pendant – Jantana; navy fringed scarf – Treasure & Bond; white tee – L.L.Bean; navy tee – J.Crew; butter yellow tee – L.L.Bean
I’m loving this wardrobe, but I can clearly see that this heroine needs a navy cardigan and pants! Or a classic navy blazer…
All three of these tee shirts fit into this wardrobe as if it was planned! Imagine that…
Although a ruana might not be something you’ll want to wear in August, the colors are perfect for all year!
This particular heroine was in need of some neutral tops! But we’ll also treat her to an amazing amethyst necklace, and a simple scarf…
Lofty plaid ruana – Echo; amethyst necklace – Narayani; purple betta wool & cashmere scarf – Nordstrom; white tee – L.L.Bean; navy tee – J.Crew; heather carbon grey tee – J.Crew
You’d be hard-pressed to put together a really bad outfit from this wardrobe:
This might be the easiest color palette ever!
This next wardrobe could make me wish that I had red hair and green eyes…
I love these tee shirt colors! And the jade necklace is timeless…
Don’t discount the number of times you will wear a neutral, solid scarf. This isn’t the scarf that works to tie colors together, or accent a neutral outfit, but sometimes you just want another bit of your neutral to calm things down and keep you warm!
Patchwork Painted Floral silk scarf – Echo; jade necklace – Zandra Lorena Sajbin; beige oat medium heather wool & cashmere scarf – Nordstrom; white tee – L.L.Bean; shell coral tee – L.L.Bean; burnished pecan tee – J.Crew
If you travel with this wardrobe, you will look amazing but NOT blend into any crowd!
Things I learned here? This heroine really needs a pair of beige shoes! And I’d love to find a pair of olive earrings for her…
Dear oh dear… I’m learning a LOT from this next wardrobe!
First – brown is the devil in a wardrobe. Harder to find than a carrier pigeon…
Second – copying the accent colors from the first scarf might have been a bit… reckless…
So in the absence of brown, we shall concentrate on grey and do our very best, right?
Chrysalis silk square – Echo; flower pendant – Ruway Maki Association; pink plumier scarf – Nordstrom; heather carbon grey tee – J.Crew; light grey tee – L.L.Bean; white tee – L.L.Bean
Yep, this wardrobe has a few pieces that are stray, but it may yet all come together… Wardrobes are not built in a day!
It’s clear that every wardrobe could use another “suit-like” pairing of pants or a skirt with a blazer or cardigan… The current cardigan in each wardrobe are doing some heavy lifting!
And finally our very restful palette – it continues to appeal…
The tee shirt colors that I found were glorious! The scarf is a different shade of blue – nothing wrong with that! And the necklace is stunning… quite the juxtaposition to wear with jeans and a tee shirt.
Mountain View Wrap – Echo; blue topaz pendant – Ni Wayan Astiti; blue striped scarf – Nicoletta Rosi; moonlight blue tee – L.L.Bean; frosty olive tee – J.Crew; white tee – L.L.Bean
Travel with this wardrobe would be a delight – relaxed clothes with a coherent color palette and feel:
I would love to find this heroine a pair of blue shoes – not bright, nor light, but not quite navy. Maybe denim-ish?
But what easy outfits to pull together:
I’ve completely lost my way in terms of which of these wardrobes appeal to me the most – I think I’m too close to them! One can’t choose a favorite child…
love,
Janice
p.s. Five years ago, I was packing a carry-on bag for Paris – and I show you the real nitty-gritty of how I fit things into my suitcase! This post could have been written for almost any trip I’ve taken in the last five years….
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OMG I can not believe I forgot today would be the day for this post. What a delight to wake up to. I suspect I will be looking at these off and on all day long. I have to admit – When it comes to the Mt. View scarf I envision more of a minty green vs. olive, but held off buying anything until I saw what you combined it with. I’m still more inclined to a softer green, and I bought a soft pink/peach blush lightweight sweater (pull on) that looks lovely with it. The purple ruana is being packed in my tote this week as my son and I head off to Hawaii (his graduation gift) in case I get cold on the plane. COVID tests done and results back, wardrobe of purple/black/white ready to go. I even found the most amazing pair of purple sparkly birkenstocks on ebay :) Have a stellar day ladies.
