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Home » How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe 1 Piece at a Time: Brown, Khaki and Pink

How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe 1 Piece at a Time: Brown, Khaki and Pink

July 22, 2016

No More “Dress For Success”

Every day, every year, the same….

Navy suit, white shirt. Grey suit, white shirt. Navy grey white navy grey white….

It served her well – she was very successful. She worked 7 days a week; she really didn’t have a leisure life – her idea of being dressed down was to wear an old work shirt with old pants from a pantsuit. Jeans? Not in her vocabulary. A cardigan? Would get you a visit from the chairman of the firm…

But now that she was leaving the office world, her heart cried out for brown. The color of dirt. The color of chocolate. And khaki – sand, and stones, and natural things….

And PINK. Because she would never have dared to wear pink in her old, very conservative, work environment.

So her first day of retirement, she went shopping! And started here:

beige and brown 3-piece outfit, with brown floral scarf

Shirt – Lands’ End; pants – Lands’ End;  sweater – Uniqlo; scarf – Givenchy

 

The scarf with flowers was SUCH a revelation! And being allowed to wear a shirt that wasn’t white (or light blue), and that matched her pants – well, it was a whole new world of loving clothes!

beige and brown 3-piece outfit, with brown floral scarf, and a brown, beige and pink color scheme

 

Shirt – Lands’ End; pants – Lands’ End;  sweater – Uniqlo; scarf – Givenchy

 

 

She put on her new outfit, and went shopping again. First thing HAS to be more pink, because she loves it, and because it will be so perfect with her scarf:

add a pink tee shirt to a brown and beige outfit

Tee – L.L.Bean

 

After decades of wearing a blazer EVERY DAY, she longed for something soft, and knitty, and casual…

add a khaki cardigan to a brown, khaki and pink wardrobe

Cardigan – L.L.Bean

 

Wearing pants wasn’t QUITE unheard of in her life – she had 2 pantsuits, strictly for Fridays, of course. When she realized that she could wear corduroy, and nobody would care, she was all in:

add brown corduroy pants to a brown, khaki and pink wardrobe

Pants – L.L.Bean

 

After a few days with her new things, she began to realize that there was a world of clothing that she could wear EVERY DAY now; shirts without collars? Heck yes!

add a paisley blouse to a brown, khaki and pink wardrobe

Top – Dorothy Perkins

 

The warmth, and relaxed comfort, of cardigans made her so happy – it was a level of unstructured dressing that she barely remembered from college.

add an ecru cardigan to a brown, beige and pink wardrobe

Cardigan – Uniqlo

After a few days, she took the plunge. But not BLUE jeans – she’d had quite enough blue, thank you! Lovely sand…

add ecru jeans to a brown, khaki and pink wardrobe

Jeans – J. Crew

Pink AND striped? Be still, her beating heart!

add a striped sailor top to a brown, khaki and pink wardrobe

Top – L.L.Bean

 

She began to feel joy in small, feminine details – pleats called her name…

add an ivory pleated blouse to a brown, khaki and pink wardrobe

Blouse – Lands’ End

 

In the midst of all of this sensory delight, she was trying to be a bit practical. She realized that another pair of pants would be helpful, so she indulged her brown longings:

add brown pants to a khaki, brown and pink wardrobe

Pants – L.L.Bean

 

When one spends their spare time reading contract law updates, the finer nuances of available clothing can be lost. When she started seeing the options of detail and cut, with feminine and pretty details, she just pulled out her wallet and treated herself; it had been decades since she enjoyed shopping this much!

add a pink top to a pink, brown and khaki wardrobe

Top – European Culture

 

After a while, she realized that she reached for her brown cashmere sweater ALL THE TIME, and decided that it was time to bring a brown cardigan into the mix. If you find yourself wearing something all the time, think about the possibility of a similar piece with just a bit of difference…

add a brown cardigan to a pink, khaki and brown wardrobe

Cardigan – Fabiana Filippi

 

THIS decision took a long time… skirts weren’t something that she ever thought she would wear AGAIN in her life! But she realized that now, she could wear a skirt on her own terms, in her chosen colors, styles, and ensembles. Much different than wearing a skirted suit most of the time!

add a stone skirt to a brown, khaki and pink wardrobe

Skirt – L.L.Bean

 

The world of printed clothes gave her tons of pleasure; a relaxed top in a warm pink floral print can call to her from a LONG way away in a department store…

add a pink and brown floral blouse to a brown, khaki and pink wardrobe

blouse – Twin-Set

 

When she looked in her closet now, it was pretty sparse, but beautifully coordinated. She saw only things that she loved, and that she enjoyed wearing. Now, to find accessories…

 

a 16-piece wardrobe in brown, khaki, off-white and pink

love,
Janice

How to build a capsule wardrobe in a brown beige and pink color palette
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07.22.16 21 Comments

Tags: 1 Piece at a Time, beige, brown, casual, Four by Four, khaki, pink
<<Build a Capsule Wardrobe by Starting with Nature: Tarantula Nebula by Gendler and ColombariHow to Build a Capsule Wardrobe of Accessories 1 at a Time: Brown, Khaki and Pink>>

Comments

  1. Margie from Toronto says

    July 22, 2016 at 10:49 am

    Love it – it looks so cozy and comfortable and very feminine without being fussy. Can't wait for the accessories! I'm hoping she gets at least 1 pair of pink shoes….