Hope you have a great holiday in Hawaii, Sheila. We are only just coming out of lockdown in the UK but are supposed to ‘stay local’ so no trips to the sea but we can enjoy the hills near us.
Thanks! this was supposed to happen a year ago, and was pushed back and rebooked three times. Feels good to finally make it!
I just love these wardrobes. Like Sheila, the Purple Ruana is my favourite, though my choice of grey would be a bit lighter because mid-grey reminds me too much of my school uniform! I’m loving the idea of Sheila’s sparkly purple Birkenstocks. Any accessories with a bit of sparkle or a sheen attract me like a magpie. My lilac scarves all have a sheen, sparkle or bead embellishment on them.
The Mountain View is such a peaceful colour scheme. I also visualise a lighter blue-green, perhaps light teal or jade. Looking at it as a whole, I would add in more accents green or coral. I would keep the blues as soft blue-grey, denim and blue teal.
The Patchwork Orange is stunning and so well balanced. I can’t wear these colours (pity) but it would be an ideal wardrobe for a safari or trekking adventure.
Patchwork Blue is growing on me, though I would wear a brighter navy and swap the camel for taupe. This wardrobe could encourage me to experiment with very pale yellow….
I love the Chrysalis scarves – flowers and butterflies are my favourite patterns. My feeling for these scarves is to swap the yellow for Emerald Green! The Black Chysalis would have pink, purple and emerald green accents and the Brown Chrysalis would have deep pink, orange and emerald green. It is frustrating trying to find brown but maybe a dark rust or chestnut brown might work.
You’re doing a grand job with these, Janice.
Happy Easter everyone ??
I would also wear the sparkly blue topaz pendant with the Mountain View wardrobe. Wearing sparkles with ordinary clothes lifts the outfit.
Janice, these are beautiful and amazing as always. I love the thought process they sparkle, as I “shop my closet” for things that work for me and fill the needs you mention. (personally I’m a blouse or shell girl, not a tee-shirt girl, but I can easily translate). Thank you for all the effort you put into these!
The Mountain View would probably work best for me. I second changing out what looks to be a yellowish-green for a cooler green.
Like others I’m a big fan of the Ruana capsule and its color scheme. Your comment that someone likely wouldn’t wear the ruana in August due to its weighty material had me wondering if there might be a lightweight ruana or kimono with similar colors and another type of pattern that might work for warmer weather. Hmmm . . . Thoughts to ponder.
The cheery blue patchwork kept grabbing me but the shade of yellow in it finally turned me off. That particular yellow is a deal breaker for me. I turned to the red version of the patchwork and finally ordered it (through a friend in the US) after drooling over it since you first showed it months ago. For a few years I’ve been looking for a scarf with olive green and coral together, which will be a great accent with all my olive green pieces. Unfortunately Echo doesn’t ship to Canada and I haven’t found any stores that carry these scarves in Canada. Has anyone else had any luck with that?
Finally, the mountain view scarf really should be in my closet, which looks pretty much like the wardrobe you’ve assembled. Again, no shipping to Canada. If any of you have bought the mountain view, is the wool component heavy or itchy? That wardrobe is my favourite.
No, it is not heavy or itchy. It’s lovely to wear. And once you have it and start looking at it you’ll discover there are many colors you could bring in. I was amazed, as so glad I bought it.
Thank you Sheila
I just reviewed the Paris post, never miss a chance to rejuvenate the gray cells. As per that post, I think the Rick Steves’ (another of my travel idols) packing cubes open on all three sides and are mesh. I love those puppies!
At this stage in the wardrobes, it’s not even close: Mountain View! Though the purple wardrobe is a solid second place. Red patchwork is still in pretty good shape but I thoroughly dislike the pecan t-shirt to the extent that it’s put me off the entire wardrobe. The other 3 are not coming together yet, but it’s still early days (months?) yet.
For me, the two butterfly wardrobes are going to be a struggle because they have discordant accents colors, including one that I really do not like at all…it’s not just that anything in that gold-orange category is not a good color for me to wear, I have to admit that I just don’t like it, period, and find looking at it unpleasant. No offense to anyone who loves and/or rocks the gold-orange or pecan colors! This is just a quirk of my own preferences.
FYI: some of the Novica links did not work for me.
Dear Sally,
Could you please send me the error message that you’re getting from Novica? [email protected]…
They are all looking fine from my perspective, but I can’t see EVERYTHING – as much as I try!
hugs,
Janice
The top butterfly link gave me this:
This http://www.novica.com page can’t be foundNo webpage was found for the web address: https://www.novica.com/p/sterling-silver-winged-butterfly-pendant/343439/?irgwc=1&cellid=NPP2019050801&utm_source=impact&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=326728_The%20Vivienne%20Files&utm_content=ONLINE_TRACKING_LINK_597314_Online%20Tracking%20Link&irclickid=TJjS97UU0xyLRNgwUx0Mo3ZRUkEXfp0VxU0w1k0
HTTP ERROR 404
I will email the screen shots for each error message!
I have to agree with Beth T. I would substitute emerald green for the yellow In the chrysalis wardrobes. Most of my clothes are consistent with the colors in the black chrysalis scarf wardrobe and in the purple ruana wardrobe. It’s always nice to shop the closet and not have to buy too many new things. That said I’m still considering buying the black chrysalis scarf. Thanks for all your hard work with the beautiful wardrobes.
What a lovely way to start the day! I hope you know how much we all look forward to the first of each month and truly appreciate all the work you do on them. They are all beautiful and, like many others, I’ve come to love all of the wardrobes (even the ones with colors that I can’t wear) because of their cohesion and the attractive way you combine everything.
I love all of the comments and Beth T has really given me an AHA moment today. The black chrysalis scarf, the mountain view and the blue floral plaid are my colors….mostly. I have never worn yellow and don’t think I ever will. But to substitute green for the yellow makes all of the difference and I had already traded blue for the purple. Blue is my color: navy, aqua, sky, bottle, turquoise or baby blue, they are my favorite. So, for this month, I choose the blue patchwwork scarf with accents of pink, blue and green and change the beige neutral to denim. Suits my lifestyle and my closet. Navy for more dressed up, denim for casual and my favorite accents. Thanks Janice and all the TVF family.
Hi Janice and Everyone! Thank you for the color ideas for Endangered Brown. There is a refuge for it in my closet. Currently wearing lightweight brown sweater over a rose long-sleeved fitted tee over a ‘powder blue’ turtleneck with slim grey pants. Weather is 33^F with a wind chill of 23^F. My 21pc wardrobe challenge for April calls for a little bit of everything.
I love these posts and today’s was a big help to me. I have nowhere near enough tops — and almost all the ones I do have are gray, black, navy, and (a few) white. All great colors but… I need some colored tops too!! In winter I am SET — I have cardigans and sweaters I love, and they go great with the black, white, navy, and gray shirts and tees I can pair them with — and the three colored tops (orchid, light purple, and red winter print) I can vary them with. But I have no “pops” of color for spring and summer that fit anymore, and my prints are… you guessed it… black and white, or navy and white. THey’re all fine, but monotonous. The short-sleeved t-shirts I’ve found that fit me well don’t come in colors that flatter me. Gotta keep looking, I guess. Meanwhile, it’s almost time to bring out the linen shirts, and those ARE colors I like.
Wonderful! Still really loving the Mountain View collection!
I can see why you’re such a strong proponent of the white tee – it suits your coloring! I, on the other hand, banished white from my closet long before I started removing the black. I found that white is not a friend to my aged skin and teeth. Ivory is a great alternative and takes the place of any whites I need in my wardrobe.