    Reply
    • Virginia says

      July 22, 2016 at 1:15 pm

      I bet she gets pink SNEAKERS! :)

      Reply
    • Lena says

      July 22, 2016 at 4:24 pm

      Yes, pink Keds would be fun and practical!

      Reply
    • Anonymous says

      July 23, 2016 at 1:39 am

      I vote for pink and beige flowered converse!!
      Deb from Vancouver

      Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    July 22, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    Call me an anarchist, but I think the corporate navy-gray-white nothing-but-suits requirement is a horrible, horrible thing. There are so many ways one can be nicely dressed that don't require everyone to look like clones. (Though of course navy-gray-white is a perfectly fine color scheme for those who like it, and suits are fine for those who enjoy wearing them).
    – Kaci

    Reply
  3. Beckie says

    July 22, 2016 at 12:32 pm

    I have the wanties for Every. Single. Thing. in this wardrobe. This is *my* color scheme. My favorite combination ever.

    Much <3 for this.

    Reply
  4. Ivy Bromius says

    July 22, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    For the record, I love your little vignettes as much as the wardrobes. They bring context to the clothing and are so much fun to read.

    Reply
  5. Brenda says

    July 22, 2016 at 4:42 pm

    Lovely color combination!

    Reply
  6. PaulaBSlim says

    July 22, 2016 at 5:13 pm

    I LOVE your stories! I, too, retired from the corporate world (black, grey, maroon, navy, you know…). And since that time am loving neutrals in taupe, cream, tan, khaki with flowers and paisleys and NO collars! Sandals that show my toes. Clothes that are fun! Thanks for your blog. — PaulaB

    Reply
  7. lrlincks says

    July 22, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    Nicely done Janice! Makes me want to retire early! LOL! This would be a great casual wardrobe! My company is owned by an International corporation but we are very casual in the dressing department! I could wear any of this to work! Can't wait to see what accessories she gets!

    Reply
  8. Deborah Montgomery says

    July 22, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    LOVE! I just love these soft colors. I really didn't think I'd be able to wear brown or taupe again when I let my hair go silver. I'm so surprised it works. So happy, as I love the softness of these looks. I'm about to purchase that pink top from European Culture. Thanks Janice. xo Deborah

    Reply
  9. Los Angeles says

    July 22, 2016 at 2:30 pm

    hit it out of the ballpark Janice!

    Reply
  10. Jazz says

    July 22, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    I fell in love with the dusky pink and chocolate combo when I was a child- lovely to see you using it here

    Reply
  11. Coco Colmani says

    July 22, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    I had no idea about brown and pink until Janice mentioned the combination recently and don't they look fabbo here! If dusty blue, why not dusty pink?
    Robyn in Tasmania

    Reply
  12. Taste of France says

    July 23, 2016 at 6:25 am

    This is my SIL all over. Shades of chocolate to cappuccino, with pink or turquoise. She's blonde, and it is so flattering with her pale coloring. Not retired yet (she sells Swiss cheese, a big wheeler dealer–how's that for a job?) but it works well professionally or casually.

    Reply
  13. Comoba says

    July 23, 2016 at 10:41 am

    Hi Janice and everyone!
    Thanks so much for your blog! :-)
    I have a question: in the 4×4 you write "expansion 4", "…where you feel insecure". What do you mean by that? Is this the "place" for experiments, where I go out of my comfortzone?.
    Thanks and greetings from switzerland
    Cordula

    Reply
    • Janice Riggs says

      July 23, 2016 at 1:28 pm

      I wanted people to use the Expansion 4 as a place to fill in with clothes that they still felt like they needed. For example, if you're the kind of person who can't be comfortable without a full week's worth of top, you want to make sure that you have seven different shirts, sweaters or blouses at this stage. Conversely, if you really look at this wardrobe and feel like it needs to include a dress, the dress could be included in this stage. It's basically the step where you make sure that the wardrobe is perfect for you, by including the things that you really feel that you most need.
      thanks for asking!
      hugs,
      Janice

      Reply
  14. Anonymous says

    July 24, 2016 at 3:59 am

    Love this color combination. –photographer friend

    Reply
  15. Anonymous says

    July 24, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    With a bit of burgundy, these colours are perfect for me. -Tharu

    Reply
  16. The Pouting Pensioner says

    July 24, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    Oh Janice, you've done it again! I love the brown and pink mix.
    Now get this – I first fell in love with the combo when I was 12-13yrs old. And that's a lot of years ago! I think it was the very first time I noticed colour combos. I fell for a sweater I saw Hayley Mills wearing (uk child actress, you won't have heard of her). So I ordered some pink wool and some brown for the contrast on the cowl neck, bought a skein with my pocket money each week and knitted myself that sweater. Without a pattern. I loved. So thank you so much for this special pink and brown memory lane treat!!!

    Reply
  17. amecham says

    June 9, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Oh we know Hayley Mills! The Parent Trap!

    Reply

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The Vivienne Files is a unique personal style blog with carefully-selected capsule wardrobes based on color palettes drawn from works of art, nature, and more. It helps women buy less clothing, and to love what they buy. Read more...
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