Mountain View gets my vote. I have a scarf that I am using to mimic the items being selected for the MV with a few color tweaks. My scarf contains no gray ( and I don’t love gray) so navy is my color replacement. Denim blue is also the second core color. My accents are light blue, lilac and soft white. I noticed all these colors in the sky and blooming trees on my walk today which was a delight! Absolutely love this series and so look forward to it each month. Have a wonderful Easter one and all!
Ah, the blue and yellow patchwork set has jumped to the top for me. Followed by the Mountain View. The brown is going to be problem, I see. I have trouble with an uncooperative supply chain frequently. Maybe I will learn how to manage this.
Brown might be due a comeback as various celebrities have been spotted wearing brown. Unfortunately, when the fashion mags get hold of an idea, they seem to think that to wear brown you need to recreate the whole 1970’s look. Let’s hope that the colour descriptions are enticing like Chocolate or Cognac rather than ‘Potato Brown’ as I saw described in one fashion article. ?
I’m sure that Janice can be more discerning and imaginative in creating wearable wardrobes with brown.
I’m snickering at “potato brown” :D
I suppose it depends on how clean you like potatoes ? – covered in mud in an earthy brown sort of way or washed to an anaemic beige! ?
Why would anyone call a color potato brown? LOL
This is what happens when you hire this guy to be in charge of naming your merchandise colors… https://www.pinterest.com/pin/639722322042015142/
Ladies, Good Afternoon!! My favorite is the blue patchwork! I am a Spring and these are my colors so I shouldn’t be surprised! I love navy with coral, yellow and turquoise. The silver jewelry doesn’t ring true for these colors. We need gold jewelry for this color scheme! I’m with Beth T I always include sparkle!! I would wear silk, linen tops or a sweater set. I don’t wear pants so I would convert all of this to skirts and dresser shoes.
I own a decent amount of brown clothes! My strategy is thrift shops + taking advantage of color trends. H&M had good brown slacks a while ago, it might be work checking :)
Love everything but can’t wear yellows and oranges on the top. For those with the right colouring, they would be good. I need to go toward the cool side.
Ha! Just noticed yesterday the dividers are tiny photos of the scarves.. Awesome!
Thanks for noticing! I try to make it all hang together…
hugs,
Janice
I went back to look. That Janice is a clever one! I like that it really helps me see the Mountain View colors.
From where is the open-front cardigan With packets that you show in several different colors above? I love it!
That’s the J.Crew sweater blazer that I really like a lot – I have 2 of them (black and pink) and they are among my favorite garments ever.
hugs,
Janice
With pockets – sorry
I can see you do great work and help so many people. I am just one of these unimaginative people when it comes to clothes on a hanger or laid flat on a surface. No idea what they will look like on me. And scarves….? I love them, I have beautiful scarves in my scarf drawer. Where they sit and never come out. Whenever I try a scarf it always make me look either outdated or like having a cold. I followed many tutorials on the internet but they didn’t help. You’d think I would stop buying scarves now, would you? Nope, I still love them and I still buy them. Stupid me.
Greetje
JJill has brown pants, tops, sweaters and a maxi dress in stock!
The last wardrobe is definitely my favourite this month. I’m not a fan of florals for myself, so it feels modern and fresh to me. It’s perfect for a pandemic when we are following a fine line between casual and lounge wear.
Have you seen Michael Michaud’s botanical jewelry? I feel like they would fit into your wardrobes. The olive earring comment made me think of it.
Hi, Janice. I discovered your site recently, and have already sent links to soooo many of my friends!! Love, love, love your ideas!
A friend of mine works for a woman in London, ON, who has a business designing/selling gorgeous scarves, masks, bejeweled canes, etc- Jacqueline Kent Jewelry. Please check out her site; I’m sure you’ll be impressed and inspired! (Would
Love to see you design a capsule wardrobe based on some of her items!).
Fran
Here’s the link to the website I mentioned in previous text: http://www.jacquelinekentjewelry.com/
(Jacqueline called her canes “sugar canes”-love it!)
Fran